S A N T O R I N I
Oh Greece. I’ve been dying to visit this country for many years now but even more of a desire when my roommates in university toured Santorini & Mykonos during their student exchange. The rugged coastlines, white exteriors, blue domes & crystal clear waters quickly trumped anything I have seen online. Our journey through the Cyclades kicked off in Santorini before making our way to Paros and Mykonos. Similar to our London adventure — we used Santorini as a base for an evening to experience the picture-perfect sunset and the day to relax by the pool.
We arrived in Santorini via plane from Naples mid-afternoon. Checking into our one night stand at The Majestic Hotel, quickly freshening up, changing into that #OOTD we took a stroll into Fira to lock down a location for sunset dinner. Once the sun set and pictures taken we were on a hunt for some authentic Tzatziki (even typing that word out made me hungry again) and did we find!! I honestly can’t even remember name of the spot we jumped into — there were so many gyro and Greek cuisine spots on our walk back where we had THE hardest time deciding. An older gentlemen jumped out and seemed to have quite the energy, so we let him seat us. This man was hilarious. This is where we ate our weight in gyro plates and tzatziki itself.
Waking up the next morning was the first indication that we for sure climbed 10km of Italian cliffside. I have NEVER been this sore in my life and the girls were in the same boat. Lukily we woke up to discover that breakfast was included during our stay. We had no idea before arriving to this was a pleasant perk. We made our way down to the patio restaurant to a fresh (and loaded) buffet of pastries, breakfast items, juice and plenty of espresso. Next thing I know the four of us are post-up on lounge beds along the quiet poolside. I think that was one of my favourite things about The Majestic — it was so quiet! I’m not sure if I’m turning into my father as I get older but I very much enjoy a quiet environment. This is also the exact moment our day plans fell apart. We had intentions of getting up and exploring Thira before checking-out and taking a ferry to Paros but as the sun became stronger and the pool-side furniture became comfier we found it very hard to leave this resort.. so we didn’t. We took this half day and did NOTHING. We literally laid by the pool with Aperol Spritz(s) and spring rolls enjoying our relaxing day before getting up to travel again. As much as I regret not exploring more of Santorini — my mental state and physical body needed to chill, and hey, this serves as definite grounds to go back again. Off to Paros.
P A R O S
Once we boarded the ferry I kicked back and continued to watch Cool Moms on Netflix. While packing I played it to have on the background and totally fell in love — pretty sure I’ve pushed it on everyone at this point. Originally we wanted to go to the island of Milos but the travel to get there didn’t fit into the timeline. During the planning process a couple of our friends who have done trips similar highly recommended we check out the island of Paros. I am so happy we ended up there. It was the perfect amount of relax, beach time, and not heavily populated with tourists like ourselves. We arrived around dusk and walked towards our meeting spot for our Airbnb host to take us to the next property. A little further up a mountain side than we anticipated but absolutely stunning views of the town of Paros when we arrived. We had such patio luck during our stays, again we landed a great Airbnb property with a massive patio that we’d spend downtime as well as air dry laundry.
Next morning after walking up and down the hill from our Airbnb we quickly decided to rent ATV’s. This was in the plan all along. Take a rip out in the desert or beach or something I see in all these Yacht Week promo videos lead me to believe. Being able to use them as transportation was key for driving around the island and very glad we did for the hike home. Once rented from a skeptical character we were off to Kolymbithres beach outside Naoussa. Kolymbithres beach was unreal. A mix of sand and salt eroded curvy granite, the beach was a great place to hang-out with a small bar/restaurant Paros On The Rocks just above the sand.
We spent most of the day in and out of the water around Naoussa Bay deciding to check out the local restaurant— we were so impressed. Going with the seafood platter and summer salad I was so happy — we’ve been dying for octopus. Not only did we get octopus, we recived great portions of fresh ta~death calamari, pock prawn & this phenomenal lemon-garlic-butter to dip (omg). The even fresher salad was arugula, chunks of feta, watermelon, topped with walnuts and balsam(ic) driz. YUM. Washing that down were some great rosemary gin smashes. OU.
Moving into Naoussa as the golden hour approached and restaurants began setting up for dinner, we walked along the dock as artisanal chimes created a total movie moment for me. The streets were basically empty as we split up and wandered around the white stoned alleyways. If I ever get back to Paros (which I’d love to) I think I would stay in and around Naoussa. By this point the apps we had at On The Rocks were worn off and we were craving a authentic Gyro. BOY did we find it. Ta Kalamakia in the town square of Paros has the best one (we even went back again for around two during our time). Even typing this is hard because there is no way I can have that one at this given moment. After a gyro comma we booked a boat tour of Antiparos the next day which, again, was unreal.
I love being on boats, so obviously when the opportunity came up for a boat tour of the island of Antiparos you best bet I’m going to say yes. No questions asked. With that said, we jumped on “Captain Dan’s Lazy Day Boat Tour” for a lovely total of $55 & we cruised around the water for a full day, enjoyed fresh grilled octopus and pork skewers on the beach break with some Ourzzo. Stopping around the island for snorkelling, diving, and cliff jumping we boarded and greeted with a FULL lunch cooked on the boat. Not to mention the free-flowing wine (this was hands down one of the best days on the trip). Once arriving back into town we grabbed our second round of gyro’s and relaxed before making the ferry over to Mykonos for the final few days of our vacation.
M Y K O N O S
By the time we arrived in Mykonos, shuttled The Pantheon and checked in we decided to take it easy and relax knowing that everyone we’ve talked to told us that Mykonos us “party party party”. The Pantheon was rather a boutique bed and breakfast than hotel but for the purpose of our vacation it was just right. We had a large suite and private patio but the infinity pool is was what won me over (very much the Cohen’s house vibes from the O.C.).
Day two started out rather slow. We woke up and immedenetly went to the poolside snack bar and lounged by the pool. The hotel was rather small and super private, it seemed as if there was only a hand full of guests around the property. Honestly I feel like there was more sunbathing cats around than actual people which was hilarous. Our only plan today was to hit up the infamous Lohan Beach House (which was only a couple minute walk from our hotel!) that was made iconic from Lindsey’s dancing “this is how you throw a party in Mykonos Bit*h” meme 2 weeks prior. We desperately wanted her to be there seeing as she had spent the summer filming her upcoming reality show with the staff of the club (Very Vanderpump Rules meets Below Deck: Mediterranean vibes — I can’t wait).
Although we went at the shoulder of the season I could only imagine how fun this place would have been if we had visited in high season. The beach house itself has lux lounge beds along the beach with an extensive cocktail and food menu with a dedicated server. I was skeptical about how much this day was going to cost us due to the fact that when you walk in there is a showcase of magnum Dom Perigean & Veuve Clicquot but for the full day we were very content with what we got. I believe for two cocktails each (8 total), four lunches, and the sun-bed rental it came to around €220. Which yes, is still a chunk but the beach club next to Lohan’s had a spaghetti and lobster dish for a whopping €160. NOPE. After logging a full day of spring rolls, margaritas, and enough sun intake to run a solar home we jumped back to the hotel to refresh and catch transit into the town of Mykonos and Little Venice to explore the nightlife.
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While the trip was coming to a conclusion, I was eager to get back home and begin to plan something else. I was extremely surprised by all of us in how much we managed to accomplish during this trip yet barely saw it all. This was my first large international vacation and I was very thankful for the girls I traveled with. For a tight timeline we managed to hit all of the places we wanted to experience and more — I would highly recommend the same path we took and would even replicate it myself again (staying in Italy longer for a visit to Capri! and even try to vist the island of Milos for its “space” like beaches). All in All I was sad to see this trip come to an end and to be returning back to the real world. Time to research the next desination.
RLM.
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