I find a lot of my hidden gems while traveling and living in London from The Londoner blog. If you haven't checked her out, Rosie's posts are informative, fun, chic, and always gives you a bit of wanderlust. Lucky for me, she had just traveled to Santorini right before our trip there, and she had great recommendations regarding what to see and do, particularly in Oia. Thanks to Rosie's blog, we found this delicious gelato place! And we had devoured everything before I had the chance to snap you a pic ;)! Oia is a charming village {and by charming, I mean, straight out of a postcard} in Santorini, consisting mainly of teeny, tiny boutiques, hotels, and restaurants {and just the cutest pups hanging out!}. For real, does it get any better than this? Oia is everything I had hoped it would be: the clean, white facades, the bright blue accents, and of course, the vibrant bougainvillea flowers that decorate the buildings. And although Oia is impressive, it's so crowded {I'm talking' body-to-body packed}, it can be difficult to maneuver and find a secluded spot to watch the sun setting. People on people on people. Side note: Do you ever wonder how many pictures you are featured in as a random backgrounder? When Rosie recommended "Sunsets" restaurant, and we happened to stumble upon it, we immediately asked for a seat. And I'm glad we did, because we had some great views of the highly sought after Oia sunset. If you find yourself in Santorini, at this exact restaurant, watching this perfect sunset, order the moussaka {not pictured} oh, and a glass {or bottle!} of the rosé ;). You will not be disappointed! And with that, sadly, the sun finally sets on our Greek adventure {insert weeping emoji}.
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Greece has always been one of those places I dreamed of visiting; every picture I've ever seen from the Greek Islands are postcard perfect, the colors are vibrant, everyone is always smiling, and the food looks delicious. And from the pictures you are going to see in the next couples posts, my dream of the Greek Islands is truly a reality. Most days we remained poolside, soaking in the sunshine we don't see in London and catching up with family we don't see often now that we are no longer living blocks away {insert crying emoji}. We even enjoyed lazy lunches by the pool {like this Greek salad....!}. However, we made it our goal to at least go on one big excursion to really experience the small island {it's so small, it only has roughly 38 cabs!}. So we chose a sunset catamaran tour to enjoy the water and chase the infamous Santorini sunset. The semi-private catamaran tour was 5-6 hours, starting mid-afternoon. There were about 6-7 other couples from all over the world. Besides stopping to swim near the Red Beach, take pictures of the White Beach, and swim in the hot springs, the crew also cooked us a delicious dinner, performed some songs for us, and informed us of the history of the island. You can't see the name of the catamaran, but it was appropriately named "Freedom" ;). The Red Beach, which reminded me of the Sedona Red Rocks in Arizona. The White Beach Christina, Kevin, and Ross swimming in the Aegean Sea. I was too much of a chicken to swim with the monstrous, little fishies. However, I did swim in the hot springs {right or wrong, I figured fish couldn't survive in that water}. Hot springs, where the water wasn't as warm as I had anticipated, but it was still a cool experience! The best part of the water excursion was definitely the sunset, which as you can see below, made for some stunningly beautiful pictures. I just couldn't stop taking pictures! We heard from several people the sunset is beautiful to see anywhere on the island, and we were lucky enough to watch it a couple times from a couple different locations. Next up on tomorrow's post: chasing the sunset in Oia {pronounced: ee-ya}.
So, as you may know, I took a month off from blogging; the last month of school was rather dreadful + boring {I'll spare you the deets}, so I was mainly just counting down the days until we were leaving for our big Greece trip, which I'm extremely excited to tell you about! Our trip started in Athens, where we met my cousin + her husband. We were advised to only stay in Athens for a day, as the only real attraction there was the Acropolis. And to be honest, one day was truly enough {we would've even been alright with only a few hours in Athens}. Upon arriving, I was surprised the city was littered with graffiti and appeared to be run down. I was also taken aback by the heat, as, well...you know...I'm lucky to see the sun + feel a warm breeze in London. The Athens heat was suffocating, similar to a Florida humidity in the dead of August {but, hey, I'll take that over the incessant chill + rain in London!}. As with London's graffiti, the street art seemed to reflect the social + political climate of the city. Despite the grunge, there were still picturesque moments {and a lot of stray cats!} leading up to the Acropolis. Further, walking around the Acropolis + the Parthenon was amazing--amazing that these historic ruins, dating from mid-to late 400 BC, are still standing and amazing that we had the opportunity to visit the site. That's how high we had to climb...it wasn't pretty in the heat... But after a full-on sweat 'stache + minimal complaints, we made it to the top. And oh.my.goodness was it worth it! I mean these views {amiright?}. After walking around the historic site, we relaxed at a rooftop bar overlooking the ruins {pictured below}. By the end of our day in Athens and 10+ miles later of walking, we were exhausted + sweaty. Needless to say, we were ready to be poolside/beachside in Santorini. Be on the lookout for our Santorini adventure {sneak peekage below ;)}!
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Danielle MarieChicago native. Proud teacher. Wannabe yoga instructor. Life-long learner. Royal & celebrity enthusiast. Foodie. Animal lover. London implant trying to understand a new culture and lifestyle. Follow me and my journey abroad, by subscribing below with your email address. xoxo @pdathleisureArchives
May 2017
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