I was tempted to just move the blog onto where we are now and now but then remembered a couple of things that I felt were worth mentioning. On the second to last day of our cruise we were in Crete and one of the tour options was a beach tour. You literally got dropped at the beach and sat under an umbrella until they picked you up and took you back to the ship. We then went for a wander around town and watched the sunset back onboard.Towards the end of the week I’m sort of over the tour stuff of following around the umbrella or sitting on the bus or making small talk, so a sit on the beach and a swim in the ocean suited us just fine.
I do have to show you one more photo from Crete. When we were kids mum had a beautiful garden of pink roses, edged with cat mint, and cats would do their business in there all the time so mum put kebab skewers, spiked side up to deter them. That along with quickly lighting Tom thumbs and throwing them out the kitchen window was enough to defend her garden. (For those toyoung Tom thumbs were a little fire cracker you used to be able to buy. They were red and green and came stitched together through the fuses, mum would stockpile them Guy Fawkes) Wandering the lanes of Crete I find these pots, there were loads of them guarding the soil to ensure it remained cat poo free.
Finishing up on a cruise ship happens like military precision. You are given bag tags which dictate when you need to get off the ship. Your bags have to go out the night before and EVERYONE must be off the ship by 0900. The taxis lie in predatory wait snaking out of the entrance to the port as the recently homeless have hours to kill before their flight, or being able to check into a hotel. Our flight wasn’t until 2 so we opted for a morning tour with an airport transfer. It promised us city sightseeing and then the Acropolis, before heading to the airport. At least we weren’t homeless when we left the ship and we got pointed along the chain of pointers to our bus . We saw some city sights and then headed up the acropolis. I was thinking this wasn’t too bad, crowd wise, as we entered the first levels. WH and I had been last year but did it on our own so this time our thoughts were we might learn something new whilst we also filled in the time. I was glad to be ahead of the pack as I looked back to see the other 100’s of cruising homeless and hotel deportees packing in behind us, wedging there way through the turnstiles. We at least had a clear run tho the top. No sooner had I been thinking that when our guide decided to pull us over to the side and give us the most uninteresting run down on stuff I did not care about and was not remotely interesting to WH and I, whilst standing in the very hot sun, as hordes and hordes of umbrella guides and there devout followers packed past us in a mass of moving bodies.
When the lecture was finally over we once again begun our trek up however instead of being at the front of the pack we were now firmly enmeshed in the middle as pushy umbrella wavers dragged their flocks forward. WH and I gave each other the eye, then with a wink and a nod we made a break for it. We told the groupie next to us to please inform the guide we would meet them at the bottom and then we were off.
We escaped the chaos and found a great cafe next to the bus park which had big shady umbrellas, a great view of the Acropolis and served a really nice Cappuccino and a glass of home made lemonade. We were definitely very ready to leave the crowds and the touring behind.
Cruise review of Athens to Athens with Silver Sea
We got it on special and the price was great
the cabins are really nice and we got an upgrade which was brilliant, but as it was forward under the bridge with the anchor going up and down late at night or early morning I think I would have preferred an ordinary balcony one more mid ships.
Love the all inclusive with no tipping.
Was a great thing to do when arriving in Europe to de jet lag as it’s all very stress free and enables a cruisey transition to the time zone. For us worked better than a stopover on route.
We don’t do the fancy dressing and WH doesn’t take a jacket which is all good. The bar grill is informal and has great food.
Athens to Athens itinerary was good and I liked most of all walking and dining in the little villages. The tours, except for Bodrum in Turkey, were all pretty boring unless you like religious or Greek history.
It’s time to go to Nice but we can no longer go direct as that flight got cancelled so we go to Zurich where we stop over for what is supposed to be an hour but turns out to be three and when we finally board we see our suitcase and not at all waterproof bag sitting in the rain on the tarmac for the next 30 minutes. I wonder how long it’s already been there and then as I gaze some more I wonder why they don’t put the cover on as it sits neatly rolled up at the end. So as I sit there in the hurry up and wait travel day, the kicking off the cruise ship seems a long time ago. I think of my dad and his “Never mind.” Never mind I think there’s worse things in life than wet clothes which will dry easy in the Nice sun.
