After our wedding festivities came to an end, Jared and I embarked on a two-week trip to Greece, where we enjoyed some of the islands of the Cyclades, Crete, Athens, Delphi, and then a quick afternoon in Paris. We took a TON of pictures and are excited to share them with everyone.

Mykonos

Our first stop was Mykonos, widely considered a party island, where we spent two days and nights. Our hotel, Hotel Alkyon, was located in Mykonos Town, the main town on the island. The location was great - a 10 minute walk into town but close to the main roads, that we could leave easily to explore the island. Our first night in Greece, and best meal in Mykonos was on the evening we arrived at a restaurant called Kounelas Fish Tavern. It took us some time to find, located within the labyrinth that is Mykonos Town. (The town truly is a labyrinth, with dozens and dozens of roads intertwined; some short some long, and only a portion with street signs.) We snagged a table outside, right by the grill, where we could watch the fresh fish people ordered being grilled. Jared ordered and enjoyed some fresh sea bass, and I enjoyed some risotto with fresh mussels. All dinners in Greece come with bread and olive oil, and often times olive tapenade, which Jared is a HUGE fan of now. With some white wine from Greece we were set, and stuffed quickly. It was a great kick off to our trip.

During our first full day in Greece we rented a quad and explored the island. We stopped first at Ftelia Beach, in a little cove on the northern part of the island. It was pretty secluded, and pretty empty, so we continued on to Panormos Beach, where we spent the morning. One of the nicest things about many of the beaches throughout the islands is the set up of beach chairs and umbrellas and a nearby bar or restaurant for food and drinks, known as an organised beach. We ordered cocktails, ventured into the water as far as our ankles (it was pretty cold), and soaked up the sun. We departed mid-day, setting off for the town of Ano Mera, where got a quick lunch at Taverna Vangelis where we enjoyed some friend calamari, zucchini balls, and saganaki, the Greek fried cheese specialty. Sufficiently full of unhealthy fried food, we moved onto Elia Beach, a much more cosmopolitan beach, complete with some good old fashion nude sunbathing. We stayed through the early afternoon then headed back to our hotel to rest a bit (that strong Aegan sun will wear you out) and to get changed for dinner. For dinner we hopped back onto the quad and travelled down to Bay Ornos, viewing the fabulous sunset along the way. We ate dinner at Kuzina Restaurant, which was good; I ordered a salad with king crab, and Jared had seafood risotto. From there, we headed to Paradise Beach to witness what Mykonos is known for: PARTYING. We stopped at a nightclub, where we were definitely amongst the oldest people there, and probably the only married ones. Most in attendance were young, good-looking twenty year-olds. We ordered a couple of drinks, enjoyed them laughing at the entire situation – including our presence – and departed shortly after that.

On day two we were pretty lazy. We returned our quad, checked out of our hotel storing our bags with the reception at our hotel, and headed into town, where we grabbed a cab to Bay Tourlos, where we spent the morning at the beach. It was really windy that day, blowing sand everywhere, but we stuck it out for a few hours. We had a snack from Epistrof Taverna, cucumber, tomato, hummus, olive tapenade, bread and a selection of meats, and a few drinks, before calling it quits on the wind. We walked back into Mykonos Town, did a little souvenir shopping, stopped to rehydrate with Coca-Cola, Mythos and baklava at Nikos Tavern, before heading back to our hotel, where we relaxed by the pool. Around 4:00 we headed to the port for our 4:30 ferry to Paros, where we learned that it was delayed by an hour and a half. (This was our introduction to the Greek ferry service. Our biggest disappointments in all our travelling revolved around the ferry services.) We grabbed dinner by the port (don’t have the name of that place, but don’t worry, it wasn’t great) departed around 6:15.

We loved our time in Mykonos. Originally I didn’t think we needed to go to this island, thinking it was largely a party island. While it definitely has a certain party atmosphere, it is quiet in certain areas, and absolutely beautiful. It has the bluest water, sandy beaches, and mountainous backdrops. The towns are white washed with colorful doors, new and antiqued, with upscale restaurants and simple tavernas. Oh, and don’t forget the beautiful sunsets, with a sky changing from blue to yellow to orange to red to purple, all in a half hours time. 

Paros

The next stop on our trip was the island of Paros, south of Mykonos. We traveled via ferryboat, our first experience with the ferry system. We arrived in Paros late in the evening, and went directly to our hotel, the Paros Agnanti Hotel, located in Krios Beach. We checked in, enjoyed an evening cocktail by the pool, made a plan for the following day, then hit the hay. During our day in Paros, we traveled to Kolimbithres Beach, a beach on the northern part of the island. It was one of the smaller beaches we visited, and its location on the bay (with shallow water and regular water taxi service from the larger towns Naossa and Parikia) brought a lot families to the area. We enjoyed a few hours there, and around lunchtime, jumped on the water taxi to Naoussa, a 15-minute ride across the bay. We walked around for a bit, taking in all of the authentic fishing boats and hanging fish (see below) and ultimately settling on Axivos Restaurant for lunch (sorry, no link), where we had big bowls of pasta with seafood. This lunch was our first experience with the Greek tradition of being offered watermelon at the end of a meal. Waiters typically deliver it as you settle your bill, and it is a refreshing addition. After lunch we attempted to visit the town museum, but it was closed, so we grabbed a cab back to our hotel, where we spent a few hours by the pool. In the late afternoon we headed into Parikia, the main port of Paros. We stored our luggage and spent a couple of hours walking around the town. Our time in town was meant to be shorter but our ferry was delayed. We used it to our advantage though, visiting Panagia Ekatontapyliani, also known as the 100 Doors Church. It is a beautiful church, dating back to 326 AD. It has an interesting history too, which can be read here. We also had time to visit the Paros Public Library, which made me super happy. As the evening approached we grabbed an ice-coffee and some water to rehydrate, collected our luggage, and departed for Ios. Photos of our 20 hours in Paros are below. 

Ios

Jared posted a photo to Instagram while we were away, in a t-shirt that says 'I <3 IOS'. While we can only really speak to the little town we stayed in, and while it might not be love, our time in Ios was positive. We arrived pretty late, around 9:30 (damn Greek ferries) but were picked up but our hotel (Ios Palace Hotel) which made life easy. After a 15-minute ride we arrived, checked in, and had dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Tomatini. Sometimes hotel restaurants can be hit-or-miss, but we were very pleased with our dinner there. The menu was limited, but as Jared put it, "What they did they did well." It was one of the only meals I had meat at, pork meat balls with mint paired with crushed tomatoes and served with a crisp pita, and I was glad I did. Plus, this was the first restaurant where our waiter came back to ask how everything was (one of the big differences between restaurant service in the U.S. and many of the tavernas and restaurants we ate at.) Moving on. On Friday we headed to the beach early, and stayed through the early afternoon. The beach, Mylopotas Beach, was simple, quiet but not deserted, sandy not rocky, and the water was a bit warmer than Mykonos, which was nice, and cost of beach chairs and an umbrella pretty inexpensive. After lunch (smoothies and sandwiches from a local shop) we spent the rest of our afternoon poolside at the hotel. It sounds like we were pretty lazy in Ios, and we were. In my defense though I finished the first of two books that day, The Kitchen House (part of the honeymoon bag from my bridesmaids and a really good read.) So, not totally lazy. In the late afternoon/early evening we headed back to the Ios port to catch our ferry to Santorini. 

Santorini

Santorini, beautiful, beautiful Santorini. While chatting with one of our cab drivers (an older gentleman) in Paros, he asked Jared and I about the remainder of our trip. When I shared that we would be moving on to Santorini in a couple of days he replied, "Aah, Santorini is something special." I echo those words now, after spending three days and nights there. It was the highlight of our trip, and a place we will definitely return to. And while I could spend this entire section talking about the beauty of the caldera and the spectacular sunsets over it, I won't, but I will get to it a bit later. Instead, I'll share what occupied our three days.

We arrived in the early evening, and after a quick cab ride, at our hotel, On The Rocks, in Imegrivoli, before sunset. We immediately took in the view from the terrace of our room. (If you have seen pictures of Santorini, specifically the side of the island that overlooks the caldera, you know that the villages are built into the side of the cliff, hundreds of feet above the water. It is breathtakingly beautiful and a bit terrifying at the same time. Out in front of you are the Aegean Sea and the famed Santorini volcano.) As we walked to dinner, we watched the sun set, catching the last little bit as we sat down to eat at Mezzo, recommended by our hotel. Mezzo served traditional Greek cuisine, which was excellent, and while they did not continue the tradition of watermelon at the end of the meal, they adhered to another, the offering of some port, which Jared enjoyed.

On Saturday we rented a quad, and set out for the beach. The first beach we sought out was pretty dead, so we continued on. We drove through the town of Pyrgos and decided to visit the Monastery of Profitis Ilias. The drive up on our quad was nerve racking; the monastery is the highest point on the island, and the road leading to it is a true zigzag. We made it up (and down) in one piece though. We walked around a bit, but could only visit the church on-site, not the monastery itself. We continued on to Perissa Beach where we spent the later morning and afternoon. This was the location of Jared's favorite spinach pie, procured along with fruity cocktails, from Yazz Restaurant. This beach was beautiful with a large mountain range to the left and dark black sand. The only downside was that the sand got so hot that we had to run to the water so our feet didn't burn. After a long stay, and one of Jared's super long beach walks, we departed. We drove around for a bit taking in some of the little villages, and stopping to do a wine tasting at Gavalas Winery. Here is a fun fact: vineyard grapes in Santorini are grown in the ground, shaped into circles, not upright as you might find throughout Italy, France and the U.S. The tour of the winery was pretty brief and we tried three different wines, all white. Another fun fact about Santorini wines is that their wines made with full bodied white grapes taste like a red wine, but according to the gal doing the tasting, don't leave you with a red wine headache the next day. After our tasting we headed back to our hotel where we relaxed by the pool for a bit, then got ready to head to dinner. We made a reservation earlier in the day to have dinner at the 1800 House (an old ship captains house ) in Ia (where the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed.) We had another great view of the sunset, and another great meal (fish for me and pork belly for Jared.) After dinner we spent some time enjoying Ia, strolling through small clothing shops and galleries, ultimately purchasing a beautiful print of Santorini to remember our time there. We left a bit later and began the long (and scary) ATV ride home. If I could make one improvement, it would be to add some streetlights along their curvy, cliff side roads.

Day two was spent at the beach again. We headed to the southwestern part of the island seeking out the “Red Beach” also known as Akrotiri Beach. It was absolutely beautiful. We had to do a small hike down to the actual beach, which was at the bottom of a cliff of red rock. This beach was largely small rock, with just a bit of sand making enjoyment of the water hard, but the being surrounded by the red rock outweighed the sand. After a few hours we departed, continuing west to Messa Pigadi Beach where we grabbed (a crappy) lunch, and eventually the water taxi to the illusive “White Beach.” We had tried in vain to drive to it earlier, following our handy dandy map, but couldn’t find it. We asked our waiter, who shared that we would need to take the water taxi. So we did. What he didn’t share was that there was no dock at the “White Beach,” also known as Aspri Beach, and that you had to wade your way to shore. Stop now and picture Jared and I with all of our stuff perched on our heads (including our phones, books, wallets, and brand new fancy camera) jumping from a boat into cold water with a rocky ground underfoot. I’m sure it was quite a site. We enjoyed Aspri Beach, despite the fact that it was ALL rock, no sand at all, and pretty bare bones. The only thing it had to offer beyond the standard beach chairs and umbrellas was an older gentleman peddling fresh fruit, mostly melons, that he sliced with an old school pocket knife, right in front of you for a few Euros. We didn’t partake, but it was fun to watch. The sun was super strong too, making our periodic dips in the water refreshing. We departed later in the afternoon (making it back to the water taxi in one piece.) During our drive back to Imerovigli we stopped at a small farm stand shop, The Good Heart, for some Greek goodies, and small world that it is, the woman who owned the shop shared that she and her little stand would be on Giada De Laurentiis Food Network show this September, that the crew had been there filming that morning (which we saw when we had driven past in initially). I shared that we were big Food Network fans and would tune in. From there we drove back to our hotel, stopping for some scenic views and pictures along the way. We spent a few hours near the pool (continuing to relish our view of the caldera). Later in the evening we went into Fira, the capital of Santorini, and had dinner at Koukumavlos Restaurant (it was excellent) which had a beautiful outdoor terrace. Similar to our evening in Ia, we strolled through town after dinner, before heading back to our hotel. The next morning we packed our bags, returned our quad, and walked the 25-minute walk back to Fira, all along the caldera. While there, we walked through their Catholic church, the beautiful St. John The Baptist, and the Santozeuum, a gallery where we viewed wall paintings from the ancient village of Akrotiri. We had lunch at Vanilia Restaurant and Bar (a Fodor’s suggestion that was ON THE MARK) before heading back to our hotel. We spent some time by the pool again, and headed to the port around 4:30 for our ferry (which was late, surprise surprise) to Crete.

Santorini was absolutely spectacular, and we would strongly recommend everyone add it to his or her travel bucket list.