Honeymoon
2025-05-30
It has been over a month since I last wrote an entry.
Before the trip, I was desperately trying to finish my work and ended up overworking myself, which led to a cold. In that chaotic state, I plunged into my long vacation.
For our honeymoon, we went to Greece and Switzerland — a “beach and mountain delights” course.
To avoid crowds, we chose a lesser-known Greek island called Naxos.
The first thing I noticed upon arriving in Greece was how lifeless the plants looked. Perhaps due to the dryness and strong sunlight, everything seemed parched, with greenery that looked halfway to brown. It was not exactly a desert, but the scenery felt a little bleak. As we took a taxi to our accommodation, I could not help but feel a bit anxious — wondering if it would be okay to stay here.
Instead of a hotel, we rented a villa, hoping for a comfortable and relaxed stay… but the Wi-Fi did not work. And although it was chilly at night in May, the heater would not turn on for some reason. A turbulent start. I even started thinking maybe we should have stayed at a proper hotel — or even gone to Santorini after all.
But in the end, we spent the days lying on the beach reading, or hopping on buses to explore mountain villages, so we were rarely at the villa. We were out in the sun every day, and by nighttime we were so tired we would just shower and crash. So the Wi-Fi issue ended up not being a big deal.
The closest beach to our accommodation was called Agios Prokopios Beach — such a long name it sounded like a magic spell. It was about a 7-minute walk. The beach had sunbeds, and if you just laid on one, a waiter from a nearby restaurant would come take your order.
We also visited Agia Anna Beach next to Prokopios, but Prokopios had more shops and was more developed. Some spots at Agia Anna charged for bed use, which was surprising. Maybe they make up for the low number of visitors with bed fees.
It took about 15 minutes by bus to get from our place to Naxos Town. It is the main hub where buses depart to various places. The old town had lots of white buildings with a stylish Santorini-like vibe. There were narrow alleys and stairways, and many little handmade souvenir shops.
From Naxos Town, we took the bus into the mountains to visit two villages: Halki and Apeiranthos. Both were built from stone, but unlike Naxos Town, they were not painted white — they kept their natural stone color. Apeiranthos especially was known for marble, so the village had lots of marble architecture.
Halki, in particular, seemed sparsely inhabited. The farther we walked, the more it felt like a ghost village. I even thought, “If I died here, nobody would find me for days.”
Since it was still just before peak season in mid-May, the number of buses was limited. On our way back from Halki, the bus was packed, and we had to stand for a full hour 🥺
Agios Prokopios Beach 🏖️
Halki Village
Old Town of Naxos
Temple of Apollo
Breakfast buffet at our villa
After our stay in Greece, we headed to Switzerland. We stayed in a mountain village called Mürren, located 1,600 meters above sea level. The mountains were right in front of our hotel room ⛰️
I was moved to tears.
Just staying at the hotel in Mürren was luxurious — reading while gazing at the mountains from our room.
In hindsight, I wish I had walked around more while the weather was nice. Only the first two days were clear, and the rest were rainy. I should have enjoyed the sunshine more… 😭
(But I was so exhausted from all the traveling, it could not be helped.)
View from the gondola
View from the hotel
Scenery during our walk
When you descend into the valley by gondola, there is a village called Lauterbrunnen — supposedly the model for the setting of Heidi. I do not know if that is true, but there were cows and goats, for sure.
In Lauterbrunnen, we enjoyed looking at waterfalls, climbed close to the base of one and got out of breath, took a train to another village called Wengen, and explored other Alpine villages. Unfortunately, the weather that day was not great.
Cows
On the last morning, we hiked for an hour and a half from Mürren to the next village, Gimmelwald. The weather was bad again, with heavy fog, so the scenery was not very visible.
Despite the steep slopes, cows were grazing as usual — it was kind of funny.
Cows on a steep slope
Gimmelwald is literally built on a cliff, yet there are ordinary houses there.
It amazed me to see trampolines and toy cars in the yards — people actually raise kids in that terrain!
We took the train back to Zurich, and the scenery from the train was, of course, spectacular. You could see so many lakes and grasslands — everything was just beautiful.
I took mostly videos, so I do not have many photos.
View from the train
If asked which I preferred — Greece or Switzerland — I would say Switzerland, because I personally prefer the mountains.
But even rural Switzerland felt organized, clean, expensive, and clearly well-off as a nation.
By the way, neither country had particularly amazing food. (Except the buffet at the villa in Greece, which was good.)
The best thing I ate in Switzerland was fried rice from a Chinese restaurant.
View during a walk
The woman power-walking up a steep slope (on the left). A local, perhaps.
Flowers in the alpine meadow
(End)