After all the planning and celebration of our wedding, Brant and I spent 16 relaxing and rejuvenating days in Greece. For our honeymoon, we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been. Another place on our bucket list is Australia/New Zealand, but that would have been a more adventurous trip and we decided that we’d probably want to go somewhere that we could relax.
After our wedding on Saturday night, we spent another day with our families in the Bay Area before heading back to Los Angeles on Monday. Then Tuesday evening we were on a flight to Athens! We flew Norwegian Air. Shout out to my friend Kelen, who gave me this "bride" eye mask on my bachelorette.
Several people had told us that we only needed a couple days in Athens, so we arrived Wednesday night and got a meal before turning in for the night. Thursday was our one full day in the city and we had scheduled an evening Acropolis tour for 5pm.
Unfortunately when we woke up, Brant wasn’t feeling well and we thought he had food poisoning. We spent most of the day in the hotel room and I took a walk to try and find him some soup and medicine. This was more challenging that expected and poor Brant wasn’t able to keep any food down.
However by 5pm, he was feeling a little better and was determined to make the Acropolis tour. After all, we had a ferry to Mykonos in the morning and this would be our only chance. We walked from our hotel to meet the tour. It was very hot and the hike up to the Parthenon was challenging in the heat, especially for poor Brant who had been sick all day. But we were still able to see the Theatre of Dionysus, which was very cool for us theater nerds. Once we made it to the top, we broke off from the group, did our own little tour of the Parthenon and headed back. We were very happy we got to see it all, but I was glad to get Brant out of the heat.
(Jean dress from Lulus... Lulus sent me my entire honeymoon wardrobe. :) I'll provide direct outfit links when I can)
The next day we took a ferry to Mykonos and checked in to our beautiful hotel, the Grecotel Mykonos Blu. This was the perfect location for us, right in Psarou beach. Brant and I aren’t big party people, so it was nice to be able to relax. Our room, the Luna Blu Suite, was gorgeous and had its own personal swimming pool in addition to beautiful views.
We loved that the hotel had private lounge chairs on the beach and we never had issues getting chairs in the shade. The famous Nammos Beach Club was just down the beach from Mykonos Blu, if we had ever had the inkling to get wild, but we didn’t haha. One of my favorite things about Mykonos Blu was the food. I had my absolutely favorite greek salad there (see image below) and I literally ordered it for lunch every day from my lounge chair. We also had an incredible pizza from room service which we still talk about. :)
Mykonos Blu also had shuttles every evening into Mykonos Town, so we could do some shopping and get a taste of the restaurants and night life without being in the middle of it.
After spending four days in Mykonos, we took another ferry to Paros. This was a location that was recommended to me by several friends on facebook, otherwise I would not have known to go! We dubbed this island “the sleepy Mykonos.” There were less tourists than in Mykonos and less clubs. We stayed in Naoussa, which was an adorable, picturesque little fishing village filled with quaint restaurants.
Shout out to Krys Marshall for recommending this island and the delicious restaurant “Yemeni.” We had an amazing truffle, beet risotto there. We even went back to have it again before we left.
When Brant and I met, he still owned a motorcycle, which he rarely took out of the garage. I’m not a fan of motorcycles, I know too many people who have been severely injured or killed on them, so when he mentioned that he might sell it, I strongly supported that decision. However, I know that he misses it and he wanted to rent one on our honeymoon. I was most comfortable with him doing that in Paros as it’s much less crowded and the streets were pretty empty. So one day, he rented a scooter while I decided to read on the beach. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to get on one myself. Unfortunately, he got a bit lost and ended up on a gravel road. While he was standing and looking at a map, the gravel gave way below him and he and the scooter skidded down the hill. Thank goodness he was wearing a helmet, but he still got pretty scraped up. He said his first thought was, “Oh no. Now Kim’s never going to get on one.” He went back to the hotel, cleaned up and I got him some first aid. Then he got back on the scooter and continued to ride as he was still having a blast. He took the bike up to Lefkes, a traditional village in the mountains, where he met an amazing older greek woman who ran a doughnut shop and spoke zero english.
The next day, we ended up taking a four wheeler around the island. We saw a lot of people on them in Mykonos and Santorini, but I was only willing to do it on the less busy Paros. Brant brought me back to Lefkes. The mountain roads were completely empty and offered such gorgeous views. It was fun to see some more traditional parts of the island and I even got to meet the doughnut shop owner myself. I knew how much he wanted to take me out and we ended up having a lot of fun! It felt nice to make it up to the mountains and see some different parts of the Island. We also made sure to stay on the well paved roads!!
After four days in Paros, we then caught a ferry to our final destination, Santorini. In my opinion, we saved the best for last. We stayed at the Infinity Collection Fira for the first two nights. This was a great location within walking from all the restaurants and shops. Sara, who worked at the hotel, was so amazing and helpful. The first night, she recommended we eat at Esperisma and I’m so glad that she did. We had such a wonderful meal and had unobstructed views from our table for the incredible sunset. It was a truly romantic dinner and we definitely felt like honeymooners. Plus, the bartender kept creating fun and creative drinks for us, which added to the experience. I’d seen photos and videos of the Santorini views but nothing does it justice. It is the most stunning, seriously breathtaking place, that needs to be seen in person to truly capture the magic.
We decided to do the hike from Fira to Oia during the day. Most of the hike is along the coast and has stunning views, but not going to lie, it was more challenging than expected and there were definitely times where I questioned our decision. Make sure to wear proper hiking shoes and bring water for the nearly 2- 5 hour hike. However once we finished, I was so glad that we did it. Not only did we feel accomplished, but we got some incredible views along the way and it really added to the entire experience. We took a taxi back to Fira at the end of the night.
We followed our hike by meeting our friend Sequoia in Ammoudi Bay for dinner. She happened to be in Greece for a wedding so it was fun to meet up. She brought a copy of People Magazine with her, which we had not yet seen haha. Not only is Sequoia the publisher of my children's book "Fairies in our Yard," but she's also a base jumper and climber. So follow her for all things adventure.
The next day we did an afternoon dinner cruise which took us all around Santorini. We stopped for a dip at the hot springs and even hiked the volcanic island of Nea Kameni. We watched the sunset from the boat while we had a delicious Greek meal and then headed back. It was a lovely day, but it could have been a couple hours shorter and we were getting impatient when we had to wait 30 mins to dock and unload. Plus the driver taking us back was insane and had me holding on for dear life.
We then checked in to our final residence, the Infinity Collection Privé in Imerovigli. The views from this villa were incredible. We had a private pool and jacuzzi tub with views of the Caldera and an indoor jacuzzi as well. We spent our last couple days in Santorini at our villa, reading, relaxing, enjoying the views and each other.
We caught a flight on Norwegian out of Santorini and headed back to Los Angeles. After the wedding and over two weeks in Greece, we had been gone for almost a month. So, we were happy to head back and enjoy married life at home.
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