greco loving
i can’t believe that i never went to greece when i lived in europe. it’s an amazing place: history, food, wine, the islands and sexy locals.
first stop was the party island of mykonos! we knew it would be fun, but weren’t prepared for just how beautiful it was. when the ferry pulled up, one of my besties, jaimee, was there to greet us after flying in from london a couple of hours earlier. over the next few days we lazed it up on the beaches, danced till our feet hurt in mykonos town and created the most amazing tv concept known to humanity – stay tuned!
a little bit of mykonos magic
jaimee & piero and the view from our apartment
jaimee headed back to london and piero and i ferried it to santorini. the island was stunning! people tell you it’s beautiful, but it’s one of those rare places that exceeds your built-up expectations. we had a fabulous two nights watching the sunset, exploring the white washed villages, swimming in the med, walking on the volcano and... getting engaged!!! for more deets, see: the proposal.
minutes later, we were engaged!
the view of the caldera (and a lazzzzzzzyyyyy dog!)
following an unforgettable two days in santorini we headed to athens and my god, it was fantastic! we had an amazing hotel with a restaurant and a funky roof top pool with stunning views of the acropolis! this was europe as it should be (bar the pending economic doom).
while in town we explored the acropolis – simply breathtaking seeing it up close and finding out more about athen’s history – and enjoyed the food and wine on offer. while at the acropolis museum, I read a great line that has stayed with about why post-golden-age-athen's invaders didn't destroy the city: the brilliance of its past guarenteed its future. am sure that probably doesn't mean much to may of you, but for some reason, it has stayed with me.
aaaaahhhh, i adore this view! this was the bar next to the rooftop pool of our athen's hotel.
ancient athens on a beautiful day
greece was, simply, an amazing week.
rule britannia
next stop was that little island where we met: the uk! i have two great loves in my life: piero & london. heading back to the motherland is always an exciting experience.
city hall, where i used to work, and the shard, which was being built while i was in london
the olympic rings on tower bridge
as it was the olympics, the airport was teeming with people but the airport was incredibly efficient (god i love britain, it turns it on when it really – and only when it really - has to). we touched down in newcastle and headed to the pre-party for mish & gav’s wedding. it was a fabulous night catching up with mates and watching the funniest surprise mock-bollywood dance sequence by some of mish & gav’s family and friends.
the next day we explored newcastle before heading to morpeth to catch up with my family who live there. it’s always fantastic seeing the hunters, they’re such a close family who always make laugh.
and then it was time for the wedding! and what a wedding it was! for more info, see: to gav & mish.
mish & gav dancing the dance of life
sardinian sunshine
following newcastle, we headed to sardinia (via one night in london where we checked out jaimee & damo’s new pad and caught up with the aussie girls!) to catch up with piero’s family. as always, my time in italy can be best summarised by one word: food!
my favourite experience in sardinia was when piero, his brother andrea, brother-in-law davide and myself went out on a boat on the med for the afternoon. swimming in the mediterranean is fabulous – it’s warm, the water is so clear you can see the bottom and, unlike, oz, it’s hard to get burnt.
a beautiful day, on the beautiful isle of sardinia
journey back to where it began
our final stop was a weekend in london. for friday night, we explored the surprisingly-fantastic cafe-hub in hackney and caught up with my old work chums at victoria park, watching the olympics on the big screen. we crashed at our friend’s, marta & dave, isle of dog's apartment and enjoyed a good ol' chin wag.
dave, marta, piero & me hanging out in their flat
the next day, we d-r-l-ed it to tower hill and took in the sites of an unbelievably sunny london – walked across tower bridge, through potters fields and down my favourite street in the world, bermondsey high st. we caught up with nat at one of my fav pubs in the world, the woolpack, before heading to jaimee and damo’s in balham for an afternoon of lazy drinking in their back garden.
piero outside the woolpack
in the evening, we headed to a pop-up bar on the southbank (during the olympics in london, it was all about the pop-up bar) and met the aussie girls, luc, keith & kris. for dinner, we headed to soho – loved the new w hotel near piccadilly – before jumping into a cab and heading to our old favourite, the two brewers club in clapham (it wouldn’t be a weekend in london if we didn’t head there).
the gang at jaimee & damo's
and finally, on sunday, we continued our (never-ending) farewell-from-london tradition and met our mates for drinks at the volunteer, our old local when we lived at marylebone.
while swung by the flat of dreams (sans mish & gav who were on their honeymoon) to drop off and pick up a couple of things. it was weird being back there – all so familiar but unfamiliar. i found myself taking a snap from the living room window of the fish n chips shop opposite, it’s not a beautiful view or anything, it’s just a very ‘my london’ view.
and with that, we were on the heathrow express, ready to return down under.
