Date Night in Paris

Last weekend, Cole was invited to Paris for the end of a project that he has been working on for a little over a year. All of the guys invited were also told they could bring their spouses/partners along to celebrate the close of the project. So, when Cole told me I was invited, of course I wanted to try to go along. We thought about how to make it work with the kiddos and decided to ask a few couples from church if they would be interested in helping us out. They said they would be happy to help, so we planned our trip!

We left around 12:30 on Saturday afternoon and headed down. We weren't sure what to expect on our way with all the recent drama, but we did not encounter any problems at any of the checkpoints along the way. When we arrived in Paris, we checked into our hotel and relaxed (in the quiet, in the stillness, with no one jumping on our bed) until it was time for dinner. 

Our Hotel

We had dinner at a nice restaurant with Cole's colleagues and spouses/partners, then walked around the city for a while afterwards. The Christmas lights were up, the Christmas market was open, and there were people everywhere! It was nice to see that this beautiful city we both love so much has not been held hostage by recent events.

Meanwhile at home, the kids were having a blast! They built cable cars, they played games, they ate pizza, they built a lego/block/any other material they could find city, etc. While we missed the kids, we didn't worry about them once, which was so nice! We are very lucky to have such wonderful, generous friends!

Working on their cable cars

The next morning, Cole had to go to the final meeting for their project, so I took advantage of the peace and quiet and ordered breakfast in my room! When he was finished, we packed up and headed back to Gent. 

Cole and I don't get the opportunity to go out very often, much less overnight, so this really was a special treat for us. Not to mention we were in Paris! I am never disappointed by Paris. It is a beautiful, lively city and I'm happy we could make some sweet memories there together, just the two of us!

Greece - Part 2 (Santorini)

As I said at the end of Greece - Part 1, we had a great time in Athens. There is so much incredible history and we tried to see as much as possible while we were there. However, the second part of our trip was to Santorini and we were equally excited to get to our next destination when it was time. We got up bright and early in Athens to take a quick one hour plane ride to Santorini. After picking up our rental car, we were on our way to the little town of Oia. Although it seemed like there were many nice places to stay in Santorini, we chose Oia because I read several places that Oia has some of the best sunsets in the world. We were not disappointed by the sunsets we saw (and there are lots of pictures of sunrises and sunsets in this post). We also found what we thought would be an amazing apartment on the side of a hill to stay in, so we were really excited to see it in person.

After driving about 30 minutes from the airport, we arrived at a bus and taxi station where we were to meet a porter. I was very confused because he told us to park our car and we would walk the rest of the way...only a 10 minute walk he said. I had no idea we would have to walk so far, or even why we couldn't drive any closer, but we did what he said and parked. Thankfully we had his help because we had six suitcases and a stroller as well as the kiddos, and it was not an easy walk to our apartment. There were a ton of stairs and tiny roads to get where we needed to go. However, when we arrived at the apartment and saw the view, it was clear to us that all the precarious stairs were totally worth it!

Santorini was formed through many volcanic eruptions over the years dating back to 1500 B.C. The first volcanic eruption occurred in the center of the island and caused a large portion in the center to sink and be filled with water. This created the caldera, the largest of it's kind in the world, and segments of the perimeter, which are now separate islands around the caldera. Our apartment looked out over the caldera.

Our two apartments

View from our apartment

Sitting on our porch

Oia is a little town on the north side of the island. It was pretty much deserted as it was off season, but I loved the quiet. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed for the season and we didn't encounter many other people. There were a few grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance, but other than that, it was just quiet. The area where we were staying was also very simple (aside from the view which was spectacular). Simple, as in, you can't throw toilet paper in the toilet, donkeys coming in and out of the area to help the workers, no cars anywhere nearby. It was amazing and just what we needed after all the activity in Athens. The apartments there were literally built into the side of the hill. Our bathroom even had a big rock in it.

My parents bathroom

Our bathroom

See the rock??

   

Can you see the donkeys?

All throughout the tiny streets were dogs and cats, who were clearly fed, but didn't seem to belong to anyone in particular. We often came back with a friend when we went to the store.

The "main street" in town

We were so enamored by the view and our surroundings that we spent most of the first day just sitting  on the porch relaxing. In the evening, we walked over to an old, crumbling castle to watch the sunset. It was beautiful!

From the castle looking back toward our apartment

Waiting for the sunset

After the sunset, we found a little restaurant overlooking the water.

Not only did we get to experience the amazing sunsets, but Cole and I also had a great view from our bed in the morning, so were also able to enjoy several beautiful, quiet sunrises as well. 

Playing while mommy watched the sunrise

Our second day was also very mellow in the morning. My dad needed to visit a doctor in the morning, so Cole, the boys, and my dad went there in the morning while my mom, Zoe and I enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

Playing on the porch 

When the boys returned from the doctor, we had lunch and rested for a bit before heading out again.

In the evening, we had planned to go to the Monastery of Profits Illias in another town (the highest spot on the island), but I got us lost and we ended up at the bottom of the hill with no path to get to the top. We made the best of it and visited a black sand beach nearby which made the boys very happy. We also caught another beautiful sunset along the way!

That's where we were supposed to be!

Can you see that little building?

None of us could figure out how anyone could get there?!

Black sand beach

The next day, we enjoyed another beautiful sunrise, then checked out of our apartment and went out to do some more exploring before flying back to Athens.

View from our bedroom window

Our faithful breakfast chef

Stairs up to the main road

We stopped at the top to admire the view and the little town one last time!

The first stop on the agenda was the cable cars. It's become tradition for us to ride cable cars anywhere we go if at all possible, so this was non-negotiable for Cameron. We drove to the capital of Santorini, a town called Fira and took the cable cars down to the port, then hopped on a boat to ride over to Nea Kameni, an active volcano within the Santorini caldera. 

Our boat

Clear, blue water

Oia

There was a small eruption on Nea Kameni in 1950, but there haven't been any since and scientists monitor the changes closely. Once we arrived, it took us between 30 and 40 minutes to walk to the top. It was a pretty tough walk for all of us, but it was fun to be at the top and see the smoke coming up from the lava rock. The boys thought it was really cool (I did too). It was hot if you put your hand near the smoke.

The water was very green by Nea Kameni

Heading up the volcano

See the smoke? 

The crater

View from the top

"Dad, let me take a selfie of myself!"

It took us so long to get to the top that we didn't have much time to explore before we needed to head back to the boat.

The next stop was to the nearby hot springs. We didn't have bathing suits, but I thought we would dock and then be able to put our feet in. They failed to mention, before we bought the tickets, that we would dock 15 meters (50 feet) from the hot springs meaning, we would have to jump from the boat and swim if we wanted to get to the hot springs. I very seriously considered jumping in in my clothes to have a once in a lifetime experience, but I couldn't convince anyone else to come with me, so we sat on the boat, with many other confused patrons, and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. 

Random, inhabited house by the hot springs

Heading to the hot springs

Cable cars back to the top

Once we arrived back at the port, we ate a quick (and terrible) lunch before making a second attempt to get to the Monastery. We, once again, saw some spectacular sites along the way. The drive to the top of the hill was a bit scary as it was basically a one lane road with a super steep drop off on one side. Thankfully, we didn't encounter any cars coming down on our way up! 

When we reached the top, there were three guys getting ready to paraglide. It was awesome, and a little scary, to watch them basically jump off the hill and go flying out in the wind. 

The Monastery was closed for visitors, so we just walked around the outside.

Garden inside the Monastery

The last stop of the day before the airport was Red Beach. I had read so much about it and really wanted to see it, so I was happy that we had just a little time before we had to leave. The sun was setting as we were driving along, so we caught more beautiful views.

Just outside Red Beach

The rocks were red and the water an emerald green. It was beautiful!

After the quick stop at Red Beach, we headed to the airport to fly back to Athens. We spent the night in Athens and flew back to Brussels the next morning. 

Sunrise from the plane

We have been very lucky to have been able to travel to many wonderful places in our lives, but I think that Santorini now tops my list of favorite places I have ever traveled. I don't think I would want to visit when it's full of tourists, but it was almost perfect during our visit. The simplicity of the island combined with the God's spectacular creation was just amazing. I hope to go back again one day!