::Waving hi::

A new year a new start. Well, that was kind of true. I said I was going to write when I felt inspired, and, truthfully, the inspiration was lacking. Between job hunting in this economy (depressing!), work, school, etc, inspiration was hiding, and quite cleverly, too!

But, what a difference a few months makes! How about, “A new life, a new start”?
It’s hard to believe that I’m saying this, but I’ve landed my dream job! Literally and truly my dream job.

And, to top that off, without going into too many of the details, my husband and will be making a major relocation and starting over in a new city (yes, city!).

What does this have to do with this blog, you ask? Well…..

I’m now an airline employee! (!!!!) Which means free flights to anywhere in the world! Ha! Oh, the dangers of this for my pocketbook. Although, having lived in a small market for my entire life, not having to pay $1500 for an airline ticket (what we paid for our tickets to Greece EACH) frees up a lot of cash for hotels. ;)

Anyway, bottom line--you can expect to hear a lot more from me in the coming months. As we make a valiant attempt to circle the globe, I’ll be trying to post any helpful information I gather along the way here. :)

It’s going to be a bit slow here for a little while, though, as I attempt to finish up my masters degree, have a full time job, a part time job, and commute between cities (and states) for work/school (that was exhausting just typing it!), but in the meantime, I’ll try to post some pics from some recent vacations (we’ve been busy bees!).

Anyway, if you’re still out there, I hope to be much more active around here! :) ::waves hi!::

A New Year, A New Start

September 25—the last time I wrote. I could give you the typical blogger’s sob story about how busy I’ve been, etc, but I’ll spare you. Mostly, I was beginning to feel like this had become another job for me. The fun had slipped away, and I felt guilty every time I didn’t fulfill my blogger’s duties. So, I decided to take an indefinite break.

However, as time has passed, I’ve begun to miss my modest little blog. I’ve missed the diary of my life that it had become, the log of travel info for my personal use at a later date, the excitement that blogging a trip brought about, and of course, you, my dear readers.

So, we’re back and live. However, this year’s blog is going to be a bit different.

Don’t worry—the travel focus will still be here. However, 2009 is going to be the year that I start blogging for me. And, hopefully, this will result in better results for you.

I’m going to blog when I’m feeling inspired, when I have something exciting to report, of when I’ve come across something fabulous in the world of travel. I’m going to blog a bit more about my life (this year there will be plenty to report), and a bit less out of obligation. I’m going to blog 2009 from the heart, and for my love of travel.

I’m looking forward to it, and if you’re still out there somewhere, I hope you are too.

Travel Toy(s)!

For those of us who live in cell phone coverage no-man’s-land, Apple's ridiculous contract with AT&T stinks. :( No iPhone for us. :( (Although, I will say that I did not necessarily miss it until I discovered my new toy. Suddenly, I’m irrationally angry at Apple for this decision).

So, what’s the next best thing? An iPod Touch.

Oh, how I love thee, so, iPod Touch. ;) Your applications to travel are endless, and that makes for a very happy travel addict. Your WiFi capabilities, your ability to turn into a compact portable DVD player (without, you know the dvd’s), your handy little translation and currency converter applications, your downloadable Frommer's Guides, your trusty little weather forecaster, your MP3 capabilities, your ability to map my location—oh, how you make me swoon. I do not doubt that your utility will well exceed the $220 I spent on you.

And, since I needed something to protect you from the harsh realities of the outside world (and because every girl needs a fabulous pink dress!), my precious, I have purchased this super adorable case for you (also available for iPhones) from Etsy seller, Oh My Guiles!...

And so I do not sell your sound capabilities short (and hear the family of bouncing/screaming children that are inevitably seated right in front of, behind me, or right next to me), I’ve purchased these beauties.

I can’t wait until my next trip to utilize you to your full potential.

That Didn't Take Long

So, yea. As per my previous post, we were feeling a bit of indecision regarding our last day of our trip. Stay in the Plaka and take a cab to the airport at 3:00 am, or stay near the airport and take the metro to the Plaka for the last day?

Based on some advice I got from some fellow travelers, we have canceled our reservation (for the last day only--we can't wait to stay there for the first two nights in Athens!) at the Athens Gate Hotel , and booked at the Sofitel Athens Airport.

The beauty of the Sofitel is that it's literally right next to the airport--as in, you can walk. This will save me precious minutes of sleep (those of you that know me are very aware that I am NOT a morning person).

But, don't be fooled--this is no typical airport hotel. It's luxurious and hip! We've also stayed at a Sofitel before, and it's one of the few chain hotels that I actually really enjoy. :) We had an outstanding experience, and the TripAdvisor reviews seem to support our previous experience.



Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, stand by for some non-greece related posts! I'm sure you're ready! :)

Rounding Out the Trip

As our trip comes to a close, we’ll head back to Athens for a night, awaiting our 4:50 am flight back to the US (sick, right?!). Since we arrive back in Athens at noon that day (plenty of time to spend further exploring the city), but leave at such an obnoxious hour, we struggled a bit with where to stay. We looked at two options near the airport (the Holiday Inn Attica Avenue
and the Sofitel Athens Airport), but decided against both, and ended up back at the Athens Gate(for now…I’m still not 100% positive about this decision. Any feedback out there?).

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The upside to this absurd flight time is that we will get an extended layover in Amsterdam—just enough time to peruse the city and get a tiny taste of the city.

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Amsterdam was originally on our itinerary as stopover on our trip, but the silly airline seems to be rearranging flight schedules daily (booo!), so we couldn’t get the schedule we wanted a reasonable price. :( So, for now, our short layover will have to do, and we’ll definitely plan on returning sometime very soon to really dive into the city.

And that, my friends, concludes our brief trip outline. :) I cannot wait for May. :)

Realizing the Dream

You’re probably thinking that’s a bit dramatic, huh? I'm not disagreeing. But, friends, we must remember who we are talking about here. ;) My love for travel is not something that has developed over the past day, week, year, or heck, yearS, but rather, something that’s traceable back to early grade school and my mom. We won’t get into the background, but let the record state that my addiction is actually a genetic disorder. And, said genetic disorder causes me to measure my dreams in terms of travel. (It's not my fault.)

Anyway, back to the task at hand.

Realizing the dream…

It may sound dramatic, but one of my earliest memories of actually longing to go somewhere (prior to that, my mom would tell me where I was going and I would nod and probably ask for a juice box or something) was after seeing a beautiful picture just like this one. I distinctly remember staring at it (If I remember correctly, it was a poster on the wall of a travel agency), and deciding that I must go there. I could not have been older than 8 or 9, and that vision and feeling of longing have stuck with me all of these years.

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::cue dramatic music::

We’ll be spending…

4 Nights on beautiful Santorini:

We’ll be spending 4 nights/5 days on the beautiful island of Santorini. We plan on filling our time diving, hitting up wineries, exploring ancient sites & villages, laying on the beach, and enjoying the famous Santorini sunsets—pretty much my dream mix of vacation activities.

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I’ve blogged about Santorini hotels a couple of times on this blog here and here, but, ultimately, we ended up choosing another hotel, and couldn’t be more excited about it!

Located just outside of the village of Imerovigli, the charming Anastasis Apartments hotel is not only gorgeous, but pretty reasonably priced for Santorini, as well. And, for the icing on the cake, it’s also known as having outstanding service. In fact, it’s the number one rated hotel on TripAdvisor on all of Santorini.

Next Stop...

Originally, the husband and I were going to do an Italy/Greece combo trip. We had been looking forward to it for months. Then, one day, I thought to myself, "Self, maybe you should just double check your school calendar before you book airline tickets." Good call, self. We might have had a major problem if I hadn't. You see, school ends a week later than normal. :( Due to some family commitments, we were unable to extend our trip past our original end date, so we had no choice butto cut our trip.

Tears were shed, temper tantrums were had.

Deep within the depths of my depression, I decided to research alternative options in Greece (our original time span in Greece for the Greece/Italy combo trip was only about 6 days). Well…you know how the best way to quickly get over an ex is to get a "current"? Well, I had found a new boyfriend, and my new boyfriend's name was Crete.

Stop 2: 3 Nights in Crete

When researching Crete, we quickly realized that the capital city of Iraklion wasn’t a great fit for the type of vacation we were looking for. Our solution? Go west, young man.

We’ll be spending all three nights in the beautiful Venetian port of Chania. This little city on the west coast of Crete has managed to maintain its old world charm, while also being an excellent base for additional exploration of Crete.

greece-holidays.sunvil.co.uk
www.homesgofast.com
http://www.ellada.net/

Unlike Athens, our hotel choice in Chania was immediately apparent. The absolutely beautiful, charming, and reasonably priced 600 year old Casa Leone, located on highly desirable Chania harbor, just steps away from the old town, will our be our home base for our three nights in Crete.

Besides the amazing (and healthy!) Cretian food, there’s one major highlight I’m looking forward to exploring outside of Chania: Elafonissi Beach.

I don't really feel like any explanation is necessary here.

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