NYC - IST-ATH on TK J class 57.k UA ATH - ZTH Olympic airline ZTH - ATH " " " ATH - JTR A3 (cash) JTR - ATH A3 ATH - BUD RyanAir $19pp (never again)! BUD - LHR-JFK on BA F class 90k Avios (a miracle)
Hotels. (in order of our trip) Athens, Sofitel Athens Airport, $325 Zakynthos, LesanteBlu, around $350pn Athens, Athenian Callirhoe Hotel, DR Athens, King George, 48k SPG for 3 nights Santorini, Acroterra Rosa, about $500pn Santorini, Santorini Kastelli Resort, DR Budapest, BMW 545i ;) $125
Activities Athens. Nightlife 8) 8). Zakynthos Private boat tour to Ship Wreck Beach, Hot Springs, UW Caves, Snorkeling, And Turtle Island (something like that) small tour of Zakynthos city. Athens. Changing of the guards (Parliament) . Hotel Spa Athens Botanical Park a.k.a. National Garden Skydiving (read the TR to see if we survived) Monastiraki Square King George Hotel Bar (you can see the Acropolis from there) Chabad Restaurant (eating is an activity for us) Full day bike tour including, old city, Acropolis, Mount Lycabettus Viewing Area, pretty much the top priority's in Athens. Santorini. (First thing you do is rent a ATV for the FULL trip!) Santorini Winery Moni, Pyrgros Akrotini Lighthouse kind of a hidden gem especially for sunset. Thera Nightlife NM Highest point on the island (insane views) castle ruins Sunset in Oia go early if you want a good spot Black beach, Red beach, White beach Catamaran 6 hour boat tour including sunset, volcanic island with hot spring, Jet Ski's. Budapest. Main priority GET FOOD! Carmel Étterem oh it was soooo good. R' shaya kerestir to top it all off!
Im working on the full TR (with pics) stay tuned.
(please note this trip was in Aug 2017 was backing up my old pictures and decided to make a TR) p.s. its my first real TR pls lmk if i missed anything. ASK AWAY...!!! (and like away!)
--- Quote from: Naftuli19 on January 04, 2019, 02:22:34 AM ---Trying to figure out how to upload pics...
--- End quote --- https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=46084.0
Naftuli19:
--- Quote from: shulem92 on January 04, 2019, 02:26:09 AM ---https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=46084.0
--- End quote --- Yup think i figured it out thanks
Naftuli19:
Hi guys, here’s my extended TR on Greece Honeymoon.
I have dreamed about going to santorini ever since i saw the 1st picture of santorini, but wanted to save it for my honeymoon with my special someone.
So here i go on ranting about our amazing trip Enjoy…!
TRIP PLANNING
The first and the hardest part was to find my wife that's amazing in everything and loves to travel, Then the debate started where do we go?! After some Shana Reshona arguing and fighting we finally “settled” on GREECE (YAY!) So research began santorini was a must so we started looking for what else, we stumbled upon the island called “Zakynthos”’ which from research looked like a nice quiet place, we found a brand new and pretty good priced hotel LesnateBlu so we booked the hotel and flights from ATH (that's how we do things, backwards). Flights from NYC - ATH were easy to find on UA for 57k points flying with TK J class. Now this is where the fun begins, we decided instead of going straight home after santorini (last part of our trip) we will go to Budapest to R’shaya Kerestir (missed taking the EY flight ATH-JFK).
Warning some may find this boring!(So i started looking around and found 1 seat on BA F class that was perfect timing for us for 90k BA p + $500pp i think, and it became my mission and commitment to get 2 seats on that flight in 1st (side note i told my wife that since we're going to R’Shaya he will help us get that flight (just wait and see no jokes). I transferred points into each of our accounts opened 2 laptops connected to 2 separate Wifi and started the process entered all the info and hit reserve at the same time, after a few intense seconds my ticket went thru but got a “Credit Card Error” on my wifes. So i cancelled my ticket (i really hope BA does not read this forum ;) and re did it this time my wifes went thru and not mine! So i called BA and told them i recently booked a ticket for myself and just received a email that my flight was canceled and i had nothing to do with it, and of course the rep didn't buy it he started saying maybe u hit cancel by mistake blah blah blah...but after some arguing and convincing he start questioning himself! He started apologizing and asking if i can take different flight but we couldn't, but i was committed, so i went back and forth with him saying i want my ticket back… After sometime i was transferred to a jerk supervisor who wouldn't buy my story for anything he kept saying i see the other reservation was made by your relative a few seconds after you did.... I started yelling at him... he said there is nothing they can do but i should keep calling and check if someone cancels. I stuck with my not canceling story so he said he will open a internal investigation to see where the cancelation came from. To make a really long story short 2 weeks went by with BA constantly calling back saying that they see where the cancelation came from and it was from a IP address in NY which was mine. But i stuck with mine and they said they will dig deeper… after the 2 weeks i get a call saying that its still under investigation but they will open up a 1st class ticket on the 2nd leg BUD-LHR-JFK so i would get BUD-LHR in economy and LHR-JFK in F and really that's all i wanted so i told them perfect book and i'll sit in econ for 3 hrs while my wife is in J they made the reservations and charged my card . (here is the crazy part) I get a call a few days later from a BA supervisor, he starts apologizing, i ask him for what's going on? so he says we did an investigation we found that there was a error from our end and they are giving me a refund on some points and the $500 and they got me on the J on BUD-LHR!!!)
The rest of the flights were simple…
THE TRIP.
Packing. My very talented wife packed everydays wardrobe separately and worked out really well highly recommended! Food there is barely any kosher food in Greece so we took along a 75lb duffle bag with any non perishable food (tuna,sardines,jerky,bars and more bars,instant soup, smoked salmon, ready meals and so much more)
Packed everyday separately by Juni cat, on Flickr
Arrived at JFK a bit early check in and security was a breeze (always mention your on honeymoon) spend some time in LH lounge was pretty nice. Boarding was a charm here is our seats and equipment that we got from TK!
Our Seats by Juni cat, on Flickr
Bathroom by Juni cat, on Flickr
Food by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170802_193506 by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170802_192037 by Juni cat, on Flickr
Popped some pills and i was out cold..!! After a quick stop in Istanbul we were on are way to Greece.
20170803_135725 by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170803_145146 by Juni cat, on Flickr
Arriving at ATH was pretty awesome very nice airport got are luggage pretty quick and off to Sofitel Athens Airport we had to stay in Athens that night so we stayed at the hotel at the airport rooms were not bad they have a rooftop pool where you can watch all plane activities which is pretty darn cool, they also have a really good bar and cigar lounge on the ground level that you can stop in if you have a stop over in ATH it's literally right when you walk out of the airport.
View from hotel in ATH by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
We ate dinner took a taxi(uber works in athens) to the nightlife area (don't remember the name but there is a specific place) Next day we took a flight with Olympic Air don't expect much to a island called Zakynthos (zah-keen-thaws)
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
We arrive at this tiny airport pretty easy to find a cab tho (Uber wasn’t working on the islands at the time) took about a 30min zig-zag drive until we reached our hotel. We booked a room with a plunge pool for $350 which turned out to be a great deal It's hard to tell from the pics just how beautiful the hotel and the view is, but i'll try.
LesanteBlu Hotel our pool by Juni cat, on Flickr
LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel part of the l shaped pool by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel from the water by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu matching cocktail by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu a mushroom we found by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu at night by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu Sunrise by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu now its a pop by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu Spa indoor pool by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr
The hotel and views are obviously beyond service was was a solid 8 cleanliness and amenities were a 10+ they warmed whatever we asked and so on….
Naftuli19:
--- Quote from: Naftuli19 on January 04, 2019, 04:20:21 AM ---Hi guys, here’s my extended TR on Greece Honeymoon.
I have dreamed about going to santorini ever since i saw the 1st picture of santorini, but wanted to save it for my honeymoon with my special someone.
So here i go on ranting about our amazing trip Enjoy…!
TRIP PLANNING
The first and the hardest part was to find my wife that's amazing in everything and loves to travel, Then the debate started where do we go?! After some Shana Reshona arguing and fighting we finally “settled” on GREECE (YAY!) So research began santorini was a must so we started looking for what else, we stumbled upon the island called “Zakynthos”’ which from research looked like a nice quiet place, we found a brand new and pretty good priced hotel LesnateBlu so we booked the hotel and flights from ATH (that's how we do things, backwards). Flights from NYC - ATH were easy to find on UA for 57k points flying with TK J class. Now this is where the fun begins, we decided instead of going straight home after santorini (last part of our trip) we will go to Budapest to R’shaya Kerestir (missed taking the EY flight ATH-JFK).
Warning some may find this boring!(So i started looking around and found 1 seat on BA F class that was perfect timing for us for 90k BA p + $500pp i think, and it became my mission and commitment to get 2 seats on that flight in 1st (side note i told my wife that since we're going to R’Shaya he will help us get that flight (just wait and see no jokes). I transferred points into each of our accounts opened 2 laptops connected to 2 separate Wifi and started the process entered all the info and hit reserve at the same time, after a few intense seconds my ticket went thru but got a “Credit Card Error” on my wifes. So i cancelled my ticket (i really hope BA does not read this forum ;) and re did it this time my wifes went thru and not mine! So i called BA and told them i recently booked a ticket for myself and just received a email that my flight was canceled and i had nothing to do with it, and of course the rep didn't buy it he started saying maybe u hit cancel by mistake blah blah blah...but after some arguing and convincing he start questioning himself! He started apologizing and asking if i can take different flight but we couldn't, but i was committed, so i went back and forth with him saying i want my ticket back… After sometime i was transferred to a jerk supervisor who wouldn't buy my story for anything he kept saying i see the other reservation was made by your relative a few seconds after you did.... I started yelling at him... he said there is nothing they can do but i should keep calling and check if someone cancels. I stuck with my not canceling story so he said he will open a internal investigation to see where the cancelation came from. To make a really long story short 2 weeks went by with BA constantly calling back saying that they see where the cancelation came from and it was from a IP address in NY which was mine. But i stuck with mine and they said they will dig deeper… after the 2 weeks i get a call saying that its still under investigation but they will open up a 1st class ticket on the 2nd leg BUD-LHR-JFK so i would get BUD-LHR in economy and LHR-JFK in F and really that's all i wanted so i told them perfect book and i'll sit in econ for 3 hrs while my wife is in J they made the reservations and charged my card . (here is the crazy part) I get a call a few days later from a BA supervisor, he starts apologizing, i ask him for what's going on? so he says we did an investigation we found that there was a error from our end and they are giving me a refund on some points and the $500 and they got me on the J on BUD-LHR!!!)
The rest of the flights were simple…
THE TRIP.
Packing. My very talented wife packed everydays wardrobe separately and worked out really well highly recommended! Food there is barely any kosher food in Greece so we took along a 75lb duffle bag with any non perishable food (tuna,sardines,jerky,bars and more bars,instant soup, smoked salmon, ready meals and so much more)
Packed everyday separately by Juni cat, on Flickr
Packed everyday separately by Juni cat, on Flickr
Arrived at JFK a bit early check in and security was a breeze (always mention your on honeymoon) spend some time in LH lounge was pretty nice. Boarding was a charm here is our seats and equipment that we got from TK!
Our Seats by Juni cat, on Flickr
Bathroom by Juni cat, on Flickr
Food by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170802_193506 by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170802_192037 by Juni cat, on Flickr
Popped some pills and i was out cold..!! After a quick stop in Istanbul we were on are way to Greece.
20170803_135725 by Juni cat, on Flickr
20170803_145146 by Juni cat, on Flickr
Arriving at ATH was pretty awesome very nice airport got are luggage pretty quick and off to Sofitel Athens Airport we had to stay in Athens that night so we stayed at the hotel at the airport rooms were not bad they have a rooftop pool where you can watch all plane activities which is pretty darn cool, they also have a really good bar and cigar lounge on the ground level that you can stop in if you have a stop over in ATH it's literally right when you walk out of the airport.
View from hotel in ATH by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
Some really awesome cocktails by Juni cat, on Flickr
We ate dinner took a taxi(uber works in athens) to the nightlife area (don't remember the name but there is a specific place) Next day we took a flight with Olympic Air don't expect much to a island called Zakynthos (zah-keen-thaws)
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
Olympic Air by Juni cat, on Flickr
We arrive at this tiny airport pretty easy to find a cab tho (Uber wasn’t working on the islands at the time) took about a 30min zig-zag drive until we reached our hotel. We booked a room with a plunge pool for $350 which turned out to be a great deal It's hard to tell from the pics just how beautiful the hotel and the view is, but i'll try.
LesanteBlu Hotel our pool by Juni cat, on Flickr
LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel part of the l shaped pool by Juni cat, on Flickr LesanteBlu Hotel from the water by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu matching cocktail by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu a mushroom we found by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu at night by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu Sunrise by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu now its a pop by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu Spa indoor pool by Juni cat, on Flickr LesnateBlu by Juni cat, on Flickr
The hotel and views are obviously beyond service was was a solid 8 cleanliness and amenities were a 10+ they warmed whatever we asked and so on….
--- End quote --- Its 4am time for bed theres alot more coming! is there a better way to upload alot of pics at once (im using dans method with Flickr copy/pasting each link separately)
Naftuli19:
ill try to add dates so it makes figuring out the timeline easier anything else pls lmk!
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