I love jewelry, more specifically, jewelry with a meaning behind it!  I was intrigued when I saw an advertisement for Dune Jewelry and after looking at their jewelry, seeing how they were giving back to the community, and watching a couple of Live shows I was hooked!  I love the idea of being connected back to a place, a time, or a trip that holds special memories.  The Port of Call Necklace caught my attention because of the three separate spots for three different elements.  It made me think of the Greek cruise that my husband, sister, brother-in-law and I went on in 2018.  Maybe it is because of the uncertainty that the coronavirus has brought, but I needed to be reminded of those good memories so I decided to order my first piece.  Mother’s Day was coming up and since all of the stores were closed I told my husband I took care of the shopping myself!

Our Trip

Our first stop on the cruise was Santorini where we did a volcano hike and hot spring swim. After our hike and hot spring swim we got back to Santorini and had a little time before we had to board our ship.  We figured we would go into town and get a quick snack and walk in a couple of stores. There are three options to get to the town of Fira on Santorini: take a cable car, walk 587 steps up, or ride donkeys to the top. There was no way we had time or energy to do the steps, and since our tour paid for our pass to go on the cable car that was the plan until my brother-in-law decided he wanted to ride the donkeys.  Before I even knew what was happening I was on a donkey, going up the side of a mountain and I was holding on for dear life.  There is no guide, no time to take a picture, just you and a donkey with a mind of its own who doesn’t care if you get hit into the side of a wall (which I did).  I thought I was going to die (a girl on our cruise really did get hurt) and my brother-in-law and husband couldn’t stop laughing.  It is something that I can say I did once and never need to do again!

Our second stop was Mykonos where we visited for a brief time before going to Delos, the mythical birthplace of Apollo. Delos was surreal and felt like a whole different world.  Mykonos was charming with its cute windmills (pre-Hannah Brown from The Bachelorette) and laidback style.

Our third stop was Athens where we saw the Parthenon and Acropolis!  The history and architecture were amazing.  With a little time to spare my brother-in-law soon wrangled my husband into another adventure.  In one of the salons that we walked by they were offering a fish pedicure.  Yes, tiny fish eating the dead skin off of your feet.  My sister who was newly pregnant couldn’t do it and I had a cut on my ankle and I didn’t want to risk an infection so I was out too.  My brother-in-law went for it and soon talked my husband into it.  I have a video that is America’s Funniest Home Video worthy of the two of them squealing like little girls.  They drew so much attention from people passing by that people were signing up left and right to get their feet done too.  I don’t know if any of us had ever laughed so hard!

Our final stop was Katakolon/Olympia where we saw the birthplace of the Olympics.  It was interesting to hear how different the early Olympics were including the fact that athletes competed in the nude!  We then went to the beautiful Mercouri Winery where we tried wine while peacocks walked by us (for real)!

 

For my Port of Call necklace, I went with volcanic matter from the volcano we hiked, sand from the island of Mykonos, and sand from Athens.  I LOVE how the three elements are so visually different from one another.  The volcanic matter is dark, the sand from Mykonos is fine, and the sand from Athens is textured.  Each of the three elements are so unique from one another just like the three locations they came from.  I am in love with my necklace and have worn it every day! It makes me smile each time I put it on.

To submit your own Sand Story, or for any questions about how to capture your memories, email [email protected]