My coughing has been making my nights really sucky.
So when we woke up to our breakfast being delivered, I made it outside with barely open eyes.
But if there is anywhere to just sit and soak it up, this is the place.
We had no agenda for the day except making our way to my brothers hotel for his wedding. So we ate, napped and read until it was time to get ready. A very nice lazy start to a fantastic day.
All of us that were in Santorini for the wedding arrived on Monday, Casey and Aileen were also supposed to arrive on Monday however their travel plans came to a halt in Munich. Their flight was delayed and then canceled, forcing them to stay the night in Germany. After a lot of shuffling and money, they were able to catch a morning flight on Tuesday getting them into Santorini by the afternoon. They made it, however their luggage did not. Can you imagine? A day before your wedding and you have nothing.There was no ETA on when they would get their luggage either, but luckily they were able to go shopping and expense what they bought. Santorini isn’t a terrible place to shop, they had a lot of options. A day later Casey had new wedding attire and they had bought beachwear, luckily Aileen’s dress was brought there by a friend who’s luggage did make it.
We walked with our wedding shit, in the sun, up hill to their hotel but not after getting lost…of course. We really have become accustomed to getting a ride when we want it, and I will not take it for granted again. Sweaty and sunburned we climbed up and down more stairs until we were in their hotel room and laying on the air conditioner.
Then we popped some Champagne and toasted to the soon to be husband.
When summoned, we made our way to the ceremony.
Have you seen a more dramatic back drop for a wedding? I haven’t.
Casey looked mighty fine for shopping that morning for an outfit, his friends did good. And Aileen was a stunning bride. It was a beautiful wedding.
While the bride and groom went off for photos we made our way down to the bar for some adult bevarages.
Then they did the cake cutting before the sun set.
Followed by the most incredible wedding dinner. I can see how the rich and famous get used to this type of lifestyle, it’s not too bad.
We were served a seven course meal over 3 maybe 3.5 hours. Every bite of food was phenomenal. I terribly regret not taking pictures but I wanted to be in the moment.
Once we finished the dessert course we all got in a transfer back to the Oia village to the Hassapiko bar.
I know what you are thinking, I thought the same thing… it’s for a vacation, that’s exciting right? Well, we all had a bad cold leading up to this, and sleeping wasn’t what I was getting much of at the time, so ya, 3 in the morning hurt. But, we got to the airport, on the first flight without any hiccups or coughing fits, thankfully. I literally had to have a cough drop in my mouth at all times.
We left San Diego early and got to NYC on time as the picture suggests. The layover in NYC was simple and then we were on our second leg to Athens. This leg was a good 9 hours and I started out by playing a game.
But after this rude comment, I switched to my book. (which is Book Lovers and as good as I imagined it would be.)
Finally we made it to Athens.
(If you don’t see this video because I am in a different country and my computer doesn’t comprehend.)
Once we reached Athens, we hit the ground running, until we weren’t. The Santorini airport was unlike anything else I have experienced. We should have had over 2 hours to play around at the airport, however that didn’t happen. Long story short, an hour was spent getting our luggage checked, and then we had to wait for a bus, yes a shuttle bus to take us out to our plane. The bus was a few hour late meanwhile we were only in the air for 26 minutes. However, we made it and was pleasantly surprised that our luggage made it as well.
The four of us took a transfer from the airport to Oia, pronounced Eeee-Uh. Our hotel was located at the beginning of the Oia(n)? village. This is the area you see in all of the movies. White buildings that look like sugar cubes perched on the rugged cliffs over looking the Aegean sea. There are blue domed churches dotted along the way, the landscape is breathtakingly beautiful.
There are cats and dogs happily sun bathing all over the village.
Once we got settled into our amazing room at Thirea Suites and Studios, and took a much needed shower, we met up with my parents for dinner.
Amazing right? Everything about this hotel is wonderful, except these.
Doesn’t look too terrible but I assure you this isn’t all of them. We counted and there are 139 steps. Let me tell you, after a week of coughing and the Mediterranean sun, 139 steps is no small feat. But it’s worth it when you reach the top.
We planned on walking through the village and down the 300 steps to Ammoudi bay however I didn’t have it in me. Not enough sleep and still fighting my cold, I wasn’t confident I would make it back up. So we stopped into a little restaurant that served traditional Greek dishes and had a nice dinner.
I ordered the Mussels Saganaki and a dry white wine (I can’t remember the varietal) and it was all really good. After dinner we popped into a little market by our hotel for some wine, water and snacks because no one wants to be left without options on vacation.
We poured a glass of wine and soaked in our jacuzzi, winding down from a couple of long travel days.
The one thing we didn’t prepare for was how difficult it is to find rides on the island. So if you come here, come prepared. There are very few taxis and even less Uber’s and transfers need to be reserved ahead of time or you’re left waiting.
I had made reservations at a winery a few weeks before we arrived. We forget to arrange our ride the day we got in so after climbing all of the stairs and coughing for a good 10 minutes in the sun, we finally managed to get a ride, although we ended up being an hour late to our reservations, but we made it.
We had four wines paired with two courses. The food was really good, the wine was just ok.
From the winery which was located in the middle of the island, we wanted to catch a ride on the bus down to Perrisa beach which is on the bottom of the island. We had to hike a ways back up the road to get to the bus stop. The bus is really convenient and a cheaper option to get around but it takes time to get from one side of the island to the other. We hopped off the bus in the town of Perrisa and walked seaside until we picked a beach bar to pop a squat. I don’t know why all the countries have amazing beach bars and we live in California and we have nothing like this.
The beaches were lined with shops and bars and they all offered chairs and umbrellas, all of them.
We changed into our suits, ordered a drink and soaked up the Mediterranean sun, literally, for hours.
The beaches are all black sand (rock beaches) thanks to the volcanic lava and ash. Hot as hell is what is was, like it literally did just came out of a volcano.
The water was chilly but it felt good. It was crystal clear and so refreshing to float in. I wish I could walk right into it right now.
We called our transfer for a pricey ride back to our hotel because we didn’t want an hour long bus ride.
The rest of the crew were all going to do a wine tour/dinner that evening, we were the only two losers that didn’t go. We had already done the wine thing and wanted to have a nice quiet dinner, but I did feel slightly guilty for not going. But they all had a good time, the didn’t miss us, I’m sure.
We tootled through the village, stopping for a couple of adult beverages and people/sight watching.
First up, two espresso martinis with a sea view.
We found a pharmacy and got some more cold meds because my cold is hanging on for dear life. Then we ran into this cute place with an amazing drink menu.
We found a bench and just soaked up the fact that we were in Greece.
Back to dinner, you guys, this meal was incredible.
We started off with grilled octopus with fava bean puree.
Ridiculous.
Then we both ordered risotto.
Me, pistachio risotto with sea bass. Her, wild mushroom with smoked bacon risotto with truffle oil.
Again, so so good.
For dessert, creme brûlée.
Completely satisfied, we walked back up more f*cking stairs.
And made our way back to our room, where we once again soaked in the jacuzzi until sleep beckoned us.
Tomorrow I hear there is a wedding. Although, it didn’t start of very pleasant for the happy couple. More on that next time.
Yesterday was my 8 year wedding anniversary. I spent most of the day wiping butts, not my husbands of course. He is up at work so we didn’t get to spend that actual day together, but after 8 years and two kids later that’s the least of our worries.
Kids have made our marriage stronger, well at least I think so. It has taught me what is really important in my marriage and what I need in a partner for life.
In some of my bleakest times I can always count on him to get me to laugh. It may not be appropriate but it will be funny. He knows all of my shortcomings and what I am self conscious about but he can talk me off of the ledge and out of the downward spiral I might be sliding towards.
One of the most important things he has taught me is to stand up for myself and speak my mind. I may not do it all the time, or I may do it at the wrong time, but I know he is in my corner whenever I need him. He has the courage to tell me when I am being overly emotional or dramatic but most of the time he does it ever so kindly.
We talk through most every decision that is made regarding our lives. We have the sense of adventure to keep each other going, oh we have plans my friends. Although a lot of them will have to wait until the kids get older.
He is working is tail off to make all our dreams come true and I am raising our daughters, doing my best not to screw them up too much. He is a much better father than I could have imagined having in a husband. I am surprised by how easily he picked it up and actually find myself jealous that it came so natural to him.
Together we make a good team and 8 years ago I made a really good decision marrying him.
Shane surprised me with a weekend stay-cation for our 7 year anniversary. Paradise Point is a resort on Mission Bay and somewhere I have been wanting to go for about 7 years now. Apparently all the cool people of San Diego have frequented their Barefoot Bar on Sundays, for drinks and live music. I was not one of the cool people, Shane was.
When we went to check in we were told it would be longer than they hoped for us to get into our room. Apparently the guests that checked out had “lived it up” the night before and well, you get the picture. So we had to sit at the bar and stare at this awful view while we waited. Luckily we ended up getting another room other than the one where the rockstars stayed.
The entire resort is gorgeous, you tend to forget where you are.
View from the lobby
And the view from our room was perfect.
Shane got us a bay view suite that suited us just fine.
Once we settle in we decided on a swim maybe accompanied by drinks and dinner. But the main pool was full of kids and the pool bar and grill closed at 5….on a Friday. That wouldn’t have been a huge deal but it was a big wedding weekend there and their other bayside lounge was closed for a private event. That forced us back the Barefoot bar we were at earlier in the day for dinner, no biggy but either was their food.
Saturday was the perfect day. We casually got up and sat out to enjoy the view and the weather, absolutely perfect weather.
POOL and SUN was all we had planned for the day. We sat there all afternoon, perfect day, perfect day.
Not a bad way to celebrate our 7th year of marriage.
The Art of Thyming 