greece getaway

I was in Greece over the 4th of July weekend to attend the birthday celebration of a close friend. The awesomely decadent affair in Mykonos was bookended by time in Santorini and Athens. I made the trip with my good friend Stephanie, and to say we lived it up would be an understatement, given the amount of Domaine Ott consumed, plus the feta cheese-laden Greek Salad, Greek (full-fat) yogurt, spanakopita, and fried calamari we pretty much ate around the clock. Here, the highlights...

Steph and I did a whirlwind tour of Santorini, and our hotel, Aigialos, a former nunnery built in the 18th century and one of the oldest hotels in Europe, was a great place to start. We had views of the Aegean caldera and some might argue the best sunset in the world. That's the hotel's entrance (it had me at its red door!), above.

Located in the town of Fira, perched high atop the island (approximately 1,000 feet above the sea!), the hotel's rooms are connected by steep but picturesque stairways. I marvelled at the room service guy who climbs these steps all day long bearing heavy trays. Many of Mykonos' narrow cobbled "streets" wind up and down the island, and walking them can amount to a legit workout.

Another epic high altitude sea view.

Ascending and descending Santorini's harrowing cliffs can be facilitated by these vibrantly-accessorized donkeys! 

I opted for walking over donkeying, as I had to compensate for all the fried octopus and bread baskets. Plus, one cannot shop while sitting on a donkey. I scored a few quintessentially Greek embroidered tunics, leather sandals, a crazy sexy one-piece bathing suit and volcanic rocks for my boys. (In this snap, I'm wearing a little solar heat-proof floral dress I recently picked up for $39 in New York. You can find it here.)

On arrival in Mykonos, we had the first b-day event seaside. The tables were practically in the water (so cool!) and yet somehow the crashing waves did not splash you. Greece has been around along time, so I guess they have had plenty of time to master such things.

My Mykonos itinerary was filled with swimming, boating and paddle boarding in the salty Aegean Sea, which, by the way, is the perfect temperature. Here, I am about to depart from our hotel's dock to have lunch on a friend's sailboat. (My cover-up is an old Zara, but here's a pretty option from Free People.)

Greek salad number...? It's hard to explain how good it tasted.

It's all about mirrored sunglasses in Greece. They're everywhere you look. I picked these up from a Greek street vendor, but you can find great options from Ray Ban and Topshop. (My embroidered vintage blouse is an oldie but goodie. Here are a few similar ones from Mango, Velvet and Anthropologie.)

Stephanie may just be the most well-traveled person I know. Of course, she parlayed her travel bug into an amazing eponymous cosmetics/travel bag line Stephanie Johnson. (You can also hear about some of her journeys here.) Over the years vacationing together, she has taught me how to pack a week's worth of clothes into a carry-on roller. However, between the two of us, we managed to use every hanger in the hotel room closet!

Celebrating, Mykonos style: hard-core dancing after a late afternoon, several-course, rose wine-steeped lunch. Based on her party-animal body language above, it would be logical for you to assume that Stephanie (far right) is headed off on a complete bender, but in fact she is a serious teetotaler and just high on life. Later, after dancing on a few tables, she made her way to the DJ booth to help spin tunes.

After completing our island adventure, we spent some time in Athens, scaling the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon. It was truly breath-taking. And a suitably monumental way to wrap up our amazing journey!