While we (patiently 😉) wait for our wedding photos to grace our inboxes, I thought I’d get a jump start on posting about our AMAZING honeymoon trip to Europe! We arrived home on Friday and let me tell you, THE JET LAG IS REAL. Despite my internal clock being completely thrown off, I’m perfectly happy to sit on the couch all day and relive our newest travels together. So here we go!
Sunday ~ June 12th, 2022
I have to be completely honest before we get too far in- honeymoon day 1 is just us hopping on numerous flights, walking around airports, fueling ourselves with junk food, and resisting the urge to nod off in the last hour of our 26-hour travel day (which we 100% knew we were signing up for). Honeymoon day 2 is essentially us passing out from said travel, power napping to recoup, then stuffing our faces with the best Greek food ever. So, let’s continue.
Running on fumes (aka love and support from the wedding festivities the night before), Tristan and I were up bright and early (4:30 am to be exact), to be whisked off to the Greenville, SC airport. We ran into a few friends who also had early flights out of GSP, so it was nice to see each other before parting ways!
Our Greenville flight left at 8 am and we arrived in Philadelphia International Airport at 9:45 am. Rebecca, how did you have a 26-hour travel day? Looks like you’re making great progress! Well friend, let me tell you. We had a spicy 7-hour layover at PHL, which mostly consisted of us begging various customer service individuals to let us sit together on our flight to Athens, because they decided to release our seats to other people that morning. Despite our honeymooner pleas, we did not find a solution until an hour before our flight left. Either way we’d be fine- we were Europe bound, baby! Just as we were accepting the inevitable, we were presented with exit row seats… together. UM YES PLEASE #blessed.
Unfortunately, we did not have time to leave the airport to make use of our layover and see Philly. However, we did come across a LEGO Liberty Bell and ate Geno’s Philly Cheese steaks 🥴, so that seems good enough.
We left PHL at 4:45 pm and arrived in Athens at 9:15 am the next day. We picked up some euros at the ATM, and hopped on our final flight at 12:50 pm for a 1:45 pm arrival in Santorini. After doing a happy dance that our checked bags had successfully made the trip, a driver picked us up from the airport and drove us to our hotel where Day 2 truly starts.
Monday ~ June 13th, 2022
We were dropped off at one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed at: The View by Secret, located in Foinikia, Santorini Greece, which is just a short stroll from the main caldera and the town of Oia. The hotel staff was extremely attentive and made us feel welcomed (even looking as disheveled as we did). They handed us their signature cocktails and pulled out a map of the island. They gave us a few tips on places to visit and then showed us to our room (Pool Front Sea View Room with a balcony – top right room in photos below).
While in my delirious state, I failed to hear our hotel guide mention the Greek tradition of putting the right foot forward (as a lucky omen) when entering a home. Of course, Tristan later informed me that I took a confident left step forward into the room in front of our guide. Ugh. Despite missing this information, I managed to hear “and of course the toilet paper goes in the bin”. It wasn’t until after my 3-hour nap, did I realize what that actually meant. To keep it short, the Greek sewage pipes are approximately two inches in diameter and they get *clogged*. Ergo the handy bin sitting by our toilet. I never knew how much I appreciated our modern conveniences until now😂! Honestly, it wasn’t that bad- just a new concept to me!
Despite our nap, Tristan and I were exhausted and no where close to being adjusted to the 7-hour time change. We opted for dinner at our hotel’s restaurant (White Rock)- and thank goodness we did- it was one of the best meals we had in Santorini!!
We started with “Melitzanosalata”(Smoked aubergine, calamari confit, garlic, cherry tomatoes & hoisin sauce) and Marinated Mussels (this one was all Tristan). For entrees, Tristan had Seafood orzo pasta (seafood mix, mussel’s confit, herbs salad & lemon confit) and I had the chicken (with grilled baby gem, herbs salad, anchovies’ powder, apple & ceasar sauce). We ordered a bottle of white wine, called “Santorini” Argyrou Estate (Assyrtiko), and watched the perfect sunset close out the day.
What a great ending to the most extreme travel day(s) I’ve had in a while! Can’t wait to show you what we did on Day 3!
