June 01st, 2010

home sweet home

  There is something so sweet about returning home after two weeks away.. especially after two weeks that did not fly by like I originally thought they would.. We left for our honeymoon two weeks ago.. and it was an amazing time.. exhausting.. but amazing.. and now I look forward to the next couple of weeks of relaxing at home.. cleaning.. grocery shopping and most importantly.. enjoying my little peanut. 

  Our trip started out.. rocky! we checked into Seattle.. only to learn that there was already a delay of one hour on our flight to London.. one hour doesn’t seem like that long.. but when your next flight leaves for Greece one hour and 30 minutes after you arrive at Heathrow airport.. it is an issue.. The woman at the counter was very friendly though and because I used the largest suitcase I had.. they were going to ding me for going over.. but once she realized it was our honeymoon.. she handed me my $100 back! very long story short.. we missed our flight.. we missed our second option flight.. (Heathrow is just to big an airport to run around in) and than we were able to pick up a flight that left at 10:30 pm for Athens.. that gave us 12 hours in between flights.. ouch.. we already had a 6 hour layover in Vancouver.. double ouch.. we rented a hotel room just to get some sleep.. and than set off for our third flight in less than 24 hours.. and because our flights weren’t purchased on the same “ticket” (yes.. for those people in the future.. you can book many different airlines on one ticket.. therefore someone is responsible in situations like these) Air Canada didn’t care about us.. and neither did Aegean airlines.. goodbye large chunk of change.. We than boarded our fourth flight of the day.. and flew to beautiful Mykonos!

this is me going on two full days on four hours sleep

  We were fortunate enough to have our first hotel give us the honeymoon suite for the one night we were there.. because we missed our first hotel night due to that one hour delay.. It was beautiful.. and there was a bottle of champagne to greet us!unfortunately, the island had a giant storm hit the night before.. and the room smelled like sweat.. which is common in Greece.  The weather was ok.. for an island that only rains quote “12 days a year” .. our two days there.. were some rain..  We made the most out of it .. with our 3 hours sleep and looking like dirty backpackers.. and ventured around the town..  I can not say enough about Mykonos.. it is will and crazy and energetic and beautiful and the food was outstanding.. Dustin kept commenting that I spent all that money to go to Greece.. just to eat the food (he was 95% right)..  Every hotel had wonderful buffet breakfasts of chocolate croissants.. and the freshest peaches I have ever eaten.. Little Venice was my favorite.. I could have sat there all day and people watched.. 

  We stayed at our first hotel for one night.. and than moved on to the insanely beautiful Cavo Tagoo hotel.. Everything was clean and beautiful and over the top.. Aquarium bar.. rooms with our own pool.. and giant jacuzzi bathtubs.. The weather got a lot nicer here.. and we were able to enjoy some pool time.. and champagne! 

  We did some shopping.. I found the most beautiful white dress and white “vacation”pants.. and some little things for Olive.. I was expecting to go there and stock up on gladiator sandals.. but they all looked like they were cheap and from Walmart.. so I figured I would wait until I was back at Nordstroms..  

  I also recommend not reading a book that is based on something that goes horribly wrong while a couple is on vacation on a beach.. Little Bee was amazing.. but it pretty much freaked me out the rest of the trip.. 

  We left for Santorini two days later.. I read that you “have to take the ferry in!” instead of flying.. so we took a 3 hours ferry.. and I learned why.. it is insane.. breathtaking.. nerve rackinginly beautiful.. You boat right into the volcano.. and all you think about it.. what if this is its time to erupt again?! the whole village is built up on the top of the volcano and it took about 15 minutes winding up the road in a really fast taxi to get you there..   The hotel was beautiful and right on the cliff.. gulp.. and we were able to enjoy lots of sun there..

we rented a smart car to get around the island and ventured around the whole time.. The car was insanely small.. and I conquered many a self fear driving it around.. Greece is so scary to drive in .. and I feared a car accident many a time.. there are no road lines.. only a few street lights.. and about 100 raging taxi drivers who drive 3 times as fast as what you are doing!

  We headed to beaches.. restaurants and little markets in this thing.. It was sad to leave the Greek islands.. but I was excited to get to a city that had more to offer.. I had overdosed on tzatziki and feta.. and I was ready for some different foods.. 

honeymoon part two to be continued..