I had the absolute joy of hopping onto the Greek island of Rhodes to attend the most gorgeous wedding. Hanna and I met back at uni; we’ve shared many adventures over the past decade, so it was an absolute honour to be there to celebrate her love with Katie (the bride, not me haha!). As the couple are Swedish and English and guests would have to travel anyway, they decided to make everyone travel somewhere amazing, and that’s how we found ourselves heading to Greece!

On our first proper day, we went on a boat trip with a bunch of the wedding guests. It was amazing – the sun was shining, the sea was so gorgeous, and we were able to swim into a cave where a crab tickled my fingers, and we pretended to be mermaids. Then the clouds started to darken, it started to rain, and the lightning strikes got increasingly closer until they struck the mast of the next door boat. We had been having a silly time dancing in the rain as folks progressively headed under deck for shelter, but that flash put a stop to Laura and my mucking about! Huddled under deck with way too many people in the space, the humour was good, and it was an unforgettable way to meet the wedding people! We headed back to our hotel to dry off, and in a couple of hours the sun was shining again, and our dancing resumed in the pool. We had a very tasty dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Then it was the main event: the wedding! Hanna and Katie got married at the gorgeous Kallithea Springs, which was giving big, beautiful Mamma Mia vibes. The ceremony was so sweet and heartfelt; both brides were stunning, and it made me tear up with emotion. Dinner was a delicious Greek feast accompanied by lots of laughs at Table 3, and there were cats roaming around as well, which was cute. In the evening, we tore up that dance floor, performed several musicals and improvised some makeshift ceilidh dances. The whole day was just perfect. Then at midnight, when the wedding ended, it suddenly started to rain, which felt like a kind of fairytale magic.

Speaking of rain… the next day was a massive thunder and lightning storm that flooded the island, so we spent the whole day in the hotel room learning Zara Larsson dances and playing many games of Monopoly Deal and Mafia. The weather was relentless all day until later in the evening when it seemed like we could brave popping down the road to get some dinner. We had the most amazing and massive gyros, and it was so welcome after a day inside with only snacks. So in my classic four-day summary, I’m not counting the storm day as a full day and merging it with our final travel day, which included walking around Rhodes Town a bit more, picking up final souvenirs and eating seafood on the beach as we watched people diving.

On our last full day, we took a boat trip to Symi Island. It is one of the most adorable wee places I’ve ever seen! After picking up some brunch, we climbed to the top of the Kali Strata for views of the town from the church at the top of the hill. Then we headed down to take a dip in the sea, which was so refreshing. We pottered around in the shops before heading back to Rhodes Old Town for a wander about with some folks from the wedding. It was such a beautiful day, rounded off with a delicious taverna dinner.

I feel so grateful for this week that was full of laughter, quality time with friends I don’t get to see too often and so much love. Doesn’t hurt either that we were in such a gorgeous place.