Our last two ports of call were in Greece...the first in Pireaus (Athens) and the second on the island of Crete. Whenever I think of Greece, I think of beautiful white and blue buildings dotting the coastline as far as the eye can see...but of course that is not really Greece...that is really just the island of Santorini in Greece. That was where I really wanted to go in Greece, but unfortunately that was not one of our stops on this cruise...oh well.
Because it was me and the two sickies (Jacob and Autumn have both been fighting a nasty cold that zapped their energy and makes them not exactly what you would call ideal traveling buddies :o) we took it pretty easy in both ports. In Athens we booked a short excursion through the cruise ship that took us to the foot of the Acropolis/Parthenon and then to the old part of town with some cute little shops. I was pretty disappointed with our view of the famous Parthenon from the bottom of the hill as it was mostly covered in scaffolding on this side and it was so surrounded by trees and foliage there just was no place to get a good shot :o( The shopping was also pretty bleak and we ended up making it out without one single purchase...and if you know me at all you know that is no easy feat! Our tour guide was funny, discussing their “creative” way of parking (i.e. double parking with your flashers on means you’ll be gone for 10 minutes...or 2 hours...she said all it really means is that you’re coming back...ha!), but other than that I was pretty disappointed with the time we spent in Athens. Here are a few shots from that stop...
The next day we docked in Crete. I had heard this was kinda the underwhelming stop on the cruise so I wasn’t expecting much. We didn’t have anything pre-planned, but luckily right off the boat you could catch the city bus to Chania (the central old town on the island) for only 3 euros round trip. So we hopped on, spent a few hours roaming around town...saw all the main attractions like the mosque and light house and were back on the boat in plenty of time to grab lunch and for my poor sick babies to take an afternoon nap! It was a pretty relaxing day, but seems kinda wasteful...especially for those of us that could have been enjoying the beautiful backdrop of Santorini instead :o) Here are a few shots from Crete...
Tomorrow is our last day at sea before we arrive back in the port of Rome and make our way home. I would say overall we’ve really enjoyed cruising. For the most part the service and food has been good (that’s what everyone always raves about right?) we’ve seen lots of the inside of our cabin and had lots of time to relax. I think it would have been easier to really enjoy all the amenities they provide if it was just the two of us...or Autumn was a little older and could attend the activities for children (you have to be 3), but all in all it’s been a good time...and who knows maybe we’ll do it again someday :o)
Click here to view the full Greece Album.
No comments:
Post a Comment