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29 - 30 October : Scenic Santorini & Windmills in Mykonos

Smart Car Ride to Oia Village and Wandering Mykonos Town

Trippin'.
From Santorini's undeniably striking views to Mykonos' cosmopolitan lifestyle and cubist architectural roads leading you in circles, it is no wonder that these two island attract such great followers. Both with its own unique style delivers and exceeds all glossy picture- postcards expectations.

Most of Santorini is perched atop cliffs so from the ship, we not only had to take a small boat to shore, but have the option to either ride the stinky donkeys up to town or take the cable cars. The cable cars line was a ridiculous 45 minutes long but we had no other choice. I was not about to smell like a donkey for the entire day. Originally, we planned on renting some ATVs to ride to Oia, but after considering the distance and coldness in the weather, we decided to rent a car-- a Smart Car!
We spent a great portion of our day in Oia while in Santorini. Oia is stunning and picturesque with shops and homes clinging onto the rolling cliffs and hills. It was the perfect backdrop to a great photography day. Upon returning to Fira, the city center, we had extra time, and decided to hit up an internet cafe to catch up on some emails. Dinner was planned early, or so we thought, until it donned upon us that we had to get in line to take the cable cars back down to our cruise ship. With thoughts of missing our tender, I tried to find others from our ship ahead of us in an attempt to cut in line. We managed to get down just in time to catch the very last boat back to the ship. Missing our ship would have been disastrous but am glad it was just a very close call.

While Mykonos may be known as a party island that does not sleep, this is true only 3 months out of the year. The rest is dormant and desserted, which was both good and bad for us. We really had no big plans for Mykonos, just rent a few vespas and drive to some popular beaches, but the wind prevented us from renting vespas. And with most places closed, we were limited to the city center where a few stores and restaurants were open just to accommodate the cruise ships. Good news, I can't imagine wandering the narrow streets of Mykonos during peak season when the island is flooded with tourists. Bad news, all the shops were closed.. or so we thought. For a good portion of the day, the shops shut down for an extended lunch, nearly 4 hrs! So we were left with just the windmills and had a blast playing around with our jumping photos. Despite the extremely windy day, the windmills stood still enough for us to take some great shots.
After lunch, and our first taste of hummus this entire trip, we retreated to the ship for a nap. That's how much time we had. We made it back in town just before sunset and dinner. But before we could settle on a place to eat, we realized all the shops were opening up and G had a glimmer of excitement so we took it to the streets again, this time, for a little retail therapy.

Eating: Lucky's Souvlaki's, center of city in Fira (Santorini), may be a chain but a darn good one at that. In fact, G claims this to be the best gyro he has ever had. And believe me, he has had more than his fair share so it speaks volumes.

More Photos.

View full Santorini gallery here.
View full Mykonos gallery here.

25 - 26 October : Camels in Cairo

2- Days in Cairo with Memphis

Trippin'.
A city of millions-- 14 million, or 16, no one really knows-- it's chaotic traffic, people and overall rhythm of the city is overwhelming and intimidating to any first time visitors. Cairo has a lot to offer, but not without discretion. Come prepared, preferably with a local guide at all times, and you'll find Cairo to be a historical milestone achievement. It's beauty and charm is a product of its history, but can sometimes be lost amidst the hundreds of taxi scammers and souvenier sellers aggressively vying for your attention (and wallets).

We booked a 2- days tour with Memphis which includes transportation to and from Alexandria along with accommodations in Cairo, museum entry tickets and a personal guide. Truth be told, now that we've done it, I'd highly recommend 1- day in Cairo (and 1- day in Alexandria for Cruisers). It's a lot to take in even for experienced travelers. To call Cairo filthy is an understatement, but what can you say about a city that has been around for over two- thousand years?! We were blessed to have a local guide with us during our 2- days stay. And while we witnessed tourist after tourist getting ripped off and mobbed by camel riders and souvenir sellers, we managed to walk through without a single stare. I even saw one man physically taking a camera off another tourists' neck! Ridiculous I know, but now you know too. On constant alert is how I felt and that was with a guide. Having a guide not only saved us from getting ripped off and mugged, but it's always better to have someone tell you the history rather than reading it out of a book. Although, we did wish our guide spoke better English. His was quite limited compared to some other guides we ran into throughout the city. Oh well, can't believe we went to Egypt! How many can say that?!

More Photos.

View full gallery here.

22, 23 & 28 October : Fortresses, Olympics & Palace

800+ Steps to Palamidi, Columns in Olympia and Groupies in Crete

Trippin'.
I've come to realize that nothing beats a view of a city like the one from a cruise ship pulling into port. It's an amazing sight to be seen especially one from your very own private balcony. It's nice to know we'll have 11 more mornings just like this one.

Neither of us has heard of Nafplion until we decided to go on this cruise. The years prior, this same cruise line detoured to Corfu instead, so we were both bummed when the itinerary changed on us. However, Nafplion proved to be a worthy stop. A quaint town rich in history, it was a great and relaxing start to our trip. We even managed to get in some well needed work out when we decided to climb the near 1000 steps up to Palamidi Fortress. I nearly keeled over but the view from the top was worth every inhaler puff!

Katakolon is a dormant town primarily known for its gateway to the ancient city of Olympia where the very first Olympic was held some 2500+ years ago.

We arrived in Crete on a National holiday, Oci Day, which on one hand, allowed us to visit the Palace of Knossos for free, yet on the other hand, everything was practically closed except for cafes and restaurants. However, we had a blast wandering the city center and people watching. The youth and teen "groupies" are alive and well here in Crete and we managed to capture most of it on film-- girls in school uniforms, boys with wild and crazy hair, girls with skinny butt- crack showing denims and the list goes on.

So far, Greece has treated us well. Next up.. Egypt!

More Photos.


View full Nafplion gallery here.
View full Katakolon/ Olympia gallery here.
View full Crete gallery here.