Light as a Feather

Ciao lovelies!

So where was I? Ahh, day two of Santorini. As you can see life was tough hangin’ poolside. The day began with some breakfast in preparation for our wine tour and cooking class. If you did not know, Greeks were the first ones to produce wine. Our tour guide, George or Georgie, as I later called him picked us up and another couple. The other couple was from Belgium and they were on their honeymoon. I asked Georgie what the differences in wine production in Greece compared to Italy. He said they only water the plants when they are very young, the soil(volcanic rocks), and harvest time. Right now they are harvesting grapes when Italians usually do that mid October.

Once we arrived at the vineyard, we tried five different types of wine. Two whites one with a full body and one that was more weak with less flavor. We tried a red and two desert wines. I have decided that I prefer Italian wine to Greek wines. The quality of production is just so much better.

After the tasting it was time for our cooking class. On our way to the cooking class, Georgie got in his first wreck of the season. In Santorini, the roads look like one ways but are actually two ways. Anyways, a tourist was driving down and didn’t understand the rules of waiting so Georgie had to back up. When he did there was a motorcycle there and he backed into his tire. Luckily no one was hurt but I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Lord knows what that guy said to poor Georgie. When he got back in the car he was continually trying to reassure himself that it wasn’t entirely his fault. Although we all know that it was…

One wreck later, we arrived at our lesson and was greeted by a very nice chef and the owner of the restaurant. The cooking class took place outside overlooking the sea. Each one of us volunteered for a specific task. Jen made the Taziki sauce and I made the fried tomatoes. Is anyone else seeing a trend with the Southern girl doing the fried things? Well, our contributions turned out perfectly. The guy from the couple made the pork dish that was sauteed with cinnamon and bell peppers. It was really good surprisingly! The woman made her vegetarian dish that consisted of stuffed tomatoes and a bell pepper.

After a few cocktails and a smoke break, Georgie rejoined the group. We ate our lunch and chatted for a while with the chef. The most important fact that I took with me was the testing of EVOO. Sometimes places mix the extra virgin olive oil with regular oil. To test this, grab a few table spoons of EVOO and a drop of hydrogen peroxide. When you combine the two and your olive oil changes color–its mixed. Just a food for thought!

Once we got home, we went and got our suites on and hung out poolside. Jen conned me into getting in the pool but when I realized I left my hair clip it was too late. Rapunzel got her hair wet and then I figured what the heck so I just went for a little swim.

Prior to the hike.. How naive I was.

We took the shuttle to Oia but we were going to walk to a small marina to have some great fish. Well the driver said it’s a short walk, 10 minutes tops. All of a sudden I find myself hiking down a mountain. I kept repeating to Jen and myself “it’s a short walk they said…10 minutes tops they said…” Thirty minutes plus a body cramp later we made it down to the bottom. I told Jen that I will not be walking back up the mountain. I would have rather set up camp with the fish than do that. The food was great though. I guess I would say that the hike was worth it. I know I sound like a baby, but look at the picture below, see those people that look like ants that’s where we started out. I’m sure you can relate a little better now.

See the castle/ruins up at the very top–thats where we started.

Once we finished dinner, our shuttle came and picked us up from marina. WHAT A RELIEF. My prayers were answered that night. After that hike it was a shower and an early bed time for me. Alls I can say is the hills beat me again.