Single In Santorini
Tourists filled the hills of Oia, Santorini like sardines, leaving no viewpoint unaccounted for. Silence whiplashed across the hillside as the Crayola orange sun melted into the ocean below. The silent truce we had all made was broken by the four words every girl dreams of hearing,
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes!”
A smile broke out across my cheeks and just as quickly as silence had fallen mere moments ago, cheers rang out–mine included. No, I was not proposed to. I whistled as a couple got engaged on a balcony overlooking their cheering squad and the, now, almost absent sun.
The name Oia (pronounced ee-ah) comes from the Doric dialect of the Greek language, meaning “far” as the village is quite separated from other settlements on the island. I felt far in the best and worst ways possible—far from my everyday troubles but far out of my depth. Santorini is one of the most popular destinations for proposals and honeymoons alike. As I explored the island’s stone walkways, couples strolled by blissfully arm-in-arm. One couple stopped me and asked for a photo before cheerfully sharing that they were on their honeymoon. I smiled and congratulated them before continuing down the narrow hill. I wondered, “Why am I here?”. There isn’t much to do by yourself. The couples simply take in the views and do each other.
I headed back to my hostel to sit with my doubt–a constant companion as a solo female traveler–but before I could, I met four other solo female travelers: two Americans, an Australian, and an Irish woman.
We speed-walked to the closest hillside restaurant to catch the sunset. As lovers held gazes and hands across their tables, I sat with women I had known for about 10 minutes. We got to know each other over crisp white wine and nutty baklava while the sun traded places with the stars. Our laughs stretched down the hillside, fading into the dark ocean below as fast friendships formed. Ally, the Irish woman, explained the pressure from some people back home to settle down. Tired of being asked, “Don’t you want to get married?”, to which she wishes to respond “Don’t you want to see the world?”. On that note, we threw our wine back and went to do just that. ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” lured us to an open-air bar like sailors to a siren's song. Once again a truce was made–not so silently this time–as we all scream-sang the song and lived out our Mamma Mia! fantasies.
