I promised Nathan that I would make plans for only 1 day while we were visiting Santorini. The rest of the time we compromised on how to spend our time: Drink beer by the pool. Make twice daily pilgrimages for gelato. You can guess whose choice was whose.
And so, for our first (and only planned) day on the Greek island of Santorini I had Nathan up and out the door by 8:30AM and we staggered back around 1AM.
Our morning adventures had us meeting up with Olaf Reinen of Shotz Tours for a one-on-one morning of photography and an opportunity to explore an area of Santorini that we wouldn’t have come across otherwise.
He made us realize that no one is ever going to weep at our photos and ask us if they were shot in manual mode, but that the important thing to remember is to get the shot. Get the shot. The point was made very clear when he asked what I would do if I was taking a photo of the water at a scenic viewpoint and all of a sudden, behind me, there was a donkey with a monkey on top, and the monkey was juggling fire sticks. Well, it was clear that of course I would want to get a photo of this crazy sight, because, really, who would believe me otherwise. And it was also clear, that if I was in manual mode, there was absolutely no way I could react fast enough to get that photo.
And so, with a new perspective, and the additional teachings of using the exposure compensation and histogram functions on the camera, we set off to Emborio, the traditional trade center of Santorini, and the largest village on the island, where we stopped every few steps to take photos because every few steps was something new and beautiful we wanted to capture and remember.
Locally grown pomegranates
Around every corner there was another brightly-coloured door, aged corridor, blue-domed church, or vibrant bougainvillea draped over bright white buildings. We could have spent all day with Olaf taking photos, showing him our histograms like students looking for approval from their teacher, which I guess we were. But alas…I had plans for the rest of our day. Only 4 hours of our day were allotted for photography!
And so we rushed back to our hotel for a quick wardrobe change before we were climbing back up the 100 steps to the main village of Oia to start our next adventure.
We boarded a 45ft luxury catamaran with 11 other passengers and enjoyed one of the highlights of our trip!
Six hour sailing tour with Santorini Sailing, with a fantastic crew that took us to swim at Red Beach, the Hot Springs, cooked us a gourmet meal onboard, plied us with beer and wine, and sailed us into the perfect position to watch the sunset.
Bronzed from the sun, happy from the wine and sleepy from the salty air, we made our way back to our hotel. The full moon was casting a glow on the water and lighting our way.
And then I turned and out of nowhere, a man riding a donkey comes around the corner. Surprise! I got the shot!
So maybe it wasn’t a monkey riding a donkey juggling fire sticks…but, I still got the shot!
Adventures On the Road 
