Lucca, Italy 2009

Lucca was probably Kevin's favorite. It is a small charming town with treasures down random streets. The town is supposed to have the best food in Tuscany, and we went to one of the best restaurants for dinner. Kevin got the delicious rabbit ravioli and I got the Tuscan yellow pasta with mushrooms (yellow from extra eggs). His dish was better, or at least, I always think it is.

The city walls in Lucca

Beautiful buildings

Small plazas

The town at sunset

Dessert at Ristorante Giglio

Pisa, Italy 2009

From there we caught trains to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was my favorite. I'm a sucker for the Leaning Tower, even if getting the perfect cheesy shots in front of it took forever. But the city is beautiful and historic in its own right, complete with its own smaller duomo, and I would have spent more time there if I could.

In front of the Torre pendente di Pisa, a freestanding bell tower

Close-up of the tower and cherubs

The Duomo in the Cathedra Square (Piazza del Duomo)

Inside the Duomo

Florence, Italy 2009

Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Tuscany, and I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We walked around a lot and went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the last day.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

You can glimpse the Duomo everywhere on the streets of Florence

Close up to the facade

Boboli Gardens on our last day

Santorini, Greece 2009

Santorini is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 120 miles southeast of Greece's mainland. Santorini has an active volcanic center.

The largest island is known as Thira, made of the town of Thira and the town of Oía. The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions, the Minoan eruption /Thira eruption, which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. One theory holds that the Thira eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.

We enjoyed walking around Santorini, enjoying nice meals, and watching every sunset from every location possible while we were there. But compared to Folegandros, it was more of a touristy island.

Our hotel

 

View from our room

On our balcony

View from our hotel room's balcony

Walking around

Near our hotel

I like it here

So pretty

 

At Stani Restaurant with a view of the volcano

 

Kevin and the Santorini sunset

We took a boat to the volcano, and then hiked up the volcano to enjoy stunning views and a tiny bit of volcanic steam. But beware, it's windy up there! We then went to the hot springs which involved jumping off a boat and swimming through a little bit of cold ocean before we could get to the warm part. Also, you have to be able to tread water for about 20 minutes in the ocean, which isn't too difficult, but it's not exactly relaxing either. The island is definitely best for its stunning views.

 

Boat to the volcano

Us on the boat

Port of the volcano

Hiking up the volcano

Fresh out of the hot springs

That evening we went out for a fancy dinner out.

We clean up nice

Sunset in Oía

Fancy dinner in Oía

Last day in Santorini:

Beachy


Beach cafe


Likes his drink


The town new the beach

Back at our room

Ready for a casual dinner after the sunset

Our balcony

Nikolae Restaurant


Nikolae Restaurant

Folegandros, Greece 2009

Folegandros is probably the best place in the world. I am going to tell you more, but that's the only important part. It is a small Greek island with about 700 inhabitants. We stayed in Karavostassis and spent most of the morning there and then had dinner each night in Chora. (The third village which we never made it to is Ano Meria.)

Karavostassis is the port of Folegandros where we arrived by boat. Most of the hotels there have a view of the port. Kevin's favorite activity while we were there was watching boats appear on the horizon. I enjoyed beach hopping as the beaches on one side of the port were completely different. It was basically heaven. Add that we were on our honeymoon, and you can imagine what this place means to us.

The bay where ships come in


View from our balcony


Kevin with his feet in a hot tub, pointing at ships coming over the horizon


Beautiful and secluded beaches


Sunning on the black sand beach


We had the most delicious octopus, Greek salad, and chicken that fell off the bone


Leaving was the worst idea we ever had

The village of Chora is built on the edge of a 200-meter high cliff. It's not that far from the port, but we made the mistake of thinking we could walk back from Chora to the port while the sun was setting. And by we, I really mean me. That was the most terrifying walk of my life both because it was almost pitch black on a narrow road with buses careening downhill. I jumped into painful brush in my flip flops countless times.

The church of Panagia in Chora is located on top of a cliff was likely built where an ancient temple was previously located. Its inhabitants were Dorians, then Athenian , then the island was conquered Venice until 1566, then by Ottoman Turks. The Greeks took it back in 19th century.

The main square in Chora

Little roads filled with restaurants and stores.

The Path up to Panagia Church in Chora

Climbing to Panagia Church

Check out the second closest cross on the right

We both climbed up there for the photo op

Sunset from the cliffs of Chora