SANTORINI[:]

Happy Sunday, my faithful darlings, I’m here to tell you about an extraordinary trip that we went on just after saying ‘I do’ last October... I feel like I’ve gone back just by looking at and editing these photos. I don’t think that there’s a better time to go on a ‘honeymoon’ other than several hours after the wedding. After having a look around, picking up the confetti and handing out the decorative flowers, it’s good to get away while still trapped in our little bubble of love... We left for ten days in Greece, you might say that that’s short. Well, for a workaholic like me, it was a big thing. In several months I’m leaving again for 15 days and it’s going to be a challenge for me to leave the Lemonade Studio for such a long time! I’m already getting ready psychologically (no, I’m not crazy, I just love my work...). Well let’s get back to it: Greece!

For our honeymoon, we didn’t want to have an unbearably long flight, we wanted some peace, sunshine at all costs, a change of scenery, and an inexpensive destination... so Greece and it’s islands seemed like the perfect place. At that time of the year (beginning October), the weather was beautiful, it was warm without being scorching hot, plus it’s the end of the tourist season so there weren’t a lot of people around.

The trip consisted of three parts. We went directly from Paris to Santorini, it’s this adorable little island that we’re going to talk about today, then we took a boat to Heraklion in Crete for several days, then we took a flight to Athens. It’s very easy to get around... if we had stayed longer, I would have loved to visit the little islands in the Cyclades, which we’ll do next time for sure!

Just so you know, and since this made the trip for me, the island of Santorini is like a circular arc, with a small uninhabited island just near it and if you look at these two beauties from the sky, you see a circle. Santorini is in fact a volcanic island and the inhabitable part is on the volcanic crater’s slope. I think it’s crazy to think that a few kilometers farther down, there’s a ton of hot magma!

Once on the island, it’s hard to get around by foot since it’s pretty big. We used a car, but it’s possible to rent scooters at lots of places on the island, or if you’re a daredevil, four wheelers... We had some great walks on the highest spot of the island, up where we could see the ocean on all sides, which is magical... on our first walk, we wandered a bit and we ended up at Fira, the capital of the island.

Fira is also well known for its funicular, so even during the low season when there aren’t that many people, I recommend you opt out on that and go down to the old port, Ormos. Go down there to go back up! To get to the port, take the big winding path that looks like a staircase (by the way, forget your flip flops). You’ll surely pass by hundreds of cute little donkeys, tired of carrying lazy tourists. Give them a little pat and get down on your own two feet, burn off the calories from that local moussaka...

Once at the bottom, you’ll find little cafés and some boats that’ll take you to the nearby small island or to the amazingly postcard­perfect town of Ioa! I really wanted to get there by sea, but once at the bottom, the last boat for the day had left. Plan accordingly because at this time of the year, with the sunsetting early, the last boats are around 4:30 pm. So we went up with the funicular...

We stayed five days in Santorini in a cute hotel, the Amber Light Villas. We had a room like a little separate villa with our own private pool. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll remember this picture! The view was amazing, just the sky and sea... I don’t know how that’s possible but it was difficult to tell one from the other, shades of blue were everywhere.

Every morning at this hotel, I couldn’t wait to chow down on the enormous breakfast at the restaurant! There was a large variety of fresh, local products. I still think about it sometimes while looking at my sad bowl of cereal...

The hotel was between Fira and Oia, so once we were there we did a lot of things by foot, but I admit that we spent quite a bit of time just taking in the view, the sun, and our little pool, not doing much besides enjoying our time away and remembering the night of October 3rd...

And then one day, we decided to go on an adventure by going straight to Oia, following your advice! The three hour walk on the side of the volcano was beautiful, spotted with little white sparkling churches under a shining sun... it's one of our best memories from the trip!

And then suddenly we arrived in Oia, it just how I imagined the Cyclades! Okay, okay, I know that it isn’t because there are 250 islands and in the Cyclades only 24 are inhabited, but that’s how it is in my head! Oia being the “touristic capital” of Santorini, there are a lot of restaurants and boutiques. I suggest you wander off the main streets and get lost in the little ones to find some treasures and amazing views!

By the way, Oia is known for its amazing sunsets, so you have to reserve a table at a restaurant with a terrace at least once to enjoy the breathtaking view! We did that at Pelekanos on our last night. It was magical, the panoramic view was incredible and it was the best octopus salad of my life! I’d like to thank you for all the great tips that you gave me, where to eat, drink and things to see. I’ll list them below, please don’t hesitate to add any in the comments!

Where to eat on the island of Santorini, here are all your recommendations: