“Αστέρι” is Greek for Star : The Expected Greek Sights

Whenever I go to a foreign country, I try to go in without any expectations at all. Inevitably, I end up failing at that because we all have these visions of faraway places in our heads that we can't force out or forget -- they are safely tucked away after being absorbed from dramatic scenes in classic movies or vividly descriptive passages in our favorite books.

Greece is no different. While I tried to be as open-minded as possible about the experience that Mr. Star and I were about to embark upon together, there were many sights we saw that were entirely expected on my part.

Brightly-colored buildings, for one

Crumbling columns

A view from the mountain road of a gorgeous string of islands

Farmland stretched far as the eye can see

Cosy and rustic tavernas

The wild sea

Back alleys with a delightful air of secrecy

The white and blue striped flag

And pieces of artwork (like this famous Akrotiri fresco) straight from the pages of my Art History textbook

It was all so very "Greek" and romantic.

Did you see the "expected sights" in the places you visited on your honeymoon? Stay tuned for the "unexpected sights" next!

If you're following along, the Star honeymoon recaps are:

Ancient Sites, of Course!

The Colors

Yummy Food!

Getting Around

“Αστέρι” is Greek for Star : Getting Around

Getting to and from another country and then all around said country is not always an easy feat. It requires a lot of planning, a whole heaping helping of patience, and is often one of the largest vacation budget items, behind lodging and food.

Over the course of two weeks, The Stars utilized just about every method of transportation possible. But don't worry, we documented it so you would know what you were getting into :)

This is on the train to Newark airport from NYC. We weren't even an hour into our honeymoon and Mr. Star was busting out the crazy faces. Transportation count: 1.

My Stepdad so graciously let us use his airmiles to get a flight to Greece on Lufthansa (thank you, Doc!). Our flight from Newark into Athens, went through Frankfurt and took about twelve hours, which I would like to say is the reason for Mr. Star's goofiness, but I think you all know better than that by now.

We opted to take a ferry to get from Athens to Santorini and back, rather than a flight, which would have been much faster. We did this both because it was much cheaper and because we thought it would be a lot more fun than spending more time in an airplane cabin. When I think of ferries in the U.S., I think small ships that make trips of less than an hour or so. In Greece, a nation of islands, they are not kidding around with their ferries. This one looked more like a small cruise ship to me, and had food to buy onboard and even wifi internet access! Yes, I checked Weddingbee from the ocean in Greece...

The ferry trip was pretty long (about 8 hours each way), but we weren't complaining with views like this. And we got an amazing first look at Santorini from sea that we totally would have missed from a plane.

Our resort outside of Athens was in a pretty rural spot, even though it was only about 20 miles outside of the center of the city. Luckily, public transportation in the Athens suburbs (and in all of Greece that we saw) is pretty extensive. We took the bus in and out of the city and one night got off about halfway back to Vravrona to eat dinner at a restaurant that was right on the beach. We were very amused to find that two wooden chairs with broken wicker seats comprised the bus stop there. We're not in New York anymore, baby...

We decided to rent a car for two days so that we could explore a little more of mainland Greece before we took off for Santorini. This required us buying a roadmap, of course. Now I'm a pretty good navigator and I am ALWAYS the designated navigator on trips with my family or friends, but this was Hard with a capital H. Luckily, I had practiced on my Rosetta Stone enough to be able to read signs pretty well (because many are in both Greek and English, but not all!), but they always whizzed by so fast on the road that I wasn't always able to sound them out in time. We did pretty well, though, and renting a car allowed us to see Delphi, Epidaurus, Corinth, and Marathon in two days. We never could have done that any other way.

For our pains, we were rewarded with some pretty stellar views! Check out those crazy turns. You should have seen how fast the Greeks take these roads!

I wanted a picture of Mr. Star with the car I was so proud of him not crashing in two whole days. He did ALL the driving. It was because he's terrible with directions and wanted me to have the map, but I gave him credit for all his hard work and dilligence in not getting us killed anyways :)

This was the cable car in Fira on Santorini that takes you from the top of the cliffs in Fira all the way down to the old port. The alternative to the cable car is about 500 steps each way, so that four euros seems well worth it! And the views were gorgeous!

Our favorite mode of transportation by far was the ATV that we rented for most of the time we were on Santorini. What an awesome time we had with that thing! I think it was Mr. Star's favorite part of the trip! If I could recommend one thing to people visiting Santorini, it would be to rent one of these puppies. At fifteen euros a day, it cost us about the same as it would have to take the public bus a couple of times to get around the island, and it was such an adventure to go exploring the remote villages and beaches on an ATV with my husband. We loved feeling the wind in our hair and having the freedom to go anywhere we wanted at any time, instead of waiting on the bus schedule or a taxi to show up.

Lastly, we took the metro in Athens, which was surprisingly cheap and clean and efficient. I was very impressed that it cost less than the NYC subway and was so much cleaner. One of my biggest laughs in Greece was the first time we got into the subway station and they were playing the theme from Star Trek in an elevator music style!

Well, that takes our total number of methods of transportation up to a whopping 9, if you count the one taxi we took on Santorini (sorry, no pictures!). It was certainly an adventure, but worth every second :)

How did you or how do you plan on getting around during your honeymoon?

P.S. I finished my final batch of thank-you notes and dropped them in the mailbox yesterday, just short of a month out from the wedding (including two weeks out of the country!). For brides who are procrastinating -- just do it! It feels so good to be done!

If you're following along, the Star honeymoon recaps are:

Ancient Sites, of Course!

The Colors

Yummy Food!

“Αστέρι” is Greek for Star : Yummy Food!

I have to say, our honeymoon was my fourth time to Europe and Greece was the seventh European country that I've visited, and I have never tasted such amazing food before. When my MOH and I visited France several summers back, we lost over five pounds each at the end of three weeks, despite my love of baguettes and chocolate. When I went to Scotland two years ago, I was seriously desperate for some American food after ten days.

So while I was hopeful, I wasn't exactly expecting to be wow-ed by the food in Greece. Boy, was I ever wrong! You know the "freshman 15"? Well, I gained the Honeymoon 6. Six pounds is a lot of eating in two weeks!

There is some truly wonderful food to be had in Greece, even on a budget. We mostly stuck to having pastries or a light breakfast late in the morning, and dinner at a restaurant that our Frommer's Guide to Greece recommended.

This is part of what we ate the first night we were in Athens. We ate at a little taverna in the Plaka District where the waiters brought around a tray of 20 mezedes (or appetizer-sized portions) and you picked five of them to eat between the two of you. These are three of our dishes: some roasted pork, Greek yoghurt, and sausages that Mr. Star is still talking about. Yum!

This is a restaurant we ate at on our second night in Athens. Don't you just love the open-air seating and the dreamy blue chairs? There was even a view of the Acropolis. We just sat and enjoyed our dinner slowly and wrote all of our postcards while enjoying the gorgeous weather and atmosphere! The Greeks do not believe in rushing meals, and we were all for taking our time on our honeymoon! You know what they say, "When in Athens..."

This is a shot of our first run-in with Saganaki, or Greek fried cheese. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it is, doused with lemon and eaten on toasted pita bread slices...

Mr. Star ate his whole portion with his eyes closed. THAT's how much he loved it.

This coffee chain became my saving grace while we were in the Athens area. They served expresso frozitos, which were like Starbucks' frappuccinos. I had a lot of those puppies while I was trying to experiment with which Greek coffee would feed my caffeine addiction the best. Hmm, maybe I know where those 6 pounds came from after all...

I spent a lot of time planning our itineraries with my Frommer's Guide...and writing in our travel journal...and, umm, eating chocolate. Yeah, the Greeks make excellent desserts!

This only LOOKS like dessert. Actually, this was what I was served for breakfast! A waffle is in there somewhere, buried under melted chocolate, whipped cream, and chopped walnuts, with a ducky animal cracker for good show. I couldn't even finish it, although I did give it the old college try.

About five days in, I discovered the Nescafe frappe, which is about the closest thing I could find to American iced coffee. When they ask you if you want them to make it with milk and sugar, always say yes. Trust me.

We were very amused to discover that even the Greeks love pigs in a blanket. Not only do they love pigs in a blanket, they make them in EPIC proportions! I mean, look at that thing!

Mr. Star discovered cheese pies on Santorini, and I'm pretty sure he ate one for breakfast every day after that. Yes, he really really likes cheese. I have to admit, they were pretty yummy. They taste kinda like big, flaky croissants with melted cheese inside!

A couple of nights, we just got souvlaki pitas to-go and sat out on the benches in Fira on Santorini to watch the sunsets. When you see my sunset pictures in a later post, you'll understand why!

Of course, we had to try the Greek national dessert -- baklava! I loved the nuts and Mr. Star loved the sweet, syrupy drizzled sauce. I swear, we usually eat really healthy at home (salads! fruit! brown rice!).

We ordered saganaki whenever we could. It really was that good. I looked it up (my go-to favorite is The Food Network), and apparently it's made from kasseri cheese, which I was able to find at a local cheese shop. It seems pretty easy to make, so I know what I'm making for Mr. Star's birthday ;)

If you're wiping the drool off your keyboard, I don't blame you. It really was as good as it looks (and I have the tight jeans to prove it!). I wish I had taken more pictures of some of our delicious entrees, like the moussaka we had or the pork gyros or even all the french fries we ate (did you know the Greeks make excellent french fries? I didn't either), but it was usually so yummy looking that we dug right in.

At any rate, if you are going to Greece or thinking of going to Greece, don't worry, you won't starve! Just writing all this reminds me that it's gym time! Stand by for more Greek goodness!

If you're following along, the Star honeymoon recaps are:

Ancient Sites, of Course!

The Colors

“Αστέρι” is Greek for Star : The Colors

For a bright and bold color-lovin' gal such as myself (look for me, I'm the only person in New York City not wearing a black coat), there's just no beating Greece! Everywhere we turned, there was one fabulous array of dazzling color after another. I was in heaven, and wondering why we don't decorate like this here in the United States!

I hope you love the shots I took of all the colors as much as I do...

Buildings in Oia on Santorini were bold and beautiful

Even when it's mostly white, there are still fabulous infusions of that famous Santorini blue

I would love to get to walk through that door every day

Flowers that look as bright as they smelled

These aren't even fancy buildings, everyday souvenir shops are decorated this nicely!

Everywhere we turned, there was a blue dome more beautiful than the next on Santorini

And colorful merchandise made up for any white walls in sight!

Even in the Archaeological Museum in Athens (an admittedly stodgy place!), there were bold colors

How fabulous would these be for wedding decor, right? Can we get married again?

I would love to paint a house like this and then my neighbors would hate me

Have you ever seen water so blue? This was off the side of the ferry from Athens to Santorini.

If I had chosen my wedding colors AFTER going on our honeymoon, I'm pretty sure they would have been Greece-inspired! Since my wedding planning is over, I'll have to plan an apartment party of some type with these photos as part of my inspiration board.

What inspires you?

If you're following along, the Star Honeymoon recaps are:

Ancient Sites, Of Course

“Αστέρι” is Greek for Star : Ancient Sites, Of Course!

Hey there, everyone! We're baaaaaack!

First off, let me say that I missed you all. So much. I checked into Weddingbee every few days during our honeymoon (all the way from Greece!), but refused to let myself comment on anything or post. You know, just to avoid addict status...oh, who am I kidding? Checking into Weddingbee from my honeymoon officially makes me an addict, but you catch my drift :)

So, we spent two amazing weeks in Greece together. Greece was fabulous, but the best part of our honeymoon was the spending time together part. You see, in three years of dating, Mr. Star and I had never had the time and/or money to take a vacation together that didn't involve visiting one family or the other, so it was incredible to have so much time just to ourselves to talk and explore together.

On a side note, I highly recommend the book How to Love Me for anytime when you A. have a lot of time to kill with your significant other and B. want to jumpstart deep and meaningful conversations about things you never would have thought to talk about otherwise. Mr. Star and I spend a nauseating amount of time talking to each other and this book still finds things that we've never discussed before.

Aaanyways, our itinerary for the two weeks consisted mainly of Athens, Vravrona, Epidaurus, Delphi, and Santorini. I thought that instead of recounting our travel tales day by day (since 14 days is a lot of days and I think you'd all hate me by the end of our 800+ plus pictures!), I would share with you our trip more categorically, organized by the way things struck me. Don't worry, this cryptic description will become more clear as this series continues.

I'll start off with what everyone thinks of when they think Greece: ancient sites. You know, the white columns and crumbling temples deal. I happen to be a self-proclaimed dork and hugely into history, so we saw a lot of these historically significant (and sometimes nearly unintelligable) sites. I'll just share with you the highlights:

This was in Athens, in front of the Roman Odeion (theater) that they restored in the 1800's and still use today to put on performances. It was a really cool sight and I was totally wishing that we were around in the summer to see a show there. Only the weather in Athens is much nicer in October, so there you go...

Us in front of the Parthenon in Athens! This is the big kahuna of the ancient sites in Athens (and really, in Greece), of course. Situated high atop Athens on the acropolis and visible from much of the city, it is a stunning landmark and pretty amazing to contemplate how many people have walked around that very important spot!

This is a shot of the Ancient Agora in Athens. This was the marketplace and economic center of Ancient Athens, so there are acres of ruins all grouped together. There aren't too many particularly well-preserved buildings here, but the site is so extensive that you can get really get a feel for what it must have been like to walk the ancient streets. And Socrates was put to death in the Southwest corner, which made my history buff self go crazy. This was one of Mr. Star's favorite sights in Greece!

This is the Temple of Artemis in Vravrona. Since we weren't staying directly in Athens (hello, timeshare membership getting us a great deal!), we were able to catch a few sights that were off-the-beaten-path. This temple, for instance, was literally two miles from our first resort, but since it's in the middle of NOWHERE, it hardly gets visited. We loved seeing such a relatively well-preserved site and had the place all to ourselves the whole time we were there, which made it feel so peaceful. Two thumbs up, for sure!

There I am, just chilling out at the ruins of the Oracle of Delphi. Being theatre majors, we had to read most of the ancient Greek dramas and I'm pretty sure that every one of them has a character who makes the trip to Delphi for advice at one point or another, so it was really cool to actually stand in the place that we had read ancient playwrights write about so many dozens of times. The actual ruins were alright, but the mystique of the oracle and the absolutely breathtaking location were well worth the many hours we spent driving through rural Greece to get there.

The Stars at Epidaurus, one of the most intact and impressive of the surviving ancient theaters! You can probably guess how giddy we were to be there and I promise that you'll be seeing more pictures of the theater at a later date. For now I'll just say that the acoustics in this place were the most astounding thing we encountered in our whole two weeks in Greece. You could stand in the middle of the stage and whisper and the people in the back row (55 rows back, mind you!) could hear you clear as day. When I stood onstage and sang a few bars, I was totally thrown by the fact that it sounded to me like I was singing into a megaphone! Very, very cool.

I'm going to wrap up this first post (of many!) about our wonderful honeymoon with another shot of the Parthenon on the acropolis in Athens. As much as I loved seeing it during the day, the way they light it up at night is truly gorgeous.

It's something that everyone should see in their lifetime.

Next up, "The Colors"! Stay tuned :)

The Stars Got Hitched!

Hello, Hive! MRS. Star here, reporting live from the other side!

I wanted to share a few quick teasers with you before we jet off to Greece for two weeks on Friday (yay!), because I really need the assistance of some gorgeous pictures to tell this story, since words alone simply won't do.

Before Sunday, I was really worried that, because all of the normal hype of wedding planning added on top of the added pressure of being a wedding blogger who's immersed in wedding blogs and talking about weddings nearly all day long, our wedding day might not be able to live up to the anticipation and excitement surrounding it for two years now. When people used to say that your wedding day is supposed to be the best day of your life, I was concerned that that expectation would make any day pale in comparision.

Well, let me just say, that I was worried over nothing. Sunday truly was the best day of my life thus far. Words can't even describe how amazing the whole experience was. I just kept thinking, "how can it get any better than this?" all day. Mr. Star said, "I wish we could get married every day," and while I know that I wouldn't have the energy for that, I definitely think I could get married once a month, at least ;)

I could go on and on, but I have a honeymoon to pack for, so I think I'll let this fabulous picture help me out:

Our fabulous photographer, John, captured this moment of peacefulness out on our balcony right before us girls left for the ceremony.

A quiet moment snuggling in Grand Central (you know, there were just dozens of people taking our picture and my MOH holding my train, but it was quiet and intimate, I swear!)

I'll give you a quick summary of my favorite parts of our day, since I'll be blogging pictures from our trip to Greece, the bachelorette and bachelor parties, and the rehearsal all before we get another look at the actual wedding:

The top ten most amazing parts of our day:

1. Seeing our college buddies grinding on my mom -- yes, this happened!
   
2. Riding the subway with some unsuspecting New Yorkers who were very much entertained
   
3. Wearing the gorgeous dress I had been lusting over for more than two years and finally getting everyone to agree that it was worth every penny
   
4. Being so excited to walk down the aisle just so I could finally see Mr. Star and hold his hands
   
5. Getting cheered on as Mr. Star lifted me in the air not once, but twice during our choreographed first dance
   
6. Feeling our families truly come together and get along for the first time, with even my brother going so far as to snap at me when I interrupted him talking to "his new brothers!"
   
7. Getting a slow dance with the most gorgeous flowergirl there ever was
   
8. A ceremony that was so "us" and so genuine that it was absolutely the most intense and emotional half an hour of my life. Everything but me and Mr. Star just melted away from my perception.
   
9. That all of our guests noticed and commented on how much work we put into making all the details as perfect as we could
   
10. The overwhelming joy I felt from start to finish -- I have never been so happy. Ever.
    

It was hard to pick just ten.

I'll leave you with a picture that captures the spirit of our evening perfectly. This was during our first dance and I just love how happy Mr. Star looks and how amped up all of our guests are. The whole night was just like this:

All photos by John Martin Photography