In the Greek Isles...but not without adventure!

So on top of my advice to never fly United, I'd like to add never fly Aegean Air...or Olympic Air...and maybe steer clear of all Greek airlines just to be safe.

As of my last post we were waiting to get on our plane from Athens to the Island of Santorini. What we didn't know was that we'd be waiting another 26 hours before our luggage would meet us in Santorini. The Aegean service desk never really did tell us the full story about our bags. They were either left in Munich, lost in London Heathrow, left in Athens, or maybe they ended up in Gatwick. When our bags were finally located it seemed like they waited for US to call THEM to confirm they were our bags. The conversation went a bit like this:

Agent - Sir, we have found 2 bags in Gatwick that have a 60% match to yours.
Me - Hmm, ok, can you tell me about them?
Agent - Yes, there is one larger blue one and a smaller red one.
Me - O...k...
Agent - They contain clothing, electronic devices, food, and religious artifacts. Does that sound like your bags?
Me - Well, I'm sure we didn't have any food, and the only thing I can think of for religious artifacts are some Hawaiian flower necklaces for a party. Though I'm sure at least one of our bags has an ID tag on it that should have our information.
Agent - Yes, the message I have about the bags says there is a tag reading "Ryan Fauchoux, 622...<insert the rest of my information here>" Is that you?
Me - Yes! Wait, how does a bag with my actual contact information, which YOU have only score a 60% match and requires my confirmation before you ship it?! What constitutes a 100% match? Would you have to open the bag and actually find ME in it to be sure?!

Ok, so that last part wasn't actually spoken, I was just happy our bags were located and they did arrive at our hotel the next day despite the agent saying it could take another day or 2 to get to us.

We were fairly well prepared with spare clothes and toiletries in our carry on bags, but we neglected to pack shorts and the weather in Santorini is fantastic, which brings me to all the happier, less stressful parts of being here.

As of now all 26 1/2 people (I'm only counting the 5 month old baby as 1/2) have arrived. We have all found each other's hotels (with the exception of the bride and groom staying at a secret location for fear of pranks on their wedding night) and have been having a great time. The town of Thira is a busy little tourist place on the cliffs overlooking a volcano. There is a lot of activity here. Shopping, bars, restaurants, tours, etc. Other areas of the island are much quieter and laid back. There are some excellent white sand, red sand, and black sand beaches around and the water is very clear and comfortably warm.

As I assume is normal in parts of the world that don't get snow or icy roads the drivers here seem insane. One of the guys in our group watched a guy ride a moped down a steep coblestone road while talking on his cell phone AND holding a lit cigarette. Despite the drivers I haven't seen any squished tourists on the roads. Mel and I even decided to join ranks with the motorists and rented a car for a day here. We were glad we did and got to see some areas we otherwise wouldn't have.

I'll include a couple pictures of the island and hopefully post more to a Shutterfly account as time permits:

Town of Thira (aka Fira depending on what map you read)

 Beachside restaurant by a black sand beach:

 Looking down to the old port in Thira from the wedding reception site:

Also, props to Casio for making a camera that fits into a 1L beer stein in Munich and can then be washed off in the Agean sea days later!

Goodbye for now,
Ryan