Santorini, back to England and a bit of Life Planning

We had a nine hour stop over in Santorini between ferries so decided to make the most of it and have a look around. We rented a mini bus and Mat drove us up to the top to have a look around. We went to the red beach, which was really strange. Compared to Ios this place was so quiet, very chilled out. We had dinner at a really nice restaurant that had a beautiful panoramic view of the ocean and surrounding islands. We were there for a while trying to kill time. We went for a quick cruise once it was dark around the island but then just decided to go and park back down at the port and try and get some sleep before we hopped on the 2am ferry. We were so exhausted, and while we were somewhat happy that we got to see Santorini, we were also wishing we'd paid a little bit extra and got a ferry straight back to Athens as our commute back to England took nearly two days. It was pretty painful!

After an hour and a half delay in Athens we arrived back in England around 5pm. I left the others to head back to Jackie's in Shortlands to see Mum and Katrina as they were flying out for home the next day. First things first was a shower, then sat down with them all to discuss my plans as the split with Sam had suddenly left me with the prospect of five months on my own and I was freaking out a bit. Katrina suggested a cruise in Croatia which sounded really good but because it was in a weeks time the flights were nearly 200 euros one way. Would have ended up costing too much. I decided I might look for a job but really had no idea what I was doing. It was a really nice night though, we had dinner and a few drinks, I felt so much better being with family. The next day I went with Jackie to drop Katrina and Mum at the airport which was really sad so we made it a quick goodbye and then headed back to Jackie's. I had a day on my own and just relaxed, watched TV and had a look on the internet about possible jobs etc. I had a few ideas.

The next day I headed back into London to meet up with Mat and Lucy. I had been talking to Emma from Belushi's (who we'd gotten to know from staying there a few times) about wanting to travel Eastern Europe before we'd left for Spain. Mat let me know she was keen to leave in a week or two, so went in to see her in Shepherd's Bush. Looks like I had a plan! We talked about maybe flying to Prague and then making our own way down to Croatia. She was waiting to hear back from a possible job opportunity so we planned to go ahead and book a flight in the next few days once she'd heard back from the boss.

On the Friday night I met up with my old manager Jimmy from the Temple Walkabout where I used to work five years ago when I was on my Gap Year. He now owns a bar down in Portsmouth, and let me know that if I wanted a job I could have one whenever I liked, and there were places to live. Excellent! So I thought maybe once I got back from Eastern Europe I could go down there to save a bit more. Will just wait and see what happens. It was so nice to be back at the Walkabout, nothing has changed, brought back some great memories. Was awesome to hang out with Jimmy again, and it'll be nice to know someone in Portsmouth if I decide to go down. After living in Canberra for four years I think living on the harbour would be unreal! Things are changing every day at the moment though, so will lock it all in closer to the time if that's what I decide to do.

Had a fun weekend in London with Luce and Mat before they left, had a really nice dinner at a French restaurant on Lucy's last night to celebrate our birthdays as we'd all be in separate countries when they occurred! Emma and I locked in Prague for the 2nd August which is really exciting. Felt a lot better about everything now that plans were starting to take shape.

Monday I headed down to Kirsty's in Binsted again for a few days to relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the English countryside. It's definitely a great place to regather and do some soul-searching, have some quality 'Me' time. Kirsty took me to Portsmouth to have a look at my potential new work place/home which was really nice. We had a great dinner at Zizzi's and a lovely chat. It's so nice to spend time with her, she gives great advice but is also so much fun to have silly chats with too :) On one of the days we had a really nice lunch at the local pub and then chose some beautiful flowers from the garden shop and went home so I could learn how to plant! I am proud to say I now know how to properly and successfully plant flowers :) Very keen to have my own garden one day now! Took a lot of photos of the garden and the nearby countryside...I could definitely spend a lot more time in that part of England. That night we had a girly cocktail evening and experimented with a number of different cocktails doing taste testers and cooked beer can chicken. She was so lovely and brought a birthday cake out at the end which she didn't have to do...but we sat out in the garden, ate our cake and drank Bailey's until around midnight. Was such a nice day. Off to Jackie's today for a birthday dinner at her place, I'm so lucky to have such wonderful family in England! Sad to leave Binsted but no doubt I will be back. Then off to Wimbledon on Friday to spend my actual birthday with Elspeth. Really looking forward to it, then Prague on Tuesday of course!