A Couple of Weeks in Greece

Hello! I can’t believe I’m finally able to do a post on travel again! If you follow me on Instagram, my boyfriend and I moved to London for the summer for the expansion of his company and to get away from the summer heat in Miami. I knew we would be traveling elsewhere, but we had nothing planned as we plan things VERY last minute. Harry and I flew to Crete for a romantic holiday on the first of July. We had never been to Crete before and had no clue what to expect, however our friends are getting married there next summer and they invited us to come and check out a potential venue with them and make a nice little trip out of it. We stayed at the Abaton Hotel & Spa. I thought it was really nice, the rooms were clean, the food was pretty good, and we had our own pool! After being in London for 6 weeks, we were just itching for some sunshine. After a week of laying by our pool and stuffing my face daily with Greek salads for lunch, we decided it was time to make a move to somewhere with a bit more action! That being said, our experience was lovely, but I don’t have much to report back on the island of Crete since we literally did not leave the hotel.

Off to Santorini we go

I had always dreamed of going to Santorini, specifically Oia. I had seen it for years all over Pinterest and Instagram, and I love Greek culture and food so it was definitely up there in my travel bucket list. I had been to Mykonos before, and Harry and I wanted somewhere a bit more romantic and calm, so we decided, the night before, that we were going to Santorini the next morning. We took a ferry from Crete to Santorini which was about 3 hours and then a taxi from the port to the Andronis Arcadia hotel, about 45 minutes. The hotel was STUNNING. The boho-chic decor and private infinity pool were SPEAKING to me. Is there anything better than when a hotel has your aesthetic?! A short 5-minute walk away from the heart of Oia, the hotel was in the perfect location because it faced Northwest and we didn’t have to deal with tourists and noise like some of the other hotels which face east (you cannot get to them by car, they are inside the old city of Oia).

Santorini was even more breathtaking in person than I could’ve even imagined. The sunsets in the tiny cliffside city of Oia were truly so magical. We saw most of the city in the first day, it only takes a couple of hours to really see it all. We stayed there for 3 nights, the most memorable meal we ate there was down by the water, which we made the decision to walk to. In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t do it again, because we had to walk down 2000 steep and slippery steps…through donkey poop… alongside donkeys… it took about 35 minutes and not gonna lie it was a bit scary. It‘s 10 minutes by car, but of course I had to do it for the experience. You are literally walking down ancient pathways and remains of a castle. I wore sandals, but sneakers would have definitely been more appropriate! Back to the food, the place was called Ammoudi Fish Tavern. We sat down at the end of the sunset, right next to the water, it was perfect and SO romantic. There are tons of shops in Oia, we didn’t explore anywhere else in Santorini, but I’d love to go back. The food at the hotel was really good, but to keep it short: I’m not rushing back for the food as much as I am for the views.

Last stop, Athens

After the third day in Santorini, we decided to meet some of our closest friends from Miami in Athens. We took a 5 hour ferry, it was long, but I think I preferred the ferry to flying. I never really felt the need to visit Athens, but our friends were there staying in their family home and their whole family was there for a wedding and they invited us to join them. Athens is SO underrated, it was absolutely unreal and I wish I had more time there to explore, but we were only there for about 3 days. Our friends took us in and showed us an amazing time. Everything was incredible the food, the views, the people. I felt like I was literally in the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”… No, but seriously I LOVED it. If you can stay at the Four Seasons Astir Palace in Vouliagmeni, or in the surrounding area, DO IT. It might be the nicest Four Seasons Hotel I have ever been to. The pool, the gym, and beach are phenomenal and we loved it so much, we are literally planning to go back next summer.

We spent a lot of time with our friends and their family so we really did not do any tourist things, however we ate some of the best Greek food we’ve ever had in the area of Vouliagmeni. Here are some of my recommendations:

Best Gyros and BEST TURKEY BURGER EVER: Zaxos Grill

Best Ice Cream/Waffles: Waffle House

Beach Club: Coyoacan Playa (went for a wedding party) / Astir Beach (didn’t go but planned to)