The boarding call for Emirates Flight Number EK105 had been announced.. Super sleepless night and a crazy sleep-deprived couple grin at each other and do an Adya-jiggle coz of the excitement.. A holiday in Greece, and more importantly, our first holiday together :-) Yayyy!!
Boarded the flight and turant checked out all the movie/episodes options :-) The 5 hour flight went by fatafat, some food, some wine, some 'two & a half men' and lots of QT bakar.. and we get the announcement -- We are starting our descent to Athens now, kursi ki peti baandh lein.. wooohoooooo.. awesome blue waters below.. super sexy exciting feeling..
Day 1: We land in Athens.. and post all airport formalities, we get out into the cab waiting for us.. Athens ka darshan starts.. we had a great driver who showed us a lot of sights and told us lots of Athens related stories. Good fun and a great start to the holiday :-) Check in to our room in Marriott.. nice pretty, simple room.. with a nice pretty balcony overlooking the road and the Acropolis looks great from our balcony :-)
Day 2: We decide to go on a morning walking tour of the city.. with a tour guide who tells us all about the history of the place.. Great decision to take a guide.. coz to know about the historically-rich place, a local archaeologist is necessary :-) He took us to lots of places around Athens.. a few pictures of the places
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| Us at the Parliament |
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| The change of guards |
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| Guard practicing the change process |
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| Posing at the National Gardens |
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus (Acropolis in the background) |
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| Another one at the Zeus |
Then we walk around a little through the pretty quaint streets.. and reach the Acropolis ruins area.. people say, when the sun hits the Acropolis hill, many other cities are left in shade :-) and the awesome walk up the hill starts.. Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion and the Parthenon.. And lots of amazing stories surrounding that.. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus was magical and it felt amazing seeing the Yanni's youtube video when he played at this auditorium.. We so wished we could have seen just one performance at this place, but unfortunately, there were none, plus all shows are exorbitantly unaffordable!
We had lunch at a roadside cafe.. yummy pizza.. and then headed to the Acropolis museum.. The museum is really amazingly made.. the museum is lit only with natural sunlight.. structure is really pretty.. the view of the Acropolis from the museum restaurant is just amazing :)
Some more pics
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| At the Acropolis |
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Odeon of Herodes Atticus
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| Parthenon |
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| Fantastic view from the Acropolis hill |
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| Theatre of Dionysys |
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| At the Acropolis museum |
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| Just viewed a protest on the streets of Athens |
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| At a cafe :-) |
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| Yum frozen yogurt :-) |
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| View from the Marriott balcony (few strips clubs below and the lit up Acropolis at the far end) |
We dined at the Marriott itself. Some good food and great wine and super conversation. Perfect ending to a great day!! :-)
Day 3: We leave Athens for Mykonos.. What an awesome view from the flight. Clean blue water water everywhere.. The water baby in me is super thrilled and excited.. Mykonos is the first major honeymoon destination for us :-) We get out of the airport and the drive to the resort is just stunning.. reach Rocabella.. and I will not use any adjectives to describe the place, just the below pic :-)
We almost immediately headed out for a sunset sail and island visits that the resort staff have arranged for us.. I took my costume and we set out eto the sail.. Absolutely amazing experience.. I haven't seen bluer, cleaner, more inviting waters before.. lovely time really.. awesome music, limited people, good chit chat, my husband with me (Yayyy), lovely sights, great breeze, clean-blue waters, historical sights around and some island stops enroute.. the I have to mention the awesome ocean swimming I did in between.. Wow!!
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| Awesome ocean swimming |
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| Post swimming romance |
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| The dude and the sea |
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| At the island stop |
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| sun bathing?? |
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| Open Happiness :) |
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| The pretty windmills |
Day 4: Today is our walking day. Woke up to a nice breezy and sunny Saturday morning. Utkarsh suggested that we could walk around the island today. "WALK????? " was my reaction :-o we even asked at the reception, and they had a very similar reaction, lekin tab tak our minds were made.. today is a walking day.. so off we set to the Mykonos town center.. winding roads, beaches in between, shipping docks and lots of ships/boats/yachts/sails and cruises at the port.. lovely waters.. choppy at places and calm at others.. a few cars going past us here n there.. and just the two of us yapping and walking.. all day along.. around the town.. super fun.. went to some nice very private areas.. some pretty waters bays, some tiny cute beaches.. lovely walk indeed.. and then walking up to Little Venice and the windmills and the amazing view from there.. absolutely magical.. lots of pictures, lots of quality time, little shopping, lots of eating & drinking.. and all that with Utkarsh.. another Yayyy!!
The day ended with a fantastic jacuzzi and a steam-sauna :-) Super awesome!!
Some more pictures..
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The waters
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The port parking :-p
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Awww
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| B-) |
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Super awww
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Streets of Mykonos
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Haaaaiiiiiii
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Supremely awesome place
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Little Venice
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'idhar udhar dekho' pose
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whatsapp emot!!
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bheeshon romance
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Little Venice in the background
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Day 5: Today is roam Mykonos on a bike day.. We were told to take a car, but both of us preferred an open vehicle.. So we set off.. they had warned us of a stormy, overcast, very windy weather
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| the overcast day (view from our room) |
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| Nautanki :-p |
So as I said, we set off to the beaches of Mykonos.. The beaches in Mykonos are so different from each other. The ones in the town and nice, cute, small ones.. But the ones in south Mykonos are different from each other. Few pics of each beach we went to
Beach 1: PLATYS GIALOS
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| I love staring into the waters |
Beach 2: PARAGA BEACH
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| Very happy :-) |
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| cute pose :) |
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| Waves lashing |
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| It's not Cheesy, it's Loouuu :-p |
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| "Humko kehte Superman" |
Beach 3: PARADISE BEACH
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- That is Paradise Beach.. We drove all the way down (and I trekked up coz the incline was 60deg and the bike couldn't take us up together.. LOL)
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| There were such trees all across the beach |
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| Paradise indeed |
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| Loouuuu |
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pretty sheep grazing
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| COLD DAY! |
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| BHEESHON cold :-D |
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| Awesome waves |
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| We found a photographer bakra |
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| Bike couldn't take us up this 60deg incline too. So while walking up, I took this pic. Phew!!! |
Beach 5: Super Paradise Beach
Really different beach. This is an out and out party beach. Unfortunately it was closed and under renovation when we went there (pre-season). So one must visit this place (Note: In a car since this has the craziest incline to the beach approach). Few pictures
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| Lil tired |
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| I had to walk up again!!! |
And back to Mykonos town.. to walk through those lovely streets, see the amazing sunset and dine at the highly recommended Mexican restaurant Appaloosa :-)
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| A crazy huge-mouthed bird |
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| My tattoo and the water |
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| Aiwein emotion :-o |
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| Plan of viewing the sunset- kaput! |
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| Dining at Appaloosa |
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| The bhoot look |
Day 6: Today was relaxing day and enjoying in the resort and ofcourse walk around the resort area.. So some loitering around and a nice long breakfast :-) Another cloudy windy day!!
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| Lunch at a beach-side cafe |
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| Utkarsh loitering outside (pic taken from the room) |
Day 7: Heading to Santorini today and we had to fly via Athens. So bye bye to Mykonos and boarded the flight to set off for Destination SANTORINI :) :)
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| - Happy couple :) |
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| - Parting pic from the room :'( |
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| With Maria and Tasos |
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| @Athens airport |
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| @Athens airport again |
So something about Santorini. This place was one large island centuries ago, after which one huge volcano burst split it into 4 islands.. This volcano eruption was the 2nd biggest one in history, till date.. The volcano is still an active one and is the ONLY underwater volcano in the world. So imagine, while we were sailing in the ocean, all of a sudden the captain tells us - "the ground below is 100s of feet deep coz we are over the crater".. scary at that moment, exciting as well.. and since the volcano is an active one, there are large number of hot springs and thermal patches all around the caldera. The green sulphuric warm water is fun to swim in :-)
We reach Santorini at some 8PM and head to the resort directly. The view from the flight was so amazing.. Very very excited to be in Santorini. The honeymoon suite is fantastic with a magical view of the caldera and the waters. The private jacuzzi looked so inviting :) Yayyy!
Ordered lots of food for dinner.. and hogged away to glory :-)
Day 8: Woke up to fabulous breakfast delivered in our balcony. Was really awesome sitting in the
balcony overlooking the amazingly blue sea. Superb really.. Today is our first day in Santorini.. and we spoke to the receptionist (Margarita) in detail about Santorini and planned our holiday here :-)
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| - Utkarsh on our balcony :-) |
Today we decided to walk down to the town of Fira. It was about a 1 hour long walk to Fira and then roaming around Fira, plus lunch ofcourse. The walk was amazing, just like all our earlier walks. Lovely view points all through the path..
Reach Fira town and did a lot of shopping from there. Lovely pretty stuff we found there.. Then went to a fab restaurant for lunch. It was one of those infinity kinds sight restaurant. Lovely. And yummy food.. bread with typical greek dips and fantastic pasta.. Great stuff.. Some pictures of Fira and of our walk there
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| Lovely flowers in the fields |
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| Donkeyes can't be parked :'( |
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| Lovely view point |
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| At the restaurant Idol (Fira) |
Santorini is a relative more expensive place. The cabs charge more than that in Mykonos or Santorini. We had a bus stand in front of our resort. So, post lunch, the honeymoon couple set off by bus to the resort to get the camera charged and then leave for Oia, the sunset village. We were really excited about the evening at Oia since we'd heard so much about this place. All I can say is everything we heard about Oia sounded so feeka in front of what we saw. The sunset was amazing.. but what was more amazing is seeing Oia village glow in the sun rays.. absolutely beautiful. I can add 100 pictures just to show this amazing scene, but let me keep it little limited :-) Few pictures of the village itself while walking through.. followed by the amazing sunset that we saw :-)
The sunset was really amazing.. and it got cold-colder as the sun set.. Post the sunset, we left for the resort. A super awesome jacuzzi after that.. It was so awesome fun, such an amazing and relaxing experience..
Day 9: Today is our super awaited day.. The Scuba diving day.. The diving school guys picked us up in the morning.. reached Scuba school, paid the money, filled the forms, saw the warning/training video and then went for our first dive on the black sand Kamari beach, followed by the second dive in Akrotiri.. Was a lot of fun (Minus my ear ache problems). me and
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| Suit up for Scuba |
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| Utkarsh saying 'All Perfect' |
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| Bubbling |
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Underwater romance :)
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We got back from the Scuba.. tiring experience (water always tires you).. Rested for a little time and then left again for Fira. Took a bus this time. We wanted to experience the cable cars in Fira. I love the decision we took coz the cable car experience was just amazing.. It was such a steep drop/climb.. what a view.. and the Old Port was such a pretty scenic place. We spent a lot of time loitering around there :-) Very very nice place..
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| In the cable car |
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| Up view |
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| Down view |
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| The pretty port |
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| Glaring Glowing tanning sun |
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| Cable cars |
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| Aaaah :) |
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| "Award winning" |
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View from the top
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Though we were really tired, Utkarsh suggested that we walk back to our resort.. and take the unpaved path. I am not denying that it was a tiring walk.. but totally worth it. We started the walk at about 6:30PM and kept walking to the resort till about 8PM. So we viewed the AMAZING sunset while walking. This was really special, coz we never expected anything spectacular and we had never planned for this either. It was a stunning. Utkarsh kept singing almost all the way 'Pehli nazaar mein'.. oh god.. really terrible :D :D :D
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| Pretty tree |
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| Awesome sunset rays |
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| Faint far away hill |
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The little Sun
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| The set sun!! |
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| Silhouettes |
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| Walking through the 'traditional path' |
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| That's Oia far away |
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| Resort view |
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| I love this one |
A really fun evening.. fun walk.. and we bought Maggi cup-o-noodles types 3 types cups for maggi dinner at night...
We reached home and sat talking talking. Dined a little late and after dinner, we got into a singing mood. We were playing karaoke songs on youtube and singing them along. A lot of fun it was.. Kept singing like this till midnight.. when the clock struck midnight, I sang "Happy Birthday to Youuuuu".. It was Utkarsh's birthday. I played and read out all the videos that all friends and family had sent and I'd collated for playing on his birthday :-) He was happy happy happy :) :)
Day 10: Today, as a birthday special, we decided to go on a sunset sail. Woke up, had a late breakfast, changed and the sail guys reached our resort to pick us up. The description of the sail: "Semi Private (10-15 ppl on the sail) catamaran ride, all around the water, few stops around the caldera hot springs for a swim, dinner in the catamaran itself.. Very excited :-)
We reached the "catamaran" and realized it was a yacht and wasn't a semi-private one, but an entirely private one. So it was just Utkarsh, me, the captain of the yacht and the chef :-) Total personalized service!! A day couldn't have gotten better! The day was perfect. Yacht was so amazing, lying down on the net on the floor of the front of the yacht was great, with water splashing away n all.. the waters were stunning and the little beaches all around. We had wine n all.. The captain told us about the history of the place n all.. Fun it was listening to him.. and then he stopped near a beach and told us to jump into the waters if we wanted.. coz at that place there are a lot of thermal patches in the water (small hot springs kinds).. both of us jumped in.. swimming there was so much fun :) kabhi warm water, kabhi super cold.. Wow really..
After all the swimming and water timepass, we went up and they served us dinner. Super early for dinner, but so so so yum dinner :-) Wine, Pasta, Bread with lots of dips and fruits. It was really made food. We had a nice long dinner.. the captain sat for a while and spoke a lot of his family and his captainship.. what a captain can do, the laws surrounding him, the authority he has, his earlier experiences etc etc. Was a very interesting man!
Then we set off to some other place and the sun started descending.. Stunning hues and perfectly clear sky.. lovely .. We also had a sail faaaar away which went across the sinking sun. What a sight :-)
Most perfect'est ever day possible.. water, swimming, yacht, sunset, hot springs.. and all with Utkarsh.. we spent a lot of quality time and chatted a lot.. great fun, super awesome day! :-) one of our best days together I think.. lovely experience..
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we set off sailing
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| blue skies, blue'er water |
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| Cheers |
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| The Red beach |
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| Chilling |
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| Water turns green - sulphur |
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| We jump inside |
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Post the swim
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| enjoying the "dinner" |
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| Captain controls |
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| With captain Vladimir |
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| Water glistens |
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| Woohoooo |
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| Picture perfect |
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| While the sun sets |
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| Greece flag |
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| The chef, captain and us |
They dropped us back to the resort.. We walked around the resort and did some timepass.. Amazing day!
Day 11: Heading out of Santorini today. I was in a super sentimental mood. Just didn't want to leave this amazingly pretty place. Headed to the airport.. and in no time we were in Athens.. then in Marriott and immediately around the Acropolis.. already
Today was a eating-shopping-crazy walking-crazier walking-eating day.. we walked around Plaka street so many times. Shopped a lot of pretty things.. Clothes, magnets, figurines, other kitchen related stuff.. The walking got tiring.. but a fun day nevertheless. Had dinner just below the Acropolis hill in a small roadside cafe.. and carried Pizza home for second round dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.. :) :)
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| Sunset view of the Acropolis |
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| Very pretty lit up view |
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| :-) in Plaka |
Day 12: Honeymoon over day.. woke up.. had cold pizza for breakfast (was yum). I tried to look not-sad today, lekin fight hua.. :-( But Utkarsh bola, aab toh poora life is holiday.. [Aaah laundeeeyyyy, dialoggueee :-D ].. Tata from Athens with the hope of doing a similar awesome holiday very very soon :-)
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| :'-( Tata Greece |
Loved swimming in the blue waters
Loved walking in the winding lanes
Loved biking through the mountainous paths
Loved staring at the sun set
Loved loitering around the little quaint corners of the islands
Loved learning about the history of the country, esp Athens
.. and will always love the company that made Greece so special
