I've been meaning to write up my thoughts on this month's trip to Greece for weeks now, but things immediately became so hectic upon my return that it's kept slip-sliding down the to-do list. (Case in point: I'm writing this over my lunch hour, which is falling at 2:30.) Things are good, mind you – just busy.

I'm also having difficulty summing up the entirety of such an amazing experience in only a few paragraphs. Where to begin? What to leave out? How much time to spend on what? Even the flight there was remarkable due to a layover in the Dublin airport, with its Celtic glasswork, its library-themed bar and its enormous glass Oscar Wilde. After arriving in Athens, we spent the night at a really nice little hotel just off the Placa, which is the main boulevard in Athens with all the shopping and puppet-wielding street performers that entails. The next morning we took a big, BIG high-speed boat (like this one but not) to the beautiful slumbering volcano of Santorini.

Ah, Santorini.

Seriously, I'm sort of at a loss to describe Santorini. Our hotel was on the inside slope of the caldera of the volcano, the center of which was a vast stretch of ocean dotted with other islands. Our villa was amazing, with doors that opened out onto the views and a quiet that's unlike anything I'd ever heard before. The food was incredible (I have to find a recipe for grilled feta now), the weather was amazing, but the views! Good Lord in heaven, the views! The views, the views! It wasn't just the sunsets and ocean vistas, either – even the little things were absolutely exquisite – and we even found one of my new favorite bookstores on the planet.

Go, check out the pictures on Flickr. Leave your questions and comments there, and I'll respond as quickly as I can. I know I'm meant to be a writer, but sometimes pictures really are worth a thousand words. In Part II I'll fill you all in on the ITRA conference in Nafplio, and in Part III I'll tell you about our adventures in Athens on the way home. And yes, pictures of the Acropolis will be included. Stay tuned!