Crete 2011

Well note to self for future travels, bring an extra SD card for your cameras! We thought ours would be enough but of course we ran out. We ended up using my sister in laws card in our camera but that errored and we lost most of our photographs from the island of Crete!

We arrived Sunday on the only ferry from Santorini into Herkalion at 6:00 pm. Our car rental agent met us at the port with our car which we had arranged prior to arrival. The agency we used was: http://www.carrentalstop.gr/ and the agent was prompt and provided accurate information for our 1 hour drive to the resort. We opted not to have the Blue Palace pick us up, as much as we would have loved a Mercedes escort due to cost. It actually worked out to have a car because we were able to leave the resort for cheaper meals versus eating at the restaurants on site. If you are there fore 1-2 nights than eating there is probably affordable. We drove the safe and well signed route to Elounda: http://www.bluepalace.gr/.  We did get a little lost once we approached the hotel, but asked someone for directions.

This is probably the most  beautiful and well served hotel we have stayed in and absolutely loved it! We ended up doing this purposely to have a few relaxing days before returning home. I wish we would have stayed a few extra days longer but I am pretty sure the boys would have had a minor heart attack with the cost per night! However, well worth it. In this picture to the right is the road leading into the hotel. The Island that you can see once was inhabited by lepers and is known as Leprosy Island. We opted to stay in a junior suite which had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and our own private swimming pool. We forced ourselves to enjoy the pools despite being a tad chilly. One of the nights, we had dinner at the resort itself, a treat from my brother and sister in law for Keyurs 30th birthday, which we celebrated while in Greece. The other meals we drove to the nearby towns to eat. One of the best parts of this hotel stay was the Vegas style/size breakfast that is served along with all you can drink champagne! I would go back here in a heart beat!

On our last day we stopped at an Olive Oil, pictured below, where I bought a few souvenirs which included olives and oil: http://www.cretanoliveoilfarm.gr/

On our last day we headed to Heraklion where we went to the Palace of Knossos. Here were ancient ruins inhabited by the Minoan Civilization. Our last adventure on the Island of Crete was eating our last meal at an Indian Restaurant! We hunted and searched for the British family owned Indian Chili Lounge in Gouves, where we indulged & enjoyed a tasty meal, and yes our last shot of Ouzo! There are tons of things to do on Crete, and I believe you need at least 5-6 days to thoroughly enjoy all that the island has to offer.

We than  headed to the Heraklion airport and flew back to Athens that evening, we had to unfortunately spend the night at the airport due to connection times. We could have flown out early that morning but want to maximize our time at the Blue Palace.

I would love to go back to Greece anytime, next time we would go later in the summer to enjoy the sun and water more!

Santorini 2011

The weather in early May can be hit or miss in Greece. On the island of Santorini 2 of the 3 days were sunny but in the 70’s and hurricane force winds, make sure you pack jeans and sweater! We spent three nights at the El Greco Resort!  The hotel is situated
about 5-10 minute walk into the town of Fira, where there are plenty of restaurants, beautiful views of the Caldera (Volcano) and shops galore. We got 2 suites, but could have fit 5 people into 1 for sure, very spacious and clean.

Things to do:

• Santo Wines Winery (tours are only in the AM).There are tons of wineries on the island. We ended up doing a quick tasting and visiting their gift shop where I bought some wine to take home in mini bottles.
• We visited different Beaches, such as the red beach, and got around in a
  rental car we obtained from out hotel the morning of.
• To find the picturesque photos we normally see
  in postcards, we learned to head towards the town of Oia. Here we saw the
  beautiful blue domed churches against the bright blue seas. FYI: no gas station
  in Oia.
• Through our hotel we booked a volcano and hot
  springs boat tour for 20 euros. I dont recommend doign this, in fact I would spend extra and do the the catamaran sunset sailing tour. Again book this before you go on the trip.
• I like to buy souvenirs that have some sort of meaning/connection to where I am, so we bought this “cheese board and knife” made from an olive tree. I wish we would have bought this ornate hand crafted hanging art, but alas, I will have to go back to get it!

 

Restaurant Suggestions:

1. Santi in Fira
2. Gyro Spot in the town, I dont have the photo of the shop anymore 😦
3. Senor Zorbas Mexican restaurant, yes we had
   Mexican food , I am after seeing the name who could resist?

Tips:

• There are 2 ports in Santorini
• New Port: Where your ferry will come in. You either have to take a taxi or shuttle bus to this port. We got lucky and hoped on a shuttle going to our hotel, I would recommend booking transportation before hand through the hotel.
• Old Port: Where the volcano, hot springs, Thirassa, Sunset tours take off from.  There are 3 ways to get down to the old port: donkey ride, cable  car, or walk 500+ steps. We walked down the 500 steps and took the donkey ride back up which was a bit scary but my sister insisted!

 

 

 

 

 

Mykonos 2011

This quaint small island was well worth our stop especially at the Vencia Boutique where we spent 2 nights. Fabulous views from the hotel, great staff and spacious clean rooms.  My brother in law even approved of the showers in all our hotels which was of great concern to him and how he judged hotel quality!

Things to do:

• Mykonos  is known for their “Little Venice” area along the water front.
  There are windmills to see in this area, in order to get to them, we walked down the hill from our hotel through the white washed neighborhoods.  There is no need to get a can to visit the main city center, its an easy walk and the hotel staff provided a great map.
•  We did end up renting a car for 40 euros the next
  day to visit all the beaches since we had a party of 5. Get stick shift
  if someone can drive, because it’s cheaper than automatic. We rented our car from Nik across the street from the Vencia Hotel.
• Paradise Beach was a pleasant hangout and on the
  way we had lunch at Taverna Nikolas which
  is a must! Nik from the car rental provided us with a map as well.
• Later that night we had dinner at the Thai restaurant near the hotel which was pretty darn good, but dont get fooled by their “happy hour” like we did, be very specific when ordering food and drinks!

Tips:

• We originally planned to take the bus around the island as it is not very big, but the car was more conducive for timing. I am sure during the busier  months there are more buses running which would be cost effective.
• We had our hotel pick us up from the port when we arrived which was a good call since there weren’t too many taxis around. This was arranged before we even left on our trip via email with the hotel staff who were again fantastic.

Athens 2011

• A fabulous and easy city to travel in for any history seeking or ouzo drinking person! We made this a family affair. Together with my husband Keyur, his sister Priyal and her husband Kevin and my sister Anjani, we made this trip epic! We got to Athens on May 1, Labor Day (a lot of things were closed), so instead of taking the metro like we had planned we had to take the 95X bus to the last stop and took the metro from Syntagma Square to the Apollo Hotel.

 Apollo Hotel was at the Metax stop on the metro, not too far from the city center and great location from. The hotel had a great view of the Acropolis from the rooftop and a
very good deal for our money, I booked this hotel through hotels.com. The breakfast was filling and the staff very informative. We ate at all sorts of places and drank all sorts of yummy beers, our favorite being Alpha Beer, and Ouzo by the Liter!

Things to See, Places to go!

• The Acropolis & Ancient Agora (we did
  self-guided tours everywhere)
• National Archeological Museum
• We DID NOT go to the New Acoprolis Museum
  because it was closed Labor Day and it is not open on Mondays
• Plaka: here they have great eats
• Monastiraki Flea market: Great place to get
  cheap souvenirs
• Cooking Class: http://www.viator.com/tours/Athens/Greek-Cooking-Lesson-and-Dinner-in-Athens/d496-2876COOK?eap=lonelyplanetmain

Only thing is, you don’t get to really cook. You mostly watch and participate when Magda (head chef) needs something, but overall fun and took place in a Greek home.

Tips:

• Buy a 24 hr metro pass for 4 euros and travel
  via this very easy metro system
• We purchased ferry tickets prior to arrival into
  Greece but make sure you go the day before your departure to get your tickets
  or figure out where the ticket booths are, or pay the extra amount and have the
  tickets mailed to you! I highly recommend having them mailed home, purchase them in advance.
• Website we used for all the ferry rides for the entire trip: http://www.fantasticgreece.com/en/ferries/search.aspx
• Buy drinking water from grocery stores! Do not drink tap water, I am speaking from personal experience!
• Lots of restaurants will give you a complimentary shot at the end of the meal

Hello all!

This is my first attempt at the blogging world. My name is Khushbu, AKA Kommander K, and what I really wanted to do was record my husband Keyur and my travels! I honestly wanted a site where other travelers could go and get tid bits and information to plan their own trips around this fabulous world! We live in Seattle, a city that has inspired us to take in all the local sites and what the rest of this awe inspiring world has to offer. We have been fortunate enough to enjoy our vacations with friends and family and hope to continue to do so. I have to really thank my husband, he has been the brains behind all this and has pushed me to start this site, so thank you darling! Well I hope this is easy to use, informative and most of all entertaining, so I welcome any feedback!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain