join the johnson journey: acclimating to athens and savoring santorini

On Thursday, we got to Athens late in the afternoon. The weather was actually quite nice but the smog was insane. There was just a blanket of smog everywhere. We took the cable car up to the top of the hill to get the view of the Acropolis. It was very nice! After walking around a bit we grabbed some dinner then headed back to the hotel since we knew Friday would be an early and long day. On Friday morning, Nick got up extremely early to take some pictures and then I met him at the Acropolis. We hiked up to the top and took a ton of pictures of the Parthenon. We then went to the Acropolis Museum and it was quite interesting. It was a very informative museum and it was quite cheap, which really surprised me. Afterwards, we ran back to the hotel really quick and checked out then grabbed some lunch. We then quickly went to another museum for Nick to check out a few more things before heading to the airport. Athens was a SUPER quick trip on our way to Santorini but it was a nice stopover. I've actually been before but it's always important to see some cultural stuff - maybe we'll go back one day and stay a little longer. :)

hazy hazy athens!

gorgeous colors

selfie w/ the parthenon

that acropolis

ancient greek ruins

old theater

dionysius theater

On Friday afternoon, we headed back to the airport and to Santorini. I fell in love while we were landing. Just breathe-takingly gorgeous. I am already ready to go back :) We checked into our hotel called Canaves Oia Suites. We stayed in Oia. We splurged and got an extremely nice hotel - we got 40% off and it was still extremely expensive in my opinion. However, the service was just absolutely spectacular. They were always attentive and there to bring us anything when we needed it. Every suite was super unique. Our was a two story suite. The first story had the living room area (check below for pics!) with a free bottle of wine and some snacks. Then the lower part was the bedroom and the shower (the biggest shower ever). We also got two lounge chairs and a personal hot tub! After we checked in, we walked around for awhile and headed over to where you can see the famous Oia Sunset. Ohhhhh my. What a sunset. You have never seen a sunset like this. We then headed back to the hotel and out to eat. We ate at an excellent restaurant called Ambrosia. I would highly recommend. I got some pasta with authentic Santorini cherry tomatoes. Nick probably had some lamb, considering he ate lamb like 100 times in Greece :) we headed back to our hotel afterwards.

smooches with my babe

hi nick! this is me peering down from our first floor to our lower floor...most interesting room ever

top floor!

On Saturday we woke up and unfortunately it was quite dreary. So we decided to sleep in a few hours and it was absolutely great! We had been go, go, going the whole trip so it was so nice to rest some. We went to a late breakfast and WOW the breakfast buffet was just absolutely phenomenal. We then started to walk around and snap some pictures. The skies started to open up a bit which was good. We walked down to Amoudi Bay and grabbed some lunch. I had fried shrimp and Nick had sun-dried octopus. You have to see below for the pictures. They literally just hang the octopus up on a rack. Pretty crazy in my opinion. After we finished eating, we walked back up the hill and ran into some donkeys along the way. Nick got some lovely pictures of me looking like I was petrified, haha. Those are on his fancy camera but one day maybe we'll get to see them (yes Nick this is me calling you out for not posting your gorgeous pics -- let's see if Nick ever reads this....) When we were headed back to the hotel we went to a place called Kissingfish where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I did not know what to expect and I ended up laughing most of the time, haha. I am EXTREMELY ticklish on my feet. It was definitely quite the experience!

We got ready and then headed to our wine tasting at our hotel. The wine tasting was just absolutely phenomenal. We had personal service from the Food and Beverage Manager at the hotel and a waiter (George) that he had brought with him from another resort where they used to work together. We got to taste 5 different wines and keep one of the bottles for dinner. Two whites, one rose, and two reds. All were phenomenal. These guys knew what they were doing and talking about. The manager spent so much time telling us all about the local wines we were tasting and answered all the questions we had about them. Plus you got some phenomenal cheese + local Santorini cherry tomatoes (which Nick LOVED and he hates tomatoes!) Overall, it was pricey but well worth it in my opinion. Once we finished, we had dinner at the hotel as well. The dinner was absolutely fabulous. We were in a cave for the wine tasting and dinner that was carved out next to the pool. When the sun began to set right before dinner but after our wine tasting, we went out to see the view. I did not think the sunset could get any prettier than the night before but it may have. It exceeded every expectation I had. After dinner, we headed back to our room and got in our personal hot tub. Yes, personal hot tub :) The skies opened up and you could see the stars and just overall it was a perfect experience that I will never forget. Santorini officially stole my heart.

good morning (aka 11am) santorini :)

hi darnell

just some sun-dried octopus

view from lunch!

just some perfect H2O

that famous Santorini shot...

really don't know how to react right now

the before wine tasting

wrapping up the wine tasting

smidge windy!

just our casual dinner view....

yes..nick got lamb..again!

On Sunday, we woke up and unfortunately it was not too great of weather yet again. We made the most of it though. We'd booked a boat cruise that was 5 hours and we checked out a few of the islands of Santorini. We even took the plunge and swam some! I kind of froze after I got out of the water cause there was no sun right when we got out. But overall, the areas we saw were still gorgeous and this is definitely something I'd like to do again when we go back (yes, when.... we are 500% going back!!!) Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and got some massages. So so nice. I could have one of those every day and it still would not be enough for me :) When we left the spa the sun had come out (yay!!) so we spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner in our hot tub. We ordered a bottle of Rose - one of the wines we had drank the night before at the wine tasting and just enjoyed the view and weather. An absolutely perfect last full day of vacation. We then headed back to the sunset point to watch one last Oia sunset. I would say it was not as good as the other two but still just so many colors. It is absolutely crazy how many people are up there just trying to see the sunset. Thousands of people just crowded around. We then went and grabbed some dinner...one last authentic Greek meal for vacation!

just some netting above the water...

that copper color is where the water is "warm" .. it's not lol

that water....

color is just gorg

red beach!

rining in our one year anniversary like this... <3

Of course Monday, on our last day, it was SOOOOO sunny. We woke up and ate a good breakfast again and then just laid out outside our room in our lounge chairs and enjoyed the perfect view. I got a smidge sunburnt but it was worth it haha and it was really not that bad - it turned into tan mostly!! I took a few more pictures of our suite + the resort and view - see below, just gorg. After we grabbed one last lunch then I had to say goodbye to our gorgeous room and Santorini. I think I was about in tears...I cannot wait to go back to Santorini and enjoy its perfection again.