Day 2

At 7am Louis woke up in a panic. We slept through our alarm and we were late. Originally we were supposed to get up, write our blog and also finish some thank you notes to everyone who got us wedding presents (sorry guys, you’re going to have to wait 2 weeks now). We also planned to avail of our free buffet breakfast and get the bus at 7am. So as we got up and packed, showered the sweat off and left, we still couldn’t possibly believe how hot it was in that room. Louis definitely lost about 2 stone in weight from all his sweating.

Bus back into Stansted and no questions from the bus driver, we dropped our bag off and went through security. We even splurged out on the Stansted Fast Pass which meant we were in and out in no time, and with no fuss. Louis again was a bit stressed as on top of organising all the travelling, documents and me, we also had to prepare for Covid documents and locator forms. But everything was going well so far.

A bite of food and a moment to gather our thoughts, we were back on a plane, Ryanair this time, and off to Crete. For those avid followers of Gin & Travel, we went to Greece in 2018 and island hopped around islands like Santorini and Mykonos but this time, we’re staying put on the southern Island of Crete – same country, new island.

Like proper travel bloggers, we wrote the blog on the plane on our laptop as we flew over Germany. Anna asked if the big river out the window was the Nile….geography was never her best subject.

When we arrived in Greece, we were welcomed with a flyover of fighter jets. The greek army were out in force to say hello to us, or to prepare for something more sinister but probably the former, they must have heard we were on our honeymoon!

Cruising through passport control, Louis was surprised at how easy and laid back everything was. That was until we travelled on through the airport where we were all tested for Covid. As we queued and got our noses penetrated, we then all had to wait in the baggage collection area for our results, and also our passports. This system was just not working. Having tested all 228 people on the flight, we huddled around a desk to wait for our name to be called as they read out each passport. Names from all over the world, my name baffled them the most, evident by the very long pause before shouting St John Fields??

For ease, Louis booked a taxi to take us to the hotel and as we sat in the back of the Mercedes, we even gave each other a high five that we made it with no problems. That was until the police were right behind us and pulled us over. €120 fine and some penalty points for our driver the result of some dangerous overtaking. He knew the chief of police though so he said it would only be about €20. Handy.

Our ride through the mountainous terrain took us to our all inclusive Syntopia Hotel. After checking in on their fancy app, we strolled around and ate some of our heart shaped gateau that the hotel had made for us. Either because they know we are successful insta bloggers or that we are on honeymoon…probably both.

Louis was in his element. The hotel was full of plants and greenery, had unlimited food and drink all day and was also eco-friendly. They recommended we use the stairs instead of the lift which we didn’t mind, we’ll just burn off what we eat and drink!

A 3 course buffet meal which Louis actually had soup!! For those who know, Louis was on a soup diet pre-wedding and declared that afterwards he wouldn’t touch the stuff. Well, how married life changes you. As we sat by the pool and drank moscow mules all night, we relaxed and people watched until it was time to hit the hay.