Hoags in Europe - Santorini

Our next stop was the part of the trip I was most excited about: Santorini, Greece. For years I've heard people talk about the Greek islands and how they can't wait to return, how its one of their favorite European destinations, etc. One of my dearest friends even got engaged in Santorini and has some of the most picturesque proposal pictures I've ever seen (he's good, he set up a camera on a timer and caught shots of himself on bending knee!) So, I had HIGH hopes.

See how excited we were on the flight over? Happy happy!

My excitement continued to build looking out the plane window at this.

We've arrived! Doesn't Matt look like a backpacking pro?
This was his first trip breaking in the backpack and he loved it.

We had a kind of bizarre drive to the rental house, the van driver was driving crazy slow and nearly stopping in the middle of the road to point out interesting things about the island. And he kept taking phone calls and speaking in Greek to someone. We later realized it was probably the rental owner because she was still preparing the house for our arrival.

The slow drive was worth it because we got to see this view from our patio!

And she had cold beers ready for us to enjoy along with the view.

 We spent a total of four nights in Santorini, in our wonderful rental located in Oia. We quickly adopted the carefree, relaxed attitude common on the island and soaked in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Brian and Jen on our balcony

Our balcony

View from our balcony. Can you see why we barely left the house!?

The balcony again. And look, someone taking pictures of the view (shocker!).

Looking at town from our balcony at sunset

And by daylight

Yep, it's really that blue.

We did a fair amount of this.

Okay, so we did manage to peel ourselves away from our balcony and enjoy more of what Oia has to offer. We even went out on the town in Fira and danced the night away, but those pictures aren't as fun to share!

The crisp white contrast against the bright blue sky and ocean is classic Santorini.

And those white buildings don't stay crisp on their own, that guy is rolling on a fresh coat of white pain, dressed in all white of course!

We got a great deal on a private boat tour for one afternoon so the six of us piled on this sailboat. It was so nice to have the boat to ourselves and a great way to see more of the area.

A little church, accessible only by boat, that people actually use!

Jen and DJ both caught fish. I stayed clear because the fish just gross me out!

Just gorgeous.

After swimming in a cave, our next stop were the sulfuric hot springs. Yes, it smelled like sulfur (ew) and yes, the water was warm, and yes, we smeared the mud all over ourselves like crazy tourists because its supposedly good for your skin (and surprisingly fun to play in stinky mud).  But an unfortunate lesson we learned: the mud can stain swimsuits, especially light colored ones and they maybe ruined beyond repair.

The sulfur changes the rock coloration, and in the hot springs a lot of people (us included) take the mud and write messages on the rocks.

Proof that we smeared mud ALL over.

Mature, I know.

Just swimming in the Aegean Sea, no big deal.

You can kind of see how Matt's trunks are ruined by the sulfur with all that discoloration on the sides.

Jen and Justin soaking it all in.

Are you sick of pictures yet? I hope not, because I have more to share. It was just too hard to narrow them down any further.

They really do use donkeys to take away people's garbage. Crazy, right?

Sunset on our last night.

DJ, Jen, Brian, Matt, Me, Justin on our last night in Oia. We'll be back.

It was tough to bid farewell to Oia. I wish we could have stayed a week there and explored more of the islands. Before we left we were already plotting when we can return and I absolutely plan to. I hope you have the chance to go as well. I've seen many parts of Europe and this was one of my ultimate favorites.

Stay tuned for one more post with the comedic ending to our time in Oia.

Hoags in Europe - Athens

Before leaving Brussels, two of Brian's friend joined us, Justin and DJ. Both are fellow Marines with Brian and live in San Diego. Matt and DJ were groomsmen together in Brian's wedding so they knew each other but I'd never met either. And what's pretty incredible is how the six of us got along the whole time and how much fun it was to be in a group traveling. Not that I expected to fight with anyone, but traveling can be stressful and is an opportune time to get tired and cranky and be easily annoyed. And with six different personalities and six different opinions on what to do and when it could get frustrating. But I can happily report that we didn't experience any of that nonsense!

We arrived around dinner time and this little place was just down the street from our hotel. It was a great find, we scored gyros for only 2 euros each. And they were delicious and filling!

See? Don't they look delicious? And yes those are french fries in there. We ate here twice. Tasty and cheap, yes please!

Our hotel. Looks fun, hip and modern, and it was. The only downside is those colored lights shine right into your room while you're trying to sleep so you really have to make sure the blinds are shut with no openings.

We took our 2 euro gyros and enjoyed them on the hotel's rooftop bar. AND it was incredible. Looking out at the lights of the city, including the Acropolis was a memory that I will not soon forget.

When checking in we were told to forget about US times and embrace Greek times, meaning the dance clubs and partying begins at 2 am and doesn't end until dawn. I'm pretty sure these strobe lights are where the parties were at.

I wish you could tell better from our pictures what a striking view this was, but nighttime pictures are hard to get without a tripod or a steady hand (and the beers we enjoyed from the bar didn't help with that!).

The next day we had a long list of places to visit since we only had a day and a half to explore the city. We got an early start to try to beat the heat and literally walked ALL day. Jen and I went to Athens together during our year abroad as part of the school's Christmas tour  and had seen all the main attractions already, so we let the boys determine what sights to see. It was nice to be there in the summer when a coat wasn't required, but it was almost too hot. We drank a lot of water and lathered on a lot of sunscreen and embraced the sweat!

Beautiful blue skies and impressive columns still standing after all these years!

Gotta take a handful of self portraits on every trip we take.

Athens is a very sprawling city. Some guy from NYC tried to tell us it was the biggest city he'd ever seen. I'm pretty sure that isn't what he meant, maybe just seemed bigger because you can see the city go on and on compared to NYC's tall buildings that are packed in there.

Watching a performance in an old theater. Okay, so there wasn't actually a performance but it felt good to rest our legs a little!

Impressive, right?

Back again after 9 years. Can't believe it was THAT long ago that we were studying abroad. We had so much fun reflecting back on all our travels together and making new memories after all these years. How fortunate are we to have married two best friends!?

Just ignore that ugly construction back there.

There we go, that's a better angle.

Our trip was in mid-June, right around the peak of strikes and riots going on in Greece. We weren't afraid of being in danger while there, but we were nervous about potential travel difficulties like buses, trains and taxis being on strike. We were really fortunate because our time in Athens was sandwiched between two weeks that were much more "eventful." We checked out the activity around the Parliament and it was pretty quiet. Still people camping out and plenty of signs though.

 

 

The Parliament building.

DJ was our fearless leader, mapping out our tour and making sure we didn't get lost, or getting us un-lost when we did!

And here are a few more pictures to show you Athens through our eyes. It really is a gorgeous city. Hard to comprehend how old everything is and the fact that its still standing! We were blessed with such a beautiful day that the blue sky sure makes these pictures shine.

The only disappointment in Athens was that the Olympic stadium was closed to the public as they were setting up for the 2011 Special Olympics. I really wish Matt had a chance to see it. Perhaps that means we need to go back!

Hoags in Europe - Brussels Part 2

Of course, you can't go to Brussels and only sight-see, there is some important eating and drinking to be done too!

Belgium waffles! Now we didn't actually get them form that van but that shows how they were literally everywhere. And of course, Belgium waffles are well known for a reason, they are delicious! They're baked with sugar in them so they are sweet and more of a treat than waffles you have in the US.

French fries, oh the french fries. Contrary to what the name implies, Brussels is THE place to get french fries. They are double fried for a little extra crunch and often served with mayo. And dangerously good! As you can see from the line, this is one of the two most popular places to get them in Brussels (and conveniently located right around the corner from Brian and Jen's place).

That's the best picture of the fries I have. Because like fatties we had to eat the fries as fast as possible and couldn't be bothered to take a picture.

BEER! Everyone knows you can't go to Brussels without sampling Belgium beer.  My favorite was a Kriek, a beer made with cherries so its got a good fruity tang to it. Since we've been back I've been craving it and pick some up at specialty drink stores/bars every chance I get.

 

Matt drinking a Oval

Chimay - easy to find in the US too.

This was actually an Irish drink that was so interesting I had to try it. Called a Black Velveteen, it was half Guinness and half cider. Not my favorite but not bad either.

Last but not least, CHOCOLATE. Thanks to my sweet tooth, this was my favorite Belgian food. We brought a ton back with us, and still haven't finished it all (I just took this picture today!). The chocolate is so tasty that one or two bites is enough to satisfy you so a little bit goes a long way.

And I forgot to include this picture in my first Brussels post. One of the most well known sites to see is this little guy, Manneken Pis. He's always dressed up in different costumes made just for him and it was by far the most crowded places we visited in the city.

Next stop: Athens!