While buying my ticket back to Athens I had an interesting conversation with the travel agent. She asked for my name and when I told her “Melanie” she looked at me with one eyebrow raised and asked, “was your mother Greek?” I told her no and she explained “Melanie is a Greek name, but here is Greece we do not name are daughters that.” When I asked her why, she replied, “it is a name meaning darkness, mystery and even evil. You should not marry a Greek man, it would break his Mama’s heart to have her son married to you.”
I watched the sun set over Oia tonight. The view of the ocean and the caldera was spectacular… I have to keep pinching myself… I can’t believe I am actually here.
The Greek mosquitoes ate me alive! 
I am highly allergic, and even with tons of bug spray they still manage to get me!
The view of the Mediterranean from the tip of the island
Yet another picture of another church
The narrow streets of Oia
Exactly what I imagined when I pictured a Greek island village
Me and the Mediterranean
Oia was filled with blue-domed buildings
Oia is tiny compared to Thira
I swear this dog was actually posing for photos!
Back in Fira, I am actually sitting right next to a pay phone. Not a bad place to call home from!
