Weeks ago I told you about the beginning of an amazing journey to Rome, Greece and Portugal. I stopped as we headed to the port for our 9 day cruise but today I will pick up where I left off.
As we gently sailed from Rome (Civitavecchia) Italy into the Aegean Sea our journey to new places began. The water was beautiful and every evening we enjoyed the sunset on our balcony or somewhere on the ship’s deck. Our stops included Crete, Mykonos, Athens, and Santorini along the Greek Islands. As to the food on our cruise ship every meal was an experience not to be forgotten and our wait staff made these experiences fun!
In Chania (Souda) Crete we were entertained with a bus trip through the mountains to a wonderful wine tasting and olive oil manufacturing facility. Outdoor dining became a way of life for us during this journey and it was hard to break. We were also able to wander to the Limoncello factory to assure we were enjoying the wonderful lemon flavors of Crete.
Following Crete was Mykonos which in my eyes was an underrated portion of our tour. It was breathtaking and the experience incredible. The windmills of Mykonos are a great climb through narrow village streets not big enough for a motor vehicle. We followed this with a trip to a Myokonian farm where we dined with goats overlooking the fields. We were definitely nourished in the beauty and foods and the delish local wine.
On to Santorini which is made up of villages and not towns and is easy to take in being only 28 square miles big. We took a bus to the waterfront and journeyed to the Churches of Oia.
Athens brought us to a very big city. I was a bit disappointed but as our bus journey moved along I was treated to the Olympic stadium reconstructed in the 19th century on its Roman foundations. Then it was on to Acropolis Hill with view of the Parthenon and the monuments of the Acropolis. We did hike up the hill to gasp at the beauty that was missing down below and Athens returned to my list of amazing locations
Our final tour stop was in Naples where we were delighted in a tour of the Pompeii Archaeological Site. This was quite interesting as we rented headsets that we could set over our eyes in different locations and see sketches of what the ruins looked like in their day. It took us back in history and right back to everyday in moments.
One thing our group continued to do is branch out at meal time and eat in as many local restaurants as possible to enjoy the flavor. It truly became my Eat, Eat, Eat excursion and because so many things cannot be put into words I am sharing as many photos that I took so you can immerse yourself.
Next up is our journey to Terceira Island via Barcelona - hopefully next week you can check out the conclusion to this crazy, amazing, beautiful journey for 3 ladies from the USA!