Rising With The Sun

On Tuesday morning we decided to watch the sunrise.

We really couldn't pass it up seeing as we were barely a hop, skip, and a tiny jump away from the beach.

You could see the Aegean from our beds, for crying out loud!

So at 5:30am our alarms went off and while Maria and I rolled over and continued to snooze, Cecilia jumped out of bed, threw open the curtains, and opened the door, exposing us to much brighter light than one would imagine would be happening at 5:30 in the morning.

Quite literally the view from our bed/door

We wrapped ourselves up in sweaters and headed to the beach.

As we walked, you could see the colors of the sun begin to peek over the tops of the buildings and the sky reddened as the sun ascended.

The prettiest sunrise was waiting for us when we finally came upon the sand. 

I'm going to preface this by saying there are many, many photos almost exactly like the one below...

BUT HOW IS A GIRL TO CHOOSE WHEN EACH ONE IS SO MAGNIFICENT?!

We walked along the beach to snag the purrrrrrrr-fect shot but truly, it didn't matter where you stood. It was brilliant from all angles.

It only seemed to get better as the minutes ticked by so finally, we just took a seat and let the next 20 minutes completely envelop us.

Being sure to snag a fantastic Instagram along the way....

Selfies are imperative on all occasions.

Even with 5:30 am face and hair... Come and get it, b0yZz

It really was just too spectacular. As we walked home, the sun was behind us, so the buildings were kissed with pink all the way up the mountain. 

It was so serene. There wasn't a soul out aside from the three of us. Our private own sunrise, that I've decided to share with all of you.

One last glimpse from our apartment was enough and we climbed back into bed and dozed until noon.

#nofilter

Day 2 and 3 in Chios

The next two days were a blur of food, sun.....more food....and more sun.

We only ever got up off the beach to eat something.

What a glorious way to live!

Lunch with the family consisted of coca-cola tastings,

Greek salads with huge blocks of fresh, crumbly feta cheese sprinkled with a dash of oregano,

The most delicious gyro plate in all the land,

Chicken souvlaki,

And ouzo to top it all off!

There's really nothing better than good food and family.

A few puppies here and there wouldn't hurt either!

The weather at the beach was just marvelous. It was in the high 90's but zero humidity and a beautiful wind that kept us feeling light and cool while we were, in fact, roasting like baked potatoes in the oven!

Maria, Cecilia, and I kept it low-key and headed out to a spectacular seafood dinner by the water at a little restaurant near our apartment

Starting with a Greek salad (of course!)

I'm not quite sure if there was ever a meal we DIDN'T order a Greek salad....

Shrimp Saganaki!

I have been itching to try Shrimp Saganaki for such a long time and it was just as phenomenal as I could have expected. Small, succulent shrimps tossed in a tomato, feta cheese, wine sauce that is just to die for.

I've always heard how easy it is to make Shrimp Saganaki yourself and now, after finding out how truly delicious it is, I think I might just have to give it a go!

Grilled octopus.

And an entire grilled dorado fish. Most of us will know it by it's more common name "Mahi-Mahi."

I've heard that when Mahi-Mahi are swimming freely, before being caught, their colors are a brilliant blue and silver speckled with yellow throughout. The colors drain almost immediately after dying, giving way to a sweet, tender fish.

I've only ever had Mahi-Mahi in fish tacos so being served the entire fish on a plate was quite a different (and a little trying) experience.

All washed down with a bottle (or two!) of the house white wine.

Stuffed to the brim with phenomenal food that only ran us about 40 euros in total, we made our way through the complementary and fantastically fresh watermelon before heading home very happy and slightly fatter American girls.