Island-hopping

By now everyone knows we're getting married on Santorini, but not necessarily where else we're going. We're actually getting married in the middle of our trip, due to the multiple moving parts involved (hotel availability, ferry schedules, alignment of the stars). We arrive in Athens on Monday, August 31, then take a small plane (which I'm a little nervous about ) to Naxos. Naxos is one of the larger islands in the Cyclades, and one of the greener. It's known for its groves of citron (kit-ron), which is citrusy but different from a lemon. Citron is distilled into a delicious liqueur which we plan to sample liberally. It's really available only on Naxos, too.

After 5 nights on Naxos, during which we will attempt to avoid sunburn and scooter accidents (not good for wedding photos), we take a catamaran to Santorini, where we will get married the same day we arrive! Let us hope we don't miss the boat. (Although as my mom says, it's not like we'll be keeping a lot of guests waiting if we do miss it.) We'll be on Santorini for 3 nights; this is pretty much guaranteed to be the most expensive part of our trip, due to our swanky hotel and the higher prices on Santorini. Our mantra is, "It's okay, it's our honeymoon!" although we have to keep that in check or else we'll be parading around on elephants and wearing tiaras.

On September 8 (which is the feast day for the Virgin Mary in Greece, so we may get to see some interesting things)*, we're taking a ferry to Sifnos, which is a smaller island favored by Greeks for their holidays. We'll spend 4 nights there at a place recommended by Carl's friend Gigi. (Gigi's sister Elaine hooked us up with the person at the Greek consulate here to translate our official documents, so thanks are due to both of them for their help!)

We'll spend the last night of our trip in Athens. With any luck we'll have a chance to quickly see the Acropolis and such.

We got a new camera for our trip, so expect lots of photos! We'll try to post some here during our travels.

*In response to Gigi's comment, here's what our book on the Greek islands says: August 15th is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and it's a national holiday. But September 8th is Gennisis tis Theotokou, the birth of the Virgin Mary, which is "an important feast day in the Orthodox church calendar."

Is that all there is to a Wildfire? Let's hope.

Over the past week there had been some alarming reports of wildfires in Greece. A few of you expressed concern. Happy to report that it sounds like they are mostly contained. None of the islands we're touring were affected. Last year Greece had a ferocious season of wildfires. Mercifully, it's looking like these latest fires won't come anywhere near that in magnitude. So, carry on. Nothing to see here.

Now Available in Fine Record Stores Near You....

Since we returned from Paris back in May, Hillary has been the point person for a LOT of logistics, coordination, and planning for this (supposedly) simple wedding of ours. She's done an incredible job handling the lioness' share of the arrangements. Sure, I've pitched in along the way, but really, she's been the brains behind this entire operation. But now....now it's MY turn to shine.

I am pleased to present to you the official soundtrack to our wedding and to the mini/micro receptiton that will follow (as in the two of us, two flutes of champagne, a bit of cake, and a million-drachma view of the Aegean)...

The songs start off on a spare, but elegant note and get incrementally more joyful and celebratory as they progress. We managed to work in a few cuts from the soundtracks to some of our favorite films. How I managed to justify a track off the Rushmore soundtrack, I'll never know. Please, forgive me. There's just something so irresistibly warm and twee to the minute-long whirl of harpsichord and glockenspiel on "The Lad with the Silver Button." If working that tune in was somehow subversive, jejune, or just plain wrong, then, people, I don't want to be right.

Palladium: it's what's for dinner

As Carl mentioned in his previous post, I've become quite a fan of palladium. It's a member of the "platinum family", which means that it has similar properties (hard, "white"-looking). But, it's much cheaper than platinum! Since my engagement ring is platinum, I wanted to get a wedding ring that would match it, and palladium was a more affordable choice. Palladium is becoming more popular for wedding and engagement rings, especially since the price of platinum has gone up quite a bit in recent years. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium.

I bought my ring from a jewelry designer who is based in Central Massachusetts, although I found her on Etsy, which is a website for crafty people worldwide to sell their creations. It's shaped like a Mobius strip, with a twist at the top. Here's a picture of a similar ring (mine is a bit narrower):



It was important to me to have a ring that's made out of recycled metal, and one that was hand-created by an artisan, and also something that's a little unique. Thanks again, Amanda! (Visit her Etsy shop.)

Lord of the Ring

After much ill-advised procrastinating, I finally selected a wedding band. Feeling the need to remain aerodynamically sound and ultra-lightweight, I went with a titanium ring. The thin stripe is palladium, which will match Hillary's ring. During our extended search for rings, Hillary got to be pretty gung-ho on palladium. In fact, I began to suspect that the Palladium Advisory Council had gotten her into their hydra-like clutches....

My ring is slightly darker than the one shown here.