Greece Is A Life Changer
I joked with my friends and family when we got home that my life peaked in Greece. And honestly? I think it still rings true. This trip meant so much to me and to be able to experience it with Jack and my best friends by my side made it all the more special!!
After traveling to Hawaii for my 23rd bday with our friends, we quickly decided that we all needed to plan our next trip as fast as we possibly could. Fast forward about 2 weeks and this text popped up!
From there we began our planning and ultimately decided to book our trip through a travel agent that our friends have used before! He made it SO easy and honestly took so much stress out of planning! He also arranged all airport transfers which made it that much easier to get off the plane and make our way to the hotel!
We received our confirmations about a week or so later and the countdown to October began!
We left on October 19th with a layover in Paris on our way into Athens. Unfortunately, we missed our connecting flight, but at the very least, Jack and I had 8 hours to go walk and shop around Paris, and it was his birthday! (He’s a real trooper.)
We made our first stop at Dior on Montaigne (iykyk) and honestly it’s the closest thing to Barbie’s Dream House in real life… After we enjoyed a latte and did some drooling over shoes and bags, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and sat down to soak in some sunshine. Mind you that we’d been up for about 26 hours at this point and we were beginning to get a bit delirious and hungry. We decided to head to Kith to get some food at Sadelle’s along with some more window shopping before we went back to CDG. At this point the jet lag was alive and thriving a few bites into our meal so we finished up and called our uber.
We finally landed in Athens at 9:00pm, and arrived to our hotel at 10:30pm when we got to meet up with Ty and Maddie. I don’t think I’d ever known true exhaustion until that moment I finally let my head hit the pillow.
The next morning we all went to breakfast here, and ordered the most delicious french toast!
We decided that since the stores would be closed the next day, we would get our shopping in before site seeing! (Priorities, ya know?)
Jack snagged a new pair of sneakers at Off White in honor of his birthday, I snagged a new pair of boots at Off White in honor of being in Greece, Maddie and I bought some friendship bracelets at Dior in honor of our friendship, and Ty ultimately didn’t snag anything. (Don’t worry, he and Jack made many purchases after discovering their new favorite drink in Santorini…) We carried on to an early dinner in Monastiraki Square, got harassed by some locals, picked up some gelato and went to the hotel before our next day of site seeing!
Our day of site seeing started with a walk to see the changing of the guards at the square, but after not seeing ANYTHING over the crowd of selfie sticks, we continued our walk to the Acropolis.
We started at the base and walked all the way up where I suddenly felt like I was going to pass out - seeing stars, getting dizzy, the whole enchilada - good old heat exhaustion showing her true colors <3 I knew I must be SUPER dehydrated (thank you @jet lag), so Jack literally ran all over the Acropolis in search of a water bottle for me (bless that boy). A few sips in the shade later and I was as good as new. KIDS, DRINK YOUR FREAKING WATER.
The Acropolis is nothing short of amazing. We were all awestruck at the size of the monument and honestly speechless at how the HELL this thing was built. Seeing it in photos just do not come remotely close to seeing it in real life, so here’s your sign that you have to book a trip!!! Sorry !! I don’t make the rules !!
After a day full of site seeing (and drinking water!) we made our way back to where our hotel was and decided to go to this rooftop for drinks and fun conversations. HIGHLY RECOMMEND <3
That night we played a round of Cover Your Assets and packed our things for our flight to Santorini the next morning.
We took off, landed in Santorini about 40 minutes later and were speechless for the next 6 days.
(Insert my life peaking here)
We arrived to our hotel and were greeted with the most amazing view that I’ve ever seen. There truly aren’t words to describe the feelings we felt when we walked down the steps to our rooms, welcome drinks in hand with the breathtaking view of the Aegean sea. When we booked this trip, we knew that being a bit more spendy in Santorini for our hotel would be 100% worth it, but being there in person and taking it all in, that 100% quickly changed to 150% worth it. Our hotel was something out of a dream and for the first day or two I had a hard time forming sentences. Truly speechless!
We wasted no time with getting our swimsuits on and heading to the pool. That evening we made the trek down to Amoudi Bay and ate here! It was super pretty at sunset and made for a great first day! Note: there are about 300 steps down to the bay and back to the top of the island so get a water bottle to go before you leave the restaurant. Hahaha I wish I was kidding :)))
Each day started with early breakfast on our caldera while the sun came up, a few hours at the pool and then getting ready around 3 to see more of the island. Breakfast was one of my very favorite moments of each day there, it was so special to have that time with Jack and it felt like we had the whole island to ourselves!
In preparation for this trip, we definitely researched our fair amount on the best experiences and things that the island has to offer. The item at the top of our bucket list was a private boat tour around the island and ended up getting a really good deal on it since we booked it so early!
NOTHING about that experience was a disappointment. The crewmembers on the boat were SO sweet and honestly made us the best meal of our entire trip (and maybe my entire life??). The excursion was about 5 hours long, we had time to snorkel, lay in the sun and soak in the view. This is definitely the one thing you MUST do in Santorini!
Life: peaked.
Our days were spent at the pool eating tzatziki and pizza, the boys enjoying their favorite drink “The Secret Key”, and our nights were spent watching the sunset, walking the pedestrian, eating more tzatziki, and then getting in the hot tub and playing Cover Your Assets.
I feel like Santorini is one huge IYKYK. The only way to describe it is magical. And until you see it for yourself, pictures will never do it justice <3
Here’s another sign to book your trip, YOU JUST HAVE TO GO !!!
I also might be taking this as a sign to book our trip back??
A few final notes:
The steps down to Amoudi Bay are covered in Donkey shit - dress accordingly. :)
The pools aren’t heated so prepare for a cold plunge everyday (if it’s super hot outside, it feels amazing)
You don’t need more than 2 days in Athens, so spend as much time as you POSSIBLY can in Santorini.
Never pass up on the opportunity for more pita chips and Tzatziki.
Sienna xx