Since meeting Maureen over a year ago, she has been talking about visiting Greece. Having been raised in the Mediterranean, it’s a place that was close to her home in Malta, but still somewhere she had never been. Well a few months back we excitedly booked tickets for Greece. The two places we settled on spending time in were Athens for its rich history and Santorini for its warm sunset and ocean views. Both destinations delivered the goods.
Ah, to be young and in love. Well relatively young. Let’s call it younger then tomorrow but older then yesterday. Traveling as a couple is something that is new to me, but I’m slowly getting the hang of it. Maureen is the ultimate travel partner and definitely makes the adventure a little bit more fun. After boarding our first flight and headed East, you can tell we are were feeling pretty good.
Maureen is the ultimate tourist and this is the smile she does when she is really happy. It’s fun to see her enjoy the new sights and sounds.
Wow, so much packed into one city. Athens is not only the capitol of Greece, but the home of an impressive ancient civilization with many of the landmarks still standing from nearly 2,500 years ago.
I strongly considered doing a blog post called “Cats of the Mediterranean” but thought others might find this topic not as amusing as myself. There are wild cats all over Greece and it was fun to sneak photos of them. Being mostly feral, they weren’t usually inclined to pose for pictures but this one cooperated.
Our last night in Athens we were lucky to catch the changing of the guards in front of the Parliament building. Much like our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the United States, the guards are dressed in fancy uniforms and perform a complicated and difficult routine from memory every hour. If you visit Athens it’s worth making a stop here to see it in person.
Gotta love when the way you board the plane is walking out onto the aircraft parking ramp and taking the stairs up.
After arriving in Santorini the first thing I noticed is it really is as pretty as all the photos on the internet. Pretty much everywhere you look is liking a living postcard! The contrast between the white buildings, blue ocean, and volcanic rock is stunning. Also the streets are small and cozy and they rarely go straight, giving the feel of a wandering maze full of shopping and food.
I couldn’t help but notice the large mountain on the south side of the island. I had brought my tandem paraglider and flying with Maureen was high on my list of things to do. More on the mountain later, but this 1,500’ peak would later provide one of the most special moments on the trip.
Tired from another day or travel but content and excited to be in another new place we enjoyed our first of many amazing Santorini sunsets. For the ten magical minutes that the sun is setting the entire island stops what they are doing to watch. There is something about the way the sun disappears over the horizon in the Mediterranean that is unlike anything I had seen before.
The next day we rented a scooter and explored the island. Definitely the best way to get around.
By far my favorite village on the Island was Amoudi Bay. A tiny fishing port that you can either walk down to from Oia, or drive down. Be warned car parking is extremely limited but if you have a scooter or ATV you’ll find a spot no problem. There are great food options and I got to have my first taste of grilled octopus. It’s great! Also be sure to take the small path that wraps along the sea cliffs. It leads to an amazing little rocky beach where you can swim out and jump off some rocks. A really neat spot without as many people as some of the more touristy beaches.
Ha. I guess every night is date night when you are on vacation. Another epic day, another epic sunset.
The next day I was itching to get up in the air so we traded in our scooter for an ATV and went on a paragliding mission. The only beta I was able to find on paragliding in Santorini was an old youtube video showing some ridge soaring. Using the islands off in the distance of the video we were able to figure out what side of the island it was on. Then using Google maps, we matched up the field they landed in with some terrain features on the satellite image. We took a chance but after a 20 minute ATV ride we found the same spot they were flying in the video! Conditions were strong but smooth and we were able to fly for an hour before top landing right next to the ATV. What a treat!
After our awesome air bath with the paraglider it was time to spend a day on the water. We signed up for a sailing tour and met about 15 other people for a nice adventure around the island on a catamaran. It was cool to see Santorini from the sea and make some new friends.
As time on the island was winding down, my curiosity about that tall mountain on the southern end of the island got the best of me. A little bit of research told me that it was called the Mountain of Prophet Elias and is home to a monastery that was built in 1712. To me it looked like the ultimate spot to fly and with the conditions looking good for paragliding, Maureen and I took the ATV and went to find a launch spot. A 25 minute drive later we found what we were looking for. Arriving at the top of the mountain, we were already excited with the view and we weren’t even in the air yet.
There were small bushes everywhere that made the launch interesting as they like to grab the paraglider lines. It actually took 3 launches to get off the ground as I had a small knot in my lines that I couldn’t find with the wing on the ground. Finding the knot was made more difficult by the un-even terrain and twigs that kept getting stuck in the lines. Right about when I was going to call it quits, Maureen spotted the knot and the next launch we took off easily.
The smooth ocean air was flowing up the mountain just perfectly for a tandem flight. I couldn’t believe that we got to fly off the highest peak in Santorini! I was counting my lucky stars for sure. We stayed up long enough to watch the sunset and then landed in the last rays of twilight right near where we started from. Those moments we spent in the air watching the sunset over Santorini are ones I will never forget, made even more special by the company I shared it with.
Our last night on the island could not have been spent in better fashion. We packed up the paraglider in the dark and took the ATV back into town. Hungry and thirsty we treated ourselves to souvlaki and walked around town with that body buzz you get when you accomplish something that you really wanted to do. The adventure continued the next day as we left the island for our next destination, but it wasn’t until a few days later that my head came down from the clouds of that final flight, watching our last Santorini sunset from the sky.
Neil Amonson
Jump for Joy
Santorini, Greece
© 2026 KAVU
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