Viewing: Greece

2013: My Year in Travel

The plan for 2013, believe it or not, was to seriously cut down on travel. Looking back at the year in travel, that was clearly a fail.

We might have failed, but we didn’t fail miserably—we had so much fun doing it! Tala’s arrival only slowed us down for the first three months; it wasn’t long until we got itchy feet again.

Berlin Oberbaum Bridge street art

Berlin, Germany was our first trip of the year, and our first with Tala. Cheap eats, great nightlife, street art, Tala’s first museum visit, blogger meetups, and a redemptive visit to my favorite hangout, the Badeschiff, were some of the highlights that cemented Berlin as one of my favorite cities in Europe.

Monkey installation building Berlin

A monkey-covered building I saw in Mitte. Anyone know what it is?

Fueled by so much inspiration, I went on a blogging bender from just five days in Berlin. Look at all these posts!

Tala’s first flight, my first giveaway
Street art sightings in Berlin
Nhow Hotel Berlin
Breakfast in Berlin
Berlinische Galerie
Date night: Berlin edition
A walk to remember
Badeschiff: The return

Alicante Spain beach

As a couple, patience is not one of our virtues. That really showed in our spur-of-the-moment weekend in Alicante, Spain—the result of a too-long winter, a dismal spring, and a summer that seemed to take forever to get to Amsterdam.

Extra large mojito Alicante

Oversized sparkling sangrias (plus mojito o’ clock !) on the beach, cooling off in the Mediterranean Ocean and excellent restaurants mere steps from our hotel justified our spontaneous and kinda crazy getaway.

Alicante: Playa Postiguet
At the beach with baby
Out and about in Alicante
Alicante: Where to eat (and eat and eat)
Maastricht Selexyz Dominicanen

Closer to home, Maastricht was another weekend destination we revisited this year. Good food, contemporary art and a visit to one of the world’s most stunning bookstores made this a fun and fulfilling weekend drive.

Weekend in Maastricht
Selexyz Dominicanen: Heaven for booklovers
Bonnefanten Museum

Naxos port

Greece was actually the only trip we had planned to take this year. As the Big Trip of 2013, Greece did not disappoint. This country captured my heart with its warm and friendly people, mouthwatering food, picturesque villages and beautiful beaches—not to mention the underlying thrill of its epic history and ancient myths. We loved our time in Naxos…

The beautiful beaches of Naxos
Exploring the port of Naxos
Away from it all in Apiranthos
Traditional charm at Taverna Lefteris

Santorini sunset

and ticked a big one off the bucket list in Santorini—even if a sick baby and husband made our trip less than ideal.

7 great places to catch the sunset in Santorini
Oia: Postcard perfect Santorini
Atlantis Books in Oia, Santorini
Greece: a few last things

Dusseldorf Christmas market ferris wheel

In December we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Christmas markets in Dusseldorf, Germany. Gluhwein, gingerbread and gallivanting in the cold got us all revved up for Christmas and put us in the holiday mood for our trip to Manila.

Not bad for two first-time parents with a new baby, eh? What a year it’s been… and it’s not over yet! This weekend, I get to strike another long-awaited destination off our travel wishlist in celebration of our sixth wedding anniversary. I’m so excited!

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Posted on December 27, 2013
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The cardigan that (almost) got away

We’ve all heard of buyer’s remorse, but you ever been haunted by something you didn’t buy?

It rarely happens to me, but when it does, I’m capable of obsessing for a ridiculously long time. I’m still haunted by purchases I passed in 2006 (gorgeous silk Persian carpet in Mumbai, way out of my budget as a copywriter); Marlon and I still talk about the black, silver and gray pashmina bedspread we didn’t buy on our honeymoon.

When I passed up the chance to buy this outfit in Santorini, I immediately regretted it.

It’s from Heel Athens Lab, a Greek label that makes fun, artistic clothing with a sense of whimsy. I was drawn to Heel’s colorful, chic boutique, which stood out by leaps and bounds from all the tourist shlock in the center of Fira, and fell in love with this backless halter dress and Greek toga-inspired cardigan. But with the prospect of fall and winter in Amsterdam, I felt I had to be practical and let the outfit go.

It began to haunt me almost immediately. I  took the bus back to Fira from Imerovigli (twice!) but was never able to catch the boutique open again before we left. Then I begged a friend who was traveling to Santorini to buy it for me. Finally, two months later, Heel put up the cardigan on their online shop.

Here I am, happily reunited with the cardigan that got away! Well, almost.

Heel Athens Lab polymorphic cardigan

What I love about this cardigan is how it can be worn in different ways. You may be familiar with that staple of late-night home TV shopping, the infinity dress; this is a cooler version of that dress.

By the way, thanks to Heel Athens Lab, I don’t have to ever utter the embarrassing and slightly awkward phrase “infinity cardigan.” I can use the far cooler term “polymorphic” instead.

Heel Athens Lab polymorphic cardigan front

Call me crazy, but I just love me some clothing that needs its own instructional video!

Heel Athens Lab polymorphic cardigan back

Even after watching the video, I spent so much time swishing around and entangling myself in this cardigan that Tala was able to take a snooze during our little photo shoot.

Behind the scenes outfit shot

But I guess getting lost in your own cardigan is all part of the fun of dressing up. It is fun, Tala, I promise! Just wait a few years, you’ll see.

Do you have a fashion equivalent of the one that got away? Were you ever reunited with it? And have you, like me, spent too many late nights watching the home TV shopping channel? Hit the comments and let me know I’m not alone!

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Posted on November 2, 2013
Category: Life in Amsterdam, Personal Style, Shopping & Finds · Labels: , , , , , , , ,

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.

Naxos Hotel Kavos

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

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Posted on October 17, 2013
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Atlantis Books in Oia, Santorini

What’s with this year and awesome bookstores? First there was the Stedelijk Museum bookshop, where I scored a really cool alphabet book for Tala. Then there was our visit to Selexyz Dominicanen, a 12th century church-turned-bookstore in Maastricht. Good things must come in threes, because this is the third fantastic bookstore of the year: Atlantis Books in Oia, Santorini.

Atlantis Books Oia Santorini

I was first drawn in by the palm-sized, beautifully printed books displayed out front. They’re published by Paravion Press and are designed to be sent by mail. I’d be thrilled to receive one of these from Santorini… better than a postcard, indeed!

Atlantis Books Oia handmade books

Then I saw this and just had to laughed. For €5, which do you think would be a better companion: a cat or a book? I’d have a hard time choosing, although if it was our cranky black cat for rent, I’d probably advise someone to take a book.

Atlantis Books Oia rent-a-cat

It’s hard to resist something that makes you laugh out loud, and Atlantis Books did just that with this adorable display. How could I not step inside?

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Posted on October 14, 2013
Category: Shopping & Finds, Wanderlust · Labels: , , , , ,

Oia: postcard perfect Santorini

Santorini was supposed to be the relaxing, pampering leg of our Greece trip, but things turned out differently. Not only did Marlon and I get sick, but Tala came down with her first flu on our last three days in Santorini—not a first any new parents want to have while on holiday. Heavily medicated and confined to our hotel room in Imerovigli, we could see Oia winking at us from a distance. So near, yet so far.

“Oia is the postcard Santorini,” I croaked weakly, after sucking out gobs of snot from Tala’s nose while Marlon coughed his way through three boxes of tissues. “We can’t have come all this way and not see it. We have to make it there. We just have to!”

It almost seemed we would never make it to Oia. That we’d have to come back for it when Tala reaches a more manageable age (when she’s 15 and just wants to party in Mykonos, not hang out with her parents in Santorini). But on our last day in Santorini, we finally felt well enough to venture out to Oia.

Did we push it a little? Probably. Was it worth it? Definitely.

Oia Santorini white houses

Oia is probably the most photographed village in the Cyclades, if not in all of Greece—and for good reason. It is just unbelievably photogenic.

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Posted on October 11, 2013
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: , , , , , ,

7 great places to catch the sunset in Santorini

In Santorini, life revolves around the sunset. Visitors to this stunning island plan their days around the precious minutes when the sun sinks into the sea. During golden hour in Santorini, “I do’s” are said, roofs climbed, wine glasses clinked, hands squeezed a little bit tighter, and tens of thousands of camera shutters clicked in furious sync.

What makes the Santorini sunset so magical? Combine the drama of being perched on a tiny white village atop volcanic cliffs with the vastness of the Aegean Sea. Add the liquid gold of Greek sunlight and the mirror-calm waters of one of the world’s most famous calderas—the stillness is purely visual of course, there’s an active volcano down there!—and you have all the makings of an unforgettable experience.

As the saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat—and as I discovered, there’s more than one place to enjoy an amazing sunset in Santorini.

1) The village of Oia.

Anyone who’s been to Santorini will tell you not to miss the sunset in Oia. “It’s the most famous sunset in Europe!” a local resident declared to me with pride. This picturesque village at Santorini’s northern tip gives a view of the whole caldera, showing off the island’s crescent shape from one end to another.

Santorini sunset-Oia wide shot

Oia’s whitewashed houses are its most distinctive feature. The cliffside is studded with them, reflecting the changing hues of the sunset—a palette that cycles from warm gold to rosy pink to dusky blue.

Santorini sunset-Oia crop

Be warned: to say Oia is crowded at sunset is an understatement. People will hunt for their spot hours before the sunset and camp out in the blazing sun to protect it. Fortunately, pretty much any place in Oia offers a good vantage point for a spectacular sunset, whether it’s poolside at a hotel or perched on a random wall.

Santorini sunset-Oia crowds

But there are a couple of sweet spots in Oia worth checking out, such as…

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Posted on October 9, 2013
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: , , , ,

Naxos: Traditional charm at Taverna Lefteris

If you read up on the town of Apiranthos, most travel guides that mention this tiny village in the hills of Naxos will point you toward Taverna Lefteris for food and drink. While exploring the village, we decided to ask a few locals: “What really is the best place to eat around here?” Their answers all matched: Lefteris, indeed! So we couldn’t leave Apiranthos without dropping by this taverna off the teeny-tiny main square for a late lunch.

Apiranthos Taverna Lefteris6

Inside, we discovered the most appealing combination you could ever ask for in a traditional Greek taverna: zero tourists (except us, sorry!) and loads of traditional charm.

Apiranthos Taverna Lefteris1

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Posted on October 7, 2013
Category: Food & Drink, Wanderlust · Labels: , , , ,

Away from it all in Apiranthos

Naxos was our Greek island of choice mainly for its beautiful beaches. But sea, sun and sand can be the same almost anywhere, and after a few days I started seeking visual confirmation that I was indeed in Greece. We decided to rent a car and drive inland, curious about the tiny villages in the hills and mountains of the island.

After living in flat-as-a-pancake Holland, I realized I’ve lost my ability to tell hills and mountains apart. Everything looks like a mountain to me now, and I get wildly excited about even the least bit of elevation.

So I loved the drive into the heart of Naxos, especially seeing the tiny Greek Orthodox churches perched on the most impossible of peaks. In some places, it’s as if someone built a church there just to prove that it could be done. There are three churches in this shot, can you see them?

Naxos mountain churches

Tucked into the hills (okay, I’m pretty sure these are hills) along the way were shining white villages, standing out against a landscape that managed to be both lush and dry at the same time.

Naxos hill village

We decided to stop at a tiny village called Apiranthos after reading that it’s considered by many to be one of the most picturesque villages on the island. That’s because many of its houses, walls and even streets are made of white marble.

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Posted on October 4, 2013
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: , , , ,

Exploring the port of Naxos

During our recent trip to Greece, we had a three-hour wait between our flight and ferry times. The idea of being forced to wait at the port with Tala really stressed me out. This is probably because the only vivid image of a port in my mind is the port of Manila… and believe me, it’s not somewhere you want to be stuck for three hours with a six month-old baby.

You can’t imagine how delighted and relieved I was to arrive in Naxos town (or Hora as it said on the Greek road signs) and discover this.

Naxos Greece

Sparkling aquamarine waters, crashing waves, beautiful white buildings… well, there are worse places to be stuck waiting for a ferry.

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Posted on October 1, 2013
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The beautiful beaches of Naxos

After pregnancy and childbirth, I was exhausted, yearning for the sun, and wanted to treat myself to something special. So Marlon and I agreed that this year’s Big Trip would be to a place that had long been on both our travel wishlists: Greece.

Since we planned this trip when Tala was barely two months old, we made a lot of newbie parent mistakes (more on those later) and paid for them big time. We barely crawled to our hotel that first day, exhausted after nearly 12 long hours of travel (!!) with a baby.

The only thing that wasn’t a mistake? Choosing to go to Naxos.

Greece has so many stunning islands, that it can be overwhelming to choose one. As the travel planner of the household, I was stumped. We wanted an island that was baby-friendly, with beautiful beaches and great food. Elena of Olive Tomato came to our rescue by suggesting Naxos. Thank you Elena!

Naxos Agios Prokopios beach

The long golden stretch of Agios Prokopios was where Marlon, Tala and I spent most of our time in Naxos. Our hotel was closer to the quiet end of this beach, away from town with its restaurants and bars. Most of the people around us were Greek families, with teenagers taking selfies, babies playing in the sand, and mothers and grandmothers squealing over Tala. And that was just how I liked it.

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11 Comments
Posted on September 24, 2013
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: , , , , , ,