When James and I were married in 2010, we didn’t take a real
honeymoon. We had less than 24 hours in
Niagara on the Lake. It was weird to be
back at work with no break. We were saving up for a move to England and had
just put a lot towards the wedding (both in vacation time and money). We
decided for a big trip on our first anniversary. Fast forward one year and we were on our way
to Italy and Greece for a two week holiday.
I had never been to Italy or Greece before this. James had been to Italy but we were visiting
a few new places for him too. We decided
on a road trip (cuz that’s how we roll) where we’d start in Rome and then hire a car to leisurely drive up to Venice,
via Florence, Tuscany, Sienna, and Rincone.
We’d see some friends along the way, eat delicious food (which turned out to be only pizza or
pasta) and taste the local wine. After a
few days exploring Venice, we planned on taking a 24 hour ferry to Corfu, an
island in Greece. I have never taken a
real ‘beach’ holiday. The idea of sitting on the beach for one day appeals to
me, but beyond that I would rather be exploring the local culture. We booked a all-inclusive resort with a pool
and an accessible beach. We’d then end
up in Athens to see the ruins and walk were Socrates did a lot of thinking.
It was an amazing two weeks.
As an American, I am unaccustomed to having such a long vacation (It was tough to go back to work when we got back!). It was unusually hot (30°C) for early September. We had hoped for a little cooler weather and less tourists. It was exciting to be seeing new places and
celebrating a honeymoon period. But it was
tough in the middle to come up with new things to talk about after spending every day together. At the Corfu resort, our options were pool,
beach, and nap. That is where I learned
to play backgammon, first on James’ mobile then on the real game boards. In fact we met a fascinating old man in an Athens shop who only
sells backgammon boards made in Greece.
His shop started out as safes, went to records, and presently backgammon
sets. I wanted to take a photo with him but then felt it would be too touristy. But it is meeting people like this that makes traveling fun.
We stopped long the way in Tuscany to take some photos of
the landscape (see photo below). It looks just like a
painting. The funny thing is that
another couple (on bicycles) stopped near us and we each took turns taking each
others’ photos. The couple lived in Texas but had connections to Upstate NY. It is a small world, after all.
We were in Rome for 4 days, 3 days in Florence, 2 days in Rincone, and 2 days in Venice before hopping the ferry to Greece. By the time we got to Athens, it was even hotter and we were
out almost of money. We ate snacks
(hummus, crackers, nuts) in the hotel and took naps at the hottest part of the
day. We were staying near a university
and went out one night for drinks and backgammon after a demonstration took
place in the afternoon. Some skips in
the streets were melted from burning a few nights before. The streets were always busy in Athens and
people seemed to drive wherever they wanted (motorcycles and scooters on the
sidewalk at random). Credit and debit
cards were hardly accepted anywhere.
Cash only seemed to be the consistent policy, maybe because of the debt
crisis no one trusted that payments would be received. It was very cool though to see all the ancient ruins and think about how advanced they were for their time. The one complaint I have about Greece is the number of feral cats and dogs. It was crazy! Where is Bob Barker when you need him?
Awards:
The best food we had was in Florence at a modern
restaurant along the river. They used a long grab arm to
take the delicious wine off the wall. The meal with the best view was in Athens. We were in a roof top restaurant overlooking
the Acropolis (see photo below). The loveliest host we had was Rosa in Rome (thank you Mandy
and Stephane for the recommendation). Her bed and breakfast is right by Vatican City and offers amazing breakfasts every day.
The famous sites we saw were impressive (and also featured on many postcards)- St. Peter’s Cathedral,
Vatican City, many statues and fountains, the Acropolis, the Square with the
horse race in Sienna.
Readers of this blog seem to enjoy the photos the most, so
here I am posting the favorites out of out 1000+. Sorry they are not in chronological order. Hope the captions help paint the picture of our trip.
For our next anniversary (which is next month!), I suggested a long weekend in St
Ives at a friend’s B&B (www.littleleagguesthouse.co.uk). James think Brussels would be fun as we have
friends there (Belgium also has amazing chocolate and beer). Any suggestions?
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