Woke up and hit the grocery store first thing. The weather has been cold here all week, apparently a drastic change from the usual. Radeberger beer was on sale though. 9.99 euro for a case? Done.

Chad stayed back to work, so I loaded up the kids with Sigrid (my mom's best friend who's always been like an aunt to me) and her granddaughter and we drove out to the shopping centre. I showed the kids where I lived growing up. The building with the section that extends out and the brown brick on the right is the one my parents owned. The ice cafe was down below. Then we all went and got ice cream sundaes, because of course we did.

We did some shopping and another grocery run to stock up on all the treats we can't get back home, or that cost a fortune when we can find them. The good stuff.

Then we stopped by my friend's bridal shop. I stood up in her wedding back in 2018 and we used to chat about this dream of hers. A year later she went and made it happen. Pulling up to her store, seeing all the details she put together herself, learning she's grown it to two locations now. I wouldn't have expected anything less from her, but still. So proud of what she's built.

We came back and Lukas got down to work learning German. All afternoon. The kid is committed.

Ps. I love being here with my fam.

One thing I will not miss about Greece: disposing of the toilet paper in the bins instead of the toilet. Surprisingly tough habit to break, but we got used to it. The piping is too old and toilet paper would clog. We didn't want to put it to the test so we obliged.

Last night we sat on our balcony after finishing the bottle of wine the hotel gave us for free, just reflecting on our time in Greece. Hard to believe we were there for two whole weeks. That time flew by. Maybe because we visited three different places? My honest review: I'd 100% come back. I thought it was beautiful. I still rank our time in Makarska, Croatia in 2018 as my number one. It was less touristy, we had more of a local feel. The only thing there is you need water shoes because the water is rocky and they have sea urchins. For that reason alone, I loved the beaches in Greece a lot more. Athens was great, probably because of the neighborhood we stayed in. Naxos was beautiful and chill. Loved the laid back beach town feel. It's definitely going to be overrun with tourists as the years pass and they build more. Would go back in a heartbeat.

And then Santorini. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think Santorini was overrated. The white houses built on the cliff with blue dome tops are only a few of them. It's not all over the island and it's not something that immediately stands out. Tourists lining up to get the perfect Instagram shot when in reality they waited in line and had a 30 second timer ticking before the next person steps in. Just feels so fake. The location of our hotel was less than ideal, the food was not the best we had in Greece but was the most expensive. If you're reading this and planning on visiting, Santorini is still worth seeing, but a few small tweaks to how we did it and I think you'd enjoy it more. It's one of those places you feel like you need to see. Just lower your expectations.

We arrived in Berlin and picked up our VW. Hit 176 km/h on the Autobahn and were still getting passed. We stopped by my aunt's grave in Berlin. Going to Germany this time around feels a bit different. She was always the one to send a birthday video (even to Chad, who doesn't speak German), came to our wedding, and would never miss the kids' birthdays. Fun fact: we share our wedding anniversary with her birthday.

Even flying within Europe, you can still rack up a 12 hour travel day. We finally got to my family's place in Dresden at 6:30pm. In typical fashion, they invited their friends and had a big dinner prepped for us. It feels like home when we're here. Everyone is so welcoming. The drive from Berlin to Dresden was great, too. Would have been perfect if Germany had made it to the World Cup finals. Watching Germany play the final while actually in Germany would have been an experience. Instead, we had to settle for Spain vs Argentina.

Early start today. Driver picking us up at 7am meant we were awake before the sun was fully up. Chad and I actually caught the sunrise, which was worth dragging ourselves out of bed for.

Oia at Dawn

Our driver dropped us in Oia at 7:15 so we could walk around and grab some photos before starting the hike. The streets were still quiet, that brief window before the cruise ship tourists flood in. We went looking for the famous blue domes postcard shot that everyone comes to Santorini for. During peak season it's apparently a 500m+ line and you get 30 seconds to take your picture. We found the line, took one look at it, and refused. Just wandered instead. We still had beautiful views.

We stopped at a bakery to grab breaky for the walk and off we went. The Oia to Fira hike was 10km and took us about 2:30 to 2:45 hours. Glad we did it. Beautiful views. Hot at times. Very windy in certain spots. Steep inclines, slopes, stairs, a little bit of everything. About halfway through we stopped for a coffee, gelato, and to replenish our water, which was very needed.

Sofie of course found a Sephora. Some things transcend geography. We grabbed lunch before our driver picked us back up and headed to the hotel around noon. The rest of the day was ours to recover.

Back on a boat for Chad. I booked the speed jet so it was only an hour instead of two, which was a mercy. We pulled into the port and the hotel had told me to look for a driver holding a sign with our name. Every single person standing there was holding a sign with names on them. Wall to wall signs. Eventually we found him.

Settling into the Amber Light Villas for three nights. The place is beautiful and secluded, and our hotel room isn't even really a room. It's more like a little private villa situation. Here's the honest review though: internet is mostly nonexistent (wifi and eSIM reception both terrible), it's remote enough that taxis are hard to come by and a 15-minute drive runs 25-30 euro, there's nothing within walking distance (no bakery, no coffee shop, no grocery store), and unlike everywhere else in Greece they charge for bottled water. The restaurant food is fine but not something we want three times a day for three days. So we bit the bullet and got a private driver who now has our schedule and will take us where we need to go. We thought about renting a car but the logistics were tough.

I woke up just in time to catch the sunrise from our balcony. Beautiful. We headed down to breakfast around 9 and then lounged by the pool. Sofie is now on the last Twilight Saga book. I was sitting on the balcony doing some work and got a notification that my card was charged from Kobo. Good to know my card is linked for her reading pleasures.

Fira

This afternoon we headed into Fira so Chad could do some work somewhere with actual internet. We wandered around for a while and went to dinner at a place our driver recommended. It was a bit off the beaten path and not touristy. Food was very good. After dinner the driver dropped us at the supermarket and picked us up from there. We grabbed a case of water and some snacks for our hike tomorrow.

Woke up feeling so sad to be leaving Naxos. We went down to the beach one more time just to sit and chat. No agenda, no plan, just soaking it in. Gonna miss those donuts. Daily carb fuel for real. We'd gotten into a routine here and it was hard to let go of it.

Got a later checkout (12:15 instead of 11, small win) and dragged our luggage about 120 meters to the bus stop. The bus rolled right up. Perfect timing yet again. Made our way to the port in Naxos town and sat at a brunch place while we waited for the ferry.

The port was organized chaos. Up to three ferries docking at once, people and cars pouring off while other cars and people tried to get on. They're never on time so it was hard to figure out where ours would even dock. The whole boarding process only takes about ten minutes so I was worried we'd miss it. But somehow we made sense of the chaos and got on.

Only complaint right now is that the wifi and reception is absolutely terrible. Not sure how we're going to get work done at night.