Santorini, Greece October 20th
Now Santorini was BY FAR my favorite of the Greek Isles. It offered something completely unique and different. I have never seen anything like it. It was really cool pulling up to it on the boat and tendering in looking at it. It is this massive mountain with a beautiful town on top. It was as beautiful as the pictures I had seen. And like Venice I wanted to take a picture around every corner. When we got to the spot the tender boats let us off we decided to take a boat ride over to Oia.
We walked all around Oia which was stunning. So, may beautiful view and pictures that needed to be taken.
After a bit of touring around there we took a bus across the top to Fira, on the other side. We were on the lookout for the perfect place to eat and watch the sunset. The sunset was slightly tainted by some smog but was still very beautiful. We also had a delicious dessert crepe where we stopped.
After the sunset we still had a few hours. They have a ton of shopping here so we browsed around. We didn't actually eat dinner where we saw the sunset so we stopped at a stand and had a yummy Gyro. They put thick fries inside along with the meat, veggies and sauce!! So good!!! We opted not to walk down the dark trail and took the tram down. We were so tired when we got back on we fell asleep for the night! Everyone wondered if we even made it back! Whoops!
Mykonos, Greece October 21st
When we got off the boat we thought it would be fun to get ATV's so we could explore the whole island. We first headed to fill up with gas. Steve and Jared(his brother) got a Razor. They turned out of the gas station and went up this big hill and then all the sudden we see their outside legs come out of the vehicle trying to push themselves up the hill. Phil and I laughed SO hard. This became the usual on the upcoming hills, although they got good at just having the passenger jump out and push. Too funny.
First we headed to Paradise Beach. It was off season so it was really low key. A few people got in, but it wasn't quite warm enough outside for Phil and I. We enjoyed hanging out on the beach for a bit though.
We had heard there was a lighthouse so we hopped on our ATV's and headed to the opposite side of the island to check it out. The lighthouse itself was under construction but it had some pretty amazing views.
Then we headed back to what they call "little Venice." It had a lot of shopping, but our first stop was something to eat. More Gyros, greek salad and Coke Light. #yesplease
We spent a few hours picking up some souvenirs. Phil found tons of soccer jerseys this vacation that he was super excited about. I think he got as many jerseys this time as I got hats on our last cruise. ;)
I was really sad my BF Laura wasn't able to come on the trip due to being just a few weeks away from having a baby. I was lucky to have Sarah and to get to know her more on the trip. We had a lot of fun together.
Beautiful Mykonos
That night we decided to try out the Brazilian restaurant on the boat. I am not a super huge fan of those places, as I don't love a ton of meat, but I think the boys all enjoyed!
Katakalon (Olympia) Greece October 22nd
Harmon's did an excursion for our whole group this day. We took a bus through Katakalon to get to Olympia. Greece is under mucho financial strain right now. This was the only island where that was very apparent. The man who was driving our bus said that the government was no longer paying people to collect the trash so there were massive piles of trash EVERYWHERE. He was obviously very embarrassed about it, as he continually apologized.
When we got to Olympia and inside the park it was very nice. The structure that remained where not as large and grand as I had anticipated. I guess I hadn't really realized how old this stuff actually is. The thing I thought was the coolest(besides the actual arena) was right outside the arena they had big stones where people who had cheated in the games names were carved for everyone to see. #payback
The arena was really cool. It started to rain lightly while we were in there so I unfortunately didn't get to run the "track" which I totally would have wanted to do. It was real muddy and my shoes where not working out for that. Phil, Jameson and Steve did not let that stop them. They had a "fun run" that turned into a full on race. Phil was coming straight at me as I was videoing. A dog was trying to bite his ankles and he started sliding in the mud trying to stop. He slammed right into me and Jameson's phone, I was videoing with flew and landed straight in the mud. All caught on video, SUPER funny.
After we finished up at the park we headed for a Greek lunch with entertainment. They had dancers who were doing traditional Greek dancing. It was really fun. Steve and Phil got up and danced with them a couple times. :) And the food was really good. The table next to us enjoyed our free pitcher of alcohol. Probably glad they sat next to all us Mormons. ;)
When we got back the rain really started coming down so Phil and I ran back on the boat and got our umbrellas to do a little shopping. We also got to spend a little time talking to our kids when we got on the boat before we set sail. It is hard when you are on a 9 hour time difference. We would try to call them at the very end of our days before setting sail, and it would be in the morning while they were eating breakfast.
We are so lucky to have family that helps with our kids so we can have these amazing experiences. My mom and dad are rock stars and always take the brunt of watching them. We so appreciate it, This time our kids also got to spend time with the Jensen's, Morlocks and Lovell's. That's what happens when you are gone just shy of 2 weeks! HOLY MOLY!
At Sea October 23rd
The night before the sea had gotten pretty rough and I was feeling it. I had to go to bed early to avoid losing it, and I missed the magic show. :( Awe man. When we woke up Friday for our sea day the water was still pretty rough. We met up with everyone to eat breakfast and then Phil and I lounged around napping and watching movies.
We spent a lot of our nights playing scum with everyone in the card room. Good good times. My favorite, which I believe was this night, was Phil and some of the other guys heading down to the all night restaurant and ordering basically one of everything for everyone and bringing it up to the card room. We basically had our own little feast.
We also spent many evenings at the crepe bar. Nutella quickly became a favorite of Phil and I's. The crepe bar reminded me so much of Lacie. I don't know if I had ever had a crepe before our last cruise to Europe. She loved the crepe bar. We spend a lot of time there with her and Jace. She passed away not too long after our that cruise. It was special to have those memories of her while there.
This night we tried the other restaurant for dinner because it was more mid ship and not so rocky. It was for sure a good choice.
Then we packed up for tomorrow we were back to Venice for the day!
Venice-take 2 October 24th
Harmon's also booked a tour for us here today. We went to San Marcos Square and were able to tour the Doge's palace. We had been outside of it when we had been her previously and boy am I glad we were able to get inside, it was beautiful. While walking to where you go in we saw the Bridge of Sighs which connects the Doge's palace to the prisons. While inside we walked across it and could see out.
The palace inside was full of beautiful art and amazing gold everywhere.
After the tour we were supposed to be transferred to the airport. It was about noon and our flight didn't leave til 8 PM. We were trying to figure how we could spend the rest of the day in Venice. Oh, we made it work. A few couples in our group headed back and about 10 of us stayed. We drug our bags to the people mover and rode it from the cruise port to Venice. We dropped our bags at a storage place and we were free to roam for like 6 more hours! SO worth it. We ate plenty more gelato, Pizza, went through Basillica Di San Marco and explored. I L.O.V.E Venice. At this point Venice was a strong #1 with Santorini being 2nd.
We took the bus to the airport and made it in plenty of time. And just like that we were headed to Paris, France. When we found out we would be flying home through Paris we knew we wanted to extend and stay a few days. Luckily a lot of Phil's friends wanted to do the same. When we arrived we said goodbye to the rest of our group who was headed home, smashed 8 of us and all our luggage in a Taxi mini van and made it to the Eiffel Tower right as it sparkled at midnight! I think I cried a little bit. It was one of the most amazing days of my life. Being in Venice and loving it and then in the same day being in Paris at the Eiffel Tower. A day I will never forget.
