Where to start? I think I'll start in the middle of the trip with Santorini, a beautiful Greek Island. I took notes so here we go.
Oct 30
Early this morning our ship stopped near the island of Santorini, Greece . We took a tender to the Athinios dock & then got on a tour bus headed for a village called Fira aka Thira. Our bus toured around the the town of Oia. We saw all white houses, painted with liquid limestone & cobalt blue domed roofs then we drove to the town of Thira, the main center of the island. We took some time out for shopping in the quaint village. Greece has the most beautiful jewelry stores , unusual pieces such as 18 - 22kt gold, ancient coin & byzentine pieces. They even refer to the main street there as "jewelry street".
The jewelry stores were to die for. I couldn't help but take some pics of the displays. The semi precious stones & opals remind of the shallow waters in Hawaii & most of the gold was either 18 kt or 22 kt. Your Euros don't last long in a town like this. Speaking of money I found it easier to buy in Greece. They actually take Euro, American money or credit cards. In Sicily they only wanted Euro & didn't want credit cards unless it was a large purchase or not at all. The exchange rate these days is not that good.
Just yummy! I love anything aqua & anything Opal.
The cross on the left came home with me.
Pretty little ceramic ladies
A popular mode of transportation.
I'm partial to colorful doors. This does not look like any Best Western I've ever seen : )
There were Italian buildings in Greece, Greek buildings & ruins in Italy & Turkey. Since the areas go back so far they were all ruled by each other at one time or another. Might explain why my father had a Greek first name & an Italian last name although he was Italian & French.
What have we here? More jewelry stores. In all three countries I visited they were big on evil eye jewelry. History here.
Byzentine inspired jewelry is so beautiful.
There were several of these doors along the main street. Some led down to restaurants further down the cliff but some did not. I called them the "doors to nowhere". Is that Patti & John P? Good because Patti lost all of her Greek pics. And Shirley, don't step out that door!!
Real doors to somewhere.
Here is a view of our ship, the Costa Romantica, patiently waiting for us to return.
A beautiful church , the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral.
I love the iron work that was all around us. While Shirley was salivating over this 18 or 22 kt bracelet ...
I was looking in the case at these gems. We couldn't afford any of them but it was fun to look & try them on. 430 euro for the miniscule pendant. That is about $645.00!
If we hit Lotto we'll be back : )
When it was time to go back we took what they call a cable car. It was more like an enclosed ski lift. It took us back to the dock. Our other choice down the hill was DONKEY. No thank you. Then we boarded a tender back to the Costica Romantica.
We had lunch on the dining deck overlooking the beautiful rocky cliffs.
This is Anne, a new friend in our group.
Our view of the white buildings on the cliffs of Santorini. We headed out to sea around 1 pm during lunch. Tonight we dock at the island of Mykonos . Some went out for a land dinner there but I decided to eat in as it is now dark out & nothing can be seen.
This afternoon we learned some Greek line dancing. That was fun. Tomorrow is Athens .
Oct 31 - Halloween in Athens .
Today was a tour to the Acropolis (slide show here) which Shirley & I skipped, trying to save $$ plus we were worn out from day long tours. We tried to sign up at the last minute & the group was full. Instead we got off the ship & shopped in the immigration station & went to the Internet cafe to catch up on the news at home. In about an hour we leave Greece & head for Rome . We will be at sea all day tomorrow.
Tonight is our second dress up night. Gianfranco took another group photo. After we finished dinner the lights went out with only candles on the table. They started playing the Italian national anthem. People stood up & waved their cloth napkins in a circular motion above their heads cheering. With the second song many got into a long conga line. Most of the people on the ship were Italian so it was a lively group. Next the lights came back on & the ships captain & crew in their dress whites were each introduced. Also the chefs in their white uniforms & tall chef hats paraded around the restaurant.
Bad picture here but you get the idea. Afterwards we saw a musical in the ship theater.
Next post will be either Sicily or Turkey.
