Tuesday 18 July 2023

Too pooped to party

Thursday 13th July

Mykonos today. The second most talked about island - the party island. We did a bus tour around parts of the island including a visit to one of the beaches.

A few interesting things to learn about Mykonos - the population is just over 10,000 permanent residents but increases to 50,000 in summer; Mykonos has no real agriculture, apart from some herbs and spices; houses in the city must be painted white and have rounded corners; drinking water is bottled - they have a desal plant but water is still salty; the island attracts plenty of the rich and famous which means accommodation is very expensive; some beautiful beaches, but you can pay anywhere from 70 to 450 euro for a deckchair (there are some free beaches).

We did a walking tour in Mykonos, primarily to see the windmills originally used for milling wheat, but now they are expensive air bnbs, and also to visit the area of Little  Venice. Our walk took us along what they call the main street - definitely only wide enough for one small narrow car and tourists need to step into a shop doorway to allow the cars to get through. The street is two way and when two cars meet, someone's going to select reverse. Little Venice was really lovely but again it was so crowded. Not enjoying the crowds on these islands I commented I'd rather visit in winter, but in winter everything is closed.

Monastery of Panagia Tourliani, founded in 1542.

One of their important religious icons.



Odette wanted to feel the sand in her toes.

And Rob got his boots full of sand. This was one of the free beaches. 

The whole family.

One of the 'rabbit warren' streets in Mykonos.
The white is really beautiful.

One of the famous windmills - there are seven.

This puppy was riding shotgun on the motorbike as they took the rubbish to the bins.

Heard a tour guide telling someone it was 2 euro for a photo with the donkey,
so this is a photo of the donkey and owner. 


Can't remember the details of this church, but it's no longer used as a church, and couples like to get their wedding photos here. It had copious coats of limestone whitewash. 

Rather than walk and then take the shuttle bus to catch the tender boat back to the ship, we decided to pay the 2 euro and take the water bus across the bay to the port. We had a quiet afternoon on the ship and attended the evening show which was only half full as a lot of the passengers were still ashore enjoying the party atmosphere. The boat didn't leave until 1.30am.

Friday 14th July

Today we were at the island of Milos. We spent the day on board after 3 days of excursions, and the increasing heat. Rob went ashore later in the day for a quick walk in the town. It was very warm so a swim on board before dinner was called for.








Saturday 15th July - Sunday 16th July 

It's over. Cruise is finished and so is our European holiday. The boat docked at 7am and we were ashore by 9am. We shared a taxi to the airport with 2 others (mother and daughter) from Melbourne. Our taxi driver very helpfully suggested he drop us off at the Sofitel right opposite the airport, where we could enjoy their free WiFi and air conditioning. Our flight wasn't until 7.40pm so we took our time over a coffee and snack until mid afternoon.

Flight to Doha was only 4.5 hours, but to Melbourne was 13.5 hours. Flight was choc a bloc full, but happily flight was pretty close to on time and we were back in Melbourne midnight Sunday.

So now we are home and this blog will go into hibernation until the next time. 

Saturday 15 July 2023

Stunning, stifling Santorini.

 Wednesday 12th July

Today was supposed to be the highlight of the cruise - a visit to the island that everyone talks about and everyone wants to visit. We set off on all our excursions nice and early in the morning - but so does everyone else. Today there were 5 cruise ships in town. Ours was a nice little ship but the others were much bigger. There was a huge line up of buses on the dock ready to take us tourists into Santorini. 

The first stop was to the village of Megalochori where we wandered from one side of the town, through the main street to the other end. Narrow streets, white houses, coloured doors and windows, narrow stairways. Lovely little village.

Then we moved on to the highlight of the day which was the village of Oia where you find all the blue domed houses. These were just amazing, but the crush of people in the heat made for a not very enjoyable experience. It was a slow shuffle, one-step at a time up the hill, then a wander down the main street (path?) to find the views of the domes. There were also magnificent views out over the ocean - the water was just vivid blue, beautiful.

After a wander around it was back on the buses and to the city of Santorini. Again crushes of people. Views again were spectacular. We popped in to a jewellery store to look at a necklace and the man there recognised we were Aussies. Where are you from he asked? And when we answered he told us he was from Geelong - parents Greek, moved to Australia, he was born in Australia and as an adult moved to Santorini and been there ever since (40+years). Small world!

We wandered the main street heading for the cable car to make our way back to the boat. There was a very long queue and we stood in the queue in the sun for 40 minutes waiting. We both got fed up with those trying to push in and didn't hesitate to tell them to get to the back of the line. We debated waiting till later in the day for the cable car because some people were saying it would get less later in the day, but we heard later that some people were waiting over an hour and a half. Our friends we met on the boat decided to walk down the 800 steps - hard work but only took them 25 minutes. 

The cable car was apparently built from a donation by a wealthy Greek couple. Now some of the proceeds from the ticket sales from the cable car go towards a free air ambulance on the islands. Our guide also told us that some of the proceeds from the cable car go to the donkey owners so they could still keep their donkeys, but not have to use them for carrying tourists.


The road up from the port. Very narrow, lots of buses and cars, always someone stopped waiting on a hairpin for someone else to get past, buses having to take two bites at the hairpin. Challenging!

These grape vines grow as little bushes where the vines are not grown on trellises, but rather the leaves droop down and protect the grapes.
The tour guide explained to us that they don't irrigate (no water) but a mist comes in from the sea and enough water drops from this to water the vines, and soak into the volcanic soil. 

Walking the streets of the village of Megalochori, where the houses don't have numbers, but are identified by the colour of their doors. No help at all for a colourblind postman! 😀

Church in the village of Oia.

The colour of the water is just stunning.

A bit of a symbol of Santorini. Donkeys are still used for some purposes (apart from carrying tourists up the hill from the port) like rubbish collection.
Thankfully use by tourists has become less and more people use the cable car.  

The blue domes in the village of Oia.




We passed this string of donkeys - the only person on board was the 'driver'.

The line up of buses ready to take the tourists away from the village of Oia.

View from the cable car.

Shopping in Santorini. 


5 cruise ships in Port.

Cable car - long way down; 800 steps.



Calm in Crete

Tuesday 11th July

Today we are on Crete. We took a tour into the countryside to look at some of the local areas. We first visited the city of Heraklion which was founded in 824. It was early in the morning so not many people were about. The locals were just opening their shops, and delivery vans were doing their thing. 

From there we drove to the small village of Stironas to visit Vasilli and his small farm where he grows olives and grapes and makes his own olive oil, wine, and raki (the local equivalent to grappa). Vasili processes grapes for other farmers in the area, using more modern day equipment, but when it comes to his wine, a lot of the processing is by hand. 

After his wine information session we all went inside for a traditional breakfast - beautiful tasting tomatoes, cucumber, olives (of course) cheese, and his wine - and raki (Rob calls it rocket fuel). I tasted it, but happy to leave it for those who like it. While enjoying the food we were entertained by some of his family doing Cretan folk dancing.

This was a great tour - away from the madding crowd. 


I think Odette took a liking to the raki.

Cretan folk dance.

Vasily explained how he made his wine.

Very old olive tree.

Hanging out in hope outside the ice cream shop. 

Main street in Heraklion, Crete.
It was early in the morning so the streets were quiet.
It was a lovely clean city.  

Loggia in the centre of the town.
Was destroyed by the Nazis but rebuilt to the original italian style.


Can't stop this party girl - and boy. 

A close look at the embroidery on their costumes.
Simple, but lovely.

Sit back and relax

Saturday 8th July

Cruise day. Taxi ride to Port of Piraeus. Boarding process was very quick and easy. I was expecting long queues, but no, they seemed to be coming in dribs and drabs.

Our cabin is OK. It’s an interior cabin, no windows, and on a lower deck, but we won’t be spending a lot of time there anyway.

Lunch on board was a buffet and so much to choose from. The food was really quite good.

The rest of the day passed quickly with the emergency evacuation drill, explore the ship, dinner, then the evenings show which was Abba.



Just a look back to the port of Piraeus. 



Sunset as we left Port of Piraeus. 


Sunday 9th July

Thessaloniki. We didn’t get off the ship today but just enjoyed a relaxing day on board, taking part in some of the activities on board.

The food is really good with plenty to choose from. The show tonight was circus acrobats. The entertainment group are all from Cuba, with a Canadian choreographer who used to work for Cirque du Soleil. 

Cruise around the bay on a Pirate ship.

Odette enjoyed the jacuzzi.....

...and her Freddo Espresso.

Our ship - the Celestyal Crystal.



Monday 10th July

Today we were in Kusadasi, Turkey. We decided not to do the on shore excursion which was to Ephesus, to look at temples, and more ancient rocks. 

Instead we decided to visit the Grand Bazaar which was only 200m from the ship. I was expecting something like the small shops/stalls we have experienced in Bali, but they were more like real shops. I hated the pressure from all the shop keepers as you walked past – if I’m shopping I just like to browse along on my own, wander in and out of shops, and not engage unless I see something I am interested in. This sort of pressure just shuts me down and I keep walking.

All the shops are selling the same thing – the handbag shops are all selling the same knock-off handbags, t-shirts, dresses, etc. I did finally succumb and went in to one of the jewellery shops. A lovely pair of earrings followed me home. We had a look at some of the hand made rugs but weren't really interested in buying any. I think the shopkeeper was disappointed when we walked away empty handed.

Enjoyed a lovely Turkish ice cream and then back to the boat for lunch.

Handmade silk rugs. There are some really beautiful ones - too many choices. 

Shades of Bali, where they advertise Antiques made to Order. 

There were quite a few of these lovely stepped alley ways
leading away from the Grand Bazaar.

Shoes, shirts, souvenirs.

I love watching anything crafty.
Watched this lady for a while as she tied knots.

Old fort at the entrance to Kusadasi.