Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Our Big, Fat Greek Honeymoon: Part Duex
Ahhhh...Santorini. Not to take away from the rest of our trip, but Santorini was the island I was most looking forward to. Whenever you see a picture of the Greek islands or a movie is shot in Greece, 99.9% of the time it's taken on the island of Santorini in the northernmost village of Oia. We spent six glorious days in Oia and I was really, truly sad when we left. From the moment we caught a glimpse of the island, I was already devising a plan in my head to convince Noel that we had to open up a pharmacy in Santorini!
We had to take the Blue Star Ferry from Naxos to Santorini because I had read that the best way to first see Santorini is by ferry. They say the view of the Caldera from the ferry would be totally worth it. And they were right, the view from the ship took my breath away...but getting on and off the ferry was a completely different story! It looked and felt like we were a heard of sheep or cattle getting onto the boat. Basically you dump your bags off in the storage area...and pray that no one takes your luggage then mosy on upstairs to find a seat somewhere. Getting on was crazy enough, but getting off the ferry. That was even more nuts! Had we not set up our taxi ahead of time, I would have seriously freaked out...or cried...or done both.
But it was all worth it to find out that our suite was perched furthest out on the Oia cliffs looking out into the Caldera. And it was only fitting that our "traditional" suite was named Endless Blue! We felt like movie stars leaving and arriving at our room. The location of our suite had one of the best views of the Caldera so tour groups and random tourists would always be lined up taking pictures on the gravel pathway. It was kinda cool, but kinda weird to always having people just outside the gates. Budgeting on all the other islands was totally worth it to live it up on Santorini!
Having explored the other villages of Santorini, Oia really does deserve its reputation as being the most beautiful and timeless of them all. Aside from the cruise crowds that bombard the place to see the famous Oia sunset, the village is quiet, relaxing, and incredibly charming.
During our first full day there we tried to find a place to swim. Since Santorini is formed from a volcano there aren't that many nice beaches. One of the few places to swim at is in this channel by St. Nicolas' Rock. Noel loved it. I, on the other hand, was scared out of my mind. You're basically swimming in the middle of the sea...and I had read online that the place is crawling with sea urchins. I was in and out of there in all of 10 minutes. Noel swam around and explored...and even jumped off that landing you see on the left of the rock.
At night, Oia was just as beautiful as it was during the day. After we'd eat dinner and run out of things to do in the village, we would chill on our balcony and enjoy the view.
Noel somehow managed to convince me that we needed to rent a scooter to visit the other villages. We visited nearby wineries, black sand beaches on the southern part of the island, and Fira which was way too crowded for our liking. Driving around the island, we'd also see random things...like donkeys parked outside a market.
By the way, Noel and I did ride the famous donkeys down to the old pier, but that was a horrible decision and I wish we didn't do it. We both felt so bad for the donkeys that halfway through we asked the nice Greek man if we could just get off and walk the rest of the way, but he just smiled at me and never stopped.
During our stay we befriended Nicolas and Marco who worked at the hotel. Nicolas hails from Holland and is an aspiring fashion designer. Marco is from Montenegro and is basically a traveling nomad. He works in Greece during the peak season and then in Dubai during the off season. They were two of the sweetest people ever. (And we can't forget Noel's buddy Spiros who we didn't get a chance to take a photo with). On our last day Nicolas took us on a tour of the other traditional suites while Marco gave us a tour of their sister hotel...and even though that locale was more modern, had newer amenities, and the prime location for the famous sunset...we wouldn't have traded our honeymoon suite for anything else. But we did get the best of both worlds because on our last evening in Oia, Marco let us hang out on the balcony of the Sunset Suite which just so happened to be unoccupied that night. And again we felt odd about having a beautiful private balcony to watch the sunset on while the other tourists who were lining the walkways were just staring at us.
The famous Oia Sunset
Our last sunset :(
Afterwards, we had our last meal at our favorite restaurant Saltsa. Since I had done the most research for Santorini, I had looked up all the great places to eat. Katinas by the Bay of Ammoudi, Ambrosia & Nectar, 1800 (where all the famous people eat at when in town), and Skala. But by far, Saltsa was our favorite. It's in another village called Firostefani about 20 minutes away from Oia...but it was the best restaurant we had eaten at during our entire trip in Greece. Noel and I both thought the food was even better than the famous 1800. For dessert both nights (yes, we ate dinner there two nights in a row) we had the loukomi flavored ice cream. It was literally heaven in my mouth...that's the only way I can think to describe it. It was a perfect way to end a perfect 6 days!
As were heading out to visit the Temple of Zeus, we ran into Noel's old college buddy Carlo and his wife Stephanie. Totally random since we didn't know they were going to be in Greece at the same time. It turned out they decided to do a last minute Western Europe Highlights vacay and the two days they happened to be in Greece overlapped during our time in Greece! We hung out for the rest of the afternoon, visiting a couple other tourist sites and then eating lunch at Goody's (which is Greece's version of McDonald's). After watching the changing of the guard at Syntagama Square, we said our good-byes and then hurried to do some last minute souvenir shopping on Ermou Street.
And then, before we knew it, our three-week honeymoon was over...
But it was all worth it to find out that our suite was perched furthest out on the Oia cliffs looking out into the Caldera. And it was only fitting that our "traditional" suite was named Endless Blue! We felt like movie stars leaving and arriving at our room. The location of our suite had one of the best views of the Caldera so tour groups and random tourists would always be lined up taking pictures on the gravel pathway. It was kinda cool, but kinda weird to always having people just outside the gates. Budgeting on all the other islands was totally worth it to live it up on Santorini!A video tour of our honeymoon suite!
Having explored the other villages of Santorini, Oia really does deserve its reputation as being the most beautiful and timeless of them all. Aside from the cruise crowds that bombard the place to see the famous Oia sunset, the village is quiet, relaxing, and incredibly charming.
During our first full day there we tried to find a place to swim. Since Santorini is formed from a volcano there aren't that many nice beaches. One of the few places to swim at is in this channel by St. Nicolas' Rock. Noel loved it. I, on the other hand, was scared out of my mind. You're basically swimming in the middle of the sea...and I had read online that the place is crawling with sea urchins. I was in and out of there in all of 10 minutes. Noel swam around and explored...and even jumped off that landing you see on the left of the rock.
At night, Oia was just as beautiful as it was during the day. After we'd eat dinner and run out of things to do in the village, we would chill on our balcony and enjoy the view.
Noel somehow managed to convince me that we needed to rent a scooter to visit the other villages. We visited nearby wineries, black sand beaches on the southern part of the island, and Fira which was way too crowded for our liking. Driving around the island, we'd also see random things...like donkeys parked outside a market.
By the way, Noel and I did ride the famous donkeys down to the old pier, but that was a horrible decision and I wish we didn't do it. We both felt so bad for the donkeys that halfway through we asked the nice Greek man if we could just get off and walk the rest of the way, but he just smiled at me and never stopped.
During our stay we befriended Nicolas and Marco who worked at the hotel. Nicolas hails from Holland and is an aspiring fashion designer. Marco is from Montenegro and is basically a traveling nomad. He works in Greece during the peak season and then in Dubai during the off season. They were two of the sweetest people ever. (And we can't forget Noel's buddy Spiros who we didn't get a chance to take a photo with). On our last day Nicolas took us on a tour of the other traditional suites while Marco gave us a tour of their sister hotel...and even though that locale was more modern, had newer amenities, and the prime location for the famous sunset...we wouldn't have traded our honeymoon suite for anything else. But we did get the best of both worlds because on our last evening in Oia, Marco let us hang out on the balcony of the Sunset Suite which just so happened to be unoccupied that night. And again we felt odd about having a beautiful private balcony to watch the sunset on while the other tourists who were lining the walkways were just staring at us.
The famous Oia SunsetOur last sunset :(
Afterwards, we had our last meal at our favorite restaurant Saltsa. Since I had done the most research for Santorini, I had looked up all the great places to eat. Katinas by the Bay of Ammoudi, Ambrosia & Nectar, 1800 (where all the famous people eat at when in town), and Skala. But by far, Saltsa was our favorite. It's in another village called Firostefani about 20 minutes away from Oia...but it was the best restaurant we had eaten at during our entire trip in Greece. Noel and I both thought the food was even better than the famous 1800. For dessert both nights (yes, we ate dinner there two nights in a row) we had the loukomi flavored ice cream. It was literally heaven in my mouth...that's the only way I can think to describe it. It was a perfect way to end a perfect 6 days!
We then (sadly) moved on to Athens for a couple nights before heading home. We made the requisite trip to the Parthenon. Luckily we decided to head up early and we were able to get there while the crowds were fairly thin. As we were heading out there were just masses of people and tour groups everywhere you turned. We then did some quick stops at the other ruins located nearby. Aside from the Parthenon, we were feeling "ruined out" as many people say they do when they come to Greece.
As were heading out to visit the Temple of Zeus, we ran into Noel's old college buddy Carlo and his wife Stephanie. Totally random since we didn't know they were going to be in Greece at the same time. It turned out they decided to do a last minute Western Europe Highlights vacay and the two days they happened to be in Greece overlapped during our time in Greece! We hung out for the rest of the afternoon, visiting a couple other tourist sites and then eating lunch at Goody's (which is Greece's version of McDonald's). After watching the changing of the guard at Syntagama Square, we said our good-byes and then hurried to do some last minute souvenir shopping on Ermou Street.And then, before we knew it, our three-week honeymoon was over...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Our Big, Fat Greek Honeymoon: Part I
We jetted off to Greece the next day after our wedding. Yup, that's right. Pure insanity. What was I thinking booking that flight?! We barely had a couple hours of sleep, but the exhaustion was worth it because it was the most perfect honeymoon ever! I couldn't have imagined a better place for us to spend our first several weeks together as newlyweds.
Taking a day trip to the nearby island of Delos. Fun Greek fact? It's the supposed birth place of Apollo and Artemis!
After three days in Mykonos, we packed up and superjetted (literally) off to Naxos. Noel and I fell in love with Naxos right away. It's an island that's off the beaten path but that's just now starting to draw more tourism. This island in particular is very, very chill. We stayed at the Naxos Resort which is one of the nicer hotels on the island. We did more beaches, but this time had a beautiful pool to come home to in the afternoon. We loved every second of that island.
Relaxing in the chora.
The famous Portara at sunset.
Every place we visited had these amazing old doors that you just knew were full of history. I took hundreds of pictures of them. They were just beautiful.
The view from our balcony at night.
We also had one of our best days on our trip in Naxos when we rented a scooter and just rode around pretty much the entire day. After about five minutes on the bike, Noel was in love with that thing. (And I noticed he kept finding excuses for us to rent one during the rest of our trip).
Conquering a steep climb on our scooter. There was hardly anyone on the road that day. It was as if we had the entire island to ourselves.
Heading back home after a full day of exploring.
One last vain attempt to try to find Shark Rock. We never did find it, but we did manage to catch this beautiful sunset on our last evening in Naxos.
After landing in Athens, poor Noel had to drive what was supposed to be another two hours to the seaside city of Nafplion in a stick shift. What made it even worse is that our stupid, good-for-nothing GPS got us lost. We ended up in the boondocks of Greece...at night...driving through corn fields. I kid you not I was seriously scared the dirt road would end in the middle of the corn fields and there would be no way for us to turn around. Finally, (three hours later) we finally found the charming seaside town and our awesome bed & breakfast. It was a home turned into a B&B still owned by the same family. And we got upgraded to the top suite with its own private balcony where they served us breakfast each morning. Score! I've decided that from now on when I book a reservation I'm going to put that we're on our honeymoon. We got so many upgrades on your trip it was unbelievable!
Can you believe we had to upgrade four levels to get a car this size?
Nafplion is a small city that many Greeks go to for a weekend getaway. It's a beautiful town that was previously occupied by the Venetians which is evident in the architecture in and around the old city. It was a great town to relax and unwind from the wedding and 17 hours of traveling. My favorite thing in Nafplion was climbing the 1000 steps to the Venetian Fortress to capture an amazing view of Nafplion. My least favorite thing was climbing the 1000 steps to the Venetian Fortress to capture an amazing view of Nafplion. ;) I complained the entire way to the top, but I'm secretly glad I was forced me to do it.
Exploring the Venetian Fortress
People watching in one of the town squares
After three days in Nafplion, we were ready to island hop. First stop? Mykonos! Mykonos reminded me a lot of Venice, Italy. Extremely beautiful and charming, but so chockful of tourists that it sometimes turns you off a little bit. Don't get me wrong, Mykonos has some of the greatest beaches in all of Greece, but it was just a little bit too crowded. When we ventured off into the other parts of the island, away from the chora, we found those areas to be much more beautiful and peaceful. Agios Ioannis (where they filmed the movie Shirley Valentine) and Elias Beach were two of our faves. Agios Ioannis being where Noel lost his wedding band in the ocean. Luckily I was sleeping on the beach and he had somehow managed to sift through the sand and find it after twenty minutes of diving.
The beautiful view from our balcony overlooking the chora.
To get to the beaches we used these Mykonian buses. These huge crazy things did 360 degree turns in this TINY parking lot.
Relaxing at the beautiful Elias Beach.
Getting lost in the chora. Seriously, on our first day it took us an hour to find our way home.
The famous Mykonos windmills.
The beautiful view from our balcony overlooking the chora.
To get to the beaches we used these Mykonian buses. These huge crazy things did 360 degree turns in this TINY parking lot.
Relaxing at the beautiful Elias Beach.
Getting lost in the chora. Seriously, on our first day it took us an hour to find our way home.
The famous Mykonos windmills.
So my guilty pleasure is watching a show called "Greek" on ABC Family. And guess who ends up sitting next to us during dinner in Little Venice? Amber Stevens who plays Ashleigh on the show. I know, I know. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Noel gave me the strangest look when I struck up a conversation with her table as we were leaving.
Taking a day trip to the nearby island of Delos. Fun Greek fact? It's the supposed birth place of Apollo and Artemis!After three days in Mykonos, we packed up and superjetted (literally) off to Naxos. Noel and I fell in love with Naxos right away. It's an island that's off the beaten path but that's just now starting to draw more tourism. This island in particular is very, very chill. We stayed at the Naxos Resort which is one of the nicer hotels on the island. We did more beaches, but this time had a beautiful pool to come home to in the afternoon. We loved every second of that island.
Relaxing in the chora.
The famous Portara at sunset.
Every place we visited had these amazing old doors that you just knew were full of history. I took hundreds of pictures of them. They were just beautiful.
The view from our balcony at night.
Conquering a steep climb on our scooter. There was hardly anyone on the road that day. It was as if we had the entire island to ourselves.
Heading back home after a full day of exploring.
One last vain attempt to try to find Shark Rock. We never did find it, but we did manage to catch this beautiful sunset on our last evening in Naxos.Next up...Santorini!
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