GREECE!! Ahhhhh the most beautiful place. We honeymooned here almost 5 years ago, wowzers I can't believe its been that long. Maybe its time to go back :)
Editing these pictures has been so fun and frustrating at the same time. This trip was the first time I shot on manual and the first time I edited with lightroom. I had one lens and a Nikon D90, which is a great camera, but its nothing compared to the D800 I shoot with these days. And lets just say my eye for a good photo was not as keen as it is now. Lastly, the editing I thought was so professional at the time, is infuriating to deal with now. I failed to save raw images so I could only edit over what I did 5 years ago.
Either way, reliving these memories was so fun. We started our honeymoon in Santorini. After more than 24 hours of travel, we landed in Athens only to find our bags had been lost. We boarded the plane for the last leg of our trip to Santorini in hopes our luggage would arrive the next morning.
Our hotel was a dream. We stayed in a gorgeous room on the side of a mountain. We ate cheese and drank wine on our balcony while we watched the most beautiful sunset in the world.
The highlights of Santorini include taking an ATV to Oia and a day long catamaran ride around the islands going to some of the beaches and snorkeling areas. Oia is the picturesque location that you see in all the photos. It is less touristy than Thira so much more enjoyable to walk around and take it all in. The catamaran tour we went on was on a small boat with about 10 couples. Lunch was included as well as some very cheap wine that was only made better when we added orange fanta, the classy and ultra delicious vino y tinto. Overall Santorini was everything we had imagined, romantic, stunning views, and amazing Greek food.
The next Island we visited was Naxos. We both agreed this was our favorite out of the islands we visited. Off the beaten path, less people but so much history to explore. We spent our first day getting lost in the old town. We explored the ancient ruins of Portara which is the entrance to an unfinished temple that was supposedly dedicated to Apollo. We visited Portara several times while we were there both during the day and at sunset. It is such an easy walk from the old town.
The next day we drove to the Temple of Demeter and all across the island. We stopped at several small towns and ate at tiny authentic Greek restaurants overlooking crystal clear blue water. It was such a beautiful island that is well worth the stop.
Mykonos was unexpectedly delightful. We heard so many things about Mykonos before our trip, mostly that it was a big party town and that basically the only reason to go was for the night life. Having been there I strongly disagree. We loved this island and all the beautiful cobble stone streets. It really is a unique place. The streets in the old town are so narrow which makes it really easy to walk around and shop. They have tons of waterfront restaurants where we would go for drinks before dinner.
We had our best meal of the whole trip in Mykonos at an Italian restaurant (dont tell the Greeks). They were making homemade pasta out front of Pasta Fresca so can you blame me? We had to try it. We had probably two bottles of wine between the two of us over the course of several hours (WAY too much). But our meal was fantastic.
We spent the first day in Mykonos exploring the old town, shopping, and eating along the way. The next day, we took a ferry to Delos. This is the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis and an island across from Mykonos, a historical site for a whole community that was inhabited since the 3rd millenium BC. It was fascinating to spend the day there and see the ruins of homes, forums, and an ancient Greek Theater.
Ok so I am kind of a nerd if you couldn't already tell. I took Latin for 8 years through middle school, high school and college so I was just a little too excited about seeing ancient Grecian ruins. Delphi was a dream destination for me and was another place that far exceeded my expectations. We rented a car from Athens and drove a few hours into the mountains. The weather was much cooler and the towns we drove through were vastly different than the islands. It was like a ski town with stores that sold items you would see out west but Greek-ified. We actually had some of our best shopping there and ended up buying tons of pillow covers for our house.
Delphi is the oracle of Apollo and the sanctuary of Athena. This is one of the most well kept ruins I have ever been to. The history was fascinating and the views were breathtaking. Walking through these ruins really makes you feel like you are going back in time to a historic city. Lets be real, it made my Latin dreams come true.
Athens was our last stop and we intentionally didn't spend much time there. I am not fond of big cities in general, I prefer to visit the smaller towns when I travel. But Athens does have a lot of history so we stayed for enough time to visit the must sees. We went to the Acropolis and had a lovely dinner on our last night. It was the perfect honeymoon and I can't wait to go back some day.
