Update # 4: Mediterranean Cruise

Since I last posted, I have now visited what I consider the most beautiful place in the world - Santorini, Greece. Water makes me happy. I love to see it, bask in it, boat in it and swim in it. This destination provided me the opportunity to do all of those things.

SANTORINI, GREECE: Breathtaking and magnificently beautiful! The villages are perched at the edges of tall cliffs so when the boat arrived, we were floating in the Aegean Sea several hundred feet below the city. Volcanic eruptions have left behind the stunning geography of the area with the active (but sleeping) volcano of Kameni being one of the most famous attractions. The only cruise excursion I signed up for was the Volcano Hiking. (The other ports I ventured out on my own.) When the boat docked bright and early in the morning, the persons taking the Volcano Excursion were shuttled by boat to the volcano. The hike was strenuous but well worth it once we reached the summit and were able to see the volcano's crater and areas where sulphur steam emerges (that's when you truly realize you're on an active volcano). At one point, our tour guide stopped and dug a 6-12" deep hole in the ground, scooped up the rock & dirt and passed it around for us to touch. To our amazement, the rock was very hot and he told us the temperature could boil an egg. The next leg of this excursion took us to a nearby area of hot springs for swimming. The boat could not get too close to the hot springs because it was close to the rocky shore so it stopped several feet out in the sea. Those of us who decided to participate dove into the deep waters and swam approximately 80 meters. I love the water so I was all over this. The water was extremely cold where we dove in but was a nice treat and warm up in the hot springs area. After I got back on the boat after having hiked up a volcano and swam such a distance, I thought "What am I doing? A bi-athlon??" This was to turn in to a "tri" athlon - keep reading. After we left the hot springs, the boat took us to another shore where we could tour the village. Since the villages are on cliff tops, the only options for getting there were by cable car, donkey or walking. I didn't want to hike again, wasn't in the mood for a stinky donkey so we opted for the cable car. When we got to the top, we went to a restaurant overlooking the entire area which provided a spectacular view of the volcano we just hiked, the sea and the city. I ordered the best chocolate milkshake I've ever had. It was so relaxing and refreshing to sit at one of the highest points in the area, taking in the sun (and trying to get my hair dry), looking out at the water and sipping on a milkshake. Life does not get better. We then started shopping with the little time we had remaining. The village was quaint, clean and the shops were nice. We looked at our clocks and noticed we had 35 minutes to get back to the shuttle boat which gets us back to the cruise ship. It is well posted and advertised that if you miss the boat, you are on your own to get to the next destination to meet the cruise ship. So we had a split second decision to make on taking the cable car, donkey or walking down. The cable car line was very long as everyone was trying to leave at once, not only to get on our ship, but others too. We passed that up, took one smell of the unruly donkeys and decided to walk down. No problem, right? We had just hiked UP a volcano, swam several meters, so how hard could it be getting down this cliff side? Very hard! The steps were man made so that was a plus but it was very steep and certain areas were slippery because of the marble rocks mixed with the donkey dung. I slipped & fell twice so I decided to walk at a much slower pace. The clock was ticking and we now had only 15 minutes to catch the boat shuttle to the ship. I told Paul & Paula to go on without me (they weren't slipping as much as me) and that I would find my way to our next destination if I missed the boat. The other complicating factor in getting down was the donkeys. In Spain, you can run with the bulls and in Greece, you have to dodge the donkeys. There is a constant flow of these animals taking people up and down the mountain. They definitely have the right-of-way and they will run you over. So while trying to keep from slipping and trying to hurry at the same time, you're constantly dodging the donkeys. And the tourists riding them have no idea how to control them. I got some hilarious video footage of the donkeys coming at me and trying to run me over. Anyway, with zero minutes to spare and sweat pouring out of every orifice of my body, I made it to the bottom and Paula was waiting for me to show me to the shuttle (there are so many, you need to allow time to find the right one.) Paul was holding down the fort at the loading dock and had a nice cold Coke waiting for me. We made it on the shuttle then back on the ship. I can now say I've done a triathlon (sort of). I would have never guessed that the most difficult and strenuous part would be coming DOWN a cliff. When I got back to the room on the ship, I sat outside on our balcony taking in the beautiful sunshiny day, read my book and fell asleep. I was absolutely exhausted! Since I have been providing weather reports - Santorini was the warmest place we have visiting with temperatures in the low 80's with low humidity. Very pleasant.

THE CRUISE: There are only a few things that will keep me up past my bedtime - two of which are Abba and Elton John. The evening entertainment night before last was a band that played the tunes of Abba. It was great and the group of people we sat in the lounge with had all seen the Broadway musical "Mamma Mia" so we talked about what a great show it is and how we are all looking for to the movie this summer. The next night, the entertainment was a guy who sat behind a piano and played various tunes. We put in one request of Elton John and he proceeded to play only Elton John songs through the remainder of his set. It was great! Since this is an Italian cruise line, much of it is geared toward Italians and their traditions. We had "Italian Night" for dinner which was a lot of fun. I cannot write intelligently about what all we participated in (I'll have to google it later) but before dessert the wait staff broke out in to several traditional Italian dances. It all started with everyone twirling their dinner napkins in the air, which led to dancing, hooping and hollering! It was a lot of fun. Most people knew exactly what do to. We just sort of followed along. To put it in terms that the Texas can relate to, it would be like if the "Cotton Eyed Joe" started playing overhead and everyone got up and danced to it. I have decided that I need to meet some full blood Italians in Dallas then try to get myself invited to their parties. They really know how to have a good time! Have I mentioned that our room is the closest one to the buffet? Just thought I'd mention that. We couldn't have planned that any better if we tried.

KV