Company Party

The other night we had dinner at Becky and Matt's house- which is where Linc happens to work now! A few months back, both guys stepped away from their regular jobs and started up a new project together that we are all really excited about. Becky and Matt had just returned from a month in Australia and we had just gotten back from Greece so it was the perfect time to catch up. We had a welcome home/celebration dinner with some delicious steaks and an ice cream cake from Brusters. The boys named their company "Blue Mammoth Games" and it just so happened that while the family was in Australia they went to a Mammoth museum! Matt came back with tshirts for all of us and we had to put them on for a few photos!

The Blue Mammoth Family
Matt, Hank, Becky, Laura, Me and Linc

Athens Adventure

We left Santorini on Saturday morning and took the ferry into Athens. It was a long, four hour ride. Probably not the best choice for two sea sick prone travelers, but we were pretty exhausted and managed to sleep most of the way. Linc loaded up on some Greek Dramamine and I made my own sea bands to try and combat the effects of the boat.

When we arrived at the port we waited at the taxi station for someone to pick us up. We finally secured a taxi and drove the twenty minutes to our hotel (we later learned the darn driver ripped us off). After checking in, we headed upstairs to check out our view! The Athens Gate Hotel is right at the base of the Acropolis and from our room we could see the Temple of Zeus. My one complaint was that our patio door did not shut properly, and being that we were on the main road it was difficult to get used to the traffic noise after the peaceful silence of Santorini. That night we headed up to our hotel restaurant and enjoyed some good food, great views, and even better company!

The balcony of our room the the Athens Gate Hotel.
A little different view than Santorini!

We looked right into the Temple of Olympian Zeus!

View from dinner on the rooftop terrace- sunset over the Acropolis.

Yup, more little shrimp eyes staring at me. This was tasty though!

The Temple at night. Not as impressive as it looked in real life.

Traffic! There wasn't much compared to Atlanta,
but we heard the cars honking ALL night long!

Sunday brought with it a heat wave and a stomach bug! I have a very sensitive stomach and after eating all sorts of foreign food, it had finally caught up with me. I was left running to the bathroom a few times an hour so it did not make for a very fun time. I was disappointed because this really limited what we could do, but we still managed to go to the New Acropolis Museum (where I snapped a few pics before being yelled at) and climb the Acropolis.

The New Acropolis Museum- which had just opened in June!

There was a ton of natural light and the floors in the hallways
were Plexiglas so you could see all the way through to the ground!

Right before I got yelled at! Apparently you
cannot take photos inside the museum. Oops!

Outside and on our way to the Parthenon.

We spent the day touring around the Parthenon, seeing the temple of Athena, enjoying some frozen lemonade, and even managed to hike over to McDonalds for dinner! We were seriously craving some American food and good ol' Micky D's did not disappoint. Again, probably not the smartest choice for someone with a stomach bug, but I could not handle another Gyro or Souvlaki!

The Auditorium of the Theater of Dionysos at the base of the Acropolis.

The Temple of Athena Nike on the way up to the Parthenon.

The view of Athens from the top of the Acropolis.

The mighty Parthenon (currently being partially restored).

The Erechtheion- a temple dedicated to Athena, Poseidon, and Erechtheus.

Looking back at our hotel and the Temple of Zeus from the Parthenon!

Monday morning we slept in late and then found a small Chinese restaurant to have lunch. It was not as good as the one in Crete and since I was still sick, I did not really enjoy it. We left there and went to the Temple of Zeus to tour around and take pictures. I did not last long before we headed back to the hotel so I could take a nap. After a few hours, Linc managed to get me up and we went into town for dinner. We took the long way home and bought some souvenirs on our way back to the hotel. I got a beautifully decorated handmade ceramic plate to hang in our bedroom and Linc got a shot glass. We picked up a few items for our family and then headed back to pack our bags.

Hadrian's Arch- near the entrance to the Temple.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus- also known as the Olympieion.

Right before running back to the hotel! Not feeling so hot =(

My beautiful plate! It has already found a home on the shelf outside our bedroom!

We left for the airport bright and early on Tuesday morning and had to wait a while since our flight was delayed an hour. After a nearly 12 hour flight, where they showed three movies and we still had 5 hours left to go, we touched down in Atlanta!! I could not have been happier! We had such a great time in Greece but I was ready to be home, see my family and the pups, sleep in my own bed, and drink my delicious water! What an incredible trip with my sweet husband, and one I will never forget. I am so thankful we were able to go on this excursion together before school started up again and have this time to get away from the world. Thank you Linc for working so hard to make this all possible and for surprising me with the greatest anniversary gift I could ever have hoped for! I love you with all of my heart!

Snorkeling Excursion

Greetings! We are finally home and after a few days in Athens without internet, it's nice to be near a computer again
(not to mention sleep in my own bed)!
Our story picks up on Friday, July 17th in Santorini.

Even though our original snorkeling trip was canceled due to dangerous winds, we were able to reschedule for the next day! We were picked up by a shuttle and driven to the Santorini Dive Center just below the cliffs of Akrotiri village. After signing some forms, lotioning up, and grabbing our gear, we boarded a small motor boat with a few other divers and headed out to the dive spot. The boat took us right up to Nea Kameni (the volcano) and we scuba'd all around the base. The water was crystal clear and there were so many beautiful fish below the surface. It was very peaceful and so easy to float around. After a while I took off my mask and just floated at the surface waiting for the other divers to return.

When we got back from the dive, we had our shuttle driver drop us off at a restaurant we had seen on the way in...a Mexican Restaurant!! Our driver raved about their food but the other passengers told us we were brave and wished us luck! The view from the table was unbelievable- you could see Santorini from tip to tip, both volcanoes, Thirasia, as well as an excavation site where a boat had sunk. The food was pretty good too and Linc enjoyed a delicious margarita before we hailed a cab back to Imerovigli.

Heading to our boat.

The view from the Santorini Dive Center.

Our Greek Mexican restaurant that had surprisingly good food!

View from our table! Who can beat that?

Just in case you hadn't noticed we were surrounded by cliffs...

Full, exhausted, and ready for a nap! Time to head back!

This was our last night in Santorini so we got comfy in our robes, ordered room service, and watched one last sunset from our balcony before going to bed. If you are considering a trip to Santorini, I would highly recommend checking out Imerovigli. Even though it is not as popular (wellknown) as the main towns, it is far prettier, with amazing views, nice people, and beautiful cliff accomodations. We had the time of our lives at Absolute Bliss and really enjoyed every minute of our stay! Here are a few more photos of the end of our visit!

Enjoying one last sunset from our balcony before leaving for Athens!

We had so much fun in Santorini and made great memories!

Absolute Bliss -- Imerovigli -- Santorini -- Greece

Sailing Tour of the Caldera

Thursday began with a bit of a disappointment when we found out our snorkeling trip had been canceled due to dangerous winds. The shuttle driver felt bad and offered to take us down the hill into Fira so the trip was not wasted. Since it was still early enough, we were able to book a boat tour around the volcano for later in the day, which was something we had planned to do anyway. We ate at a little shop called Toasty and then decided to hike back to our town. After what felt like an eternity, we finally completed the 2 mile uphill torture climb and rested in our room for the afternoon.

Two hours later we caught a cab and then rode the cable car into Fira Skala Port to catch our boat. We began by sailing to Palia Kameni and swimming in the hot springs. It did not seem that warm until we had to swim back to the boat and then we realized how different the temperatures were! The sulfur in the water turned our skin orange and stained the white parts on Linc's suit!! Our skin came clean so let's hope the suit does too! After about thirty minutes of swimming, the boat horn sounded and we climbed back on board.

Leaving port on the sailboat.

Looking back at Santorini from the boat.

You can see how the water turns from beautiful blue to sulfur brown!
The hot spring was tucked away in a little cove right near an old church.

Do we look tanner? Or maybe that's just the orange sulfur glow!

From the hot springs we sailed north to Nea Kameni which is the youngest active volcano in the Mediterranean. It took about thirty minutes to hike to the top and the view was outstanding! On the way up we saw smoking sulfur rocks and the whole "island" was black from the lava. The last eruption was in 1950 and both islands are monitored closely by scientists. On the way down, Linc and I took various other paths that led us to more smoldering sulfur and some additional incredible views. We were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got back to the boat and could not wait for dinner!

The fleet of boats docked at Nea Kameni.

Hiking to the top of the volcano.

The smoking sulfur effect is not as clear in this picture...nor is the smell!

Looking back at Palia Kameni from the top!

Linc enjoying the view from the top and seeing
if he can spot our hotel on the other side.

Time to head back! It's a long way down...

Since we'd been eating Greek food for almost a week and a half we were definitely ready for a bit of variety! Thankfully right after the entrance to the cable cars was a great little Chinese restaurant that the locals recommended. We stuffed ourselves full of sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and General Tso's and then headed home. Linc was sweet enough to grab us some ice cream treats while I went right to the room and washed all the black soot off my body. I don't know if I've ever enjoyed a shower more! Clean, full, and exhausted, we hung out in the room and watched TV until bed time. It was a fun day but I think we need to take a break from all this walking!! Thank goodness we planned ahead for the volcano hike and wore sneakers this time! ;)

Hiking Around Santorini

On Tuesday night we walked up the hill to the highest point in Santorini and had dinner at a little restaurant called Blue Note. We had another amazing view of the sunset over the caldera and watched all the sailboats coming back to port. I ordered a yummy shrimp meal with garlic, cream, and white wine sauce but was a little surprised to find that they serve the shrimp whole! I am so used to eating just the tails that I forgot what they looked like and was a little creeped out by their little beady eyes staring up at me the entire meal. We finished the evening with a movie and a little reading before bed!

Sunset at Blue Note Restaurant

The restaurant overlooked a small chapel with an amazing view!

Yup...I ate those! Hahahaha!

After a filling breakfast on our balcony Wednesday morning, we took a taxi to the neighboring town of Perissa. We went to the black sand beach and swam in the sea. It was extremely hot on the sand so it was a bit uncomfortable to lay out and eventually we gave up and went to find some lunch. We had another portion of Gyros (they are so delicious!!) and then decided to take a little hike over the mountain to the town of Kamari. What were we thinking?!!?!

The black sand beach at Perissa

Right before burning our feet on the sand!

What looked like a smooth slope turned into a very strenuous uphill hike and in flip flops no less! Since we had come straight from the beach we weren't exactly dressed for hiking, but we made it work and were rewarded with some gorgeous views when we finally made it to the top-- about an hour later!! I could not believe how windy it was! You could actually lean into the wind and it would hold you up! The walk down seemed to take forever, but we finally arrived in Kamari and walked around. We were absolutely exhausted at this point, snagged ourselves a cab, and headed back north to Imerovigli.

I kept turning around to take pictures of our path thinking for
sure we were halfway up...we were not even close!

I almost got knocked over a few times at the top! It was SO windy!

The view from Old Thirasia- looking down to the town of Kamari.

At least there was a road back down. But you can see how winding it was!

After showering off the black sand that had managed to find it's way everywhere, we changed into our robes and had dinner in our room. That is where the story leaves off for now. Thanks for sticking around if you made it this far! Hope you all are having a lovely day!!