Top 5 Travel Experiences...so far!

Today I'm doing a link-up with fellow blogger and Amsterdam expat Ellen from Company of Clever. I have been BLESSED to be able to live in the beautiful city of Amsterdam and to participate in some pretty amazing adventures along the way. I can't wait to explore the rest of this amazing world and see what other crazy things we can get our hands on! For now though, here's a round-up of my most memorable travel experiences to date! Disclaimer: It was extremely difficult to narrow down to 5 and ofcourse these are in no particular order. I guarantee if you do one or all of these, you're really in store for some unforgettable moments...

...so here goes! My Top 5 Favorite Travel Experiences... 

1.) Navigating through MOROCCO’s ancient cities and riding camels and sandboarding in the Sahara…followed by sleeping under the stars :)

One of the best holidays Christian and I had was when we spent a week exploring Fez and Marrakech, Morocco! The souks, riads and hospitality of Moroccan people made us fall in love with the country. The best part was when we rode camels into the Sahara, went sandboarding and slept on the dunes under a bazillion twinkly stars!  

2.) Throwing tomatoes at SPAIN’s most famous food fight: LA TOMATINA!

On the last Wednesday of August, thrill-seekers venture from near and far to Bunol, Spain, to take part in a crazy tomato fight that I know we will never forget! We started off the morning at 5AM drinking sangria, laughed our butts off during the hour long tomato-flinging and finished the day drinking Spanish beer and dancing to DJs (tapas were involved too ofcourse!)…unimaginable fun!!! 

3.) Dogsledding and snowmobiling in FINLAND’s Arctic Circle

I’d never even put thought into what snowmobiling and dogsledding was like until I was actually doing it on a trip up to the Arctic Circle with Christian during our semester abroad in Finland. I blogged a bit about it here and can say without a doubt that it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life…check out the video below!

4.) Island hopping in GREECE

Oooooh Greece!! I would return to Greece in an absolute second! Christian, my best friend Smitty, Denis (a French friend Christian and I studied in Finland with) and Emma (an awesome Finn, new friend of ours AND Denis' girlfriend) spent 1 week visiting Santorini and Naxos. Cruising between the Greek isles was just as breathtaking as it sounds…and it was too easy to convert each ferry to a party boat! We’re counting down the minutes until we reunite with Denis and Emma again this summer to cruise around Croatia’s Dalmatian coast :).

5.) Being a part of full-fledged World Cup madness in HOLLAND!

It’s not soccer fever, it’s FOOTBALL FEVER! It sucked me in so much that even I was nearly in tears watching the Dutch team lose to the Spanish in the World Cup Final in 2010 (I joined 250,000 other fans and 5 gigantic live TV screens in Museumplein...you could feel the energy of the crowd deep in your bones!). It was definitely a summer to remember and I can’t wait to dress from head to toe in orange (the color of the Dutch team!) this summer when they compete in the European Cup 2012…ORANJE! ORANJE! ORANJE!

Any AHHH-MAZING experiences that you've had? I'd love to hear them and add them to my list!!! :)

Greek Island Lovin' Pt. 2: Santorini

Aaahhhhh SANTORINI!! There’s a reason why this island is probably the most visited in the Greek Isles. Absolutely mesmerizing. Gorgeous. Magical. These words don’t even come close to describing Santorini. With no surprise, we HAD to include this on our Greece itinerary. We sort of expected it to be overrun with tourists and expensive, but actually it wasn’t (although we did arrive at the beginning of tourist season). After leaving quiet, sleepy Naxos, we boarded the 2 hour ferry booze cruise to Thira. On this day, it just so happened to be Christian’s birthday!! So sneaky Smithers (she’s always sneaky) managed to find a bakery in Naxos and ordered a cake, ready for pick up right before we headed towards the boat. Once on board, we left our backpacks in the luggage compartment, took a seat on the deck and totally surprised Christian with a birthday cake and sing-a-long…he was so excited, after never having had a birthday cake before :). The rest of the 2 hours meant we got to relax in the sun with our newfound Swedish boatmates, pour a few cocktails and enjoy views of Paros and Ios...until finally, there it was…Santorini! Perched high on a cliff on the island of Thira, our eyes lit up. Before we knew it, we were all checked in to our 5 person suite at Noni’s Apartments in Fira, the main town, with a KILLER view of the ocean and about ooooh 6  feet from the swimming pool—PARADISE.

Our entire 4 days and nights were out-of-this-world amazing—the place itself and our small travel posse made it basically the most perfect few days ever. Noni’s Apartments couldn’t have been more perfect, not too pricey, EXTREMELY friendly and accommodating owner and it was just a short stroll to the labyrinth of walkways in and around Fira (with a view at every corner ofcourse!) We spent our days lounging by the pool with made-to-order Greek coffee frappes (thanks Boris!) and exploring the island—a trip to Red Beach, hopping from winery-to-winery, renting ATVs to visit villages like Megalochori and quiet beaches and experiencing the sunset over Oia. We always retreated back to our hotel for fresh plates of feta cheese, tzakiki + bread, cold cuts and spanakopita…and local Santorini wine too :). Nights were spent watching the sunset and satisfying our appetites at Fira’s many gyros and souvlaki stands—these tasty lil buggers were not only DELICIOUS but only 2-3 EUR! We did decide to splurge on our last night dining al fresco—bifteki, stuffed squid, fresh seafood salad to name a few, but my gosh, those gyros were still on our minds! As our last day approached though, we couldn’t help but shrug and just wish we were staying indefinitely.