Greece 2022: Mykonos

Our second destination (and first island) was Mykonos, certainly a "dreamy" destination and one of the most visited islands in Greece.

Out of the many Greek islands, Mykonos is known as the “party island” and it definitely lives up to its reputation; there are parties all day, every day in Mykonos so it’s a popular destination for younger, care-free crowds looking for adventure and excitement. 

MYKONOS:

We traveled to Mykonos by ferry boat and I found the experience to be less glamorous than I imagined. We used SeaJets ferries and reservations were simple and inexpensive; the ferry boats were comfortable and well maintained but it was hard not to feel like "cattle" when boarding and leaving the boat with the number of people on that port. 

Even though we had the hotel shuttle drive us from the port (the cost of the transport was 40 euros), the arrival to the island was very chaotic.  There are tons of tourist-hungry taxi drivers harassing everyone as they get off the ferry boat and most of the people at the port looked very sketchy; I am not sure that I would ever travel to a Greek island by ferry boat again but I really can’t say anything negative about the journey per se, it just wasn’t what I am used to, I guess. 

We stayed in an area called Paradise Beach at the Tropicana Hotel with easy access to the transport bus to the town but also far away from the busyness of the center. Mykonos’ beaches are on the Aegean Sea, they have mostly rough, pebbly sand and cold water so they aren’t the prettiest of beaches and I didn’t find them super attractive, especially after having visited some of the Caribbean beaches, which remain at the top of my list. 

I did enjoy my time on the island and the scenery was certainly breathtaking, but it wasn’t my favorite destination.  I found Mykonos rather boring and monotonous; not the most exciting place for me but definitely a good spot to relax and do nothing. 

My least favorite things about Mykonos:

• The roads: streets and roads in Mykonos are horrible, most are dirt roads with no traffic lights and aggressive drivers. Going up and down those hills is terrifying and even though I did not drive on the island (thank God!), the rides to and from the hotel were my least favorite part of our stay. 
• The bus drivers: it’s easy to move around in Mykonos by taking the city bus that transports the masses to Mykonos Town but those bus drivers are probably among the rudest people I’ve ever come across. They are clearly not fond of tourists (even though tourism is the island’s biggest money maker) and they treat everyone so poorly. Like I said, not very glamorous. 
• The beaches: sunsets at the beach are breathtaking but the beach itself isn’t all that; the sand is rough and the water is cold and most beaches are generally overcrowded and way too commercial. I did not enjoy the beach in Mykonos at all. 
• Things are generally expensive: in comparison to Athens, Mykonos is a very pricey destination.  A cocktail at any bar costs about 20 euros and food and tourist attractions are mostly overpriced. Most places in Mykonos Town give out the “tourist trap” vibe and it can be very overwhelming for anyone who isn’t into that (like me!).

My recommendations for anyone thinking of visiting Mykonos:

• Again, book your port/airport transfer ahead of time: transportation in Mykonos is a huge challenge; taxis are scarce (and expensive!). The roads are rough and it isn’t a place that is easy to navigate so having someone ready to drive you to the hotel is definitely a must. Most hotels offer airport transfers for a fee.
• Be ready to spend money! Because Mykonos is one of the most expensive islands in Greece, you need to be ready to overpay for things; an umbrella at the beach can cost up to 60 euros, 20 euros for a cocktail, 10 euros for a crepe, etc.  It isn’t cheap!
• Be open to lots of downtime and relaxation: there isn’t much to do in Mykonos.  Besides going to the town to eat, visit souvenir shops and watch the sunset, this island isn’t the most exciting from the touristic point of view.  Yes there are parties, yes most hotels have dreamy pools and amenities that will help you relax but you won’t find much excitement on this island, generally speaking. 
• Consider renting a car: most people who go island hopping in Greece don’t plan on renting a car, but because transportation is so scarce in Mykonos, it doesn’t hurt to explore that option.  Keep in mind that stick-shift cars are the most popular ones and you have to be a bit of a daredevil to drive on those roads!
• Familiarize yourself with the bus stops and routes. Most people use the city bus to get around on the island and it is a fairly organized system with punctual timetables and comfortable buses.  I found this site to be very useful when figuring out bus schedules. 

While I enjoyed our time in Mykonos, it was a "one and done" kind of place for me. It is a beautiful island and we did have a wonderful time, but it is probably best as a cruise stop rather than an overnight destination. We spent 3 nights in Mykonos and it was entirely too long; by the 2nd night I wanted to leave and find a more exciting adventure. Santorini was our next stop and I will review that one in my next post! Stay tuned!

Some of my favorite photos from Mykonos:

Greece 2022: Athens

Even though traveling is most often exciting, visiting a new country can be a daunting experience, especially when said country is so far away from home and so different from our own. 

I love traveling, it is how I like to spend my money and my time and also how I feel I can learn the most; the premise of immersing myself in other cultures and meeting people from around the world always make my heart happy. 

Recently, I had the opportunity of traveling to Greece; it was one of the countries on my destination bucket list, as well as Olivia’s, so it was the perfect spot for her celebratory “quinceañera” trip (for us Hispanics, girls turning 15 is a big deal!). I was happy to hear Olivia was opting for a trip instead of a big party and both the planning and execution of her dream trip were equally thrilling. 

Greece is a great place to visit, it’s a diverse country with so much history, the perfect place to learn about the world’s past or to simply go and relax on a beach at one of its many dreamy islands.  This time we chose to visit Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini, three of the most popular destinations in Greece. All places had their charm and we made the best memories in each of them. 

I will recount some of my observations and recommendations for each of the places we visited in Greece.  This post is focused on Athens, the first city we visited during this amazing trip.

ATHENS:

As Greece’s capital and largest city, Athens is definitely an attractive destination even though many people would argue that “it’s only worth 2-3 days” out of your visit to this amazing country. Considering I usually favor city vacations over beach ones, this was my favorite place in Greece.  We stayed in the center of Athens a few minutes away from the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and the Ancient Agora. Just like most European cities, Athens is chaotic; it is fast-paced, busy, and very dense. It is generally a safe place but locals always warn tourists of pickpocketers and petty crime so it’s always worth keeping an eye out for these dangers. 

My favorite things about Athens were:

• The history: visiting the ancient sites was incredibly satisfying. The thought of walking around places that are thousands of years old is mind-blowing as was reading about the history of the city itself. Most of the ancient sites are carefully preserved and managed, which makes for a great immersive experience for anyone who visits. My favorites were the Acropolis and the Museum of Acropolis, which features an amazing view of the Parthenon. 

• Things are generally inexpensive: food, souvenirs, transportation, and most things are generally inexpensive in the city. Tourist sites are reasonably priced and inviting, and attraction ticket costs averaged about 10 euros or less. 

• The ease of navigation: moving around in the city is very easy; there are tons of tour buses (Hop On/Hop Off), taxis, and metro, and the streets are very walker friendly with great signaling and easy sidewalk access. We took the City Sightseeing bus for a couple of days and were able to go around most of the city with the multiple routes offered by this bus (highly recommended); definitely a great way to see the city in a short amount of time.  

My recommendations for anyone thinking of visiting Athens:

• Book your airport/port transfer in advance: the airport/port is fairly far from the city center so transportation to and from these spots can be very tricky.  Don’t fall for the airport taxi trap, it is so much easier to have someone waiting for you at the airport instead of scrambling to find a ride and it is most likely cheaper too!
• Have cash in hand: many places in Athens don’t accept credit cards so I recommend withdrawing some cash from an ATM before venturing out into the city.  Avoid the airport ATM machines at all costs; their exchange rates are the least favorable and their fees are insane too. 
• Plan your days: even though it’s fairly easy to move around in Athens, some of the points of interest are very far apart so planning your days will help you use your time more wisely and see as many things as possible.  I always use Visit-a-City as a starting point to plan my days around the cities I visit for the first time. 
• Wear comfortable/safe shoes: I found myself tripping and slipping multiple times on the streets of Athens, especially when climbing up the stairs to the Acropolis.  The streets are cobbled and very slippery and walks are usually very steep so I recommend wearing comfortable shoes that have a good grip; it can be very dangerous to walk the streets of Athens in shoes that aren’t appropriate. Remember, comfort over fashion!
• 3 days is more than enough: if you’re passing through Athens on your way to visit some of the Greek islands, 3 days is a good amount of time to get to know most of the city. You’ll get to visit all of Athen’s highlights in 3 days and will definitely get a taste of the Greek culture. Of course, if your interest lies in deepening your knowledge and understanding of Athens' ancient history, staying longer than 3 days is also great!

Some of my favorite photos from Athens:

I will review Mykonos and Santorini on my next post, but Athens was definitely a city to remember!

Spain 2021 Recap (part 1)

Happy New Year! (LOL!). January came and went and the busyness of life got in the way so my first 2022 post is just happening! Better late than never, I guess! I hate when I can't find time to sit down and decompress my mind through written words although I am sure this isn't exclusively an "Adriana" problem. 🙈.  And here I am...rambling once more!

Last year was busy! Most people were still reeling from 2020 and trying to figure out their "new normal"; I guess we were all collectively trying to come out of the funk that COVID brought on. I know it was definitely harder for some people but we tried to make the best of it. 

In December, we went on our first international trip since the pandemic started. This time we chose to go to Spain for several reasons; first of all I was turning 40 (yay!), my mother in law happens to live in Madrid and Spain was one of the European countries with the less restrictive COVID measures.

I will recap some aspects of our trip for anyone interested in either knowing how it went or maybe even traveling to Spain in the near future. 

Airports & COVID

We flew out of Miami (MIA) via Portugal and had a 2 hour layover in Lisbon.  While Spain does not require a negative COVID test to enter, Portugal does even if you're just in transit. Both PCR and Antigen tests are accepted so we opted for a PCR, taken 3 days before our scheduled trip.  Most countries are also requiring some sort of QR code that is done in an app and then shown to be scanned upon arrival. The checking of the COVID test was a joke, I could have shown a drawing by Oliver and it would have been the same as the negative test; the agent merely glanced at it (both in Miami and Lisbon). 

Upon arriving at Spain, we showed our QR code previously generated; it was scanned and our entrance was approved. 

I will be honest and say that I was expecting the airport experience to be a traumatizing thing, but it was incredibly smooth and just another thing to do. 

I can't say the same about baggage claim, though! LOL

The flight(s)

For this trip we flew on TAP (a Portuguese airline); not only was it the cheaper option but also because it was the shortest out of the cheaper options! LOL. We had a layover in Lisbon both on our way to Spain and on our way back home. I'll be totally blunt; the mask enforcement on the plane was a joke! On such a long flight, I guess the flight attendants just don't have the patience (or the energy) to be policing every passenger.  Half the passengers were asleep with a blanket over their face, a quarter of them were "actively" eating or drinking and the remaining quarter had a mask that was covering their mouth but not their nose. So yes, I think mandating masks on planes is ridiculous and it only adds stress to an already stressful situation.  And nobody cares... not even the ones who pretend they do. 

The kids were angels on the flight; none of them slept and all they did was watch movies. The layover was a pain because our connecting flight was late so the exhaustion was unreal. Thank God for priority lounges, though...such life savers!

The jetlag

Jetlag is always a b**ch but this time it hit us extra hard. I don't know if it was the extra steps and precautions we needed to take for traveling in COVID times, the emotionally draining aspect of an overseas trip during Christmas, the flight delay, the change in weather or all of the above, but by the time we got to Madrid, we were beyond EXHAUSTED!!!  Poor Oliver quickly regretted not sleeping during the flight and we literally had to drag him around the airport because he was passed out!

                                           

The reunion

Aside from it being my 40th birthday trip (I officially turned 40 while on the flight Spain), traveling to Spain also meant reuniting with my in-laws for the first time since COVID hit. Iggy really missed his mom and the kids definitely missed their grandparents. They came to get us at the airport and we were all a collective mush with all the crying (happy tears, of course!). It was so nice to be able to squeeze each other hard and share the love. Spending time with my in-laws made for an interesting trip; they hosted us and took us around and it felt so good. Of course there was bickering and the occasional disagreement, but it was overall an amazing thing to be together and share Christmas with them. I was particularly moved by seeing the connection between Iggy, his mom and the kids; so refreshing!

My birthday celebration

Turning a year older while on a flight was definitely a first for me. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and I was naturally excited; but there was something about turning 40 away from my parents and sister that made me a bit sad. We've always celebrated milestone birthdays together so I will admit to feeling a little weird. Add the indescribable exhaustion to that and the combination can be lethal.  My actual birthday is a blur, I was literally a zombie all day and even after the 4 hour nap I was able to take upon checking into the apartment, I probably only remember about half of what I did or said on the night of my birthday.  My in-laws were excited to invite me to dinner so we went, but in hindsight, it would have probably been a better idea to call it a night and celebrate the next day. I am forever grateful to Iggy and all of my family and friends for making my day so special.  My dear sister organized a surprise birthday party before we left so my birthday definitely didn't go unnoticed. Special year for sure!

The day after my birthday was the official "recovery" day. I can't remember ever being as exhausted as I was by the time I finally went to sleep. I can honestly say that December 23rd, 2021 was a complete "sleep" day. I woke up around 6pm local time, had dinner and went back to sleep... no regrets!

I will post more about Christmas and our wonderful time in Spain on my next installment. 

Happy Blogging!

 

Memoirs of my life in the USA: Official Silver Anniversary

 

I left off my last post when a palm reader in NYC told me I would marry someone I hadn't met in exactly a year's time.  That happened exactly as predicted and I met Iggy a month later (December 2004), got engaged the following April, and married him on November 18th, 2005 aka the happiest day of my life. 

I could write a long post about how our lives have unfolded in the past 17 years but the truth is that FB has been a witness of that and there isn't much to add, so in this post, I will focus on the unmeasurable gratefulness that I feel today on my official 25th year in the USA. 

I will make it short by saying I LOVE everything about this country, in the past 25 years I have been given amazing opportunities and a life full of blessings. I have met the most wonderful people and made life-long friends that have taught me the most valuable lessons. 

I LOVE the American way, I love the comfort that this country has to offer, I love the richness of every state, I love the customs, I love the freedom that we enjoy, I love the diversity that is found in the USA. I love that this country greeted me with open arms when I was an immature teenager and that it has allowed me to create a path for myself as an adult. 

I am grateful for my family and for the fact that my kids get to grow up here, this is the perfect place for us, the place where we proudly belong.

I am thankful for the decision my parents made 25 years ago and I am proud to be an American. 

I thank God every day for the USA and today I celebrate 25 happy years in one of the most amazing countries in the world!