04 | 23 | 18
G R E E C E
& R O M E
Blessed and Obsessed. Two words that perfectly describe my spring break! Seriously though I've been asking myself for the three days i've been back now, how the hell I got so lucky in life? My mind has been racing with an overwhelming amount of joy, positive thoughts, and memories. I'm almost emotional writing about this because I cant believe its already over. If you thought I was overjoyed when reading my venice blog...hold your breath…
Here we go!
Bai and I flew out of Venice late saturday afternoon and landed in Rome about an hour later! It was quite the pricey Uber ride into the city, but rolling up to the contemporary Tribune Hotel (It was a breath of fresh air to be in a new and modern place, since all of Europe is so historical) knowing I was about to see my mama, (who I hadn't seen in 2 months) and my grandma, (one of my fav people ever) nothing else mattered but being reunited with them!! We took the sleek elevator to the fourth floor and I couldn't knock on the door fast enough! "OMG HIIIIIII!!!!!!!!" All of us jumping up and down and hugging in excitement!! It took everything in me not to break down and just bawl in that moment...
I was so shocked to see how lively the two of them were, considering when Bailee and I got to Europe we could hardly move, we were so exhausted. Right away we got ready and headed down one of the many beautiful streets of ROMA to a highly recommended pasta "ristorante" (read it in Italian, it add's to the vibe... almost like you're here huh?) Lol. All of us were dying over our dishes! My mom had shrimp pasta and the rest of us had the famous Ravioli. Yasssss. Hahahaha, my grandma going "mmmmmm" and my mom "ooooooh" over how amazing their first bites were, it was so cute! The pasta really was to die for.
After dinner, my grandma headed back to the hotel to sleep and I dont blame her! She had a long day! Since we only had that night and the next day to explore…my mom, bailee, and I headed to the Trevi fountain. Our hotel concierge told us it was more beautiful at night and HE WAS RIGHT! It was breath taking and massive! Even with all the tourists and creepy old italian men surrounding it, I was in awh. After making our wishes, one of mine came true right away and we stopped for gelato before turning in for the night!
On Sunday morning, we all woke up ready to begin exploring all of Rome! My grandma had already been there twice before, so she kind of knew what she was doing! We enjoyed an amazing brunch spread the hotel put out, then went straight to this thing called the "Colosseum." Ever heard of it? ;) It was no wonder this thing was one of the 7 wonders of the world! After peaking down and seeing the huggeeee line to get in, we came to the conclusion we needed to bite the bullet and sign up for one of those damn tours, basically just so we had a fast past to get in the place. Normally, I'm all about tours. You learn a lot about what you're looking at and it feels like you're getting more moneys worth. But the 70 year old try hard we got stuck with was so annoying I thought I might fall asleep looking at the ol crumbling death arena. Ugh she just would not shut up about the various sorts of granite in the place then all the sudden she'd just forget what she was saying all together and try to make a joke out of it. It was almost more entertaining to listen to her, bless her heart, than to look at the Colosseum. Poor thing needed to just retire back when Michelangelo did.
Any who, after we decided to ditch the tour each figured out we were hungry and decided to go hunt down lunch at a super local pasta place. It was awesome and we were refueled to keep going. After lunch we headed over to the famous Vatican church where we took lots of pictures and took in the emotional aspect and deep spiritual feeling the church bring you. After our time spent appreciating the amazing church and our Lord, we left and realized the day had quickly almost come to an end! Grandmas feet hurt, and Bailee was ready to relax, but my mom was really interested in visiting this castle that wasn't far from the Vatican. I thought well "she came all the way here for me, and she's only in Rome once" so even though we only had an hour til the place closed, we bought our tickets and hurried up the many winding stairwells of the massive castle. It was exactly the type of medieval fortress you're imagining. Huge goblets and stones, tall wooden doors, and of course a moat. Even though we hurried through the layout of the castle, the end was the best part because you follow a small stairwell up a tower that looked like Rapunzels hair would fall right out, only to come upon the BEST view of Rome! It was breath taking and neither my mom or I was expecting it so it made it all worth it! That night the 4 of us ended the evening by sitting on the edge of a bathtub, laughing and singing CHUNKY by Bruno Mars. I was so happy to have them back again.
Early Monday morning Bailee and I got up and caught our flight to Athens. (We'd later meet my mom, my grandma and my aunt Kelli (my number one fan since i've been in Europe! Shes the best!) in Santorini!!!) Since we got there at 10:00 am and didn't fly out again til 11:00 that night, we had the whole day to explore! We figured out the metro (well, Bailee did) and headed into the heart of Athens where the Acropolis sat overlooking all of the Greek flea markets and local shops that old Athens had to offer. The metro stop we got off at was literally in the heart of it all, I'm talking we walked out to blankets all tied up, trash on the streets and homeless Greeks playing accordions, and wild cats everywhere. I told bailee I didn't expect it to be so authentic. But, we rolled with it. We sat down for an amazing lunch with even better service! The little Greek bistro we chose was central to everything which was a plus as well. After eating and eating, we were ready to walk it off and start our trek up to the Acropolis. We made our way up and down the windy pathways eventually leading us to the trail up the mountain. About half way up we stopped and overlooked all of Athens. The view was AMAZING. I didn't realize Athens was so huge, but there are 6.5 million people there! We then continued on up to the ruins where I was really taken back! In Rome, the ruins are very central so its hard to step back and take a good look at them…but in Athens since they are placed so far up, you really get such a good perspective of just how massive they are and it becomes very easy to imagine how things used to be in the Greek empire way back when. We topped off our hike with "Greek Frozen Yogurt" and headed back to the airport! I couldn't wait to get to SANTORINI!!!
May I just throw out there… going into this whole Greece trip, I knew since my mother was booking it and because well, its Santorini, our villa would be beautiful…But what we walked into that Monday night cannot ever be topped. No matter which Ritz you're thinking of…the Celestia Grand in Santorini, Fira, Greece is absolutely the best most luxurious place I've ever stayed. And the hotel Manager, Niko's service was SO in check it was almost comical. He didn't skip a beat. Out of the 369 reviews he has on trip advisor, 368 were rated absolutely perfect with all 5 stars. Clearly the other guy was his competition. Which is why if you watch the episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, where they come to Santorini, you can see them dining on the private deck of our Villa and Niko is even featured in the episode too. I felt like I was in a dream. Right away Bailee and I walked into the classic white domed Villa and started exploring, we ran down the steps to one of the three bedrooms to find my mom and my aunt kelli in the HUGE bathtub that basically doubled as a hot tub! "AWHHHHH!!!!!" HIIIIII!!!" "HOW AMAZING IS THIS PLACE?!?!" Make your way into the other bedroom and huge master bath and you'll find a glass door that opens into a indoor/outdoor grata! Step out of one of the many doors to the back terrace and thats where the real AWH moment begins… Overlooking the INCREDIBLE cliffs and Santorini blue buildings and that iconic Mediterranean sea, is our huge white and glass terrace, complete with a large heated pool, an amazing set up for daily brunch, and views for days. Needless to say we were all blown away.
That next Tuesday morning, I couldn't wait to wake up to our setting in the daylight. We all woke up and threw our plush white robes on to move out to the patio for breakfast. Niko 1 (the O.G. Niko…I'll explain later) had Niko #2 serving us a wide array of European brunch foods. Eggs, bacon, fruit, Greek yogurt with honey, and a variety of breads and scones lay across our perfect white table. So there I was, with my three best friends, a croissant stuffed with Nutella, and a view to kill for…what more could a 22 year old girl want? Ahh. somebody pinch me. After many laughs at breakfast, we all got ready and headed to the gate of the villas to meet Niko and our day tour guide, Simon. Simon reminded me of my brother Zach, just a lot quieter, and I almost felt bad he had to put up with us crazy girls all day. He took us to the tallest point of Santorini, where the roads were so narrow we felt like we were going to fall off the cliff. He also showed us the Black and Red beaches which were breath taking. We stopped at many places to take pictures and we enjoyed so many stories laughs. I was proud of my family for listening to all the tales and complaints Bailee and I had to tell about our experience so far… Simon also took us to a beautiful winery where we tasted all sorts of yummy cheeses and samples. And of course…took more pics. We had so much fun there and giggled all the way threw it! We even made up a song about all the Niko's we'd met so far on this island!! Its to the melody of "Mambo Number 5" … kay fine i'll sing it!!! "One..Twoo…Niko where are you!? Three…Fourr Niko's at the Door!! Five…Sixx, Niko take our pic!? …Seven..Eight, Niko your so great! … Nine..Ten, Theres a Niko again!! Dun Da Da Dah Dahh..ITS NIKO!!!!" LOL. The amount of time the Niko tune was sang on this trip was not ok. Buttttt it pretty much set the tone. *insert laughing crying emoji*... The sun was setting soon and we headed to IEA for the famous Santorini Blue chapels and domes! IEA was very touristy and bustling, but the dinner we had was wonderful! After, my aunt Kelli and I of course sniffed out this amazing boutique with sales! We did some shopping until they closed! When we got back to our Villa Niko greeted us and let us know he'd be waking us for breakfast early the next morning before we got ready to go to on our boat tour!!
On Wednesday we woke for breakfast early followed by our Catamaran boat tour! I was really excited because Niko told us our Captain, Ted, was low key famous on the island and he'd taken many celebrities out, including the Kardashians of course, Angelia Jolie, and Hugh Jackman. I was living the high life at that point and dreading leaving. We stepped on to the clean white boat called "The Blue Lagoon" and headed off to do some Santorini sailing! Our captain was really cool and he was half Greek and half Bostonian! It was fun to talk to another American and hear both perspectives of his views on politics, Greek life, and Europe in general. On the boat tour we saw the beaches of Santorini from afar before stopping off on a volcano to take a swim in the hot (lukewarm at best) springs of Santorini. Granted, we were still out of season so the Ocean was cold but WOAH. I was freezing lol. After getting back on the boat we sat for a homemade Seafood lunch made by Ted's assistant. It was DELICIOUS and I dont even like seafood. We were singing to music, enjoying the views, and taking everything in! I was sad that the tour was over but it was the perfect amount of time to be out on the water! We got a picture with Captain Ted and headed back to the Villa to get ready for dinner! We were all SO tired when we arrived back that we laid down in the sun and all got a little burnt. Who knows the feeling im talking about getting ready after you got sunburnt that day?! Love it! We took lots of fun pictures and left for dinner! We ate at a restaurant in Fira that overlooked the sunset and it was super yummy. We all of course stopped for Gelato after and explored the nightlife of Santorini! What a fun day!!!
On Thursday we all woke up and sent my aunt Kelli off to the airport and back to the states after another yummy breakfast! We decided to take it easy and lay by the pool all day long since we really hadn't got to yet! We soaked up the sun all day long and went to this place called Luckies for an early dinner! Luckies is really famous for Gyros and they were delicious! In the states they're made with lamb and people think thats normal…but actually a traditional Greek gyro is made with pork or chicken. That evening we went back into fira to get souvenirs and watch the beautiful santorini sunset. I was really sad when I realized we left early the next morning but mostly I was so very content through and through. With all of it. It was just what I needed to break up this emotional roller coaster i've been riding the last few months…
I was happy that Friday I still had one more day with my mom and grandma, even if it was just at an airport hotel in Rome. It was good to be with them one last night and talk about the amazing memories we just made. We even met a bunch of couples from the states! Florida, Boston, Ohio! Guess all the Americans decided on the Hilton Garden in at the FCO airport lol. Saturday morning I woke up early to send my grandma and mama off and I'm not gonna lie, it was hard. I was really sad and fought back tears when my mom walked out the doors to get to the airport…I'm actually choking up again right now writing about it. Something about being able to hug her and touch her soft hands, and actually look into her sparkly eyes and laugh with her, just made everything feel okay again. I love my grandma and aunt and mom so much and I'm SO happy we were able to share what we did together. It's something I'll never forget, I'll cherish forever, and I hope I make enough money someday to take my daughter to do the same thing.
I only have a few weeks left now! Croatia this weekend and a field trip to Poland the next before I take my finals and head home! I feel really lucky and blessed and mostly really loved…
Best,
Abigayle
G R E E C E
& R O M E
Blessed and Obsessed. Two words that perfectly describe my spring break! Seriously though I've been asking myself for the three days i've been back now, how the hell I got so lucky in life? My mind has been racing with an overwhelming amount of joy, positive thoughts, and memories. I'm almost emotional writing about this because I cant believe its already over. If you thought I was overjoyed when reading my venice blog...hold your breath…
Here we go!
Bai and I flew out of Venice late saturday afternoon and landed in Rome about an hour later! It was quite the pricey Uber ride into the city, but rolling up to the contemporary Tribune Hotel (It was a breath of fresh air to be in a new and modern place, since all of Europe is so historical) knowing I was about to see my mama, (who I hadn't seen in 2 months) and my grandma, (one of my fav people ever) nothing else mattered but being reunited with them!! We took the sleek elevator to the fourth floor and I couldn't knock on the door fast enough! "OMG HIIIIIII!!!!!!!!" All of us jumping up and down and hugging in excitement!! It took everything in me not to break down and just bawl in that moment...
I was so shocked to see how lively the two of them were, considering when Bailee and I got to Europe we could hardly move, we were so exhausted. Right away we got ready and headed down one of the many beautiful streets of ROMA to a highly recommended pasta "ristorante" (read it in Italian, it add's to the vibe... almost like you're here huh?) Lol. All of us were dying over our dishes! My mom had shrimp pasta and the rest of us had the famous Ravioli. Yasssss. Hahahaha, my grandma going "mmmmmm" and my mom "ooooooh" over how amazing their first bites were, it was so cute! The pasta really was to die for.
After dinner, my grandma headed back to the hotel to sleep and I dont blame her! She had a long day! Since we only had that night and the next day to explore…my mom, bailee, and I headed to the Trevi fountain. Our hotel concierge told us it was more beautiful at night and HE WAS RIGHT! It was breath taking and massive! Even with all the tourists and creepy old italian men surrounding it, I was in awh. After making our wishes, one of mine came true right away and we stopped for gelato before turning in for the night!
On Sunday morning, we all woke up ready to begin exploring all of Rome! My grandma had already been there twice before, so she kind of knew what she was doing! We enjoyed an amazing brunch spread the hotel put out, then went straight to this thing called the "Colosseum." Ever heard of it? ;) It was no wonder this thing was one of the 7 wonders of the world! After peaking down and seeing the huggeeee line to get in, we came to the conclusion we needed to bite the bullet and sign up for one of those damn tours, basically just so we had a fast past to get in the place. Normally, I'm all about tours. You learn a lot about what you're looking at and it feels like you're getting more moneys worth. But the 70 year old try hard we got stuck with was so annoying I thought I might fall asleep looking at the ol crumbling death arena. Ugh she just would not shut up about the various sorts of granite in the place then all the sudden she'd just forget what she was saying all together and try to make a joke out of it. It was almost more entertaining to listen to her, bless her heart, than to look at the Colosseum. Poor thing needed to just retire back when Michelangelo did.
Any who, after we decided to ditch the tour each figured out we were hungry and decided to go hunt down lunch at a super local pasta place. It was awesome and we were refueled to keep going. After lunch we headed over to the famous Vatican church where we took lots of pictures and took in the emotional aspect and deep spiritual feeling the church bring you. After our time spent appreciating the amazing church and our Lord, we left and realized the day had quickly almost come to an end! Grandmas feet hurt, and Bailee was ready to relax, but my mom was really interested in visiting this castle that wasn't far from the Vatican. I thought well "she came all the way here for me, and she's only in Rome once" so even though we only had an hour til the place closed, we bought our tickets and hurried up the many winding stairwells of the massive castle. It was exactly the type of medieval fortress you're imagining. Huge goblets and stones, tall wooden doors, and of course a moat. Even though we hurried through the layout of the castle, the end was the best part because you follow a small stairwell up a tower that looked like Rapunzels hair would fall right out, only to come upon the BEST view of Rome! It was breath taking and neither my mom or I was expecting it so it made it all worth it! That night the 4 of us ended the evening by sitting on the edge of a bathtub, laughing and singing CHUNKY by Bruno Mars. I was so happy to have them back again.
Early Monday morning Bailee and I got up and caught our flight to Athens. (We'd later meet my mom, my grandma and my aunt Kelli (my number one fan since i've been in Europe! Shes the best!) in Santorini!!!) Since we got there at 10:00 am and didn't fly out again til 11:00 that night, we had the whole day to explore! We figured out the metro (well, Bailee did) and headed into the heart of Athens where the Acropolis sat overlooking all of the Greek flea markets and local shops that old Athens had to offer. The metro stop we got off at was literally in the heart of it all, I'm talking we walked out to blankets all tied up, trash on the streets and homeless Greeks playing accordions, and wild cats everywhere. I told bailee I didn't expect it to be so authentic. But, we rolled with it. We sat down for an amazing lunch with even better service! The little Greek bistro we chose was central to everything which was a plus as well. After eating and eating, we were ready to walk it off and start our trek up to the Acropolis. We made our way up and down the windy pathways eventually leading us to the trail up the mountain. About half way up we stopped and overlooked all of Athens. The view was AMAZING. I didn't realize Athens was so huge, but there are 6.5 million people there! We then continued on up to the ruins where I was really taken back! In Rome, the ruins are very central so its hard to step back and take a good look at them…but in Athens since they are placed so far up, you really get such a good perspective of just how massive they are and it becomes very easy to imagine how things used to be in the Greek empire way back when. We topped off our hike with "Greek Frozen Yogurt" and headed back to the airport! I couldn't wait to get to SANTORINI!!!
May I just throw out there… going into this whole Greece trip, I knew since my mother was booking it and because well, its Santorini, our villa would be beautiful…But what we walked into that Monday night cannot ever be topped. No matter which Ritz you're thinking of…the Celestia Grand in Santorini, Fira, Greece is absolutely the best most luxurious place I've ever stayed. And the hotel Manager, Niko's service was SO in check it was almost comical. He didn't skip a beat. Out of the 369 reviews he has on trip advisor, 368 were rated absolutely perfect with all 5 stars. Clearly the other guy was his competition. Which is why if you watch the episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, where they come to Santorini, you can see them dining on the private deck of our Villa and Niko is even featured in the episode too. I felt like I was in a dream. Right away Bailee and I walked into the classic white domed Villa and started exploring, we ran down the steps to one of the three bedrooms to find my mom and my aunt kelli in the HUGE bathtub that basically doubled as a hot tub! "AWHHHHH!!!!!" HIIIIII!!!" "HOW AMAZING IS THIS PLACE?!?!" Make your way into the other bedroom and huge master bath and you'll find a glass door that opens into a indoor/outdoor grata! Step out of one of the many doors to the back terrace and thats where the real AWH moment begins… Overlooking the INCREDIBLE cliffs and Santorini blue buildings and that iconic Mediterranean sea, is our huge white and glass terrace, complete with a large heated pool, an amazing set up for daily brunch, and views for days. Needless to say we were all blown away.
That next Tuesday morning, I couldn't wait to wake up to our setting in the daylight. We all woke up and threw our plush white robes on to move out to the patio for breakfast. Niko 1 (the O.G. Niko…I'll explain later) had Niko #2 serving us a wide array of European brunch foods. Eggs, bacon, fruit, Greek yogurt with honey, and a variety of breads and scones lay across our perfect white table. So there I was, with my three best friends, a croissant stuffed with Nutella, and a view to kill for…what more could a 22 year old girl want? Ahh. somebody pinch me. After many laughs at breakfast, we all got ready and headed to the gate of the villas to meet Niko and our day tour guide, Simon. Simon reminded me of my brother Zach, just a lot quieter, and I almost felt bad he had to put up with us crazy girls all day. He took us to the tallest point of Santorini, where the roads were so narrow we felt like we were going to fall off the cliff. He also showed us the Black and Red beaches which were breath taking. We stopped at many places to take pictures and we enjoyed so many stories laughs. I was proud of my family for listening to all the tales and complaints Bailee and I had to tell about our experience so far… Simon also took us to a beautiful winery where we tasted all sorts of yummy cheeses and samples. And of course…took more pics. We had so much fun there and giggled all the way threw it! We even made up a song about all the Niko's we'd met so far on this island!! Its to the melody of "Mambo Number 5" … kay fine i'll sing it!!! "One..Twoo…Niko where are you!? Three…Fourr Niko's at the Door!! Five…Sixx, Niko take our pic!? …Seven..Eight, Niko your so great! … Nine..Ten, Theres a Niko again!! Dun Da Da Dah Dahh..ITS NIKO!!!!" LOL. The amount of time the Niko tune was sang on this trip was not ok. Buttttt it pretty much set the tone. *insert laughing crying emoji*... The sun was setting soon and we headed to IEA for the famous Santorini Blue chapels and domes! IEA was very touristy and bustling, but the dinner we had was wonderful! After, my aunt Kelli and I of course sniffed out this amazing boutique with sales! We did some shopping until they closed! When we got back to our Villa Niko greeted us and let us know he'd be waking us for breakfast early the next morning before we got ready to go to on our boat tour!!
On Wednesday we woke for breakfast early followed by our Catamaran boat tour! I was really excited because Niko told us our Captain, Ted, was low key famous on the island and he'd taken many celebrities out, including the Kardashians of course, Angelia Jolie, and Hugh Jackman. I was living the high life at that point and dreading leaving. We stepped on to the clean white boat called "The Blue Lagoon" and headed off to do some Santorini sailing! Our captain was really cool and he was half Greek and half Bostonian! It was fun to talk to another American and hear both perspectives of his views on politics, Greek life, and Europe in general. On the boat tour we saw the beaches of Santorini from afar before stopping off on a volcano to take a swim in the hot (lukewarm at best) springs of Santorini. Granted, we were still out of season so the Ocean was cold but WOAH. I was freezing lol. After getting back on the boat we sat for a homemade Seafood lunch made by Ted's assistant. It was DELICIOUS and I dont even like seafood. We were singing to music, enjoying the views, and taking everything in! I was sad that the tour was over but it was the perfect amount of time to be out on the water! We got a picture with Captain Ted and headed back to the Villa to get ready for dinner! We were all SO tired when we arrived back that we laid down in the sun and all got a little burnt. Who knows the feeling im talking about getting ready after you got sunburnt that day?! Love it! We took lots of fun pictures and left for dinner! We ate at a restaurant in Fira that overlooked the sunset and it was super yummy. We all of course stopped for Gelato after and explored the nightlife of Santorini! What a fun day!!!
On Thursday we all woke up and sent my aunt Kelli off to the airport and back to the states after another yummy breakfast! We decided to take it easy and lay by the pool all day long since we really hadn't got to yet! We soaked up the sun all day long and went to this place called Luckies for an early dinner! Luckies is really famous for Gyros and they were delicious! In the states they're made with lamb and people think thats normal…but actually a traditional Greek gyro is made with pork or chicken. That evening we went back into fira to get souvenirs and watch the beautiful santorini sunset. I was really sad when I realized we left early the next morning but mostly I was so very content through and through. With all of it. It was just what I needed to break up this emotional roller coaster i've been riding the last few months…
I was happy that Friday I still had one more day with my mom and grandma, even if it was just at an airport hotel in Rome. It was good to be with them one last night and talk about the amazing memories we just made. We even met a bunch of couples from the states! Florida, Boston, Ohio! Guess all the Americans decided on the Hilton Garden in at the FCO airport lol. Saturday morning I woke up early to send my grandma and mama off and I'm not gonna lie, it was hard. I was really sad and fought back tears when my mom walked out the doors to get to the airport…I'm actually choking up again right now writing about it. Something about being able to hug her and touch her soft hands, and actually look into her sparkly eyes and laugh with her, just made everything feel okay again. I love my grandma and aunt and mom so much and I'm SO happy we were able to share what we did together. It's something I'll never forget, I'll cherish forever, and I hope I make enough money someday to take my daughter to do the same thing.
I only have a few weeks left now! Croatia this weekend and a field trip to Poland the next before I take my finals and head home! I feel really lucky and blessed and mostly really loved…
Best,
Abigayle
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." | Exodus 20:12
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