Greece 2009

It's been a long summer waiting on my holidays (OK I shouldn't complain because I know I spent a fantastic 2 weeks in Japan in April) but once they came, they came in duplicate. The trip to Switzerland was just the beginning....I returned home for 9 days before heading off again, this time to Greece to go to my friends Marios and Cony's wedding. Another chance for lots of friends to get together and celebrate in style!

The wedding was in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens, right on the coast and it was held in the most beautiful Greek Orthodox Church (well outside, since Greek Orthodox churches are usually very small and Greek weddings very large) of St George's in Kavouri, followed by a reception in a wedding venue on the beach....where we ate fantastic food, drank great gin and tonics, swam in the sea at 4am and danced until 6! All in all the perfect wedding! Thanks for the invite guys!!

We managed to visit the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum in the centre of Athens - when it was 34 degrees and sunny! Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun sprung to mind!

After the wedding, I spent 3 days on the beautiful island of Hydra with my friend Mariana. We had booked into the Nefeli Hotel, a perfect little hotel high on the hillside above the harbour, with stunning views and even better hospitality. We enjoyed taking breakfast on the terrace and watching the mules going up and down the steps to the side of the hotel carrying all varieties of things up and down the hill. Hydra you see, is an island without cars, without mopeds and without bicycles. The only way to get around is on foot, on the back of a mule or by boat. It therefore retains a sense of calm and the streets are all small and narrow and consist mainly of steps! We certainly got our fair share of exercise whilst there....but then again we also ate some fantastic food!

We spent our time just relaxing on the terrace, walking to the beach at Vlichos and swimming in the sea, visiting local restaurants and chatting. The perfect holiday. Oh and I also took hundreds of photographs. The town was so colourful and so photogenic....the colours so strong and there is something different to see round every corner, and believe me there were lots of corners!

My favourite photos are below.....

One day we hiked to the top of the island above the town to visit the monastery, painted so white with beautiful views and returned to eat at Ostria for the second time in 3 days....choosing once again to have the tasty Cretan Dakos (Cretan style bread with fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, olive oil and oregano).....I don't think you've lived till you've tasted greek tomatoes!!