Nov 18, 2012

Cruise with Janet and Stefan - Santorini

Mediterranean Cruise - Port 4
Santorini, Greece
October 10, 2011

I had heard so much about Santorini and was really looking forward to our day at this port!  Unfortunately, we had rainy, cold weather, but we made the best of it by eating and shopping a lot!

Brian and I had a leisurely morning on the ship and rode a tender to the island, where we could choose to do one of the following:
1) Ride stinky, wet donkeys up a steep hill in the rain
2) Walk up a steep, muddy steep hill covered in donkey poop
3) Pay to ride a gondola

Drum roll....we'll take what's behind door number 3!

When we reached the top, we found several walkways that looked just like this:

So we started to wander from alleyway to alleyway to find stores that struck our interest.  There was lots of great shopping in Santorini!  I quickly figured out that I had not dressed warm enough for our day on the island, so my shopping priority was to find warmer pants.  I quickly found some cute ones on sale and was a happy camper.

We love what we found in this store!

We quickly figured out that if you went into restaurants in certain areas, you could get some great views!!



I want the place with the swimming pool : )

As I came to realize that sun was not going to be in the cards for us today, my goal quickly became to experience some delicious traditional Greek food and drinks.

This place was a great start : )  YUM - gyros!!

Rejuvenated from gyro deliciousness, Brian and I continued our walk. 



We ran into Janet and Stefan again and had a lot of fun shopping for jewelry.  Turns out Santorini has some pretty expensive stuff.  We were tempted but did not cave.  Instead, we went for happy hour at this pub!

Where there were funny sayings like this on the walls...hahaha

I still felt like our Santorini experience was lacking something, so we asked a couple of shop keepers where they like to eat, which is how we landed here!

It was a tiny restaurant tucked into a strange part of town, but we LOVED it.  We ordered a bunch of traditional Greek appetizers and some delicious wine.  It was the perfect end to our rainy, cold day in Santorini.

The cruise ship was having the typical cruise luau party at sunset, but we figured we'd get a MUCH better view of the sunset from the top of Santorini.  So we staked out a spot on a westward facing balcony and waited for the magic.  While waiting, the donkeys made their way home after a long day of work, hauling cheap tourists up a muddy hill.  Poor donkeys...I don't look very sympathetic though.


Gorgeous sunset!

As we rode back to the ship in a tender, this was our view

Despite the bad weather, we had a great time in Santorini and accomplished our dietary goals!

Oct 30, 2012

Cruise with Janet and Stefan - Katakalon

Mediterranean Cruise - Port 3
Katakolon, Greece
October 9, 2012

We had beautiful weather to wander about the small fishing town of Katakolon!  

View of the village from the boat

Main Street

There was only one main street, but Brian and I found a unique jewelry shop where we enjoyed great conversation with two Greek women.  We talked about the Greek economy, their political situation, education...we learned all kinds of interesting things about Greece.  The jewelry in the shop was so beautiful!  Brian and I picked out a gorgeous gold ring for me.  It's a replication of the Gordian Knot, and I love it!



Janet and Stefan had surprised us with massages on the ship in the afternoon.  It was a wonderful treat!

Then at happy hour that evening, Brian surprised me with my new ring : )   We had a great time in Katakolon!

Cruise with Janet and Stefan - Corfu, Greece

Mediterranean Cruise - Port 2
Corfu, Greece
October 8, 2011

Our day in Corfu started with some rainy weather.  And Brian and I chose to walk to town, which wasn't the prettiest in the beginning.  But once we found the old town, we had a great time exploring.  We made our way to the top of the town's fortress for some great views!

Base of the fortress



View of our ship

We ran into Stefan and Janet while I was buying baklava

Plenty of fun shops in Corfu!

After a day of exploring, happy hour in the Crow's Nest was a treat with this guy!

Enjoying the last views of Corfu as we sailed away

Oct 28, 2012

Cruise with Janet and Stefan - Dubrovnik

Mediterranean Cruise 
Dubrovnik, Croatia
October 7, 2011

Our first stop on our cruise was Dubrovnik.  We started the day by wandering the streets of the old town, looking in shops, and enjoying the outdoor market!






We made our way to the waterfront to check out the port.


We kept running into tour groups around the city - this one was like a stampede!



Then we walked around the top of the Old Town wall, which had some spectacular views and was a really nice walk!











After our walk around the wall, we found a restaurant with a great view and delicious food for lunch!



Brian and I stopped for coffee in this alley after lunch.

After a fun day of walking around the city, we enjoyed a great evening on the boat