Our Adventure
Amsterdam
With our 6.5 hour layover in Amsterdam, we had enough time to leave the airport and explore the city. Schipol airport makes this so convenient: they have baggage storage, as well as the train station right at the airport—which takes you to into town in just 17 minutes. We strolled the 9 Streets admiring all the bikes and houseboats, walked by the Anne Frank house and museum, and of course picked up a stroopwafel for the ride back! It’s definitely an awesome way to spend a long layover, however you would need at least a day if you wished to do any of the museums.
Rome
We spent four wonderful nights in Rome. We spent plenty of time walking the city—averaging 10 miles a day! We saw many of the “attractions” for free: strolling alongside the forum, sitting at the Trevi Fountain, and much more. The one ticketed attraction we did book was for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. An actual perk of COVID: most museums and attractions have online booking for entry times. This means we didn’t have to get up early in the morning to go wait in line at the Vatican; instead, we walked right in at 1:30PM with no lines and definitely less crowds opting for an afternoon time. Obviously all the sightseeing, we worked up our appetite. We looked for the best spots to have Rome’s four pastas, put our trust in the della casa (“house”) wine, and scoped out the best gelato. Our biggest tip for Rome: make sure your shoes are comfy, or learn how to navigate the public transportation.
Naples
We took the high-speed train from Rome to do a day trip in Naples. Definitely a difference between the two cities. We did enjoy admiring the massive Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. The best part was the pizza—and we just so happened to pick the place where Julia Roberts eats in Eat, Pray, Love. In our opinion, a day trip from Rome would be better spent going to Pompeii or the Amalfi coast (via high speed train of course).
Florence
One of Krista’s favorite cities—in part because you can walk from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes. Our AirBNB was in the perfect location, and had a terrace in which you could see the duomo—absolutely beautiful. We saw the famous works of Michelangelo and Botticelli, found old Florentine wine windows, and of course had amazing food. You can trust always ordering the “house” wine, as in Tuscany it’s all delicious. You can grab fresh ingredients from the mercato, or enjoy typical Tuscan dishes at local trattorias—which includes UNSALTED bread (which is definitely a taste to get used to).
Venice
We took a day trip to Venice from Florence, which is a 2 hour ride via high-speed train (perfect to squeeze in a nap, lol). The landscape was beautiful, and we of course had try local seafood. With the city *literally* sinking and unsustainable levels of visitors to the city, the city will begin charging tourists an “entry fee” starting next month. The city itself is beautiful, with the amazing architecture and abundant canals. However, you get a sense that the city is but a hollow shell of its former self—now with only 50,000 permanent residents and the number keeps dwindling. We hope this new plan provides a resurgence to the wonderful city, and hope the land lasts farther into the future.
Milan
It is definitely a different feel to be in Northern Italy. Milan has a central historic district with the duomo and classic architecture. Outside of this, it feels more like a suburban city—with a bustling metro system and even skyscrapers. The most historic thing we did: admired da Vinci’s beautiful fresco of The Last Supper. Hopping of the metro at the piazza duomo to stumble upon rehearsals for Radio Italia Live brought us back to the 21st century.
Lake Como
We took a day trip to Lake Como from Milan; it was about a 40 minute train ride, and only about $10 a person round-trip. We took the train into Como, and immediately went to purchase ferry tickets to Bellagio. Slight mistake of visiting on a Saturday, as the queue for tickets took us about an hour—however the crowd allowed for bustling streets, plenty of open shops, and all of the trattorias and restaurants to be lively. In Bellagio we had an amazing lunch, then found a park where many were laying out enjoying the sun, napping, or even enjoying a dip in the lake (dogs included, lol). We took the boat back to Como to enjoy dinner in the town before boarding the train back home. Alexander believes this to be the most beautiful place we’ve been, and thinks he could convince Krista of the same if we actually stayed on the lake for a few days (he’s probably right!).
Paris
This one is difficult to write—we packed in so many different things and at the end of it all we got married. We visited the Louvre—which of course Alexander had to experience Mona Lisa staring at you from every corner of the room. Our second day we ventured to Disneyland Paris—Krista’s idea, but Alexander was thrilled the second we arrived and we obviously went straight to Star Wars. The following day we visited Versailles, which included lots of walking and even rowing a boat in the grand canal. We also squeezed in much more before the wedding festivities began. The night before the wedding, we all came together to enjoy a picnic in Champ de Mars park underneath the Eiffel Tower (staying until it lit up and sparkled at night). Our wedding day flew by, but we were surrounded by our loved ones, took amazing photos around the city, and had an incredible dinner. We could write for hours about our time in Paris, but at this point we’re still taking it all in.
Athens
I think it is safe to say Greece is our favorite--from the moment we arrived we were treated with amazing hospitality, service, and well wishes. We spent a couple nights in Athens before traveling to Santorini. We visited multiple archeological sites, including the Acropolis, as well as the museum. We just made sure that are activities were first thing in the morning or not until the evening--the Mediterranean sun is no joke. Krista was finally able to have Alexander try "actual" Greek food--which if memory serves well there was a statement made along the lines of "yeah, the US just doesn't do it justice". It was definitely a great start to our honeymoon week.
Santorini
Words, or even pictures for that matter, hardly do any of the Greek Islands justice. Also, let us just say that our AirBNB was incredible! We stayed in Oia, which is the "picturesque" sunset town on the tip of the island famous for its blue domes and amazing views. Our AirBNB host went above and beyond--arranging transportation to/from the airport, helped with any reservations or excursions you wanted to do around the island, and even had breakfast and dinner delivered to our place daily. It truly felt as if we were staying at a resort. We of course ventured to find the best spots to watch the sunset at night, swam in the cool waters down in Ammoudi Bay, and Alexander even ventured off the path below our place to find a hiking trail down to the water. It was such a wonderful and absolutely beautiful place to conclude our honeymoon.