Vacation Recap #2

I'm back with final part of the our vacation recap. So this is what happened during our second week in Europe. Again, there will be A LOT of photos!

Rome: We arrived in Rome after a lovely Eurostar train ride. It was our first train ride and pretty cool, overall I'm glad we stuck with planes though. Anyway, we arrived and ditched our bags at the hotel and headed out to see the sights. Like every other city we were limited on time. Our first stop was the Colosseum. The metro train in Rome drops you off right near the entrance and it was awesome! We also managed to visit the Vatican, The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. We also had the most delicious gelato EVER. There was a place called Blue Ice and they had Nutella flavored gelato. It had GOBS of Nutella in it. The Nutella gelato and the Trevi Fountain were definitely my favorite parts of Rome!

Loren and me outside the Colosseum

Me and the Trevi Fountain

Loren and me at St. Peter's Basilica

Getting ready to enjoy the best gelato ever!

Santorini: It was a close call for us to get to Santorini, we almost missed our train to the airport! It was super hectic and we had to run through the train station with our big ol' suitcases. Gross. Anyway, once we got to Santorini and got to our hotel...we realized that it was AMAZING! It was dark by the time we settled in so no beach but we walked into a small town and browsed around, had dinner. There are a ton of stray cats that roam around in Santorini and one came up to our table while we were eating. I thought it was going to attack me for a second but then I think it knew I gave off I heart kitty vibes. :) The next day was our only day in Santorini so we were busy (surprise!). We hit up the black sand beach. It was unbelievable! I love love loved it! Then we rented a four-wheeler and drove up to Oia to check out the town there. Lots of pretty white buildings with bright blue tops. Then we rode to Fira and watched the sunset. It was the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. We spent the rest of the night just hanging around there and then headed back to the hotel to get packed up for Athens.

A pretty windmill in Oia

Sunset in Fira

Scenery in Oia

Relaxing at the Black Sand Beach

Athens: We were in Athens for about 16 hours total. Not great planning on our part but we actually feel like we saw most of what you're 'suppose' to see. We arrived in Athens with no problems and huffed it to the hotel. Our room was lovely and had an excellent view of the Acropolis. We then went to lunch and had the best greek food ever. It was amazing. We ate so much! Plus they had Coke Zero - SCORE! Anyway, after our lunchtime feast we headed to the Acropolis. On our way we noticed it had cooled down and seemed a little cloudy out but we figured all the better for touring the city. As we're hiking to the Parthenon it starts sprinkling, no biggie. Then as we reach the top and can actually enjoy the view it starts raining. Real raining. Not the strong mist that Seattle calls rain, big. fat. rain. We hid under a tree with some other tourists. THEN it starts full out thunderstroming with pouring rain. We had to hide in the bathroom. And I should mention that in Athens you're not allowed to flush paper down the toilet so the bathrooms smell just dandy! After awhile we decided to make a run for it...we got soaked. It was hilarious though. We continued our journey soaking wet and headed over to the Temple of Zeus. The most amazing rainbow ever came out while we were there. It was breathtaking. The remainder of the day we spent checking out the Agora and then just wandered around Plaka. The evening was capped off by relaxing at the roof garden of our hotel and taking in the views. We feel like we accomplished everything we wanted to in Athens and it was definitely eventful. It was finally time to get packed up and head home though...

The Parthenon!

Rainbow at the Temple of Zeus

Loren being silly at the Agora


So, that's it! Thanks for indulging me and listening to my vacation rambles. We had a terrific time and I loved every minute of our adventure. But it sure was nice to get back to my own bed and our adorable little kitty. :) Anyone else have any getaways to share? I love hearing about travel adventures so please send me a link or comment and I'll check it out!