Hello everyone! We are 2 weeks back from the honeymoon, and starting to get back into our routine, which includes bothering you with our blog updates.
We’ve been getting tons of questions from you all, friends, colleagues, etc – “How was the honeymoon? We want to see pictures.” We don’t want to disappoint, so we thought, why not blog about it?
Overall, Tom couldn’t have planned a better trip. The beauty of the Mediterranean from Crete was surreal. We were constantly amazed at the amount of history and culture that Istanbul had to offer to the point that we will be returning on a future trip for more exploration. And our last stop in southern Turkey was a hidden gem that we hope will not be spoiled over time.
Since we took 1200 pictures over 12 days, we thought not to overwhelm you in one post. So we’ll take it one leg at a time.
Our first stop was Crete, Greece – the goal at this leg was pure relaxation and rest. And believe me, it was achieved.
Check out the pictures.
Highlights of Crete:
| … | ** Amazing hotel with a sweet complimentary upgrade – thank you hotel points. Times like these make up for all of the airport time during business trips. |
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| **After a long travel Mon & Tues after the wedding, we woke up to gorgeous, serene view of Mediterranean Sea | |
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| **Spent first few days in Crete taking 4-hour naps on the beach after a few cocktails. Note: Do not order a Pina Colada outside the Caribbean or U.S. – Crete’s interpretation is lots of ice cubes with cream foam. Not what we would call “frozen” | |
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| **Resort had amazing restaurants that we thoroughly enjoyed and esp. appreciated the convenience during our period of rest. As you can guess, everything was accompanied with buttery, delicious olive oil – the best post-wedding diet friend. I even got an olive oil massage! | |
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| **Visited small cute town of Elounda nearby for dinner over the water. Picture a small marina as the town square and cobblestone walking streets with restaurants separating you from the beautiful water. | |
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| **Visited Knossos, capital of Minoan civilization – over 3500 years old!! We (read: Tom) love ruins. Saw plumbing that was better constructed than our modern American pipes. Very impressive. | |
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| **Walked to nearby town of Plaka for dinner – which Lonely Planet claimed to have a population of 38 people. That was a lie. Seemed more like 300 people, but still small | |
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| **Ate seafood that was literally caught less than 5 hours ago – so fresh | |
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| **Took a boat to Spinalonga Island – Venetian fortress then Turkish colony then leper colony – over 500 years old. On boat ride, it was a particularly windy day – almost crashed against docks getting there. Our small boat couldn’t pick us up due to waves, so we had to get on mothership boat to do a boat-to-boat transfer. Our little adventure was really fun actually. (Crete tends to get strong winds from the Sahara that pulls in red sand. So on some days, our “overcast” was actually incoming sand.) | |
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We left Crete fully relaxed and quickly got used to our slow-paced schedule of barely moving…
…And then next came Istanbul – the extreme opposite. Stay tuned for our Turkish adventures!
WOW ! WOW ! WONDERFUL !! We are very happy for you two !! LOVE
Bac Binh Chau