Where Should I Travel to Next Poll: The Greek Islands

One of my passions in life is to travel. I was bit by the travel bug six years ago when I ended up traveling in the south of Spain by myself (I wasn't supposed to travel alone and believe me that it was a tough and wonderful trip when my friends left me). In the last two years, I've also traveled to Hawaii, Seattle, and Brazil, all very beautiful places in their own special way.

For the past two months, I have asked you to vote on where you think I should travel to next in the world. The places that you got to chose from were Italy, The Greek Islands, Australia, Costa Rice and Zurich. Twenty-two of my fabulous readers for Under The Sheets-Shhh voted and chose...drum roll please... The Greek Islands. I would be very lucky to be able to go and visit any of these places on the list, but was thrilled to see that you chose the Greek Islands.

I fell in love with one of the islands, Santorini, several years ago through a pastry chef friend of mine. She had just returned to San Francisco from a trip to Santorini with her family. She fell in love with the island. She had fallen in love so much that she wanted to recreate some of the desserts that she had tried and bring them to the San Francisco restaurant that she was working at. I felt drawn to her holiday pictures and even put one of them up at on my cubicle at work. Each time I gazed at the picture of Santorini, I started day dreaming of what it would be like to visit there and to see Greece.

The Greek Islands are a collection of over 6,000 islands and islets that belong to Greece. Only 227 of the islands are inhabited, and only 78 of those have more than 100 inhabitants. Out of all of the islands I have wanted to visit the island of Santorini for its natural beauty, architecture and warm people. Santorini is home of a small, but flourishing wine industry due to the islands special grape varieties. Another very interesting fact is that this island is the site of the most active volcanic eruptions in the world. The volcano which last erupted in 1956, is currently "asleep" and could erupt again at any time.

Most of the Santorini houses are built into the hills of the islands and overlook the water which gives the most amazing views and even more amazing sunsets. This island seems to have an diverse mixture of boutiques, wineries, and galleries. It also has a prehistoric museum, plenty of white sand beaches, amazing music and food. And the food... Ahhh close your eyes and imagine the food. The food is combination of all of the different cultures and people that have inhabited the island. Fish is served throughout, there was a cherry tomato conference on the island in 2002 and I've read that Santorini serves a heavenly ice cream with rose petals.

This island also seems to be a photographers dream. Each photograph paints the picture of this hidden gem of an island. The photos show the contrasts of color between the radiant blue of the ocean, the bright white walls of the buildings and reddish-pink petals of the flowers.

I can see myself exploring the island and needing only to carry my digital camera, straw hat, sun tan lotion, and some money for the entire day. I can also see Santorini as one of the most romantic honeymoon getaways. A couple must feel like they are lost on a paradise island, especially after the stress of a wedding.

So while I save my pennies to visit this island, I will settle for going to our local Myconos Greek Restaurant on Polk Street here in San Francisco. The restaurant walls are covered with pictures of different Greek Islands. The house specialty is dolmades (rice and herbed stuffed grapes leaves), Spanakopita (spinach and fresh herbs rolled in filo pastry oven baked, topped with feta cheese) and lovely wine.

I hope to one day be one of the lucky ones to see such beauty. Thank you for voting. What I should I poll you on next? Have you ever been to the Greek Islands? If not, would you now like to visit Santorini?