Day 9 (Santorini, Greece)

Santorini: 129 Nautical Miles away from Athens; a beautiful city. Santorini is one of the Greek Islands that was created as a result of a volcanic eruption. Many many years ago, it use to be only one island, but after the volcano erupted, much of the land was destroyed and separated and now Santorini consist of several small islands. Some of those island are inhabited, but others are not.

As recommended by a vender we met the day before, we woke up early that morning to catch the sunrise over the old volcanic island. It was quite lovely to see the hints of light touch the city as the sun rose. We were tired, but it was worth waking up early.

The Island does not have a dock large enough for the cruise ship to dock. So we were tendered that day and had to take a small ferry onshore. The village of Fira in Santorini (were we came onshore) is up on the top of the hill. So we had two choices of getting uphill.

By Cable Car

Or by Donkey!

Haha....I wish we took the donkey option now. It would have been quite funny. But I didn't read the program before hand so I didn't know that was an option. I was wearing a dress that day and the donkey might not have been the best option.....So we took the cable car.

After we were on top of the hill and some time passed, we finally got the rental car we booked before hand. We wanted to be at our own liberty and didn't join a tour in Santorini. Instead, we were able to drive around by ourselves and explore the island.

The first stop we went to was one of the black beaches of Santorini. It's definitely not something I have seen before. The sand, the rocks.......everything was pretty much black. Very different from the sandy white beaches of Florida. I believe some of the sand and rocks are volcano rocks and from old smoothed out magma. Maybe I'm wrong.....

Black beach

Trying to find a pretty rock

We continued to drive around a little and we were able to see some cute small communities and houses. The houses towards the top of the hill are houses converted from old windmills.

Interesting houses

We finally reached the village of Oia. It is arguably the most beautiful area of Santorini. Its what you see on all the postcards of Santorini. It really does look like that! It is a gorgeous city with houses built on the cliff with water and mountains in the background. We really enjoyed walking around Oia even though it was very hot that day.

One of the many many chapels

Another island of Santorini

Happy doggy

Cool painting on old bar doors and such

After walking around for a couple hours, we returned to the ship and watched us sail off. We were able to catch some pretty scenery was we made our way back to Italy.

Volcanic Rock

Riding away from the Islands

For dinner:

Braised Beef Short Ribs over with Chived Pancakes and Orange Candy

New England Clam Chowder

Slow Roasted Prime Ribs with an Oven Roasted Red Pepper Stuffed with "Mac and Cheese"

Crepe Suzette

Day 8 (Athens, Greece)

After visiting Turkey, we made our way back to the west. Our first stop was Athens; only 191 Nautical Miles away. Athens lies in the continent and is not an island of Greece.

Athens is also a very old city, dating back to around 3,400 years. It was the center of arts, learning and philosophy, and the home to many philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.

We did not visit much of the city of Athens, but made our way to Acropolis, but before we reached Acropolis, we visited a staduim of the 2004 Olympic games.

Acropolis is located on top of a cliff over looking Athens. It contains several important ancient buildings. This area dates back before the prespective time......all the way back to the bronze age! A lot of the buildings are missing now.....namely because history recycled...........many of the different pillars and stones were used to build something new. But a general idea still stands and you can see how it us to be. The floors are made of mable (very slippery) and the orginal stones still remain.

The theatre

The Erechtheum

The famous parthenon

Looking into the city of Athens

Temple of Nike

The view the public saw as they first entered into the great Acropolis

Since it was Sunday, a lot of shops were closed in Athens. We were able to find a couple of stores close to Acropolis, but we soon returned to the ship to rest. (It was really hot and a lot of walking!)

For dinner that night:

Crispy Boursin Cheese with a Toasted Cashew Dressing

Germain's In House Cured Citrus Wild Salmon

Chilled Pumpkin Soup with Duck Confit

Fettuccini Pasta in a Saffron Cream with Torn Basil and Manila Clams

Germain's Pan Seared Pheasant's Breast in a Honey Barbecue Sauce

Praline cake with berries

Black and White Cheesecakes

Day 3 (Mykonos)

Mykonos was our first port of call. However, we did not dock on the port until around 1pm. So we lounged around the ship and ate lunch before exploring the city. In the morning, we were invited to a honeymoon/anniversary celebration from the cruise. It was simple.....champagne and cake, music and dancing.

Mykonos is one of the Greek Islands in the Mediterranean Ocean. In Mykonos, we did not book an onshore excursion (tour) It's a smaller city and we figured we would be able to walk around by ourselves and explore. After taking a shuttle bus from the port to the edge of the city, we were welcomed by a beautiful coastline of white houses with blue doors and staircases......just like you see in movies!

We explored the city and walked through the tiny uphilled streets. It is a pedestrian city; meaning there are no cars within the city. It makes sense though. It would be impossible to drive in the tiny, paved and sloped roads. But I can't imagine walking these streets every day!

Tiny, uphilled streets

The cat is waiting for the birds!

The most famous landmark of Mykonos is the old style windmills on top of a hill. They were quite an impressive site to see when you first turn around the corner. There are several windmills around the island of Mykonos (it is a very windy place), but these are the most famous ones.

Since we were at our leisure, we took our time to walk around the city. We climbed up to a high area to get a very nice view of the city and the beach.

Another windmill on top of a hill. If you look in the background, those are the windmills we were at before.

Mykonos is a beautiful city with gorgeous scenery. It was very enjoyable just to walk around. 

One of the beaches in Mykonos

The ship was scheduled to leave around that night, so we returned to the ship, jumped in the pool to cool off and got ready for dinner.

And my dinner that night?:

Chilled Maine Lobster Salad with Lemon Herbed Aioli, topped with Caviar

Creamy Spiced Parsnip Soup with Carmelized Apples, Fried Shallots and Duck Confit

Carbernet Braised Short Ribs

Chocolate Crouton Cake with Carmel