Santorini was our next stop, another greek island, which was our favorite place we went on the cruise. This place was picture perfect, pretty much what you would imagine Greece to be. I kept thinking Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or Mama Mia. Santorini is a volcanic island and one side has a super high cliff and the other is low, with beaches. The beaches are all black rock, which is so weird to see, but gorgeous. I have a friend who told us to just rent a bike of some kind and just drive. Jack and I took the tender boat to shore and once you get there, you have to get up to the cliff to the town, Fira. I think there are something like 500 steps that are made for the donkeys and horses to take you to the top. We didn't take the donkeys because we heard the locals believe they are actually souls who are in purgatory and they don't encourage it. They also looked miserable, probably not treated the best. The stairs zig zag up and are very steep. I had read lots of reviews not to walk these, unless you go down or a glutton for punishment. We took the cable cars up because there were not many people out yet. Fira was beautiful, with breathtaking views off the cliff. The houses are cave houses, with white walls and blue accents. After taking a look around, we rented a moped. As we were getting ours, we saw a couple where the wife was not quite happy with her husband. He forgot about the motorcycle license in order to rent a moped, so they had to get a 4 wheeler. As she was putting on her white ginormous helmet she said, "I feel like dumb and dumber". Ha. I like this lady. Exactly what Jack and I were thinking.
We got our moped, which was hilarious compared to being on Jack's motorcycle back at home. It barely got up large hills, going about 15 mph, but it did the trick. We drove the most magnificent road on the way to Oia. It reminded me of Pacific coast Highway, right on the cliff overlooking the ocean. We were blown away with it's beauty. Blown away.
Oia was great, pretty much the scenes you see on post cards: white walls, blue domes, and cliff views. We walked around the paths by the houses and restaurants, just in awe of this place. I could not believe we were here. After a while we decided to go check out a winery off of Wine Street. We came upon one that looked good and we were the only ones there! It was so great. We tried about 6 different wines-they are more known for their whites and are distinct because they grow in their volcanic land. They gave us some bread that was kind of like huge croutons. While were there two kitties came up to us, even Jack thought they were cute (he hates cats). Now this winery experience was much better-outside, looking at the ocean,the vines, and pink flowers, no warehouses.
After our redeeming winery experience, we went back to Oia for lunch. Oia is also known for having the best sunsets. People actually gather every night to just watch it, so most of the restaurants have a open view to the cliff and ocean. Our lunch was great and then we drove around the island for a while, ending at the beach. It was all together the perfect day. We did take the stairs down on the way back after stopping for a greek beer and gelato. It was steep, slippery, and we had to make sure and bypass the donkey poop. Yeah, I said poop.
That night on the ship we ate at one of the specialty restaurants, Silk harvest. We got several sushi rolls and pad thai. Fabulous. Best pad thai I have ever had. We also both tried new drinks-Jack had ordered Sapporo, but they were out, so he tried a new japanese beer-Hitachino Nest. I tried the Lychee Sake, fabulous. I was wanting to get Sake and on the menu, it suggested this one for new sake drinkers. Mmm.
The next day was a cruise day, which was fourth of July. I was slightly sad not to be at home for the fourth, but that quickly dissolved when realized I was laying out in the middle of the ocean on the Mediterranean! The ship put on a lawn party on the top deck with some of the band playing and the singers. They played a medley of american songs and we ate cheeseburgers and fries from the grill. It was a great fourth of july.
Our last stop was Naples and we kept hearing wonderful things about the Amalfi Coast and that Naples was not as great to visit-lots of crime. So we took a boat trip that went off the coast, where we could see the beautiful coast of houses and caves. Our boat actually went into a cave, complete with bats. We stopped at Amalfi, a little charming town with narrow streets and full of cafes and shops. Amalfi produces a lot of the limoncello, so it was everywhere and so we got a bottle (still haven't busted that one out). Jack and I stopped at a cafe and had a nutella croissant and a cappuccino. Oh, dear, I could have eaten 5 of these. There was also a beautiful church there that we took a look around that are in the pictures. We hopped back on the boat and went back to where we loaded to take a bus to Pompeii. Before going in, we went to the cameo factory to get a tour and a look at cameos I couldn't afford. Lunch was also right around pompeii and we sat with some of our fellow tour goers. I was a little nervous about this, but it turned out we met some very interesting people. One couple was your typical Jersey couple-woman with the full accent, gold jewelry, and LOTS of makeup. The other were on their honeymoon. The woman looked about in her forties, the man in his late fifties. They both preceded to brag on each other. He is a famous sculptor, who we found out sculpted that Billy Graham statue in downtown Nashville (that's not why he's famous). She does behaviorist counseling and has been on Oprah and written several books about dreams. They were unique and we did enjoy getting to know them. Lunch was so good and we had lots of it. Champagne, wine, mannicotti, chicken and veggies, pizza, and ice cream. The pizza was so good-the crust was thicker with such a rich taste and the toppings were simple- tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. It definitely lived up to the hype.
Pompeii was super interesting, although Jack was a little toured out. Pompeii is a town that was destroyed by Mt Vesuvias and it ended up preserving the town. It was neat to see how this town lived and scary to see the "red light district" with penis' still on the street to direct you to it.
Our trip was amazing. It really was humbling that God made this trip so delightful and relaxing. To see how others live and be in that world is just the best. We loved it and our thankful for God allowing us to do it. Thanks for letting me share it with you!
No comments:
Post a Comment