Our second day in Santorini was the Greek Easter, which the locals and hotel staff had promised to be a day full of good food and festivities. However, we woke up to thunder and rain, which continued throughout the day. We decided to stay in all day, bum, and order room service (which was the same price and same menu as the restaurant).

Our third day was still cloudy, but we decided to head out into the town of Fira to do some sightseeing. Fira is a 5-minute drive from the Santorini Princess, but we decided to take the scenic route and walk instead. Since the majority of the walk is uphill along gravel or cobblestone streets, the trip took about 30 minutes.

More food, the town of Fira, and Lounging by the Pool:

Fira is a small town that is filled with tourist-y shops. We didn’t buy anything save some local wine poured directly from barrels. Honestly, I never really liked white wine too much until I tasted Santorini wine!

When we returned to the hotel we were pleasantly surprised to see the sun peeking out from the clouds, so we decided to lounge by the pool. J had bought a Cuban cigar in Mykonos and he put it to good use, smoking and relaxing while watching the sunset. I ordered a cocktail and took a little nap.

After a relaxing bath in the ginormous whirlpool tub, we retired for the night in preparation for our 7am flight the next morning. Again, the hotel was wonderful…knowing we would be leaving before the kitchen opened, they sent a complimentary tray of coffee and pastries at 5:20am. At check-out, they even gave us two complimentary bottles of wine, both of which are supposed to be better quality than the bottle we had at the restaurant!

Due to the chilly weather (it was only slightly warmer than NY, mostly in the 60s) we didn’t visit the famous beaches (I really want to see the black-sand beach) or volcanoes. However, J wants to return for a week-long trip to just Santorini in the near future because he loved it so much. What a great, great island.

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!