Tag Archives: Hotel Hermes

Honeymoon-Santorini to Mykonos, worst boat ride ever!

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

we were separated!
we were separated!

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.

this boat was evil!
this boat was evil!

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.

Dining Room
Dining Room

we became buddies with this little guy
we became buddies with this little guy

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.
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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!

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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.

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

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.
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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.
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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.
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Honeymoon-Athens to Santorini

We arrived at the Athens airport at 1020 am. We found our tour guide with the Gate 1 sign and she gave us instructions about our next flight to Santorini. Our flight to Santorini wasn’t until 3 pm so we had a lot of time. It was so boring. I was also getting so cranky. I was tired of traveling and I wanted a shower. We got a sandwich and shared it and waited until we could go to the gate.

We finally went to our gate around 2 and our flight was delayed by a half hour. It was horrible. I was so tired. We were sleeping in the chairs. We used the internet. They had free internet for one hour in the airport. So not as good as Canada….but hey at least you got some free time. We finally got on the plane and we sat on the plane without moving for a long while. When we took off we both fell asleep. We arrived in Santorini around 445 pm.

We took a bus to our hotel and got our travel documents for Santorini. It had a map and a list of excursions we could do and other things we could do on our own. We decided one of the excursions we wanted to do was snorkeling. Once we got checked in we showered. The shower felt so good after all the traveling. Here’s some pictures of Hotel Hermes.
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Then we left the hotel to find food. We saw a little field with 2 goats and an old woman just sitting there. The walk to the beach and main street from our hotel was about 5 minutes. The beach was black rock and pebbles instead of sand. I think because Santorini is a volcano.
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We walked around trying to find a place to eat and there were so many choices. We decided on a place that had a bunch of cats hanging around at it. The cats were cute. Our first meal in Greece was a mixed grill for two that included potatoes, pork on a stick, meatballs, sausage, chicken and lamb.
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It was soooo good. We walked around more after dinner to pick up some water since we can only drink bottled water. I found a Dr Pepper that I plan on having for breakfast tomorrow!!
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On the walk back to the hotel we took a different way and ended up getting lost. We had to ask another hotel how to get to ours. Luckily we were not too far away and we made it back. I think the reason we made it was because of this church…it was our landmark.

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