Category Archives: Reviews – Travel

Honeymoon-Mykonos to Athens, by air. Dinner with a view of the Acropolis

September 26, 2011 Andi Leave a comment

We woke up around 8 today and got packed to go to Athens. While I was packing and Don was in the shower I heard a strange noise. The little orange cat had gotten through our patio door and was hanging out in the hotel room. I loved this cat! He was so cute. We played with the cat for a little while and then went to breakfast. Then we did a little photo shoot with the cat and of our cute balcony. I really loved Hotel Despotiko. Everything about it was great.

The bus picked us up around 10 to go to the airport for our flight to Athens. The flight was very short, maybe 30 minutes. It was totally worth upgrading to the flight instead of doing the 5 hour ferry ride.

When we arrived in Athens our guide found us and took us to a bus. On the 45 minute bus ride to the hotel she went over things. We checked in and looked around the hotel and then decided to venture down to the plaza. Here’s some pictures of Hotel Stanley and its views. The views from Hotel Stanley were spectacular. The room itself is very basic.

We were told to take a taxi since the public transportation was on strike, but Don thought we could walk it. He was right; it was no more of a walk from our apartment in Lakeview to Downtown. We went to a restaurant close to the hotel because I was starving. It was pretty good. Then we walked and saw some sites. But we mainly saw shops. We had a beer at one of the restaurants and then walked back to the hotel. It was a good walk. But really Athens is just a city. It is unique though with all of its ruins.

We got back to the hotel and had dinner on the rooftop. I wanted to eat outside but it was so windy so we moved indoors. It was really cool because the Acropolis was lit up so after dinner we took a few pictures of it while having a drink .

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Travel

Honeymoon-Mykonos, Delos tour

September 25, 2011 Andi Leave a comment

Today we woke up around 730 and got ready. We had breakfast at the hotel. The bus came and picked us up at 9 for the Delos tour. From the hotel we went to the port and we had to walk all the way to the other side to get on the boat. We talked to a few people we had seen before like Michelle and Steve. We also made friends with an old couple that had been at our hotel. They were from North Carolina.

Of course on the walk we saw this lovely cat…

On the boat to Delos we talked to a woman about getting seasick and traveling. Delos is an island that has ancient ruins from about 5000 bc. There was running water and toilets, even a sewage system. It’s an active archaeological site and it was pretty cool. The water surrounding the island was pretty, so blue. The tour was guided and lasted about an hour and a half. It was very informative. We saw the remains of an old house and a huge house with marble. There was also a theater and the birthplace of Apollo. I will just put some of the best pictures here…

After the tour we had a snack at the café and then headed back to the boat. The boat brought us back at 130. It made us so tired. We got back and ate at a little restaurant and then walked back to the hotel. We followed the coastline so we could see the windmills.

When we got back to the hotel we jumped in the pool and laid out. We slept, relaxed and read. I love Mykonos.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Honeymoon-Mykonos – Snorkeling Beach Marathon!

September 24, 2011 Andi Leave a comment

Our alarm didn’t go off this morning. We wanted it set for 7 am, because we wanted to go to the bank and get more euros. Then we had a 9 am pick up for a car rental. Maybe the reason the alarm failed to go off was because there were power outages all over the island. So we had no power and also no shower. The power luckily came back on soon and I was able to take a shower, while Don went to the bank.

He came back with no euros though because the front desk failed to tell us banks are not open on Saturday. So after breakfast we walked to a place to get some euros. Then we got a call at 9 am from the car rental place. The guy was out front and ready to take us to get our car. We rented a smartcar. It was kind of purple and Don drove it first.

We wanted the car so we could go beach hopping. We went to Psarou Beach first. There were people every where as Don tried to park the car on a hill. It was challenging because the hill was so steep and the car had such a weird brake/accelerator system. Finally we walked down to the beach and the beach had a bunch of nice chairs and tables. The beachfront had a bunch of restaurants on it also. Even though it was busy, it was pretty quiet. We had to have lunch from the restaurant to sit at the chairs or pay 10 euros for 2 people. We figured we would just have lunch since we needed to eat. We ordered a cheeseburger and pizza. The pizza was very good.

When we first got in the water it was cold, but then it felt good. The water was so clear and the salt in it made it sparkle. Don wanted to snorkel so we got our snorkels, good thing because it was awesome. On the side there were rocks with tons of fish and sea life. Fish were surrounding us. It was so cool. I think it was my favorite beach of the day.

Next we drove to Kalafatis Beach. It was much quieter; people were mostly sleeping. There were a few restaurants on the side but we didn’t go there. We wanted to snorkel. There were big rocks with tons of sea life. I think this was Don’s favorite beach. It was fun to just ride the waves and see the fish doing the same.

Next we went to Kalo Livadi. We thought we would snorkel again but the beach was sandy with no sea life really. We saw a few fish following us around but mostly it was a beach to have a good time. We mostly just laid out and tried to get dry. The sun felt so good.

After this beach I tried driving the car. The car was very rough shifting, probably because it had the option to be a manual and it was also very hilly. Going uphill felt like you were just going to fall back down it. But after awhile the driving was okay. I did fine. Don was the navigator. We decided to stop at one more beach, Lia. It was surrounded by rocks, kind of like a mountain. We saw some people hiking. There were hardly any people at this beach. We just walked around, but didn’t get in the water. We took some pictures with some random dog. It was very quiet there. There was a restaurant that seemed kind of weird but relaxing.

Then we took the car back to the rental place. My first time driving in a foreign country was not too bad. Driving in Greece was crazy though! There were bikes, atvs, people and other cars all on these tiny winding hilly streets.

After we returned the cars we got a ride back to the hotel and took showers. Then we went out and had some gyros at a little place not far from the hotel.

After eating we did some more exploring. We found a little desert café place. We had a chocolate cake thing with ice cream. It was probably the best desert I’ve ever had. The people running the place were so nice also.

We got back to the hotel pretty early, but we were tired. But before we got home…we found cats…

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Travel

Honeymoon-Santorini to Mykonos, worst boat ride ever!

September 23, 2011 Andi Leave a comment

We woke up this morning and had breakfast at the hotel.

We made sure we were all packed then we waited for the bus to come to take us to the port. The bus came and went to several different hotels and drove us to the port. The drive was crazy because the port is at the bottom of the island so we had to drive down a cliff. We had a snack of Greek fries and a coke before getting on the ferry.

Saying goodbye to our tour guide in Santorini

The ferry to Mykonos was about 3 hours. We left around 1230 and Don and I were separated. We were in the same row but there was a giant space between us.

I made friends with a couple I sat with, Michelle and Stephen. They were from NY. They were traveling with some friends. They were pretty cool. The first half hour of the ferry was fine but then the waves got huge and the boat was just rocking. It felt like sometimes the ferry would flip over. One of the workers started passing out extra puke bags. Tons of people were puking and the waves were just constant. I was feeling horribly sick, but I wasn’t alone Michelle was also. We didn’t puke but it was completely horrible.

When we finally got off around 4 our tour guide took us to the bus to take us to our hotel. Then he told us he would be at our hotel around 450 to talk to us. When we got to our hotel there were only stairs leading up to it. We were with a bunch of old people so they were not very happy about this. We got to our room; it was room 42. The hotel was very nice, it was called Hotel Despotiko. We walked around the hotel grounds and it was very pretty. Better than the one in Santorini.

We met with the tour guide to talk about Mykonos. Then we went to walk around Mykonos City. We decided to upgrade our 5 hour ferry ride to Athens to a flight. I just couldn’t do the ferry again. Plus the flight would leave at 11, and the ferry wouldn’t leave until 2 pm and take 5 hours, so we would have a little more time in Athens. Don liked the idea of the flight also. So now we have a 40 minute flight to Athens so hopefully all goes well.

We had dinner at a place on the water and watched the sunset. The sunset was absolutely beautiful.

Then we just walked around and took a lot of pictures. Mykonos was very pretty. I was still feeling dizzy all night from the boat. Here’s some of our best pictures from Mykonos city and check out all the cats I met!

We came back to the hotel around 9. We got some water and watched a little TV, since the TV in our last hotel didn’t work.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Scuba, Snorkeling, Travel

Honeymoon-Snorkeling … nah how about Scuba diving?! in Santorini

September 22, 2011 Andi Leave a comment

I slept good last night. We slept with the balcony open and apparently it started thundering and storming so Don got up and shut it. I never heard any of this happen. We got up around 730 am so we could go on our snorkeling trip. First we went to breakfast at the hotel. It was not so good but it was free. I was getting a little worried because it was very cool outside and it looked like rain. I couldn’t imagine getting in the water but we went for it anyway. A person from the dive shop came and picked us up around 9 am. On the way she asked us if we wanted to try diving instead of snorkeling. I’ve always wanted to do diving but I have never done it so the thought of doing it today made me a little scared. After thinking a little bit we decided just to do it.

It was 85 euros a piece. I was feeling really nervous but excited also. When we got to the dive shop we filled out the paperwork, paid and got our wetsuits, boots, and flippers. Then we got in a van and drove to the port. The port was a lot smaller than the main one on Santorini. The boat was a small speedboat and it was freaking rough. I was bouncing up and down. We got out to the first dive spot and the experienced divers went out. We stayed on the boat with our instructor. He gave us a brief talk about diving. I couldn’t really focus on it because the boat was rocking and I was feeling very seasick and nervous. Finally we got up and Don got in first. We went to the back of the boat and put weights on our waist, our flippers on, mask on and then the instructor helped us put the tank on. Once the tank was on he hoisted us up and we stepped off the boat.

The first time I was in the water with all this gear on it was very awkward and I felt panicked. I felt like I couldn’t control my body very well because it kept pushing my body up. We went underwater for a little bit just to see what it was like. Then Don went with one instructor and I went with the other one, Costca. He was very easy to work with. We followed the chain from the boat anchor down. My ears hurt a little from the pressure but not that much. The first dive was awesome. We saw a few fish and saw the drop off. It was pretty amazing.

When we got back on the boat we had some water and a little croissant thing. I couldn’t really eat. I didn’t feel that sick anymore but I just couldn’t eat. So we boated to the next dive spot. It was by the island of Therassia, where we ate the day before. When I first got in the water I felt a little better about it. I felt I could control my body a little easier. Then we started to go down. This time I didn’t go with Costca; I went with the other instructor. We started to go down and my ears hurt bad. It was really giving my problems. So we would go back up a little, but I felt like he wouldn’t listen to me. It was really hurting and he told me maybe I was focusing on trying to regulate them too much. This was probably true. They started to feel a little better, in my mind I was like maybe they are just feeling better because they have burst! We went down and I saw a black sponge and a few fish. Then my goggles started giving me problems. At first I tried to ignore it but then they came off. I started panicking. My instructor brought me up and I was done. That was okay because it was the end of the dive anyway.

I want to try diving again but with gear that fits me well and lessons. The first dive was amazing, second one not so much but I want to do it again. When we got back to the dive shop we took pictures with the crew and exchanged some names for Facebook. It was a really cool experience. Costca gave us a ride back to the hotel.
Here’s some pictures from the boat ride back.

Once we got back we showered and got ready for dinner. It was early but we didn’t have lunch. We had some pizza, it was really good! We watched some dogs while at the restaurant. One of them was really territorial and wouldn’t let one of other ones into its area. But one of the other ones was okay to go in its area. It was entertaining. After dinner we went down to the beach and laid for a little bit. It got chilly so we walked back. Then it rained a little. The rest of the night we just chilled, packed, and got ready to leave for Mykonos in the morning.

GarbledSyntax