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Took me a few days longer than I thought to get this blog up! I spent too much time admiring my own images and wishing I was still on vacation :) Our last stop in Greece was the beautiful island of Santorini. Whenever we told anyone we were going to Greece, the general consensus was that Santorini was everyone’s favorite island. I have to admit…they were right. We loved both Mykonos and Paros…but I could have spent day after day on this island just soaking in the views. When the view is this good, you don’t even need to spend money on other activities.
Here is a view from below of our cliff-side hotel, the Hotel Ikastikies. I had been lusting after this hotel since the travel agent (Fantasy Travel) first sent us the itinerary. It definitely lived up to every expectation.
The hotel only has 4 suites, and while we were there, only 1 other room was being used (it was still considered off-season. We basically had the place to ourselves! Here you can see the dozens of other hotels of Firostefani, and in the distance to the left the town of Imerovigli.
Our private rooftop deck…
…and the stairs to the deck…
The “Ostria” suite…
Our “cave” bathroom!
The “Ostria” suite…
Our “cave” bathroom!
Our first night on Santorini, one of the hotel owners, Justin, invited us to join him at his favorite greek restaurant…which was a stone’s throw from the hotel. The food and house wine was delicious!
View of the caldera from our hotel…
The next morning we received the famous breakfast we’d been hearing all about on TripAdvisor.com. On top of the huge tray of food we were given, Justin also made us HUGE, fantastic omelets. I’m not even a fan of omelets and I nearly ate the whole thing. Oh, and by the way, Justin is a hobby photographer and had some fun with my 5d…which was great for Griff and I b/c we ended up with way more pictures of us as a couple than I thought we would!
View of the caldera from our hotel…
The next morning we received the famous breakfast we’d been hearing all about on TripAdvisor.com. On top of the huge tray of food we were given, Justin also made us HUGE, fantastic omelets. I’m not even a fan of omelets and I nearly ate the whole thing. Oh, and by the way, Justin is a hobby photographer and had some fun with my 5d…which was great for Griff and I b/c we ended up with way more pictures of us as a couple than I thought we would!
Photo by Justin:
After breakfast, we got to take a tour of Justin and George’s other hotel, Aqua, which was in Imerovigli and also beautiful…
You can see the Hotel Ikastikies from Aqua if you look really closely :)
Photo by Griff:
After breakfast, we got to take a tour of Justin and George’s other hotel, Aqua, which was in Imerovigli and also beautiful…
You can see the Hotel Ikastikies from Aqua if you look really closely :)
Photo by Griff:
Here’s Justin! He’s the friendly one…the surly looking guy is who we rented our ATV from, lol.
We drove the ATV to the town of Oia, which boasts the most beautiful sunsets in all of Greece.
Check us out!
We drove the ATV to the town of Oia, which boasts the most beautiful sunsets in all of Greece.
Check us out!
The beaches here were a little difficult to access…we drove around until we found one that was isolated…and it was a black-sand beach. Note: Do not go to black-sand, rocky beach without water shoes :)
Headed back to Fira for the evening…and I tried to get some night shots. Definitely difficult but I love this one…
Here’s one that didn’t turn out as planned, but i think it looks cool and twinkly.
Donkey’s passing while at dinner at Lithos…
And my Halloumi cheese and rocket salad…which I loved so much that I re-created at dinner last night!
And my Halloumi cheese and rocket salad…which I loved so much that I re-created at dinner last night!
Fira during the day..
Lots of cruise ships and activity!
Me in my new shirt I deemed “Greece” appropriate…
Wine and figs at sunset at our hotel…
Wine and figs at sunset at our hotel…
Griff and I…I’m in the new dress he bought me in a shop in Fira for 30euro…probably a vacation only dress :)
And one last point/shoot shot of us in our Cardinal gear in Santorini…we might try to put it in the post-dispatch cuz we’re cheesy like that!
Now I’m sad to end my blogging about Greece. Next week I’ll finally be back to blogging work with actual clients! Have a wonderful weekend!
We spent close to 4 days on Mykonos and then headed to Paros. Once we got there we wished we could have spent more days there…it was very different than Mykonos…quiet, less touristy, sprawled out. It appeared that this was where the Greeks vacationed. This time our hotel was right on a beach, which you don’t see a lot in Greece.
The pool looks so pristine…
The 2nd day we were there we rented a car! Our concierge at the Hotel Contaratos Beach was so helpful…we told him we wanted a car and it was there literally 5 minutes later. Paros is one of the larger islands in the Cyclades and to see the various towns you definitely have to rent some form of transportation. We were able to circumnavigate the entire island in half a day!
This is the town of Lefkes. I read somewhere that this town was built down in the valley so that it’d be harder to find by pirates…
Very cute little town!
This church is right in front of the “Byzantine Road”.
Very cute little town!
This church is right in front of the “Byzantine Road”.
This photo is going to hang in my house somewhere…
See what I mean about being more spread out?
See what I mean about being more spread out?
Every where you looked there were little clusters of new homes being built on the island. Looks like this will be the next place to explode with tourism. Anyone want to go in on a hotel with me?
We read in our Fodor’s travel guide that there was a Butterfly sanctuary…we payed 4 euro each to go in and it was a little underwhelming….but there were just thousands and thousands of these butterflies…who are actually moths.
Next we went to Paroikia…which is the port town. It was the home of the Church of 100 doors. They wouldn’t let me in b/c I was wearing shorts.
The night before while watching the US soccer game, we met some Americans from San Franscisco who spend every summer in Paros. They recommended a restaurant called “Romantika”. It was fantastic!
That lovely mass of cheese and tomatoes is baked feta…served with garlic bread…sigh….
That lovely mass of cheese and tomatoes is baked feta…served with garlic bread…sigh….
And for dessert they brought us a complimentary plate of fresh apricots! Yum!
This is the town of Naoussa…which was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel…
Naoussa is a fishing town…so I had to pose with the fishing boats!
Sunset in Naoussa…
Sunset in Naoussa…
Next up, Santorini!
For those of you who didn’t know, Griff and I took the vacation of a lifetime to Greece two weeks ago. We were lucky enough to visit Athens and the islands of Mykonos, Paros, and Santorini. Just typing these words right now makes me miss the place…and we’ve only been back since Saturday. It’s hard to put into words my feelings about this vacation. The country was beautiful and romantic…and it was the first vacation I’ve been on where I wasn’t ready to leave at the end of it!
I’m breaking the blogging about the trip into two portions. We’ll start off with Athens, followed by Mykonos…and tomorrow or Wednesday you’ll see Paros and Santorini, which were definitely our favorite places of the journey.
I’ll start with my favorite image of the trip from Mykonos. I love this photo b/c you have to look at it a 2nd time to see the ship.
We flew from StL to NY, were in NY for a few hours, then flew to Athens overnight. When we arrived it was 9 am in Athens…and we were exhausted…but we only had one day to see the sites. So we started walking…and we had to climb all the way to the top of this:
We knew we needed to see the Acropolis…and it was HOT and SUNNY and sadly, we were just ready to get to the islands. So we didn’t stay long :)
I think Griff is contemplating Greek history and all its significance here. He’s so cute :)
Mmmm…our first of many Greek salads of the trip. Every time Griff ordered one I would pick out the tomatoes and the feta and leave him with the rest :)
Just threw this in to show that Greeks apparently don’t like Subway. So sad for this former “sandwich artist”.
The next morning our private transfer (provided by Fantasy Travel, who planned our entire trip and we can’t say enough good things about) took us down to the port to catch our first ferry to Mykonos.
And…we totally weren’t expecting this to be the ferry! We had visions of a small boat sloshing around in the water, covered with people and goats (did I get this idea from watching “Mama Mia”?)…instead, we had this!
It was airplane like inside…much larger, of course. There was a gift shop and a coffee bar. Very comfortable ride!
The next morning our private transfer (provided by Fantasy Travel, who planned our entire trip and we can’t say enough good things about) took us down to the port to catch our first ferry to Mykonos.
And…we totally weren’t expecting this to be the ferry! We had visions of a small boat sloshing around in the water, covered with people and goats (did I get this idea from watching “Mama Mia”?)…instead, we had this!
It was airplane like inside…much larger, of course. There was a gift shop and a coffee bar. Very comfortable ride!
As we pulled out of the port, the sun rays started coming through the clouds and I was seriously overwhelmed with the beauty of the Aegean Sea. While Griff was getting coffee I shed a few tears of pure joy about this opportunity we had to see such a place…I can’t remember the last time I felt like that.
When we arrived at the port of Mykonos Town…we had a studly dude dressed all in white waiting for us to take us to our beautiful hotel (yeah, I should have taken a photo of him too)
We were greeted with some fresh orange juice (I was pretty sure we were supposed to receive champagne, but oh well)…and got to check out the view.
The rooms were small but so pretty and modern…
We even had our own little church on the hotel grounds! There were churches like this seemingly every 20 feet on the island.
This is where we got to eat breakfast every morning…
…and the pool at night viewed from our balcony.
More food! ***Drool alert*** We did not have a bad gyro out of the 6 or 7 we had throughout the trip. Cheap and delicious…and they stick the fries inside! How can it get any better?
Griff had to be my camera bag holder for most of the trip. And later on…he finally picked up my 5dmkII and learned to use it a little bit!! The little path he’s standing on is what all the paths through Mykonos town look like. They go round and round and up and down and there are hundreds of jewelry, clothing, hannd-made craft and souvenir shops…intertwined with restaurants and bars and tiny homes…you could walk there for hours…
This is where we got to eat breakfast every morning…
View of the pool in the late afternoon light…
…and the pool at night viewed from our balcony.
More food! ***Drool alert*** We did not have a bad gyro out of the 6 or 7 we had throughout the trip. Cheap and delicious…and they stick the fries inside! How can it get any better?
Griff had to be my camera bag holder for most of the trip. And later on…he finally picked up my 5dmkII and learned to use it a little bit!! The little path he’s standing on is what all the paths through Mykonos town look like. They go round and round and up and down and there are hundreds of jewelry, clothing, hannd-made craft and souvenir shops…intertwined with restaurants and bars and tiny homes…you could walk there for hours…
Mykonos had so much vibrant color throughout the city
Many of the restaurants sat right on the water so you could watch the stunning sunsets.
I took lots and lots of photos of doors and windows…I wish we could paint our houses like this…
Here’s a photo of the crowds gathering for a famous sunset…
Yep. ’nuff said.
Many of the restaurants sat right on the water so you could watch the stunning sunsets.
I took lots and lots of photos of doors and windows…I wish we could paint our houses like this…
Here’s a photo of the crowds gathering for a famous sunset…
Yep. ’nuff said.
Brought my fisheye along at the last minute and love this shot I caught with it as we were waiting for the next ferry to Paros.
I’ll have more to share soon!!
I’ll have more to share soon!!
Last week I headed down to Farmington (yes, Farmington!) to hang with my friend Megan Thiele of Megan Thiele Studios. Megan is one of the photographers I really have to thank for helping me make it in this business. I got lucky a while back and her regular 2nd shooter had to quit; I got to shoot a bunch of weddings with her and learned SO MUCH. I’m happy to say that we’ve been able to become great friends. One perk of having photog friends is being able to trade sessions for website shots! My current photo is really outdated, and so was Megan’s, so we decided something needed to be done about that. Check out her blog soon for some shots of moi.
We had some GREAT light coming in over those buildings…
I think the first thing you notice about Megan is her fab hair…
Followed by those eyes!
She and I are alike in the fact that we can never have enough colorful shoes…
Outfit change…and we picked up Megan’s “babies”…
She and I are alike in the fact that we can never have enough colorful shoes…
Outfit change…and we picked up Megan’s “babies”…
Look how cooperative they were! They were a little peeved that they were in leashes and NOT being walked…but still very well-behaved :)
Thanks for having me down Megan! Can’t wait to see what you came up with for me :)
Thanks for having me down Megan! Can’t wait to see what you came up with for me :)
Last week I was on spring break from the day job and felt SO lucky because I was able to get home to Ohio for Jess’s baby shower. Over the years I’ve made it known how sad it makes me when I miss events in my old friends’ lives b/c of my move to St. Louis…it felt great that she cared enough to schedule this event partially around me!
This blog post is a little different…the rule was that Jess got to pick her favorites. I don’t normally let clients make that call but she’s one of my bestest buddies so I’ll let her be the exception :)
This was NOT one she picked…but I liked it b/c it shows how much info she is squeezing into her mind currently…hehe
Okay on to the actually maternity photos! Meet my fellow Miami Alum and former roommate! We’ve had a lot of good times together over the years!
The baby’s room is so pretty. They know they are having a girl…but no name yet…
Kevin was also a big part of our fun times at Miami in the “later” years.
Marley is their first baby :)
Jess your eyes look so pretty here!
Thanks for asking me to capture this moment in life for you :) Love you and can’t wait to meet Baby Steiner!