Trip Report: Greece, Turkey, and Sicily
This past Christmas, my cousin reached out and told us to save the date for her wedding — Sicily in July. For those who do not know, my dad’s side of the family is from Italy, so this was not your run-of-the-mill “destination wedding!” My father was born and raised in Sicily, and after I was born, my parents and I moved to the United States, closer to my mother’s family in Texas. My dad’s side of the family still lives and works in Italy, and it is always fun to go back and visit. We already had our big France trip planned and booked and didn’t expect a second European vacation just a few months later, but we were excited for the wedding and when you’re invited to a wedding in Sicily, you go!
While the purpose of the trip was the wedding, we wanted to squeeze some extra travel in to make the most of our 20+ hours of flights to Europe and back. Caitlin and I had started to list some places we’d like to tack onto the trip when my parents reached out and expressed interest ingoing on a cruise through Greece and Turkey — who could say no to that?! So after some research and finding dates that would line up well, we decided on a 7-day cruise through the Greek islands and Turkish coastline. We packed our bags and made our way back to Europe for the second time this year.
Athens, Greece
After a long travel day consisting of 3 different flights and some minor delays, we landed in Athens. Our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Athens, featured a stunning rooftop pool and restaurant that looked out at the Acropolis with the Parthenon sitting atop. It was an amazing juxtaposition between the modernity of this huge city, and the ancient history from a life long before. The food at the hotel restaurant was incredible and featured craft cocktails and their elevated take on some traditional Athenian and Greek cuisine. The first night during dinner, there was a musician who took vibing to a whole new level. Check out a short clip below. We didn’t film too much, as we wanted to enjoy the moment and music, but hopefully you can still experience some of what we did.
We only had one full day in Athens, and had arranged for a 4-hour private tour using the company Private Greece Tours. Our experience was seamless, from submitting the inquiry, touring around Athens, and being dropped back at our hotel. Nikos and his team, including our great driver and archeologist/tour guide, were super communicative and ready to make sure we were taken care of and had an incredible time and didn’t miss a thing. During other seasons of the year, our tour guide/archeologist leads or participates in archeological digs, so she really was a wealth of knowledge.
After breakfast the next morning, we made our way to the port to board the Seabourn Encore, our home for the next 7 days. Our Blacklane driver was very friendly, and shared information about Greece and Athens. Caitlin had never been on a cruise before, and was weary of large ships that felt gimmicky. Our research brought us to Seabourn, with small-medium sized ships (only 300 cabins), all-inclusive food and beverage (alcohol too), and a crowd that didn’t include too many children running around. The boarding process was quick and easy and we felt taken care of from the moment we boarded the ship — it was truly something special. We had a basic room, but they all are suite-like with a separate living area, balcony, and a walk-in closet. One of the best parts about cruises, in my opinion, is that you can just unpack your bags and relax, rather than having to live out of your suitcase and jump from hotel to hotel. After a nice lunch by the pool with my parents then checking in at our muster station, the ship departed Athens. Caitlin made fun of me for standing on our balcony waving to all of the other passengers on the other ships (who were waving back). She said “Cruise-Marco” is a different person, she may be right :D.
Mykonos, Greece
When we woke up after our first night on the ship, we were pulling into the first port of call — Mykonos, a beautiful island with a very walkable town center. The consistent white and blue facades of the buildings were beautiful…and clearly picturesque. We stumbled upon a family-owned art gallery — Galatis Art Gallery. We enjoyed the variety of pieces from all of the featured artists, including paintings on old driftwood, glass work, and sculptures. We especially loved talking with one of the owners and his daughter and walked away with a few fun pieces to add to our collection. After getting a bit lost, and walking up some clearly residential streets, we found our way up to the famous windmills. We then headed back down to the beach area for some snacks (Greek salad…of course…calamari, and grilled octopus). We seemed to have lucked out on the day we were there, as it wasn’t very crowded, making for a more enjoyable day of exploring.
Crete, Greece
As the ship pulled out of Mykonos, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the main restaurant on the ship and then headed to bed. The next morning we awoke in Agios Nikolaos on the island of Crete. We had to tender in (i.e., take one of the life boats from our ship to the port), which was surprisingly easy and quick. Agios Nikolaos had more of a “city feel” than the others, but the waterfront was nice and full of life. We didn’t have any plans or expectations, so we took a stroll around town and along the coast, eventually finding a restaurant on the beach where we could cool off with some drinks in the shade. Crete is a large island with a lot of different ports and cities, so it’s hard to say we got a good feel for the island this time around, but it made for a pleasant day nonetheless. When we got back to the ship, Caitlin and I had spa appointments, so we spent some time being pampered and relaxing before “formal night” in The Restaurant.
Symi, Greece
Our next port of call was Symi. Similar to the day before, we tendered to shore. From afar, the little town didn’t look like much beyond some small buildings along the cliff. As we got closer we were taken aback by the beautiful pastel palate of the buildings and character of the port. Each building felt like it had its own character with unique color combinations — I’m not sure we saw the same color combo more than once. It was fun pointing them out and selecting which ones we would want to live in (if only!). The water was a deep blue color that felt truly unique (you can tell in the pictures it was really something special). This day was very warm, so Caitlin and I grabbed a gelato each to help make our walk more enjoyable. We’re naturally drawn to art galleries and found ourselves finding one tucked away between some storefronts. In it we saw something truly spectacular and unlike anything we had ever seen before. The artist, named Takis Psarros, invited us into his workspace (links to his website and Instagram) where he uses a soldering iron to burn individual dots into leather, creating truly magnificent pieces. He very kindly invited me to take some pictures of his work (which not all artists would allow), If you check out the pictures below, you can see him, in front of his recreation on “The Creation of Adam” on leather explaining to Caitlin and I how he creates these works of art. The artistry, mastery, and sheer amount of time put into each work is truly remarkable. As we continued our walk around the town, we saw my parents, who had left the ship earlier in the day and hiked all the way to a church on the top of a hill for some remarkable views. They were quick to share that they had hit their 10,000 step goal for the day - an impressive accomplishment in that heat!
Kuşadasi, Turkey
Kuşadasi was our first stop in Turkey and was a beautiful port to pull into, featuring a Hollywood-like sign on the hill making sure everybody knows exactly where they are. It was an incredibly hot and humid day, which was surprisingly different compared to our 3 prior stops. Since we had special plans in the evening, we planned to just walk around the port for a little bit. This was a larger port, and there were three other ships parked along side us. After walking off the ship, we had to wind our way through a “market.” I say that in quotes, as it was the only way out of the port and was more of a tourist trap than authentic market, and mostly consisted of men trying to get you into their stores full of of counterfeit designer handbags and watches. There were other bazaars further from where we were, but we ended up walking the opposite direction towards the Guvercinada Castle. The ancient fortress and grounds were beautiful, and Caitlin expressed her dreams of having a home with grounds like it that we could walk around. That evening, we were treated to something very special. We were able to attend an after-hours, private concert and reception at the Odeon in Ephesus. The Odeon is a small theater originally constructed in the 2nd century A.D - so it felt very special to sit and enjoy the arts in a location where so many artists, poets, and philosophers performed centuries ago. It was pretty magical sitting in this historic location listening to live music while watching the sunset, casting a perfect backdrop among the ruins.
Çeşme, Turkey
Our final port of the cruise was in Çeşme, Turkey. It was a beautiful resort-like town and very pleasant for a nice stroll. We walked to Çeşme Castle, where we had the opportunity to navigate through the castle and walk along the ramparts. On our way back to the ship, we wandered through a nice shopping center in the Yacht Marina. Of course, when we met up with my parents later they told us they had walked all the way to the other side of town and back — they are on another level.
We departed Çeşme in the evening and had one day at sea as we sailed back to Athens. It was nice to have a day to enjoy laying out by the pool and exploring all of the other amenities of the ship. Our disembarkation was just as easy as it was to load onto the ship, but with a touch of sadness! After collecting our luggage, and meeting our Blacklane driver, we drove straight to the airport to catch our flights to Rome and Palermo.
Sicily (Palermo, Cefalù, Castelbuono, Piazza Amerina, Terrasini)
Ah, Palermo. As I mentioned above, I was born in Palermo before my family moved to the United States. My dad’s side of the family still lives in Sicily, so we grew up traveling back every few years when we were younger. It’s always a special experience going back, seeing family, and enjoying some of my favorite foods and pastries in the world. We were also excited for this portion of the trip because we were meeting up with my brother and his wife and getting to meet our almost-1 year-old niece (their daughter) for the first time (they live in Wisconsin and don’t get to see them often other than FaceTime calls given all of our schedules). After the not so long flights, but longer delays (classic Italy), we made it to Palermo, and got in the giant van/bus my dad rented to be able to cart 7 people and all of our luggage around Sicily. (As you can imagine, it’s pretty comical seeing this big vehicle drive around the narrow streets in Sicily.) We stayed in a nice hotel near the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi. After getting settled, we walked down to my cousin, Claudia’s apartment. We were met by her, her financé, my aunt and her partner, as well as a table FULL of food. Piero, Claudia’s fiancé, made us Negroni and other cocktails, and we enjoyed arancini, pasta, caponata, meats and cheeses, and fruit. It was nice to finally sit down and enjoy a good family meal, full of conversation and good times. After breakfast the next morning (the spread of various pastries and cakes was a treat!), we took una passeggiata (a nice walk/stroll in Italian) around Palermo. The city has changed so much since we last visited in 2017, with several areas catering more to the tourists by closing some of the streets and adding a lot more outdoor dining and commercial feeling souvenir shops. The locals, including some family and friends, had mixed feelings about this (I’m sure similar to how we in Seattle feel about going to Pike Place Market). In any event, it made for a pleasant walk taking in the incredible architecture Palermo has to offer. The city was preparing for Festino di Santa Rosalia, a big annual festival celebrating the city’s patron saint. Unfortunately we were leaving for Cefalù the next day so would miss all of the activities.
After some much needed lunch and a nice walk back to the hotel, we packed the car and headed to the beach town of Cefalú. This is a town many locals visit to get away from the heat and cool down in the crystal-clear waters of the sea. My dad used to spend some summers here working in a local restaurant that still stands today (we actually ate dinner there one evening). While I had visited Cefalú many times growing up, this was my first time staying there. We stayed at the Victoria Palace Hotel, which was right across the street from the beach and included access to their private beach area with chairs and umbrellas — it was the perfect spot for our group. It was a very nice few days relaxing in Cefalú, spending the mornings at the beach and afternoons and evenings walking around the old town built into the cliffside. To say the food here is incredible would be a wild understatement. We indulged in sweet treats, like cannoli and pistachio gelato, ate our weight in seafood and pasta (sometimes both at the same time), and enjoyed refreshing white wines and fun summer-time cocktails. Caitlin and I were about ready to stay in Cefalú and never come home, if not for the dogs back home waiting for us!
As we made our way from Cefalú to the town where the wedding was going to be, near the center of the island, we took a small detour and headed up to Castelbuono. Castelbuono is a small town in the mountains about 30 minutes up from Cefalú and is where my dad and his side of the the family is from. You can see the Puccia name adorn numerous storefronts, which is pretty cool! We stopped by the cemetery where my Nonno and Nonna rest to visit and say a prayer. After the adventure of trying to find a place to park the behemoth of a van in a tiny Italian village, we visited the house my dad grew up in. The house was a bit dusty, but it’s always a treat to be in such an old building near the castle and imagining what life was like decades or centuries ago. After some nostalgic moments, we walked around town and enjoyed a nice lunch outside before loading back up into the van. We were finally off to Piazza Amerina to commence the wedding festivities!
We had one quick historic detour with my parents. Villa Romana del Casale is a Roman villa dating from the 4th century AD located near the town of Piazza Armerina. While the majority of the exterior structure of the villa is gone, an excavation revealed expansive and well-preserved mosaics dating from the 4th century AD. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It is incredible thinking about the artistry and time (and patience) it took to create these mosaics at such a scale — a sign of the wealth and opulence of the Roman Empire during this time in Sicily’s history.
We had been excited about the wedding and celebrating with my cousin and her now-husband for months, and couldn’t believe it was finally here. The wedding venue, Tenuta Savoca, was incredible and had everything dialed to a “T.” This was one of the most epic weddings we’ve ever been to! After a beautiful ceremony, we made our way to the cocktail hour, enjoying Negroni and champagne, as well limitless appetizers including fried calamari, grilled octopus, and arancini. These were set up at different stalls that felt like a night food-market. The food was incredible and plenty and as we were loading up on antipasti (appetizers), we had to remind ourselves that we still had a full dinner service (primi and secondi) ahead — We were there for all of it. We made our way into the forest and were met with the most spectacular, fairytale, magical scene. The long tables reminded us of Harry Potter, and the chandeliers and twinkling lights set the perfect mood. There was an 80’s -style live band singing and dancing throughout the dinner, and everybody would get up and dance between each of the 4 or 5 courses, making dinner stretch from 8-ish until what felt like 11 or 12. After dinner, we walked back to the reception area, where Claudia and Piero cut the cake and served desserts. If you didn’t guess already, yes, there were countless dessert options too! Set up in the same night-market style, we indulged in mini-cannoli, cakes, gelato and more. By about 1AM Caitlin and I were ready for bed, but one of the couple’s friends told us the party hadn’t even started …. what?! We managed to stay up a little longer, but called it a night earlier than any Italian (what a disgrace we are)! This was definitely a wedding to remember and we felt so honored to have been invited and included in the celebration.
We may have been a little slow the morning after the wedding, but managed to get ourselves up and take a walk. We were summoned pretty quickly from across the property by my parents who were waiting for the venue staff to complete setting up for breakfast. After another morning of pastries, cakes and coffee, we bid adieu to the newlyweds and the rest of our Italian family and headed on the road again. To make life a little bit easier, we spent our last night in a town close to the Palermo airport called Terrasini. We stayed at the TerraSole Bakery B&B, which as you may guess is owned by a baker. The owner, Filippo, was amazing and greeted us in the morning excited to share his passion - his food - with us. He kept urging us to “mangia” (eat) more, but after a few slices of cake, we had perfectly full bellies, ready for our trip home. Since the rest of the family had offensively early flights, we were able to get a ride with Filippo when we were ready to leave at a more reasonable time.
If you couldn’t tell by the excitement in our writing, we had an amazing trip. It was fun spending time with family and sharing these experiences together. We cannot wait to go back and visit again soon.
I am excited to share some of the 2,000+ photos I collected on this trip, and hope you have enjoyed reading about our experience. Let me know if you’d ever like to learn more about any part of our trip or if you are looking for recommendations for your visit.
If you’ve read this far, thank you for your interest and support, and I hope you enjoyed living out this trip with me!
Trip Notes
Hotels: Grand Hyatt Athens, Hotel Politeama (Palermo), Victoria Palace Hotel (Cefalu), TerraSole Bakery B&B
Restaurants of Note: The Grand (@ The Grand Hyatt Athens), FOODA (Cefalù), Ristorante Kentia al Trappitu (Cefalù)
Activities: Private Greece Tours, Seabourn Cruise, Villa Romana del Casale
Travel Tips / Learnings:
Private Tour: As was our experience in Paris, the value of a private tour is hard to beat. It is such a nice way to see the highlights of a city in a highly efficient and comfortable way. It is a perfect way to squeeze as much of a new city as possible in a highly efficient and comfortable way. We saw Athens in a 4-hour block of time and could still enjoy the morning getting over the jet lag and enjoy sitting by the incredible hotel pool. The team at Private Greece Tours was fantastic to work with and we had a wonderful experience.
Seabourn Cruises: We were so impressed with Seabourn. The cabins, service, and food were all first class, while still being one of the more affordable cruise options in the area. We have a few future cruise destinations in mind (like Antarctica and Alaska), and after this experience, will strongly consider Seabourn again. While we chose not to do any of the port excursions, there were plenty of opportunities and options available.
Blacklane: We used Blacklane several times in France and had a great experience, so we were quick to use them for our transfers to and from the airport and from the hotel to the cruise ship. We were able to reserve our rides well in advance, and make changes quickly and easily when our plans changed. There’s a certain comfort knowing that you have a reserved ride waiting for you when and where you need it. We still use taxis and other forms of transportation during our travel, but for those important rides when you want to make sure you have a locked-in plan Blacklane is perfect.