Santorini

Santorini was the last 4 days of the vacation. We ventured out of the hotel a bit more - rented a dunebuggy and travelled to local wineries and to a red sand beach. We had to hike in a bit and then could swim looking up a the red cliffs.

TJ did a great job driving the dunebuggy - even with me whispering "slow down, slow down" anytime we went above 5 miles an hour. It was a funny way to travel around the island and we got some looks from fellow travelers.


The hotel was fantastic - the Cosmopolitan Suites. Each morning I ran and then quickly changed and jumped into the pool before breakfast. I think I've discovered my favorite way to wake up.

These are pictures from the room -it had a small dining room - didn't spend much time in it but I had some grand plans to use it, as it would have been perfect to stage a Greece wine tasting if we were with friends.

We had some fantastic dinners at Vanillia and 1800 - definitely ate well. Breakfast each day was yogurt with honey, breads and an assortment of cheeses with sliced tomatoes.


We ended the trip with a boat ride out to the volcano where we swam to a 'hot springs' and then cruised around and watched the sunset. TJ has great pictures of this as I ran out of room. There was one incident on the boat where a fellow traveler was over-enthusiastic, he and his girlfriend were prancing around the boat when he walked straight into the boom. There was a load knocking noise as his head hit it - he was fine but it was quite comical.

The last day we took the ferry back to Athens.


All of my pictures from Santorini are here.

Mykonos

This is a picture from our room at the Petasos Beach Hotel in Mykonos. We took an early morning ferry from Athens to Mykonos and arrived around lunch time.

We spent a lot of time in this room - swimming, reading in the sun, and relaxing.

The colors and sights of Mykonos were stunning - the sky would actually get brighter in Greece right around sunset as the setting sun produced a white lightness.


We did one day trip to Mykonos town and saw the famous windmills. It was a beautiful and relaxing 3 days.

All of my pictures from Mykonos are here.

Athens.

This year we were determined to take a long vacation, (holiday for the british readers.) It might be surprising, because we've been traveling a ton this past year and a half, but we have not take a week-long vacation together since our honeymoon.

We began our long holiday in Athens - our goal was to spend time seeing the ruins and get right out to the islands.

All of the hotels for the trip were chosen through the small luxury hotels of the world website. In Athens it was the O&B Hotel is Psiri. Everthing I've heard about Athens fell into the 'you have to go. but it's dirty and hot and a bit hectic.'

We loved it- and TJ even said as we were leaving that he'd like to spend a few more days. "Come on, do we HAVE to go to the islands, with the beaches, and the swimming, and the lounging and the doing-nothing?" Yes, yes we do.

The Acropolis and Parthenon were striking. They had such a sense of history and place. One of my favorite memories of the trip was an early morning run up and around the Acropolis.
We found this funky wine and grappa bar there and had a nice long chat with an Australian woman traveling alone. No grappa for us.

We ate one night in a rooftop restaurant with views of the iluminated Acropolis. This began a twice daily partaking of a set standard: greek salad, tzadziki, bread, (yes bread, not a pita in sight,) and grilled cheese, (note to TJ- I tried multiple searches but could not find the name....I will leave this up to you and your superhuman browsing abilities.)

We were told that our neighborhood was a bit shaddy, and run down - what they didn't mention, and we discovered during our last night, was that it was as we'd say 'up and coming' and just our style. We found these fantastic back streets with outdoor cafes, packed restaurants and a fantastic locals feel. Even the 'minibar' pictured above was fabulous - just as you can guess, all the alcohol was packaged in min-bottles like on a plane and all positioned in front of a stark modern white background. Very fun....alas we'll have to go back!

All of my pictures are here.

Mags & Jon Visit - London & Paris

In Paris - April 08

San Francisco - some time in 2004?

We were honoured (english-ly) to have Mags and Jon come over for a visit recently as their first trip sans-kids. They flew to London and I was able to meet them at Heathrow on my way back from the below trip to Israel.

It was great fun to catch up with them - we saw sights, did a pub tour (one of Gordon Ramsay's called the Narrow for lunch- overrated, not worth it, and not a great experience, and some of our favorites in Chelsea including the Anglesea Arms, Cross Keys, and Drayton Arms (Jon and I at the Pig's Ear here):
and in our own neighborhood (Wells Tavern) by the Heath for dinner where we saw Stephen Merchant

We then took the Eurostar to Paris for some more sightseeing and dining fun - from the traditional/obligatory visits to the Champs Elysee and Eiffel Tower to exploring some areas we've never been to before and finding some great little neighborhoods & streets - capped off with visits to the best macaroon place in Paris (La Duree), the best ice cream place (Berthillon), and a visit to Willi's Wine Bar


All in all it was a great visit - and a bunch of fun to be able to explore two cities in 5 days with buddies from SF (now CT).

Additional pictures are here: PHOTOS

Israel - trip #4 of '08 - May

Apologies for the drop off in posts - after a busy spell we had a month without any major travels - and I just put the blog on the backburner... playing some golf at OFM and enjoying just being around London...

A solo trip this time -- I've found a new hotel that I really like - right by the beach, off the main road (so quiet) and an easy walk to the Old Port - which, now that the weather is getting better, is a great place to go at night - with bars, restaurants, shopping, and sightseeing all right on the Mediterranean.

I took the overnight flight again, which is not really long enough to be a red eye... it is only 4.5 hours long, and when you land, after just having dinner a couple of hours earlier, it is difficult to feel remotely normal or upbeat.

The previous time I had been to this hotel they let me in to a room straight away so that I could take a quick shower, and then head out on meetings... this day I did not have any meetings until later in the afternoon - so I was excited to take a nap...until I was told that no rooms were available. They asked me to wait in the breakfast area or the lobby... but, while I love this sofa, I was not too excited to sit there for a few hours:
So I suggested that I'd wait in the business lounge - where I pretended to read the paper as my head was nodding and I slouched further and further down in my seat until being jarred awake when I would hear the electronic keypad code being entered - and the whole fake paper reading charade would then start again.

It was a good, but short trip - and I met my new colleagues at the local office there, to whom, I am guessing, I will be transferring my accounts and market knowledge as we continue to retool our structure in the post-merger world.

Just a few photos - it was very nice to get away from the regular rains we had been receiving in London - so here is a sunset from the end of the road by my hotel:


a view of the power station from the Old Port area:
a new bar / lounge that has popped up - built right in to the pier area:

and a view from the departure lounge, which, while it is small and can get a bit crowded, has some of the best food options available that I've had in a lounge...