Greek Love

When its summer time, what could be better than a beach and sand; a mountain on the side maybe.. Isn’t it awesome to have best of both worlds! Nice warm sun in the afternoon and very chill evenings that you actually pull out your cardigan (or in my case buy one)! Thats how I describe Greece, the land of amazing views, history, culture and food! There could be no better place in June and July to visit if you’re thinking romance.

Greece does not need to be an expensive affair. Planning the trip according to your needs and comfort is the fun part. I personally love the initial prep that goes into planning a holiday. I sat endless nights with my fiancé to plan hotels, travel bookings, what else to see while enjoying a glass of wine and some take away food.

After the initial struggle to get the visa in place we were all excited about our honeymoon! Its funny how so many of my friends have told me that as their D day for the wedding approaches, each one seems to be optimistic and looking forward to the trip after the wedding more than the wedding day itself! I must admit both of us weren't any different, we were beaming and looking forward to the Greek experience.

View from our Hotel in Santorini

We took our flights early June and stayed in for a good ten days. Both of us are enthusiast but I am more of a realist; I kept my foot down and wanted to spend quality time in places rather than travel all over Greece (one can always return to see more right). So we started with the mystic Santorini, one of the beautiful islands of Cyclades. For those of you who are dreamers, I am sure each one of you must have wondered which place is this when you saw the white houses with blue roofs with the sea on one side in a picture. Well that is Santorini’s most picturesque caldera view. Funny thing but Standard Chartered had a whole big picture of the caldera view put as part of their credit card promotion in the lifts at my office, I would always get into that lift and calmly smile, little did I know I will be going to witness it for whole 3 nights! The volcanic islands was a day trip we both enjoyed but could not take a dip since we had a small accident the day before and thus i recommend taking the big bikes rather than a scooty or simply hire a car, its easy and very effective to travel.

The famous Oia sunset (Santorini)

Our next stop was Mykonos, also known as the party island. Yes it did justice to its reputation, we were relaxing on a beach at noon and suddenly the music got louder at 4pm and everybody (young kids) started to dance like crazy. For me a party means evenings and late nights so this was a whole new way to see how much you can party. Everybody was drunk by 6pm just as we decided we felt too old for this stuff and left by 7pm. They say Paradise beach is the best for these early evening parties.




Obviously the market scene here was also very lively, actually I cannot discount Santorini for that too. Both the places have lovely markets, designer jewelers and high end watches seem to be the flavor of the month. Good food and drinks at all spots to refresh your holiday. Mykonos tourist area can be all walked around. There are few old mills which make a tourist spot for clicking pictures here as well. Infact, I will link a few videos we made over there to give you a feel (pls don't laugh at the quality of the video).

Lastly, we did Athens, the mystical land of Gods and Goddesses. The stories seem alive as you walk around Acropolis. There was so much to do here that 3 days seemed a little unfair. Lonely planet helped us in figuring out the most secretive restaurants and the dishes to choose in there. There is a beautiful street full of roadside shops and sellers that goes unto the Acropolis hill, I loved walking up and down just absorbing the culture Greece had to offer. Off course I cannot end without mentioning the opera we witnessed though the story was simple but the experience was overwhelming.

We came back with a smile on our faces and lots of small gifts for our extended family now. Trips aren't complete with the last minute memorabilia that you pick for family.