FRIDAY 22nd JUNE 2012

GREEK ISLES CRUISE

Leisurely start this morning, didn't have to be at the port of Piraeus to catch the cruise ship until eleven o'clock!
Last night we put all our cruise luggage into one case and also put some gear in an overnight bag! The other case will be stored at the Novotel until our return! That way we won't have to fit an extra case into our cabin!
We set off to the port passed some of the infrastructure built for the Olympic Games, now mostly unused and a total waste of money! Obviously the Games cost the country big time and they have never recovered!
Once again what we saw of the city was gruesome, quite honestly one of the ugliest places I have ever seen!
Once at the ferry terminal we braved the massive crowds, passed through security and then boarded the Louis Olympia, our home for the next three nights!
This was a totally new experience for Mumsie and I as we have never done a cruise before, and once we got to our cabin we were very glad we only had one case! It was quite well equipped but naturally small and we unpacked our gear and settled in pretty easily!
It is quite an old ship, but well refurbished and we had a bit of an explore before a briefing from the cruise director about all the ins and outs of our cruise and the day trips we can do! We booked to do a tour on each island and also signed up for a three day 70 Euro unlimited drinks package! Wow! Might make a profit out of that!!!
We sailed while the meeting was on and once that was over we headed up to the Sky Bar (a circular lounge bar high up at the stern of the ship with views over the pool!) where we started to make a dent in the drinks package! That got a hunger up for lunch at the Lido Lounge at the stern of the boat where we enjoyed a sumptuous smorgasbord while watching the sparkling blue waters of the Agean Sea and the dry rocky islands passing by!
Later we docked at the island of Mykonos and were taken by bus to the little town of Hora where we had a guided walking tour of the quaint little place, before having some free time time explore! Mykonos was beautiful, with clear, clean water and lots of little shops, bars and cafes! We loved it!
Had to be back on the ship by eight, as we were then sailing overnight to Kusadasi, which is in Turkey!
Together with our Victorian friends we had a beaut meal in the restaurant, had a nightcap or three at the various bars on board before getting into our bunks and reviewing our first day at sea!
The waters are flat calm and the ship very stable, so there is no sign of seasickness and Mumsie is coping well!


SATURDAY 23rd JUNE 2012

TURKEY

Got woken at 6am by the ship docking Kusadasi! Our cabin is up at the bow over the top of the bow thrusters and the racket and vibration would have woken the dead!!!!
We had a leisurely buffet brekky and then wandered off the boat and onto mainland Turkey!
Straight into masses of markets, stalls and shops!!!! The hawkers were relentless, following us along the street and seriously harassing us much to my annoyance! The town was pretty grubby and although having the ocean at its front step, I took an instant dislike to it!
So we wandered along for a while in the increasingly hot sun, dodging the many skinny cats and dogs that roamed the streets, and then headed back to the lovely cool and comfort of the ship! So much for Turkey!!!!
We sailed at noon and made Patros in the late afternoon, where the ship was too big to dock, so we jumped onto the one of the many tenders and bucketed our way to the port of Scala where waiting buses took us up to the village of Chora where we looked at the Majestic Byzantine Monastry of St John! Then it was the Grotto of the Apocalypse. This was dug out of a hill and was quite interesting look at Greek Orthodox religion! The bus then took us on a great tour of the barren, religious island where people never lock cars or homes and live in a bygone era!!! A few vines and olive trees growing but not much else, a few hotels and apartments for rent and also some homes of movie stars etc. We passed Brad Pitt's holiday home and a few others that weren't familiar to me!
Then it was a tender trip back to the ship and anchors away for the overnight sail to Santorini!
Another night of fine food and drink saw us in bed around midnight!



SUNDAY 24th JUNE 2012

SANTORINI

This morning we were still sailing as we had brekky, passing numerous little islands and joining quite a few cruise boats heading for Santorini!
Once again we were too big to access the port facilities and once we had anchored we jumped aboard a tender and joined the many thousands of tourists heading for the island! There were four other big cruise ships at anchor and we were lucky that our tour was the first off our ship and we were the first bus to depart the dock on an island tour!
Consequently the half hour ride to Oia on the western end was a peaceful one, passing the capital Thira and winding our way along the top of the very high central part of the island! Santorini is very commercialized on one side and with a few very small farms along the other. Rainfall is only 480 mm per year and all the vines, olives, tomatoes, pistachios and other veggies survive on that alone! Pretty tough plants to grow in the stinking heat with no irrigation!
The town of Oia was almost deserted as we pulled up and after a brief tour we were allowed to gaze out over the steep cliffs down to the glorious blue water filled with boats!
We walked a while and then had a coffee at a little cafe with views to die for from it's tiny deck! By the time we walked back to our bus tour number 27 was arriving and the place was packed!
The bus took us down the barren side of the island to Thira and we saw how the locals live! We saw framers cutting hay by hand, a few goats and sheep, four cows and lots of vines!!! Very rustic!
Thira is perched on top of the cliff line with no port of its own and once we took a few photos and looked at a few shops, we had a choice of walking, riding a donkey or catching the cable car back down to the jetty where the tenders were waiting! Easy choice for us because we had been warned that the hundreds of donkeys were always fed at the bottom of the mountain and so they always raced down, making for a pretty scary ride! A few of our group took the cable car down and rode a donkey back up just to say they had done it!
The cable car gave us more great views and before we knew we were chugging out to the ship saying goodbye to Santorini!
We enjoyed lunch (sorry waistline! I'll deal with you when I get home!!!) and a nice cocktail before heading to the cabin for a nanna nap! The food and drinks on board are exceptional! So much variety and with all the meals free you tend to over eat regularly! Plus it is quite a challenge to get value from the drinks package!!!!!
A departure briefing at six o'clock gave us our directions for tomorrow and a chance to thank the Trafalgar Cruise Director who did a wonderful job getting us all organized (there were two tour groups on board) and guiding us through all the shore excursions! Anne was an Irish gem!!!!
Later we had pre dinner drinkies, dinner, nightcaps to celebrate the end of what was for many of us our first cruise! We sailed for Piraeus at 8.30pm!
So after a very comfortable relaxed three days we head back to Athens and our bus, feeling much refreshed and rejuvenated! We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and loved the islands and their beautiful scenery, and when asked which was our favourite we reckoned Mykonos had the best feel to it, although nowhere near as pretty as Santorini!
The myriads of tourists and the commercialization spoilt Santorini a bit.
Being on board ship has been quite an experience and while Mumsie and I both enjoyed the three days, we both reckon it's not the sort of holiday we would ever plan again! I guarantee I would go crazy if we were confined to a ship for any longer!