Epic Honeymoon - Day 09 - Venice

A pretty rainbow of houses.

The next morning, we repeated our journey across to Venice, this time skipping the Ferrovia bridge and weaving our way east to the edge of the island, arriving to the F.te Nova water bus stops. We took the water bus for €7.50 each (one way) out to Burano. It’s worth nothing that this would also be covered by the ACTV pass. We had originally planned to buy the two day pass for €30 each, but decided to do a whole lot more walking instead. If you plan to hop on and off the water busses down the Grand Canal, you definitely want to consider this pass, as you will bankrupt yourself on the tickets.

Epic Honeymoon - Day 08 - Venice

The view from Ponte Rialto.

The next morning, Friday 22^nd September, we walked back to Mestre station to head over to Venice. You can use the ticket machines here to get a one way Trenitalia ticket to Venice Santa Lucia station for only €1.25 per person. Again, tickets must be validated before use and this is done at the green machines that occupy almost every pole in the station.

Epic Honeymoon - Day 07 - Santorini to Venice

A delicious way to start the day.

The next morning, we checked out and walked the length of Fira to the bus terminal, stopping first at the 24/7 bakery to pick up some breakfast. They have a huge range of pastries, stuffed with cheeses, sausages and the like. I opted for a spinach and cheese puff, while Avy took the cream cheese bagel. From the bus stop, Avy went for a quick walk to a cafe we’d seen on the street to the east side of town to grab some coffee. We each had an iced cappuccino, which was deliciously creamy (probably because it was topped with real cream rather than foam). At only €1.80, this was some of the best coffee we’d had, so certainly pay a visit to Coffee Island.

Epic Honeymoon - Day 06 - Santorini

Probably the most photographed church in the world.

The night’s sleep was somewhat interrupted by the bells of the local church. They would ring in a certain pattern of three or four tones; obviously there was some special day or celebration happening, as the same was going on the next morning from quiet early. Amazingly, we managed to take an easy morning and only set into town around 11am, stopping at Lucky’s Souvlaki for a breakfast yiros (when in Greece...!). I had read that Lucky’s was a “can’t miss” destination when in Fira. It was alright, but of the three I’d now had, Good Mood Food took the honours as best yiros in Fira!

Epic Honeymoon - Day 05 - Santorini

Looking out over the Caldera.

After an uneventful evening hanging around at Athens airport, we arrived to Santorini about 8:30pm. We had a small run-in with the first taxi driver, who wanted €25 to take us to our hotel – he’d loaded our bags into the boot, and while we debated and discussed the price (we’d read around €15 to Fira), he got pissed off and unloaded our bags to go get another fare. We lined up at the taxi rank again and ended up sharing with an American guy who was travelling to a hotel near ours; our fare came to €20, so it was a nice price for us, but the taxi driver probably made a good profit for the combined fare.

Epic Honeymoon - Day 04 - Athens

Gazing up at the Acropolis.

After two days in Dubai and a lavish afternoon in the Emirates First Class Lounge, we boarded our flight to the birthplace of democracy and the home of the Olympic Games. I had previously visited Athens in 2011 at the end of my Contiki Tour, but we only had a quick bus tour around the city and the obligatory trek up the Acropolis. On this occasion, we opted to only overnight in Athens and spend more time at one of the infamous islands: Santorini.

Matt and Mum Do Ireland, Part 3

PART THREE: Running Rings Around Kerry
2016-03-05 to 2016-03-07

On Saturday morning, March 5th, it was once again time to make tracks and head off onto the next base camp of our trip, namely, Killarney in county Kerry. From there, we planned to get back in touch with nature. Infamous for its coastal scenery, especially around the Ring of Kerry, this corner of the country promised us some fantastic photographic opportunities.

Matt and Mum Do Ireland, Part 2

PART TWO: Heading South-East
2016-03-01 to 2016-03-05

And so, our time in our first county came to an end. On the morning of March 1st, we loaded everything into our little Škoda and set sail, so to speak, for the south-east of the country. Our next stop was Cashel, in county Tipperary, with planned day trips to Kilkenny, Waterford and the Wicklow mountains. A bit of driving awaits us over these few days, but that's just a great way to see the countryside!

Matt and Mum Do Ireland, Part 1

PART ONE: County Meath

2016-02-25 to 2016-02-29

It really is about time I went on a trip that didn’t involve me packing a tool kit. Well, that time has come! After more than 1.5 years of planning, this week, I set off with my mum to explore Ireland and Scotland. I have visited Dublin before, but only for a few days, and never any other locations in the Emerald Isle; as for Scotland, I have never been. This post will be the first of a series, detailing our adventures over a period of 6 weeks touring ourselves around these two beautiful countries.