Search Results for: small town

Everything You Need to Know Before going to Santorini

June 30, 2016

Our trip to Europe in April was a whirlwind, visiting 4 different countries and when we booked it, I really wanted a destination at the end of the trip that we could just relax a bit. Santorini has always been lingering on our travel list and so we figured it would be the perfect stop over for a bit of relaxation at the end of our travels.

In truth, it ended up being our least favorite spot on the trip, for a number of reasons. Overall, I felt it wasn’t very genuine, in that I didn’t really feel like if tourists didn’t come to the island, it wouldn’t really look like it does. I was also a little blown away by how just a few feet away from the tourist areas, the island is literally falling apart and overrun by garbage. Maybe this was just our experience and maybe just how we explored the island, but it’s not a spot I think I would return to in the future. In an effort to be completely transparent and honest here on Land of Marvels, I think it’s important to be open about our experiences while traveling. And while I’m not sure we’d return, this famous island is still pretty incredible to see in person as it’s known world-wide. If you’ve always wanted to visit this famous Greek Isle, here is everything you need to know before going to Santorini!

There are basically 3 main towns: Fira, Oia and Imerovigli.

When you look at Santorini, there are basically 3 main towns around the crescent shaped caldera of the island. The town of Fira is the capital of the island and a busy tourist hub. Oia (pronounced “ee-ya”) is the town that you always see the typical Santorini photos of. Oia is where the famous windmills are and the hillsides that you always see photos of. Imerovigli is a small, more local town, situated between the two others. There are definitely other sections of the island, but for tourists, these are the 3 main towns you’ll probably frequent the most.

It’s kind of a pain to get around the island.

We stayed in Imerovigli, which is located about 20 minute walk from Fira and about a 25 minute drive from Oia. One of the things that I didn’t like about Santorini was how hard it was to get around if you don’t want to rent a car. To walk, there are no sidewalks in many areas along the main roads. To get a taxi, it’s not an easy task. In Oia, we spent an hour wandering around trying to find the taxi stand which was not easy to find. Then when we finally found it, we had to call (thank goodness we had added cell service for our phones while traveling) for a taxi to come get us, which then took another 20+ minutes. I felt like for a destination with so many tourists, they don’t make it very easy to get around the island.

Now if you’re going and just staying at your hotel, then I guess it wouldn’t matter. But we wanted to explore a little and it wasn’t very easy without having to rent a car.

Don’t flush toilet paper.

One of the things that I found strange on Santorini, at least in Imerovigli, was that you can’t flush toilet paper. Now I get that the island is old but for some place that caters to millions of tourists each year, there are plenty of other old places in the world that have been able to upgrade their sewer systems to modern standards. Regardless it’s something to be aware of.

I’m not sure if all hotels are like this or if some of them have their own systems, but this was pretty standard in public areas and our hotel.

It’s a resort island and hence, everything is overpriced.

Greece has had a rough go of it lately with financial situations and so I was expecting everything to be cheaper than other spots in Europe. Not the case at all! Santorini is definitely charging prices for tourists since it’s a resort island. Food was not cheap, nor were souvenirs or anything else.

Expect to walk a lot.

Whether it’s long stretches of walking with caldera views or going up and down the stairs to your hotel, you’ll walk a ton on Santorini. Bring comfortable shoes and strong legs to get up and down those cliffsides!

Traveling to Greece?

See all of my posts on the country!

Favorite Moments : Europe in the Spring

May 9, 2016

We arrived home last Sunday night from our trip through Europe and last week consisted of catching up on work, unpacking and getting everything back in order for a crazy month ahead! But as I started reviewing our trip and as I start recaps here on the blog, I always love doing these Favorite Moments posts from our travels. There are always amazing moments that evoke a place, produce amazing memories and keep travel at the forefront of our minds when traveling. This trip was one of the best we’ve had and we saw so many amazing places, had so much amazing food and came home with lots of amazing moments to remember. So without further ado… my favorite moments from our travels through Europe in the Spring!

Paris in Bloom

We started out our trip this time with 3 days in our favorite city of Paris and after over a year and a half since we were there last, we reveled in exploring the city again. We’ve never been in April so we loved the fact that all the beautiful blooms on trees and flowers were out in full force this time of year in the city. From the cherry trees next to Notre Dame to the poppies in bloom in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris was in full bloom and we relished every second of it!

Falling in Love with Rome

As I mentioned before our trip, we added Rome to this trip in an effort to “redo” it and see it from a different perspective from our first trip there a few years ago. This time around we spent 2.5 days in this famous city just wandering, with no real schedule, just taking it all in and enjoying the moments. And I can honestly say after this time around, we fell in love with Rome. The city is a million times better if you stay away from the tourist spots, wander for hours stopping only for gelato and long meals. I can’t wait to start sharing our time in Rome and I’m so glad we gave it a second chance!

Orvieto and Montepulciano

After leaving Rome, we rented a car and drove through Umbria and Tuscany. We stopped at a few towns along the way, but our favorites were by far Orvieto (in Umbria) and Montepulciano (in Tuscany). Both hilltop towns were unbelievable and we fell in love with the Italian countryside as we explored! Our day driving around Italy was one of our favorites of the trip!

Vienna’s Food

Vienna, oh Vienna. We just had a night here due to flight connections that were necessary to fly directly to Santorini and it was never high up on my travel list. But… sometimes with no expectations come amazing things. I fell hard for this city and told Nick numerous times while there that I could move there in an instant. The city was amazing itself, but the food… where do I even begin? We laughed with our hotel concierge upon check out at how much I had eaten while there and how all the food in Vienna is completely my type of food: meat, potatoes and sweets. And no joke, it’s all I ate while there! From weiner schnitzel bigger than my head to incredible coffee and pastries, to Viennese chocolate cake and warm apple strudel. I think I ate more in the 14 hours or so we were in Vienna than perhaps the whole rest of the trip!

View from our Hotel in Santorini

While Santorini was in truth our least favorite stop on our trip (and I’ll explain more on this later when we get to our Greece posts), upon arrival at our hotel, we couldn’t help but stop and revel in the incredible view from our hotel balcony. And while we didn’t love Greece, you can’t help but be amazed at how they’ve built Santorini, at the views and the expanse of the caldera views!

Running into Selena in London

On our way home, our flight from Athens was canceled a few weeks before our trip and we ended up having to be re-routed through London and spend a night there. Honestly, it didn’t bother me one bit because I love London and any excuse to spend a night in one of my favorites cities, I’m on board. Anyways, we ended up getting an earlier flight from Athens (about 3 hours earlier than our scheduled one) and arrived in London mid-afternoon on Saturday. We got to our hotel and then wandered down through South Kensington and Chelsea to find a pub for dinner. One of our requirements of where we ate was to have sticky toffee pudding as that’s a favorite of ours and not to missed in the UK! So we headed towards the King’s Road and randomly saw a cute little pub on the corner of a random street called the Queen’s Head. It looked cute, had Sticky Toffee Pudding on the menu and so we headed in, sat down at a table and were looking at the menu when someone came up to our table and said, “Casey?” I was sort of blown away at first, because really “who would randomly know me in a random pub in London?” It happened to be Selena of Oh , the Places We Will Go!, one of the travel bloggers I’ve followed for years! We chatted for a while and couldn’t believe what the chances were that we would choose that pub at that time and that her and her husband happened to be there at the same time!!! It was so lovely meeting her and totally reinforced the fact that the world is so so small!

Quiet Early Morning Walk through London

Our final morning before heading home we woke up early due to still being 2 hours ahead on Greece time, so we headed out of our South Kensington hotel (the Ampersand, which has become our go-to in London) and wandered toward Hyde Park. The sun was bright and shining, the streets were empty due to it being early Sunday morning and the city was sparkling. It’s mornings like that when traveling that just keep me going, moments when you seem to have a city to yourself, moments when you’re just wandering foreign streets with someone you love, when the world seems to be an incredible magical place, when everything seems to fit into place. Those are the moments, like a quiet early morning walk through London, when dreams come alive!

An Evening in Christchurch

December 22, 2015

I’m not sure why, but I was anticipating all of the towns and cities in New Zealand to be full of cottages and somewhat small-town-esque. For some reason, I was picturing more like small villages in Ireland for what New Zealand would look like and I couldn’t have been more wrong. From Christchurch to Wanaka to Queenstown, the towns and cities in New Zealand are modern and large. I think that’s why we were kind of thrown our first night in the country in Christchurch, a place that was ravaged by a horrible earthquake not that long ago and the affects are still staggering. Literally half of the city it seems is under construction, and I mean major construction, which made it difficult to really see what the city is about or what it looks like as half of it is half built or in process. So for our very quick stop in Christchurch, I guess all I can say is I would like to see it when it’s completed because I think the whole feel of the city will be different when it’s finally all built!

Traveling to New Zealand?

See all of my posts on the country here!

Travel Tips : Packing for Iceland

June 18, 2015

Packing for Iceland can be a hard thing to do. It’s fairly cold most of the year and even if the sun comes out, the weather can change really quickly so you need to be prepared for any weather that might come your way. It’s also a country that is very remote, so many of the things you should pack will be unique to Iceland. Our trip at the end of May proved to be hard to pack for, since there was still a lot of snow on the ground and rain was forecasted for most of our time there. The highs were somewhere in the 30’s most days while there, but in Iceland, the temperature usually feels a good 5-10 degrees cooler than what it says, so prepare yourself and your wardrobe for that. I’ll be doing a Travel Style post in the days to come, but for now, here’s some of the top things to remember when packing for your trip to Iceland!

What not to forget when packing for your trip to Iceland:

1. Hand Warmers

I brought with me 2 small hand warmer packets, which are liquid when not activated and then just snap to create warmth. They were small enough to bring through airport security in my carryon but packed a lot of warmth when I needed them. I actually only used them the morning we spent at Godafoss, but I was so glad to have them.

2. Layers!

When packing your wardrobe for your trip to Iceland, pack lots of layers! Even at the end of May, I was wearing leggings under my jeans and multiple layers on top because of the chill in the air. So pack lots of scarves, multiple pairs of warm socks and things you can wear to stay warm and then take off it you need, like hats or ear muffs.

3. Lots of Camera Memory and Extra Batteries

You’ll be taking lots of photos in Iceland so bring lots of memory. You’ll also notice all your batteries dying faster than normal there… it’s due to the cold temperatures, so bring extras!

4. Snacks

If you’re driving around Iceland (like we did), you’ll want lots of snacks as often there are hours between towns and even then, you can’t bank on them being open. We brought with us granola bars and small snacks and then also bought more in Reykjavik before leaving for the North. You want to make sure if nothing is open, you have something to eat on your way to your destination.

5. Comfortable Clothes

When we were packing for Iceland, I really didn’t want to take my purse since most of the time we would be in the car or out exploring the countryside. I opted to bring a backpack instead of my usual handbag and it was such a good decision. It was so much easier to head out exploring with only my backpack, so make sure to bring comfortable clothing items that you aren’t going to worry about. Iceland is not a place for your designer wardrobe, bring clothes that are ok to get dirty and that are easy to use.

6. Boots

I brought my rubber wellies with me on this trip and I was so glad I did. There were lots of spots that were either wet, snowy or muddy and it was great to not have to worry about my converse getting too dirty or soaked through. Boots will be your lifesaver as you climb over rocks or through water in Iceland.

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Akureyri : Iceland’s Northern City

June 15, 2015

Nicknamed “the capital of the North,” Iceland’s second largest city of Akureyri was a definite stop for us while exploring the North of Iceland. When we scheduled our trip, we knew we wanted a couple days up North and Akureyri looked (and ended up being) the perfect stopping place. With a decent amount of hotels, it was easy to find lodging here and on top of that, the town is gorgeous, set among snow capped mountains and sitting on an incredibly long fjord of sparkling blue water.

It was really interesting to see the town that follows Reykjavik in size as Iceland’s Northern city and it turned out to be a really cute little Icelandic town, complete with lots of restaurants and bright Scandinavian architecture. It’s also really close to a lot of sites to see in the North, including Husavik and Godafoss (posts coming later this week on both!). All in all, while it was small, we really enjoyed seeing this cute little Northern Icelandic city!

Tips for Akureyri:

-For amazing views of the city across the fjord, head further on Highway 1 across the water. There is a viewpoint about 10 minutes past the city that has amazing views (like in the top photo).

-Wander the main street of town; it’s filled with restaurants and cute little shops selling Icelandic souvenirs.

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Where to Stay in Iceland

Everything You Need to Know Before going to Santorini

There are basically 3 main towns: Fira, Oia and Imerovigli.