Ashley’s Greek Honeymoon

We are so happy to have our whole office family back together again! Ashley and Tyman’s wedding extravaganza is over and things are finally settling down around here. We loved hearing all about her amazing Greek honeymoon that Katie from Ever After Honeymoons put together for her! Ashley here to share with you about their trip and a few of the pictures they took:

Greece was amazing! We chose it because it was a destination that neither of us had ever been before and seemed to offer a good balance of relaxing and adventurous activities. Our first stop of the trip was the gorgeous island of Mykonos! We spent our days relaxing on their famous beaches, touring the ancient island of Delos, shopping in the main city and relaxing poolside at the Kivotos hotel. We had an AMAZING time staying there complete with the most delicious breakfast every morning and extraordinary service from all of their staff. The boutique hotel only has 38 rooms, so it was the perfect quiet and intimate stay to kick off the honeymoon!

Mykonos:
Tyman and I in front of “Little Venice”

An amazing lighthouse we discovered while exploring on our moped

Typical Greek chapel

The city of Mykonos

Kivotos Resort

The view from our room!

Amazing pool and pool bar

Kivotos private beach… look at that water!

We quickly learned that Santorini is considered one of the most romantic of all the Greek islands and it’s no wonder! It was once a volcano that erupted leaving the island with steep cliff sides on which the island residents built their cities. No matter what part of the island we were on we had a beautiful view! Oia was definitely our favorite part of Santorini, it’s quintessential Greece. While on Santorini we lounged on the black sand beaches, shopped in Oia and Fira, toured island vineyards, enjoyed a sunset dinner cruise and had a fabulous massage at our hotel, Aressana. They knew we were on our honeymoon and greeted us with all the traditional Greek wedding customs… including homemade olive branch wreaths we still have! It was such a great experience, their staff was so friendly and helpful and their resort had some of the coolest decor I’ve ever seen in a hotel! If any of you are thinking about a Greece destination wedding, Santorini is the place to do it! During our stay at Aressana Resort we had the pleasure of meeting with the Weddings in Santorini girls… they’re the sweetest ever and are the leading planners on the island!

Santorini:
Gorgeous picture of the “volcano” – the strip of land that appeared in the 50’s after the most recent eruption

Our dinner ship cruise

Gorgeous town of Oia!

Tyman and I exploring Oia

Aressana’s deck/breakfast patio!

Aressana’s pool and cabana area

After our island adventures we headed back to the mainland to tour some of Greek’s most beautiful locations. Our first stop was the magical Delphi, a large area of Ancient Greek Ruins set on the foothills of a mountain. Our tour guide led us around the site explaining the different buildings, purposes and sharing the most interesting facts about the ancient Greeks. If you’re going to make the trek to Delphi we definitely recommend hiring a guide… We would’ve missed so much without her!

Delphi:
Ancient theater

The ruins of what was once the Temple of Apollo

Before we started researching Greek destinations for our honeymoon I had never heard of Meteora. But boy am I glad we discovered it!! Meteora is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before – giant rock cliffs rivaling skyscrapers! As if that isn’t impressive on its own, in the 1200’s the monks built their monasteries on top of these cliffs…. how they got up there to built them, I have no idea! We spent the day touring 6 different monasteries and in a constant state of amazement at the beauty of it all.

Meteora

The last stop of our trip was Athens… You can’t visit Greece without heading to Athens! We took a day trip to Corinth to see the ancient city and canal, visited the Acropolis and Parthenon, explored the city of Athens and of course did some shopping! We stayed at the Hotel Ava which gave us wonderful views of the Acropolis AND Hadrian’s Arch! I think we ate enough Greek salad and Greek yogurt to last us a life time : )

Athens
Corinth Canal

Inside the Acropolis

Temple of Athena

Hadrian’s Arch

Celebrating my birthday our last night in Athens!