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Europe was incredible!! And everything worked out! The #eurodeals2013 crew organised every single part of it, and not much really went wrong. 

The whole flight home was the most depressing thing ever. The only highlight was getting to meet up with Jas in Dubai! 

As we were landing in Dubai at about midnight, the plane was turning, and through my window, all I could see where the stars, It felt like I was in space! Then the plane turned again and I was facing the water, in which hundreds of boats were lit up, and it looked like the stars again. It was at that moment that I realised how lucky I was to have seen some of the world, and a beautiful world it is! 

Mykonos, Santorini, Karpathos and Athens - Greece

We arrived to a very windy Mykonos on a Wednesday morning. Finally I was in the home land! We caught a taxi to our hotel (which sat on a beach) and then went swimming. That afternoon we caught a bus into the main town and explored the small white and blue streets of Mykonos. We even met my cousin Suzie and her boyfriend Marko who were also in Mykonos for a drink and a wander (just casually...). By the time we got home, Ness, Jas and Christine had arrived and so we relaxed with them until it was time for bed. 

The next day we ate, swam in our pool/beach and then went to the main town to eat again (2.50 euro for a gyros...SO good). We then did a bit of shopping around the town and ended up at the old port eating nutella and strawberry crepes. The Greek lifestyle ain't that bad.   

 

That night we went to a restaurant right near our hotel, also on the beach. It was having a Greek night, with dancing and all. So Ness, Christine, Laura and I got up to dance....and the music did not stop for literally 10 minutes....not ideal. However, it was still really fun. 

We spend most of the next day lying on the famous party beach, Paradise beach. There are definitely nicer beaches than this beach, but from 4pm it turns into a big dance party with girls dancing on tables etc etc. We then went back into the main town and had a kinder beuno crepe (OMG I nearly died - this is the best thing I have ever tasted in my LIFE) and of course, got a gyros. That night we chilled at the hotel, eating dinner at it's restaurant and sharing some huge cocktails. 

The next day we lay by the pool until it was time to catch a ferry to Santorini...tough life. 

We arrived in Santorini in the afternoon, had a quick dip in our hotel pool, watched the sunset from a spot 20m from the hotel and then went and had dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. 

The next day was quad bike day. While Ness and I chilled at the hotel, the rest of the girls went to pick up 3 quad bikes. On the way back to the hotel, Christine knocked down a motorbike. I wish I was there to see that. 

So we hopped on the quad bikes and drove around Santorini, stopping at a couple of black beaches and the red beach. It was so fun. There is nothing like that feeling of the wind on your face and the views of the Mediterranean. It makes you feel so free. That night we went for dinner (had a some meal which was chicken with a Feta sauce - one word - wow). After that we went and got crepes (standard) and had a short stroll through the shops to end a wonderful day. 

On our last full day in Santorini and my last day with all the girls, we decided to go shopping!! After a few hours and dollars spent (as well as a fish spa), we decided to ride Donkey's down to the old port.....it was a smelly and slightly life-threatening experience.
We then went to a restaurant for lunch which was right on the port and owned by some of Ness' family. There was no way we were going to go back up with the Donkey's so we caught the cable car instead. 

That night we planned to go to a part of Santorini called Oia, known for a great view of the sunset. However, all the buses just drove past us and never stopped. Instead we went to a cliff side restaurant for dinner and watched the sunset from there, much better I think. After dinner we went and ate more amazing crepes and then ended up at this random bar with 2 for 1 cocktails and GREAT music. We all danced the night away until about midnight because I was catching a ferry to Karpathos at 2am! It was so sad to leave the girls but I was excited to be reunited with the family. 

That next morning at 11am I woke up and the Ferry was slowly approaching Karpathos (the Island my Greek side of the family are from). It was so nice to see the familiar faces of my grandparents when I got off the ferry! They took me to breakfast and I ate the best yogurt with fresh fruit and honey. 

I was in Karpathos for 2 weeks so I don't want to go through every single day there...but I'll mention some of the highlights! There was a 3 day saints day celebration on the first weekend I was there. Every day and night for those 3 days there was church, food, drinking and dancing! After this weekend, and for the rest of the time there, I just went swimming/snorkeling at a fair few different and BEAUTIFUL beaches, ate the freshest food on the planet and enjoyed a few nights of Greek night-life (where people don't really get to clubs until 3am...). Nicole and Laura came for the last week I was there and stayed in Pigadia (the main town area) while I stayed up in the Village of Othos with it's steep and one way roads... 

The village - Othos

Church celebration

 

 

I had such a great time there :) 

We left Karpathos as the sun was rising on a Monday morning and arrived in the capital of Greece, Athens. We only had one night in Athens so we had to make the most of it. 

From the Airport we caught a tube to our hostel, right near the Acropolis. After we dumped our stuff, we climbed to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. The view from up there was amazing! Every building is just white! After that bit of a sweat fest, we went to the Acropolis museum to see heaps of Ancient artifacts and explored the rest of the ancient surroundings of the area. 

We then went to Thanassis restaurant in Monastiraki for lunch to have his famous souvlaki. After a stroll and a shop down Ermou (a well-known shopping street), we sat and had our final kinder bueno crepes. What a sad but happy moment that was. After another stroll through the Monastiraki markets/shops, we went home for a nap. We had been up since about 5am.

That night we watched the sun set over the Acropolis from a roof-top bar. We then got another gyros and had an early, last night in Europe.

On our final morning in Europe, we decided to get up early and do one last bit of sight-seeing. We ventured to the first ever Olympic stadium. The ticket includes an audio tour which was really great :) There was even a room that had all the Olympic torches from every single Olympic games.

We sadly walked back to our hotel, got our stuff, ate our last gyros and mars bar ice cream, and caught a tube back to the airport......worst feeling ever. 

Very last gyros.....

London - UK

LONDON! What fun we had here. We arrived in London at around 5am on Monday and as tired as we were, we were glad to have arrived in a country where the people could finally speak English! 

After a bit of a wait to get into our airbnb apartment and a nice little nap, we caught our first underground ride to Westminster! As soon as you stepped outside of the station, the Big Ben was standing right in front of us! It was awesome! We then walked to the super busy Westminster Abbey, then walked back towards the Big Ben and over the bridge to see the London Eye and the Tate Modern art museum (and saw a few red telephone boxes on the way). 

Westminster

We then had a late lunch at a pub near our apartment - it was here I tried my first Pimms and Lemonade! 
That night we were pretty wrecked so we played some cards and monopoly millionaire and then hit the sack for an exciting day ahead. 

On Tuesday, all the girls went to Madame Tussauds (Josh had already been before) on Baker Street (the Sherlock Holmes street). It was awesome! I met so many celebrities :) But seriously, it was cool! Just so busy!

After Madame's we went and had lunch in Leicester Square and then caught a train to the HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!! OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS AWESOME! A double decker Harry Potter bus even picks you up from the station and takes you to the studios! If you do go - get the audio tour - worth it! 

After that amazing experience, we went and met one of Josh's friends who lived in London named Andy. He took us to this small restaurant where Ness and I had the most amazing burrito of my life!! (I would say). I don't remember what was in it other than that it had pulled pork but god it was good. After dinner, we had a few drinks at a pub and then called it a day. It had been an exciting day. 

Wednesday was (finally) shopping day. We hadn't really had time to do any shopping on this whole trip so we were super keen to hit up Oxford street. My goodness it is amazing. You need more than one day on this street and even the surrounding streets. 

After a long day of shopping, we went home to get ready to see the musical 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'!! It was at the Theatre Royal, Drury lane, which is on of the oldest theatres in London - it was so cool inside! Just like the movies, one of those olden day theatres! I tried taking a few pictures but then I got in trouble. The musical was AWESOME! You must see it, especially if you love the story. The kids were so talented!! 

As we were walking back to the tube, we stopped by a Greek restaurant for dinner. Just another great day in London... 

On Thursday morning the girls hit up Oxford Street (again) while Josh went to the Arsenal stadium. At lunch time we met with Lotte, went to M&M World, had lunch at in London's China Town and then went to the National Portrait Gallery for some delicious tea and scones in their cafe which overlooked the city (you could see the Big Ben from there!). After tea and scones we caught a tube to Buckingham Palace! So surreal being right there... 

That night we Lotte took us for dinner at Jamie Oliver's pop-up diner just next to Piccadilly Circus which is only inLondon for I think 2 years (opened up this year). It was a half an hour wait but the waitress told us Jamie was coming in that night - obviously we knew the wait was worth it. 

The food was sooooo good. I tried Josh's burger and we both agreed it was better than Brodburger (big call). I went all out and had a 3 course meal (thinking I would only be here once - little did I know..) which included some sweet potato tortillas, chicken in a basket which was pretty much chicken and chips in a basket with some awesome salad and then Ness and I shared a huge Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate Cake for dessert. We were pretty full. 

In between our feast, Jamie and his wife were having dinner not that far away from us with a group of friends!!!!! WE WERE SO EXCITED!!!!! Jas was literally crying. 

After a drink at the pub next door, we walked back past Jamie's diner and tried waving at Jamie who was sitting at the window upstairs - AND he waved back!!! First celebrity spotting and it was so awesome! 

On Friday and Saturday we all went to the Wireless Festival. On Friday we saw Kesha, Bingo Players, Snoop Dog, Trey Songz, Flume, Frank Ocean anddddd the AMAZING Justin Timberlake! Man he was good. WORTH paying for that's for sure. The best was when Jay-Z came out and performed 'Suit and Tie' with him! 

Saturday we saw Macklemore, Rita Ora, Calvin Harris and Jay-Z! The festival was SO much fun :) 

On Sunday morning, Ness, Jas and Christine left for Greece. So Josh, Laura and myself went to see the tower ofLondon! That's where they keep the crown jewels - they were absolutely incredible! 

We then met up with Lotte and her sister to hit up some London markets. Firstly we went to Old Spitalfields Market which was so cool! There were heaps of boutique shops around the sides and so many stalls full of clothes, food and random other things. Josh and I had the best cupcake we ever had. I don't even remember what flavour I got - could have been some apple cinnamon one but MAN it was good. They also had heaps of cheap summer dresses and I bought one for 5 pounds! 

We then went for some lunch and food at the (allegedly hipster) Brick Lane markets with Andy and one of his friends. It's crazy, there were people sitting down everywhere on the street eating food - I had never seen anything like it! Cider and Chinese was the shiz. 

That afternoon we went with Lotte and her sister to the Borough Markets - but by the time we got there, most of the food had sold out. Of course there was a pub nearby and we had a few drinks instead. That night, the three of us went and had a Sunday Roast at the wallflower pub right on the river and then went home for another awesome day ahead! 

The next morning (Monday) I went to Harrods and Oxford Street (again - 3rd time lucky) and then met Josh for lunch at Jamie's Italian while Laura went to meet Nicole who had just arrived. We then went and saw the Hangover at the movies and after that met with Laura and Nicole for a second Jamie's diner dinner, awaiting the arrival of Josh's mum. No Jamie this time. 

Tuesday was pretty much my last day in London..so to start it off we went to the biggest bookstore in Europe - Waterstones on Piccadilly Circus (where I bought The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the Rafael Nadal book). We then caught a tube to see the beautiful St Paul's Cathedral. After that, I decided to go shopping on Oxford St again (4th time - but it was my last day!). We then all went to Jamie's diner for lunch (3rd time haha). 

That late afternoon we went to Leicester square for the Wolverine Premier and saw another major celebrity spot - Hugh Jackman! Pretty awesome... 

On my last night in London we went and saw a comedy play called 'One Man, Two Guvnors' which was so FUNNY! 

I spent the rest of the night packing all my shopping into my suitcase...getting excited for Greece but sad that my holiday with my love was about to end... 

London was so great.