Traveling to Santorini Island

I think part of the reason I always wanted to go to Santorini is because it kind of seemed impossible.  It was always my number one dream destination, but there was never really too much disappointment over not going for our honeymoon or in the seven years since our honeymoon, because it felt more like a dream, than something I would ever actually do.  It was fun to fantasize about, but it's too far, too expensive, too...extravagant.  Would I ever really be able to go?

 

There was some serious sticker shock when we started looking for hotels and I found out it was even more expensive than I thought.  The only place I found that rivaled it in price while we were planning all these trips is Ibiza.  My husband found a place that was I kid you not, $1,000 a night.  He sent an email saying, this is where we're staying, and I wondered if he had hit the lottery and forgotten to tell me.  I didn't want to go to any other Greek island.  I wanted a caldera view.  I wanted my perfect dream Santorini experience, but I didn't want to spend an obscene amount of money.  As badly as I wanted to go I was ready to cancel the whole trip because the thought of paying that much made me sick.  We are not rich celebrities!  We can't pay that much for vacation.  We kept searching, and MJ found Nostos Apartments in Oia on Trip Advisor.  Not really budget friendly, but budget friendly enough by Santorini standards.  It was doable and I would get my dream trip.

MJ booked a one way flight from Athens to Santorini on Travelocity with Bahn Air Systems, separate from our round trip travel from Stuttgart, but finding out our actual airline was like an internet scavenger hunt which he conducted on the way to the airport.  He had to use the limited clues he had from our flight reservation to figure it out.  I'm not sure why they couldn't just tell us. At the Santorini airport you will find one luggage carousel and a bathroom.  That's it.  We arranged transportation there and back through our hotel.  It was about a 40 minute drive down narrow curvy roads.   We were dropped off at the little shuttle bus area nearest to our hotel.  The job of getting our bags down the 86 stairs (we counted) to our actual room was left to the hotel staff.

The first thing you notice is all the stairs.  The second thing you notice is how incredibly bright it is.  You really do need sunglasses or else it's just blindingly bright and white.  We didn't plan much for Santorini, and that's exactly how we wanted it.  We were kind of on a schedule in Paris.  It was great, but we had things to do, and we didn't want that for Santorini.

On our first day we settled in and had dinner at Ambrosia.  You have to make reservations, and then reconfirm those reservations two days in advance.  The outdoor seating area is right over the caldera and it's beautiful.  I wanted to go there for the ambiance, however I feel like it was really expensive for what you got.  The food was good...well maybe I wouldn't really know because I ordered a Greek salad with no tomatoes.  I wasn't that hungry.  MJ ordered, fish which he really enjoyed, but we were both hungry that night.

Breakfast room: out the other window was caldera ocean view

It doesn't take long to settle into your vacation routine.  In the morning we'd get up just in time to not miss breakfast, which was from 8-11.  Breakfast was included in our stay, and served in this lovely room overlooking the water.  Soft music, beautiful view, cool breeze, and a buffet selection of food.  Nothing heavy, as is traditional in Europe, but enough to satisfy your stomach.  It was the perfect way to start every day.  Then we'd do whatever we'd decided to do for the day, and then go in search of dinner.  Most days we ended up with two meals because we'd eat breakfast pretty late and then by the time we finished, it was closer to dinner than lunch.

On our second day in Santorini we went to Fira.  You don't have to rent a car if you don't mind crowded buses.  The buses in Santorini look like charter buses, and they come pretty regularly to take you up and down the island.  Once you get on, someone will squeeze their way down the aisle to sell you a ticket for €1.85.   We got a seat on the way there, but there were people who didn't standing in the aisles.   Fira is beautiful.  There is a main area of shops and restaurants that snakes along the top of the caldera overlooking the ocean.  MJ always wanted to get a fish pedicure so we stopped for that.  I was totally grossed out by the whole thing.  I could  barely watch.  We strolled the area, ate lunch overlooking the water,  and I finished up my ice cream cone right before we got on the bus back to Oia.  It was standing room only for us the whole way. That evening we chilled in our jacuzzi.  It wasn't as warm as we would have liked so we asked the staff to turn it up and it was better the next time we went in.

The only outing we planned in advance was a Sunset Catamaran tour with Spiradakos Sailing, which MJ booked through Viator. We were picked up at our hotel in a shuttle van and taken to the port in Thera.  The boat was super nice and it was a small group so we had plenty of space to enjoy it.  They cooked a great meal for us on board and supplied us with unlimited drinks.  We stopped at three different locations, and the views were stunning.  Stop #1 was White Beach, stop #2 was Red Beach and stop #3 was the Hot Springs. I wasn't sure if I'd jump in the water because fish scare me, and I can't swim that well.  Unlike Hawaii where the water was thick with fish, here I didn't see a single fish.  I was looking hard too.  I decided I could do it, so at stop #1 I got a life jacket and went in.   The water felt so good.  Not as warm as Hawaii but not cold like So Cal.  It was really my first time in open water like that and it was so much fun.  The hot springs water is brown and looks kind of gross.  It was quite a long swim to get to the warmer, browner, water but I made it and it was like warm bathwater.  I wouldn't wear white, as we did have some brown marks from the muddy water on our suits, but they washed out.  We were having so much fun that I totally lost track of time.  Per the website it's a 5 hour excursion but between pick up and drop off it was a whole day affair, and we got back to our hotel pretty late.

We dedicated our fourth day to spending the day at the pool and the night at the jacuzzi.  How's that for an agenda?  I'd say perfect.   There is a grocery store right at the top of the stairs that led down to our apartment so we got snacks the night before.  Around noon it was time to pop the cork on the wine, and that was pretty much our day.  The pool temp was perfect.  We'd take a dip in the pool and then head up to our loungers under the umbrella next to our jacuzzi and relax.  All.  Day.  Long.  It was great.  When we got hungry we showered, went to lunch, or dinner, not really sure what it was, by the time we went, and then back into our swimwear and into the jacuzzi to finish off the bottle of wine and enjoy our last night.

Skaros Rock Imerovigli

Typical Greek meal, so good!!!

It's great not to have to leave right away, but there is always that dead space between hotel check out and flight time that you don't know what to do with.  I kind of wanted to hike Skaros rock, but we didn't make time for it on the other days and we didn't want to have to deal with getting sweaty, and no showers before boarding the plane.  Well.  We got sweaty anyway, because it's hard not to with the humidity and that sun beating down on you.  Also, it was the hottest day of our trip.  We decided to spend our last day in Imerovigli, and found out the hard way that Imerovigli has no shops.  We ran into another couple on an ATV looking for the same thing.  It is a gorgeous town, but mostly made up of hotels, and not even very many restaurants to choose from. At least we saw Skaros rock, and all the people making the trek to the top.  We couldn't even really find a place we wanted to eat there, so we headed back "home" to Oia for some exploring, lunch, and our millionth ice cream cone.  I'm glad we stopped at Neptune Restaurant because the food was excellent, the view was great, and we really enjoyed our last meal.  I eat a lot of chicken at home, so a lot of times I avoid it, but the chicken in Greece is really good, and that last meal for me was the best of the entire trip.  The chicken was so full of flavor, the pita bread was slightly crispy and had just the right amount of garlic flavor, and the rice was so good. So good.  I did not want the meal or the trip to end.

Don't get to the Santorini airport too early, because it's crowded and you might not even have a place to sit, but don't get there too late...because it's crowded.  On the way in, the arrival side of the airport was deserted, but on the way out departures was a madhouse.  We stepped one foot inside and immediately found ourselves at the end of a line for check in.  Then we were herded through security where we were stuck in an area full of people standing shoulder to shoulder with all of their luggage because there just wasn't any place to go.  I anticipated the sweaty situation so I bought wet wipes while we were in Imerovigli.  There I was in a hot cramped airport bathroom stall with a line of women out the door hurriedly wet wiping down my entire body, but I had to do it.  I hate feeling dirty, and I couldn't get on an airplane like that.  We had a change of clothes stashed in our bags so we felt reasonably not disgusting by the time we made it through the crowded airport, and non air conditioned bus ride to our plane. 

That pool and row of loungers way at the bottom left was our hotel

I'm glad we stayed in the main part of Oia.  It's way in the North, so you are farthest away from everything else, but it was a perfect location.  I wasn't really interested in shopping, but I like to look.  There were plenty of restaurants to choose from and so many winding alley ways to explore.  Sometimes the main drag was pretty crowded, but other days it wasn't.  Our hotel was at the very bottom of the cliff.  Down those 86 stairs, it was quiet and isolated.  Most of the time we felt like we had it all to ourselves.

We encountered the most aggressive picture takers I have ever seen.  I get it.  Santorini is gorgeous, and your presence there must be documented, but I'm guessing the obsession probably has a lot to do with this age of social media. It was not uncommon for us to see two people spend 45 minutes taking pictures of each other.  I'm not exaggerating.  Sometimes it would just be one person doing selfies of themselves for that long.  Hey, I like to get my shots for the gram too.  I have to ask my husband to take pictures of me, but for real?  There were some full on photo shoots going on.  I love taking pictures.  Not just for social media because I've always been a picture taker since Polaroid days, but seeing people carry on that way reminded me that I don't ever want to see myself get that obsessive about it.

We had five glorious days there that I wished could go on forever.  Nostos Apartments was perfection.  I loved coming home to that sweet little cave style apartment every day.  It was worth all those steps.  Santorini is pure magic, and pure beauty.  ATV's whizzing by.  Herds of donkeys tromping through the streets. Beautiful scenery everywhere you turn.  Relaxed vibe.  It has everything.  Being there truly was a dream come true for me and I am so glad that we finally got to experience it together.

 
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Everything is Beautiful in Santorini

I can't tell you how many people myself included say they have always wanted to go to Santorini.  You look at pictures, and you want to go because it is so beautiful and you can't imagine that a place could really be that perfect.  The stark white curved buildings set against royal blue waters inspires wanderlust in most people.  It's just that kind of place, and after having been there, I can tell you that Santorini is even more breathtaking than it appears in photos. 

I had too many pictures I wanted to share to do this in one post.  I will go into detail about what we did in the next post, but this one is basically a love letter to Santorini because I loved it so much.

WHY I LOVE SANTORINI 

Imerovigli

There are no clouds in Santorini.  Just blue, skies that go on forever.  We kept looking, but did not see a single cloud the entire time we were there.  We also couldn't find the moon.  The weather is pretty consistently mid 70's to 80's and warm.  Mid seventies there feels a lot warmer than I expected.  The air is balmy and humid, and the days are long.

The Royal blue ocean that changes to aquamarine as you get closer to shore.  That line where the ocean meets the sky, with mountains in the background, and boats gliding by in the distance is so beautiful.

Fira

The architecture alone is positively stunning.  The bright white buildings, are magnificent against the backdrop of blue skies and equally blue water.  It's clear that the hotel and shop owners take a lot of pride in the appearance of their establishments.  Or maybe it's a rule.  Everything is spotlessly cleaned and well maintained.  I'm not sure exactly what it takes to keep the buildings so white, but they do it.  I mean look at that!! It's insane how they appear to be stacked on top of each other.  It takes a lot of zig zagging and stairs to get through that maze of buildings.

Oia

It feels like living in a postcard.  You can't look anywhere and not see beauty.  There is either blue water, blue skies, or a white building that curves in such a way that you've never seen buildings curve before.  When you look at the water with the catamarans bobbing up and down and cruise ships regally looming in the distance it's beautiful.  Then, you turn around and see all the beautiful buildings nestled into the side of the mountain and it's even more beautiful.

 

The sunsets are dazzling.  The way that bright orange ball just sinks into the ocean ever so slowly was really beautiful to see.  We got to see it from the ocean so we had the best view possible.

The setting itself is tranquil, and oh so good for the soul.  We ate most of our meals overlooking the ocean.  Most of our days were spent overlooking the ocean.  There is so much beauty surrounding you at all times that it just feels good to be there.  I felt happy and at peace.   I'm sure a lot of that happiness and peace has to do with being on vacation, but the tone and relaxing vibe of Santorini only enhanced those good vibes.  You get the sense that fellow vacationers know how lucky they are to be there.   

 

This wonderful sense that you are on the edge of the world.  You may round a corner or approach a set of stairs that seem to lead directly into the ocean.  The very set up of the place is quite unique with shops and hotels overlooking the caldera that seem to be suspended directly over the ocean.

 

Traditional Greek cave style living is such a unique experience.  Nostos Apartments in Oia was hands down perfection, and I get the sense that most of the hotels overlooking the caldera are similarly charming and beautiful.  I was so in love with our little apartment.  The minute those doors opened I was absolutely delighted with the place an oh so happy to be there.  We were 86 steps down embedded in the cliff overlooking the Caldera.  The place was heavenly.  There are only nine units so it doesn't feel like a hotel at all.  It really felt like our own little one bedroom apartment.  I loved the 100 year old door with the 100 year old key to match.   The charming windows, domed ceilings, thick slab concrete walls, and concrete floor gave it that rustic feel, however the bathroom was modern.  There were skylights instead of windows in the bedroom and the bathroom.  The decor was so well done. The kitchen was super tiny, but functional enough if you needed to use it.  We were provided house shoes and robes.  The house shoes were great to have because although the place was well cleaned daily, the concrete floors will leave a slight powder residue on the bottom of your bare feet.   The hotel had one small pool and we had our own personal jacuzzi right outside our front door.

 

The mix of old and new.  I loved it that while we were waiting at the the bus stop a herd of donkeys clomped their way across the street.  This was juxtaposition between the multitude of vans, buses, cars and people on ATV's whizzing by and a herd of donkeys is just one more thing that makes Santorini special.  Yes, you could smell the donkey poo but that's okay.  The donkeys are another thing you hear about and it was so cool to see them crossing the street or being herded down a set of stairs in the cliff side.

Santorini was truly a dream come true!  I've wanted to go there for so long, and it's awesome that the reality of it met my expectations.  The reality exceeded my expectations.  It truly is just as beautiful as you imagine.

What we did in Santorini

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Pit stop in Athens Greece

Hello there.  I'm totally failing as a travel blogger, but in my defense, I've been pretty busy... traveling.  We had five days between coming back from Paris, and leaving for Athens.

Athens, Greece was basically a pit stop on the way to Santorini.  We were going to be down there and Santorini is too expensive to stay for an entire week so we added a few nights in Athens onto our itinerary.

Our first meal in Athens

We didn't make any plans for Athens.  Amid all the trip planning that we were doing we didn't even schedule our transportation from the airport to the hotel.  I figured we could take public transportation, but our flight didn't land until close to midnight.  We would be too exhausted to deal with it so I booked Welcome Pick Ups the day before we left.   It was more expensive because of the late night pick up, but it was nice to get straight to our hotel as quickly as possible.  Our driver was right there with my name on a sign when we came out.  There were actually so many drivers with signs we could barely find him.  From what I gather it's kind of like Uber, but only open to drivers with a professional license or taxi service and they aren't available in a ton of cities.   They get a guaranteed fare and we get a flat fee.  Win win for everyone.  He talked about some of the history of Athens on our way there, answered any questions we had, and offered us each a bottle of water.  We also had the option of buying Acropolis tickets or booking a tour with him.

Acropolis

It was really weird when we got to the hotel.  It was dark, quiet, and empty.  There were two men at reception waiting for us.  One of them walked us to our room, which was nice.  It turns out that they just want to conserve electricity.  'Aint nothin' wrong with that.  You have to leave one of the key cards in the wall or else the power shuts off and we found that to be the case in our Santorini hotel also.  I was kind of nervous as we walked through the dim hallway, but the room was fine.  Small (but not as small as Paris) and basic.  There was no shelving or drawers, but there was a closet. The bathroom was tiny, but modern and clean.  Overall, it was perfect for our needs, because what you are paying for at the Herodian Hotel is location, location, location.  We were steps from the Acropolis, now we just had to figure out how to get our tickets.

I'd checked out the website before we left, but it was confusing, and I had other things to do so I gave up.  It seems like you had to choose a time in advance which I hate having to do because I don't want to commit, and I couldn't figure out which tickets I was supposed to be buying.  There were two sets, and it wasn't clear what that would get me.  Also, it was just the museum.  What about the Acropolis? The next morning I looked again.  It's the thing to do, so we had to get tickets and I didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting in line.  This website explained everything.  The Acropolis alone is €20 so we paid the €30 for a multi ticket for Acropolis, Parthenon, and other archaeological sites.  Neither ticket can be purchased online.  It was good for five days and we could buy it at any location.  We ended up buying it at Hadrian's Library where there was no line, and went straight to lunch because we were starving.  I didn't notice it until after, but the lady who sold me the ticket tore off the Hadrian's Library ticket, so we never actually got to see that one.

We started with the Acropolis first, which is definitely the highlight.  There is a lot to see there, you just have to be careful not to slip on the marble.  It's everywhere throughout that area and very slippery even in tennis shoes. 

After the Acropolis we began making our way to the other sites that were part of our ticket.   Athens is a charming city, and I really liked getting to walk through it as we went from site to site. That night we ate dinner at Point, the rooftop restaurant of our hotel.  It was pretty windy, but the food was good, and the night time view of the acropolis was unbeatable.

On day two we started with the Acropolis Museum.  It isn't covered in our multi ticket, but it was only €5.  There were a few cool structures on the other sites but a lot of them, but after a while your realize that you are basically looking at piles of rocks.  It was so hot with the sun beating down on us that by the end of the day we were sweaty and exhausted.  We finally called it quits with about three sites unseen.  MJ wasn't really that interested in seeing the first Olympic Stadium, but he would have gone.  I was just too hot and tired, so we went back to our hotel room, took showers, and napped.  That night we went to a local non touristy Greek restaurant near our hotel for dinner.  We literally sat in the street, because that's where they found room to set up a small table for us so we could sit outside, and we enjoyed our last night dining among the locals.  One of which was a table full of smoking women.  Ugh.  We hate cigarette smoke, but when in Europe that is to be expected. 

Ancient Agora

Because we got to Athens so late on day 1 and had to get off to our next flight on day 4 we were there for three nights, but really only had 2 days for exploration.  Not ideal, but sometimes that's how it turns out.  I was getting ready to book Welcome Pick Up to the airport, but decided to check the Uber app and it turns out Athens is the only European city my well traveled husband has encountered that has it. Our driver picked us up in a timely manner and we were off to our next destination.

I'm pretty sure there are things we missed out on.  We really didn't do any research for Athens and clearly weren't too concerned since we didn't have that much time there and it was kind of a side trip anyway.  Overall we enjoyed Athens and I'm glad we got to go.  The more I get to see of the world, the merrier.

There was a bit of a snafu with my airline ticket at the airport on the way back.  MJ auto filled my name on the ticket.  Only problem is it was my maiden name!  My passport has my married name of course, so the ticket agent asked me if I had anything with my maiden name that I could show her.  Thank goodness my marriage license is saved in dropbox, and I was able to access it from my phone.  I'm really not sure what we would have done otherwise.  It was imperative not only that I get out of Athens, but that I get to Santorini.

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10 Things To Do in Paris

That croquette was so good!!!

I landed in Stuttgart on Saturday morning, and we were on a Sunday 12pm train to Paris.  We were so darn close to missing that train too.  We ignored our alarms.  I was tired, confused about what clothes to bring, and I just couldn't get it together.  We were all but running to the train, and of course our seats were in the part of the train waaaay down at the end.  I didn't know exactly what time it was, but I could tell that train was about to take off and had we shown up 1 minute later we wouldn't have been on it. But we made it! We spent four days, three nights in Paris, and I was jet lagged the entire time.  I was wide awake at 3am, ready to face plant at 6pm, and just generally tired much of the time in between.  I pushed through except for that one nap I took on our last full day there after a long day in Versailles.

Nobody comes to Paris to sleep.

View from our hotel room

side view of the hotel

10 THINGS TO DO IN PARIS

Stay in a teeny tiny hotel.  There are reasonably priced hotels to be had in Paris.  Maybe not in the 1st Arrondissement, and even pricey ones will likely be pretty small, but tiny hotels are typical of Paris, and as long as it's clean and you have a place to lay your head at night it's fine.  Hotel Eiffel Saint Charles where we stayed is in the 15th.  The hallways were narrow and the elevator barely fit the two of us and our luggage.  The room had a wardrobe closet, but no drawers.  This is when traveling with packing cubes comes in handy.  The bathroom was miniature.  Our room was the size of a postage stamp, but it had everything we needed.  They even put us in the same exact room we were in five years ago.  We had five cities to book, and I was over it, so I didn't even bother to look elsewhere.  I already knew it was clean, reasonably priced, near all the train stations we would need, and walking distance from the Eiffel Tower.  Hotel Eiffel St Charles is our Paris home away from home.  We've stayed there twice.  I can say that now! There are pics of the hotel room in the link at the bottom.

Visit The Catacombs of Paris.  It's cold, dark, damp, and is full of history.  132 steps down a spiral staircase is hallway after hallway lined with bones.   It's pretty fascinating, and you won't be the only one interested in seeing it up close.  The line snaked around the entire block, and it was HOT.  I read that this would be the case so I reserved tickets on Headout.com.  With a printed reservation we were able to pick up the tickets down the street from the little tobacco shop next to McDonald's.  We walked right up to the front and got right in.  I've got this odd fascination with all things dark and creepy.  I've been to Catacombs of Naples and the Catacombs of Rome so the Catacombs of Paris had to be seen.   If I had to pic my favorite catacombs it would be Naples.

Ride many, many trains.  Most of them will smell of body odor, but they get you where you need to go, and it's just the reality of public transportation on a hot humid day.  There are a few stations and trains with air conditioning but the majority are not.  The humidity of Paris was really unexpected.  I think I may have been one of those stinky people on the train.  The first thing I did when we checked in our hotel was take a shower.  Then I had to take another one after the Catacombs.  We were on trains every single day.  I still don't know how to ride them.  My husband did all the work.

Eat a typical European breakfast.  You don't really see eggs, bacon and pancakes at most of the cafe's in Paris.  You also won't see any Splenda or Stevia.  Europe seems to be the land of carbs.  It's bread based foods for breakfast and lunch in most casual bars and cafes.  For breakfast on our first day we had hot bread, jam and coffee. 

The Louvre

Hop on Hop off Bus Tour.  The trains are cool for getting from point A to point B, and your legs can only take you so far, so a good way to see a lot of the city is on a tourist bus.  We did one with 8 stops and paid about 2 € extra for the ability to hop on and off at any of those stops we wanted to.  You just sit back, relax, and listen to the pre recorded vocal tour in the ear buds you get with your tickets.

Eat lunch on the Champs De Elysess.  At the end of the street you will find the Arc Di Triomph.  You have to go there, so you might as well stop for lunch when you get hungry.  There are plenty of restaurants to choose from.  This was our only hop off of our bus tour.  The plan was to buy one item of clothing from Paris.  Probably a shirt.  I went into Zara and H & M and discovered something odd.  All the clothes were weird.  By weird I probably mean fashion forward...and fashion forward I am not.  Maybe these things just haven't hit the US markets yet, but I was hard pressed to find a single thing that appealed to me.

A must see show!!!

  See Moulin Rouge, C'est Feerie.  I took one look at the ticket price and figured I'd pass, but MJ said, if you want to do it we should do it, and so we did it.  I bought the tickets here.  We went to a 9pm showing.  The theater is super nice.  Everyone is seated at tables and packed in pretty tight so it's not typical theater seating.  I hear if you order dinner you get seated closer to the stage, but I didn't want to spent that much money and I heard the food wasn't the greatest.  One woman had on this magnificent red dress, and there were some others pretty dressed up, but we were not.  We knew to stay away from shorts, sneakers, and flip flops, but that jeans are okay.  The show was fantastic, and in my opinion worth the money.  Some of it was topless.  Small breasts were very appreciated by casting, and every single performer had a fantastic body.  Male and female.  There were abs and pecs popping all over the place.  There were only two songs that weren't in french.  There were three specialty acts.  One involving snakes, another involving roller skates, and a comedian, but it was basically a variety show made up mostly of group numbers.  The costumes were absolutely beautiful.  The singing and choreography was great.  We tried, but we could not finish the bottle of champagne that we got as an extra with our tickets.  Moulin Rouge is in the bad part of town, but as soon as you step out of Blanche metro train station the theater is in your face.  You don't have to walk far so if you take the train there isn't a lot of time above ground for you to be mugged, harassed, or whatever else supposedly happens in the red light district.

Visit the Palace of Versailles.  I was kind of on the fence about this one because it is a full day affair.  Versailles is a 45 min train ride from city center, but it was only about 20 minutes from our hotel.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to wake up at the crack of dawn and spend one of our precious days outside of Paris.  If you plan on heading to Versailles you have to go early or maybe don't go at all.  The tour  buses show up around 9am right when they open and it's all over from there.  All it takes is a bus or two and the line is almost out of control and the palace is packed.  We woke up at 6:30am to be there by 8:30am.  After a late night at Moulin Rouge.  Sigh.  But it was the only way.  The tour prices are super expensive, and I read with some of them (not all so be careful) you get right in and avoid the long security line, but I really didn't want a tour.  At 8:30am there were only a small clump of people in front of us at the security line to enter, and a small group waiting for the ticket office to open.  On our way out the line was snaking back and forth full of people waiting in the hot sun.  The early bird really does get the worm on this one.  It was a rough wake up, but I'm glad we went.  We didn't want to stand in a line to buy tickets so I bought them on my phone.  You do have to print them so I ordered tickets online direct from Palace of Versailles, and emailed them to the hotel for printing.  The website is kind of complicated because there are all these different things to do on different days, and different ticket options, but basically buy the Passport ticket and you have access to Palace and Gardens.  The palace is impressive, but the Garden of Versailles is what really makes the place so special.  If I ever go back to Paris I would actually like to skip the Palace and just spend a day hanging out in the Garden.  There is a lake, restaurants, and food stands.  The grounds are very peaceful and make for a really nice walk.  It is the biggest garden I've ever seen in my life.  It's so so beautiful.  Pictures really don't do it justice.   

Duck, Beef, Dessert

 Eat dinner at a traditional french restaurant.  We ate outdoors where they pack everyone in all tight.  On our first night I had a croquette and pom frites at a brasserie.  Oh my goodness.  It was so good.  I'll admit, I was ready to have another one two nights later, but MJ had other plans.  He made reservations at Le Tournebievre, which is right across from the Palace of Notre Dame.  I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be getting that croquette, but it was nice to get some protein, and dinner was delicious.  From start to finish we enjoyed every bite and I am so glad MJ convinced me to get dessert.  It turns out that cassolette de fondant au chocolat, 55% sans gluten is actually good old fashioned Molten Chocolate Lava Cake, and it was so good.

Sit in the grass at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and wait for her to light up.  I considered going up.  Maybe if I'd felt like it and there was no line we would have, but I didn't want to buy tickets in advance and be pinned down to a certain time.  I just wasn't really that vested in going inside.  Maybe next time.  I would have been all over the bottle of wine that many tried to sell us that night.  It is such a great hustle, but we were stuffed from dinner.  If I ever go back to Paris, that is probably the only other thing left that I really want to do.  Picnic dinner and wine at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.  It doesn't even seem to be a tourist thing.  There were plenty of locals hanging out.  The days are so long that you have to wait a while for the lights to come on, but when they do everyone cheers and it's pretty spectacular.  It was really the perfect end to our time in Paris. 

Our first trip to Paris was rainy and quite chilly, so I'm really glad we got to go again.  We could not escape the rain this time either but at least it was scattered.  The plan was to try not to do too much.  Catacombs, Moulin Rouge, and Versailles were the only major activities, but even still our days were filled.

We've been back in Stuttgart for five days and we are off to our next trip today.  I'm finally going to Greece! It is the place I've wanted to visit for a long time.

Related:  Our First Trip to Paris

 
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Plenty of Time for a Melt Down

My fourth of July came a little early.  At least that's what it felt like.  As the weekend approached I was wondering if I'd bitten off a little more than I could chew.  For a normal person, no big deal, but I'm not a normal person.  I'm a highly anxious traveler so having people over, then hopping on plan for a weekend trip, then coming home to get ready for another trip is kind of a lot for me to take in.  My parents arrived on Saturday.  My older sister and nephew arrived on Tuesday night.  They all drove back to Vegas on Thursday morning.  My little sister along with her husband and my niece arrived in Vegas on Thursday night, and I followed them all to Vegas on Friday evening.

The thing is.  I couldn't miss it.  I was really disappointed thinking that they might be coming out while I was gone and was thrilled to find out I'd still be here, so I didn't hesitate to get my tickets booked.  I couldn't miss out on seeing my little sis and I couldn't miss out on a family gathering.  They are just too few and far between.  I did see all the adults in April, but again.  It's rare.

I made a detailed packing list in Word a month in advance and carried it around with me so I could revise as needed.  I packed for Vegas the weekend before, but started packing for Germany three weeks in advance because when you work full time you don't really have three weeks.  You have three weekends.  I made multiple lists and checked them a million times twice. I ran around buying things I needed.  I started taking my trash to work.  I know.  Weird right?  I don't have neighbors to bring the trash bins in and it's never a good idea to piss off the HOA.  I got some cleaning done the day everyone left, and when Friday evening rolled around I was ready.  To bad my plane wasn't.  One hour delay.  Super annoying, because this is the 3rd time out of the last three times I've flown to Vegas, but one hour is a heck of a lot better than four.  C'mon Southwest I really like you, but you are testing my patience.

I went shopping with my mom.  She worked out with me.  We all went to the fair.  By the time I made it to Vegas on Friday night everyone was pretty close to winding down for bed, but by Saturday night we were dancing in the streets.  Literally.  My parents have great neighbors.  They borrow each other's hoses and pull trash bins in for each other.  They also do block parties.  I haven't been to a block party since like the 1980's.  It was fantastic.  Everyone set up their little tables with food.  Someone was on the grill doing burgers and hotdogs.  There was music.  Someone set off fireworks.  The drinks were flowing.  People were mingling.  I danced with my parents in the cul de sac and we were having such a great time it was hard to break away, but I had to hit the strip.  It's a must do on every visit.

It was hot.  Like 90 degrees at night and 103 degrees during the day hot, but I tell you what, I love those warm nights.  We grabbed an uber with one goal in mind.  Have one drink on the strip at Fat Bar.  That's it.  And the thing about the strip is that it's so massive it could take you a few hours to accomplish.  We got dropped off near the Bellagio.  The fountain show wasn't happening yet and it was late, so we headed straight to Fat Bar. I don't know why everyone followed me (of all people) off the strip, but I guess I was the ring leader so follow me they did.  Someone (not me) realized that we weren't on the strip.  We rerouted, had our drink, and ubered home.  I think we made it back around 1:00am.  I could be wrong on the time, because I had a little too much sangria at the block party, but it was pretty late.

My sister and I got our nails did.  I haven't had a manicure in like three years.  This is a big deal.  We grabbed lunch at the Habit.  We ate yogurt at Golden Spoon.  We hung out.  I booked by flight for as late as possible Sunday night, but before we knew it my parents were driving me to the airport.  It was a quick trip and I didn't pull into my driveway until about 1:00am.  Work the next day was pretty much hell on earth, but it was worth it.

The 4th of July was my recovery day.  Tuesday.  I regrouped.  Slept.  Did laundry.  There were more last minute things this week.  I'm getting ready to leave the country and I can't find my wallet.  Still calm. The good people at Madewell were kind enough to email me, but I realized my mistake when I went back to work and couldn't find it.  Get the key to the house sitter.  Mail that box to the husband.  Make sure the fence gate is locked.  One last trip to Target.   Is four pairs of jeans too much?  How about 15 tank tops? But I'm calm.  The suitcases are all but sealed shut.  I trust the process.  I trust my list.  The anxious traveler in me seems to have left the building.  There is still plenty of time for a melt down, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.  I'm ready for my next adventure.

 
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Injured List

Sometime last summer between Bikini Body Guide Week 13 and Healthy Body Guide Week 12 I injured my shoulder.  It hurt when I did those push-ups where you stick your butt up in the air, but I didn't think anything of it.  I was working out 5-6 days a week so there were always aches and pains.  I was sore for like two months straight, and my knees always hurt.  I can work through pain, and pain is all I thought it was.  After a while I stopped doing push-ups that hurt, and stuck with regular ones.  I figured maybe I'd just tweaked my arm somehow, and that it would eventually go away.

But it didn't. 

I did circuit training workouts with cardio in between from January through September.  As planned, I went to Hawaii in October feeling better about my body than I had in a long time.  When I returned, I settled into a less intense and less structured workout schedule.  I bought a Yoga strap and was excited about shifting my focus to Yoga, and working on my back flexibility, but by the end of November I could barely lift my purse.  Up until then, my shoulder only hurt when I did those butt in the air push ups (also known as pike push-ups), but suddenly I couldn't lift my arm, or reach for things, without a searing pain ripping through shoulder.  I couldn't sleep on my right side or my stomach.  All arm workouts ceased.  I couldn't even do yoga.

I have bad knees.  I can't overwork my lower half, so I cut down to walking and/or running on weekends one leg circuit training workout per week, until eventually I quit the one circuit too. The only thing I really felt comfortable doing without knowing what was wrong with my shoulder was walking, but also I was burnt out.  The weather was cooler, the days were getting shorter, and my Insomnia was bad so when my shoulder pain started to take over, I kind of gave up.  If I moved my arm a certain way, or even moved it too fast it hurt.  Even simple things like driving, opening doors, and lifting my arm to wave at someone hurt.  I couldn't even cuddle with my husband unless he is on my left hand side.  I'd started walking around with my elbow stuck to my side because that was the best way to ensure there would be no painful movements.

I went to the doctor in January and got sent home with a list of shoulder exercises.  I did them diligently every day, and my shoulder started to feel worse.  Then it started to feel better.  Then it started to feel worse.  I went back to the doctor and pushed for a referral to Orthopedics, because in my eyes, this was way past a wait and see situation.  I needed some answers.  Orthopedics sent me for an MRI in March which confirmed a tear in my Supraspinatus rotator cuff muscle.  Physical Therapy started in April. 

There are four rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder.  One along the top, two across the back, and one that runs up the side. That's the one I tore.  It affects abduction, so for me it's kind of like having a dead arm.  My arm feels about 50 times heavier than it actually is.  I actually feel gravity pushing against it whenever I activate my muscles to lift my arm.  Depending on the motion I either feel weakness or pain.  Sometimes it aches from my shoulder all the way to my collar bone with no movement, and other times I forget it's injured until I'm trying to pull up my covers while lying in bed or reaching over to hit the switch for the garage door on my way out. 

I wasn't sure how I was going to fit in my daily physical therapy exercises, but I make it work because a rotator cuff tear is not the kind of thing that will just go away on it's own.  I wish it would.  I do a set of exercises before work, a set when I get home, and the last set before I go to bed.  I do this every single day, because being injured sucks and I don't even want to think about having surgery.  At my last physical therapy appointment they added three additional exercises.  Two months later, there is some improvement, but it also seems to be up and down.  Some days are better than others.  I can sleep on my stomach now, which is pretty exciting, and less things are causing me pain throughout the day, but my arm is still not 100%.  Not even close.  It's very stiff in the mornings and getting in and out of shirts and sweaters still hurts.

I don't want this to turn into a chronic pain type of situation.  I want to handstands and bridges again.  I want to be able to do push ups, and as much as I love to hate it, I even want to do Bikini Body Guide again, but until then, I'll be in the corner working my therapy bands and over the door pulley system from the 1980's.  Last month I realized I'd be on vacation in a bikini in less than two months and had only been running on the weekends.  Oops.  So I started a no impact mostly abdominal/lower body toning workout I can do with only a few adjustments multiple times per week without moving my arms too much.

What a difference a year makes.

I still don't know know why or how, but the cuff is torn.  I'm being careful with my shoulder.  I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and hopefully the physical therapy does what it's supposed to be doing and I'll be using that Yoga strap in the not so distant future.