Greece: a few last things

Whenever I come back from a trip, it takes me ages to unpack. For me, the magic of travel doesn’t end when the plane touches down, or when I step inside our home—it’s when all my things are packed away and my suitcase is empty. Reluctant to end the spell, I often leave my suitcase on the floor for days, picking things up and putting them away one at a time.

I feel that way about my photos from Greece. I take a ridiculous amount of photos when I travel, and only post a fraction of them on the blog. I was feeling a little sad about relegating all those images to my hard drive, so I thought I’d choose a last few details to share as a sort of farewell to Greece.

There isn’t really much of a story to tie them all together. But these are the little things that made me smile:

Waking up in, and coming home to, our lovely room at the Kavos Hotel in Naxos.

Aromatics—dried lavender and garlic—hung over doors in Naxos’s old town.

I wonder why the garlic has piercings?

Immaculate white everything. I can’t imagine the amount of work it would take to keep these stairs so pristine.

This sign at the till, at Lolita’s Gelato in Oia.

Have a gelato, fall in love. Anything is possible in Santorini!

Single ladies: this man makes good gelato, and looks good while doing it. What more could you want in a husband?

Oh, and the gelato was good. The best on the island!

Oh, feta. Wrapped in phyllo pastry and drizzled with honey, breaded and deep-fried, whipped into a spicy dip, crumbled over pasta, Greece was a paradise of feta in all its various forms. Real Greek feta is incomparable.

Octopi everywhere. I ate so much octopus in Greece, it’s a wonder I didn’t sprout tentacles after 10 days. This perfectly cooked and curled one is from Taverna Anogi, one of the best places for dinner in Imerovigli.

Table for two on our balcony in Santorini.

An intimate wedding on our neighbors’ balcony in Santorini. Can you imagine getting married with so few guests? I certainly couldn’t, but I’m Filipino.

The cliffside of softly twinkling lights that is Oia at night. Good night, Greece…

and goodbye. I’ll see you again someday. You can bet on it.