On day 6 we packed our bags and headed to the pier for the ferry to Santorini. I had no idea what to expect, but the ferry was very large and quite luxurious…the seats were far roomier and more comfortable than the ones on planes!

The Trip from Mykonos to Santorini:

With stops at the islands of Paros and Ios, the entire trip took roughly 2.5 hours. Luckily, we had entertainment…THE BEST part of the ferry trip was:

They played Return of the Jedi!

After disembarking, we met our transport who drove us up a VERY steep cliff. The roads were straight out of a movie: narrow, winding zig-zags that were cut directly into the cliff.

After driving through the town of Fira, we approached some buildings that were clearly more luxurious and secluded from the rest. This was where the Santorini Princess was located.

The hotels we stayed in at Athens and Mykonos were both 3.5-star hotels, but we had decided to splurge and go out with our hotel in Santorini. I had learned about the Santorini Princess from a internet friend and worldwide traveler who informed me that this is, hands down, the best hotel she’s ever stayed in. With 5-star accommodations and and impeccable reviews, the Santorini Princess sure did not disappoint.

Arriving at Santorini and the Santorini Princess:

Not only was the view gorgeous (the front faced west for watercolor sunsets, the back faced east for immaculate sunrises), the facilities were A-class and the staff just brilliant. For example, they only came to clean the room when we were out, as opposed to other hotels who usually interrupt for maid service. How did they know we were out?

The restaurant served a great mix of traditional Greek and Mediterranean dishes, and both J and I agree that the food here was the best of all we tasted in Greece. The hotel even has its own sommelier who was very friendly but proper, recommending a €21 bottle of white wine that tasted far superior than $100+ bottles we’ve tasted in the states.

(Note: Santorini, with its hot sun and wet soil, produces some of the best white wine in the world. They say that there is more white wine than water in Santorini, and this certainly seemed to hold true during our stay there.)

Our second day in Mykonos was a beautiful, sunny day. After a small breakfast we laid out by the pool and actually got some sun. Afterwards we decided to take the hotel shuttle into town.

Mykonos is a very windy island, and since the main town sits right along the harbor, the small winding streets are subject to many unpredictable and powerful drafts. For this reason, it is advisable not to wear dresses or skirts when walking around town. I repeat: DO NOT WEAR DRESSES OR SKIRTS when walking around Mykonos. Because it was a sunny day, I foolishly wore a skirt and ended up flashing many locals and delighted Japanese tourists. J was no help at all; all he would say whenever a gust of wind lifted up my skirt was “Nice” or “That’s hot.”

Our second day at Mykonos was disappointing. We woke up to the sound of window shutters banging against the building, and the crazy wind remained for the remainder of the day. I used to get scared when living by myself on the 17th floor of a high-rise apartment building in Baltimore because the wind was so terrifyingly noisy. Well, the wind at Mykonos was a lot worse. It knocked over umbrellas, tables, and chairs…even the hotel staff opted to stay indoors. A couple of them actually apologized, saying the wind was unusually strong that day.

We ended up spending the majority of the day in our room sleeping, watching reruns of South Park and The Office on my laptop, and playing high-low (yes, very classy for a honeymoon):

(The hot pink playing cards are courtesy of my sister who packed it in the awesome “Honeymoon Kit” she assembled for us)

We got up bright and early on Day 3 to catch a flight to Mykonos (our travel agency recommended air travel since ferries from Athens to Mykonos aren’t very reliable). After a delicious breakfast, we headed to the airport to find…a tiny, dinky plane. We joked that if the plane crashes, at least we’ll die happy on our honeymoon.

Getting There:

Fortunately, the 25-minute flight was uneventful and we arrived at the beautiful island of Mykonos and settled into the San Marco Hotel.

The San Marco Hotel, Mykonos:

What’s a visit to Greece without a tour of some of the world’s oldest treasures? Luckily, one of J’s friends from college is currently working as an archeologist (!) in Athens, so she took a day off to show us around the historic sites. We were able to squeeze in the Acropolis, Agora, and Kerameikos.

(I was a dork and I forgot to charge my camera the night before…so the last quarter of the pictures were taken with J’s camera phone. Why did he bring his camera when he can’t use it? I have no idea.)

Click on the thumbnails to see the full gallery!

Greece is amazing! I’ll try not to go into too much detail so please forgive me if start to ramble. (Click on the thumbnails to view the full gallery)

Getting There:

We arrived at the hotel a full 4 hours before check-in, so we had to wait a bit at the hotel bar. However, the room was worth the wait. They upgraded us from a regular room to their trademark Graffiti Room! Each Graffiti Room is painted by a famous artist and has a different theme. The theme of our room was “Sleepy.”

Baby Grand Hotel, Athens:

Unfortunately, we both passed out almost immediately after settling in. After wasting almost the entire day, we got up at around 8pm and managed to explore the area a bit. We ended up in Plaka, which is Athens’ old town and we had dinner there.

First night in Athens: