Europe 2014 Trip Wrap Up

Well... what an amazing trip! So much fun across so many different countries. Can't wait for the next one...

Cheers from Business Class!

We made it home safe and sound, and loved the upgrade to Business Class for part of the trip. Well I did. Greg had a bit of a fiasco with his meals not being delivered and not getting much service. That aside, the extra space and being able to lie down was wonderful. Now just need to work out how to afford that for every flight!

We had the most special welcome home from Parker. He did a full double take when we opened the door and was so excited we peed on the front door step! So nice to be home again with our lovely animals. It's one of the only sad things about travelling now. At least it gives us something to look forward to when we get home I guess.

Highlights of the trip

Biking the Vineyards in Alsace 

This was an absolutely magical day. Some of our best days ever have been biking, although we're not the most avid of bike riders. We had an amazing day riding around Potsdam, and also had bikes years ago on a trip to Russel in New Zealand. All three times have just been so much fun - definitely something we want to keep doing. A great way to explore bigger areas, and it's good to be able to have some drinks on the way too!

Biking through Alsace

Up up and away! In the Hot Air Balloon over Baden Baden

Cheese!

Meat

Hot Air Ballooning over Baden Baden
Wow - what an experience. Such an amazing feeling, and something I'd like to do again on a clearer day.

Europa Park
We LOVE theme parks. Europa Park was such an amazing day. I felt like a little kid - so excited! And it was perfect to be staying at the theme park too, will definitely do that again.

Pretty Much Every Moment in Germany
 Love that country, and here's some of the reasons why, in no particular order:

• Dogs are welcome almost everywhere, including hotels, restaurants and bars, and they understand German (was funny listening to a guy yelling Nien! to his dog). Most people however don't really like you patting their dog which was sad for me as I wanted to say hello to all of them!
• Everywhere is super clean, and most everyone is really friendly.
• Nearly everyone can and will quite happily speak English, especially if you start out with Guten Tag (hello) and make an effort.
• Amazing cured meats and cold cuts to be paired with incredible cheeses and bread, are all just part of the day to day German lifestyle.
• Delicious sausages and huge cuts of beasts like pork knuckle and lamb shoulder are available everywhere too - Yum!
• The wine exceeded expectations, with a couple of new varieties, and lots of different names for the same varieties.
• Lots and lots of beautiful flowers, especially in the old town areas, making some of the towns with old stone buildings look gorgeous.
• The black forest is huge and stunning. We had such a good time walking around it.
• The lakes are beautiful, especially those within the forest. I think next holiday we may have to spend some decent time at a lake
• Driving at 200kph on the autobahn is a pretty incredible experience! Sure gets you where you are going in a hurry. It also felt really safe as the car was amazing, and everyone is so sensible on the roads. As soon as someone passes a car, even on a 4 lane autobahn, they move straight back over on to the slower lane.
• The waitresses wear traditional costumes in loads of restaurants and hotels which means lots of cleavage.
• Grüß Gott. We had to ask someone who told us how to spell it, then looking it up, the translation we found was "Howdy God". Some areas say it commonly instead of hello. Pretty funny when you understand what it means.

We came to the conclusion that Germans really like two things: meat and... flowers! And that we really like Germany! We'll be back for sure!

Typical flowered courtyard in Alsace

Germany is awesome. Travelling is awesome. When's the next trip?

Last few nights in Athens

Athens from our balcony

Although Athens wasn't on our list of places for this trip, it made the most sense to go through on our way home after visiting the islands, and it turned out to be a lot more fun that we had imagined.

We stayed at the Electra Palace Hotel, in a lovely suite with great views of the Acropolis. We spent our 2 days in Athens wandering the streets of the Plaka, exploring the ruins, and finding less touristy tavernas and bars to eat and drink at. Oh, and I also spent a lot of time patting and admiring all the cute little kitties that were hanging around.

On the last night we went to an awesome little taverna called Oinopoleion in Psyri. It is run by a family who has their own vineyard, and has been around since 1928! Back in the day it was storage for the wines, and also a wine and cook house for the locals. The food was absolutely delicious, and it was a great way to spend our last night in Europe.

Random tortoise we saw on the way up to the Acropolis

View of Athens from on high

Acropolis

In the streets of old town Athens

Ouzo at Oinopoleion

Walking up to the Acropolis

Parthenon

Parthenon

Cooling off in the pool with a view

Streets of Athens

The view from our balcony

More Relaxation in Santorini

Oia in Santorini

Snow??? Nope.
That's the white washed houses of Oia

Cheers - the first glass of many!

What a spot for lunch - deconstructed Caesar salad

View of Oia from our room

Delicious Santorini wines

Sunset

Sitting on the wall of the balcony

Our first glance of Santorini was through the ferry window, and the whitewashed towns on top of the cliffs looked just like snow capped mountains. The early morning ferry was a breeze, though once again so glad we had a driver waiting for us as it was chaos at the arrivals area! People and cars everywhere, and it was really hot and sunny.

On check in at our hotel Katikies in Oia, we were given a refreshing mocktail, then taken on a tour through the gorgeous resort which is right on the cliff edge overlooking the caldera. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and there were so many stairs! Pretty impressed by the porters carrying heavy bags and everything else up and down the stairs all day.

Our room was gorgeous, but even better was the patio which overlooked the resort and the caldera beyond. We spent a lot of time sitting on the wall taking in the view.

After checking out our room we headed to one of the three pools for the afternoon where we swam and drank plenty of bubbles. Absolute bliss! We had a private wine tasting that evening as the sun set. Who knew Santorini even made wine, let alone that it was delicious! It came with mainly local cheese and meats platter and they recommended which to match with each wine. It was divine sitting there throughout the evening sipping and nibbling the time away as it got dark.

The next morning we managed to secure a double lounger and had the small pool to ourselves for most of the day. Our breakfast was delivered to the pool lounger instead of our room patio and it was so relaxing. Pretty much all we did all day was eat, drink, sit in the sun, swim and relax. More bliss!

We finally stirred ourselves in the late afternoon and headed out to explore the main street. It was super touristy with loads of little shops and galleries, but really nice. We found a cute little taverna for dinner and had more delicious Santorini wine to wash it down.

I got up really early the following morning for a quick dip and to "bags" a lounger by one of the bigger pools. Lucky I did, as it seemed that was the only way to get one for the day. We spent the morning relaxing some more, then the afternoon on our charter boat the Maria Christina. The wine was poured as soon as we got on the boat, and it didn't stop flowing all afternoon. We cruised past the spectacular red and white beaches, then on to a quiet spot where we jumped off the boat and swam in the crystal clear waters. Then it was on to a hot spring. This was touted as being an amazing place to go bathe in the mineral thermal waters etc. We swam into the bay (along with all the others who arrived on their massive tour boats), and although you could feel the temperature getting a little warmer, it wasn't that special, and the water just mostly felt dirty! It was kinda bizarre.

We anchored just off of the island Therasia and Greg and I went snorkling while a delicious dinner was prepared for us. A little table was set on the back of the boat, and we sat in the last of the sun and enjoyed the food and wine. So relaxing! The trip back was spent lying on the top deck watching the sun disappear into the sea, and taking far too many photos of the sunset. It was such a wonderful afternoon, and our only regret was not chartering the boat for the full day!

The following day, after another morning of relaxing by the pool, we went on a wine tour. It was really interesting learning how the grow the grapes on Santorini. They don't do it on what we think of as normal vines. Instead they twist the vines around into a circular basket, and the grapes grow on the inside. This protects them from the harsh wind and sun. When we first arrived in Santorini we saw a sign "Wine Road" and got all excited looking for the vines, then disappointed when we couldn't see any. Once we knew what they looked like however, we soon realised that most of that part of the island wasn't covered in messy shrubs, but instead glorious vines!

The last morning we had some more quality pool time and explored Oia a little more before catching our flight to the last stop on this trip - Athens.

Looking down on the resort pools

Bliss!

By the small pool

Greg admiring the view

Breakfast feast by the small pool

Greg admiring the view some more

My turn to admire the view

Breakfast is served on our patio

Nighttime Santorini

Great spot for a pina colada

More bliss in the big pool

Heading into the caldera on our private launch

Imbibing the first glass of wine

Swimming in the crystal clear waters

Sitting on the back of the launch after our swim

Dinner is served

Views from our private launch

Some more imbibing

So relaxing

Imbibing in front of the sunset

Watching the sun go down

More imbibing

Vines. No truly. Those scrubby bushes are vines

Checking out the vines on our wine tour

Wine tasting with matching local foods

Meow. One of the cutie kittens at the vineyard

Morning swim

How's the serenity?

Great spot for a margarita

Oia

Oia

Imbibing over the edge of our balcony on the roof of the bar below

Oiadoors and flowers

Oia