One Month in Europe: Part 8, Santorini

Ahh! We’ve finally arrived. The final destination. Santorini, Greece. Heaven. A dream. Crystal clear blue and white visuals that burn in my memory. I am thankful the memory bank in my brain was given this gift.

Whenever I’m having a stressful day I will zone out and picture myself in Santorini. I cannot even believe it’s real. I will always be smitten with it and light up when another traveler mentions it, because it’s just that magical.

We purposely ended our trip here so that we could wind down and relax, soak in some sun and chill out after a lot of travel. It’s a bit of a hike to get here, but well worth it.

I will start by saying that my biggest regret in all of our travel was booking our stay in a bad location in Santorini. It doesn’t mean that it also wasn’t my favorite part of the trip, but it just made things more difficult. I found an adorable Airbnb with good reviews in Mesa (centrally located) and just went for it because it had a pool, a super host, etc. Don’t do that. Stay in Oia or Fira, my recommendation would be Oia. There are some awesome cave houses to book in that area, that’s what I’ll be doing next time for sure. Oia was about a 20 minute ride away from Mesa and we had to take a bus so it got a little annoying - but I digress. Who am I to complain about being in one of the most beautiful places in the world?

Oia and Fira both have adorable shops, restaurants, and loungy areas where you can sip wine and gaze out into the water and the cave homes nestled on the terrain. The main difference with Oia was the sunset and amoudi bay. To get to amoudi bay, you can ride a mule (donkey?) down the many steps to get to the waterfront. From there, there’s a volcanic path that you’ll walk to get to the bay where you can swim and do a little cliff jumping (which I did, and I was terrified). There’s a certain area where everyone stands to watch the sunset - but instead my husband and I had dinner on the water after swimming in the bay (I don’t remember the name of the place, but it had excellent seafood and orange chairs) and watched the sunset without anyone trying to get in front of us. It was the best front row seat of my life.

on the way to the bay

Walking to the bay

Oia sunset

The colors and images in Santorini are just gorgeous. From the blue doors to the plants, everywhere you look is stunning. And clear. And magnificent.

Another thing we did in Santorini was get a massage at caldera in Oia which was a little hike but totally worth it. Couples massage in Greece are a once in a lifetime thing for most - so yes please. Nearby there was also a community pool called Lioyerma just incase you were staying at an airbnb without one, mot hotels have their own pool. Nice spot to just chill out and have some cocktails. Sunset is supposed to be beautiful from that location as well. As far as dining goes, I can’t tell you the name of anywhere we went - but it’s Santorini so you can’t go wrong. Of all our travels in Europe over the month, Chris and I we most impressed with greek food! The fresh salads, seafood, yogurt with grapes and honey - so delish. There is also a very rich and thick coffee drink that all of the folks in Greece rave about. Definitely coming back, but next time, possibly exploring a new greek island. If it had to be Santorini again? Don’t twist my arm.

I hope you enjoyed my journey - even though it took about 3 years to document it all on this blog… :)

Now that my husband and I have a child, traveling is paused for the moment while he’s an infant, but we’ve vowed to not let that stop us. We’re looking at Southeast Asia or potentially another trip to Paris for our next venture when the little man turns 1. Thanks for sticking with us!

One Month in Europe: Part 7, Athens

We had one day to spend in Athens before catching our flight to Santorini, and I was incredibly impressed! For some reason I thought of Athens as dark, dingy and kinda blah - but it turned out to be bright, beautiful and totally interesting. Since time wasn’t on our side, we asked our cab driver what we should do on our way to our Airbnb from the airport. We decided to hit the major landmarks and do light research on places to eat. Our first destination was the Acropolis, which contains several historical buildings - most notably the Parthenon. We were lucky to get a bright, sunny day which made it all the more enjoyable.

One of the first landmarks we laid our eyes on was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, built in 161 AD and was originally a concert venue. It’s enormous and impressive and the patterns are gorgeous.

One of the more impressive architectural remains was the Erechtheum, an Ancient Greek temple dedicated to Athena and Poseiden. The famous "Porch of the Maidens" features six female statues as columns which drew me in immediately (see key photo). It’s absolutely breathtaking and the detail is worth every second of the time you spend gazing at it in admiration.

Sorry about the semi glamour shot.

The main event at the Acropolis is the Parthenon, which has been going through a restoration since 1975 (woah!), hence the scaffolding. Regardless, it’s still a marvel and a famous symbol of ancient Greece, well worth the visit.

We also haphazardly stumbled upon the changing of the guard at the Parliament Building, which was fun to observe in real time. The dedication of these guys I tell ya!

Despite our short stay, we were also lucky enough to catch the Temple of Olympian Zeus - yet another mind blowing landmark from ancient Greece.

We didn’t do much else other than stroll and check out as much as we could in 24 hours, but if I had the option I would have stayed longer! Greece in general is an amazing place and I’ll get into the culture and food more in my next post about our final destination, Santorini. Thanks for staying with me!

One Month in Europe: Part 4, Florence

Our first stop in Italy was Florence. We only had two days built into our itinerary so we wanted to make the most of our time. Since we were sort of winging the middle part of our trip, we booked a very last minute Airbnb and it worked out perfectly. We were close to the Statue of David at the Accademia Gallery and about a 10 minutes walk into central Florence. 

I'd visited Italy about ten years ago, but only traveled to Rome and Venice. I'd heard so many mixed reviews about Florence vs. Rome, so I thought it was time to see for myself. Florence to me is smaller, cleaner and has more of a boutique feel to it than larger and grittier Rome. They are just different, both extraordinary in their own regard. 

We made a point to see the statue of David, and eventually caved and bought the group tour tickets while waiting in line. The line was a 3 hour wait, and we just didn't have time for that, not with only 2 days on the itinerary. If you have luxury of planning ahead, I'd look into the best times to jump in line for David, or purchase a ticket ahead. One of the most memorable experiences of our trip, I was blown away by the scale of this marble work of art. And the fact that Michelangelo was only 27 years old when David was created. 27?! I was watching Netflix and going to bars. Ugh. And the fact that I'd read about him in Art History but seeing the statue in person was truly the only education I ever needed.

The other majesty of Florence is the Duomo. It truly took my breath away. It's one of those landmarks you have to experience in person - the magnitude of it all can't be captured in a photograph. We didn't go inside, buy tourist tickets, or climb to the top. We simply admired it's greatness as we passed by, snapping a few pics along the way.

I also highly recommend strolling through the Boboli gardens. I think Chris and I walked 30k steps this day. The grounds are massive and absolutely beautiful, statues and treasures at every turn. We hiked to the very top where we found a garden maze and extraordinary views of Tuscany. 

Our food game wasn't really strong in Florence, we popped into random places - some good, some bad. Gusta Trippa was a very authentic joint that served lampredotto, which is a popular Florence meat (the cooked stomach of a cow). I was grossed out, my husband loved it. 

Right before we left, I was adamant about visiting a different sandwich shop that was listed #1 on Tripadvisor. It was 9 am, I didn't want a sandwich, neither did my husband - but I insisted. I HAD to try the #1 sandwich place before we left! This is where things get really sad. I barely understood the sandwich maker, ordered something terribly disgusting, and sat outside with my poor victimized husband who didn't want a sandwich, forcing him to bite into this undesirable sandwich. That was when I had to really take a good look in the mirror and tell myself to get over FOMO if it's not meant to be.

When I was in Europe in 2006, there was no Tripadvisor. There were no stickers with star ratings in windows. It was perfectly mysterious, adventurous, and story book like. Your expectations weren't let down if the food wasn't great because the place "had 5 stars." You weren't relentlessly chasing hype and other people's opinions. You were just there, enjoying the city in the most authentic way. Those were simpler times, times that I miss because they were so untouched and real. Europe is still magical, but back then it was truly a damn unicorn. 

While we wanted to visit the Uffizi Gallery, there wasn't time, and we were exhausted form cramming in as much as possible – but it's definitely another place to check out while in Florence. Onward to Rome!