We have been to Santorini before on a Regent cruise ages ago. We had a very thorough tour at that time so, other than beautiful views, we felt we had seen a lot of what Santorini offers.
Our ship is parked next to a much larger one. We have tenders to take us ashore. There are only a few docking areas as the cliffs rise up from the sea and the only ways up are a scary serpentine road which is almost too narrow for the bus, a gondola, or a donkey. We take the bus ride up and the gondola on the way back down.
Our tour includes visits to two typical towns and a sampling of local foods and wine.
Our next stop is at a restaurant where we get a taste of traditional food and wine that they serve in traditional villages.
We finish our tour with about a 20 minute walk all steeply uphill to catch the gondola down to the tender to take us back to the ship. I really don’t know how the older and really out of shape people managed it. John and I were exhausted by the time we got back to the ship and so sweaty.
Since our cabin was tidy when we got back John suggested I take some pictures of it before I took a shower and collapsed on the bed.
We looked at some pictures from earlier cruises and this suite which looks basically the same is slightly smaller. The Viking Venus is new this year and I wonder if they tried to squeeze in a few more cabins.
Around 7pm we head down to the lounge for our Negroni Sbagliato cocktails, watch the sunset, and listen to the guitarist before heading over to dinner. We are at Chef’s Table tonight for the Xiang menu.
I love all the white with blue trim all over Santorini. And I see that you dressed to match! Appropriate as always!! And looking very good!
Glad the strenuous walk did not irritate your knee. Hot and sweaty is relatively easy to recover from, unlike unhappy joints!
I think the suite looks fabulous and very roomy. It reminds me of the suite we had on our 50th anniversary Princess cruise. That balcony is just wonderful!
Sounds like all is going well. Yay!!
It is Thursday and I am missing talking to you! The seas are too rough today for us to dock so we will miss our visit to the Minoan palace at Knossos. WE were really looking forward to it. In 3000BC they were doing things like irrigation and sanitation systems plus the site is remarkably well-preserved with lots of colorful wall paintings and even the throne room pretty much preserved. I guess John and I will have to put that on a to-do list for the future. So our last two days on the first cruise will be two sea days but better to be safe than sorry. I am eating up a storm, lots of drinks and bread! I figure this cruise will cost me about 8 lbs. but I feel confident I can deal with it when we get back and am just enjoying myself while we are vacationing. It is great to feel good about myself instead of self-loathing!