Magic Greek Isles 6/18/2022

[princesserin1350]

Loving all of your food photos! This is definitely a bucket list cruise for me so love following along.

 

[hippiechicken]

For Santorini, we booked Santorini: Private Panoramic Tour with Host and were looking forward to a relaxing beach day after all the learning in Athens.

After Cabanas, we joined the first Tender group at 9 am, which is the time we were supposed to meet our guide. I messaged the provider, and they said they would meet us at the top of the hill when we arrived.

There were 3 other cruise ships in Santorini with us! I warned my sister that I would be walking down instead of standing in line for hours for the cable ride.

At 9:55, we finally exited the cable car in Fira and found a guide with our name who walked us to the Karavas Travel Tours shop where the lady said she wasn't expecting us until noon.... It was awkward, but she said she found us a driver who could be there in 30 minutes. We passed a lot of shops on our way to the shop, so it was fine for us to go look around for 30 minutes and pick up some gifts.

By 10:45, we were off with our driver who taught us to pose as he took our photos..


At some point, my sister got in trouble for not listening to the lesson, and was irritated with our driver.
Then we stopped in Oia where our driver dropped us off and said he'd be back in 2 hours. We assured him one was plenty and he said he may have to do a pick up with another group. It was odd since we booked him for the day.
We needed a snack and the restroom and were not too happy, so stopped at Alexios FIne Aegan Tastes for a break.
A coffee and croissant fixed my mood and a coke for the sister.

We also tried the Skewers! The watermelon and feta was amazing!!

My sister said the prosciutto was too salty,

but enjoyed the restroom.

 

[hippiechicken]

It was a nice rest and a beautiful view. The tables by the sea are available to people eating lunch, not drinks, not sure if our skewers would have qualified, but we just needed caffeine so took the other seats which were perfect.

Oia is a beautiful place that I definitely want to stay in, with a pool cascading over the edge! It was a little odd seeing people in their pools in their rooms, but I'll do it! We took lots of photos before heading back since we were ready to go to the beach.
Luckily our driver shared his business card with us so we had his name, so when we were obviously lost, another driver contacted him for us and he showed up within 10 minutes. It was a long drive to the Black Beach, and my sister may have thought we were being trafficked a time or 2 as our driver detoured from the route and videoed us singing. However, we finally made it safely. I'm sure drivers get commission for bringing guests to certain spots which is fine with me as long as I like the place, and this was another win! I'll buy food to have a great view and beach access!


Sangria with real fruit,

an amazing Greek Salad,

my sister had some kind of baked cheese,

then a complimentary dessert.

Lunch and the view and the access was worth whatever we bought here for less than 32 Euros!

We spent about an hour here swimming and lounging on the beach. The black volcanic rocks were amazing, but super hot!

I don't normally like beaches because I don't like sand, so I loved this beach!
We made it back to the cable car by 4 pm, with a line ridiculously long and the last tender scheduled for 4:45! I left my sister as a DCL tour group showed up behind us and started my walk down through donkey poop. I was about half-way down while my sister was still in line in front of the tour group. At 4:40, I boarded a tender and thought how I was going to explain to my dad that I left my sister in Greece...
At 4:57, my sister assured me her new friends weren't going to leave her behind, so I headed to my room to wash my shoes.
While I was redressing, the phone rang and it was Mickey checking to see if my sister was onboard since she hadn't checked in yet! By then she was on the tender with her new friends and the last tour group, so Mickey was glad to hear that.

My sister arrived on the last tender at 5:21! Luckily, I didn't have to tell my dad anything!

 

[hippiechicken]

I ran to get some shawarma before they closed and took it with me to dinner... I wasn't sure if that would be allowed, but of course it is because it's Disney!

I had 4 appetizers to complement it.




And my sister had chicken!

 

[hippiechicken]

Sea Day for my birthday and slept in til 9!
Then attended my first Anyone Can Cook for some German Riesling and strudel.

Cabanas

I think I took my sister a plate of bacon since she slept through breakfast.
Doing nothing made me hungry!


or my sister was awake by lunch

We lost trivia again

Community puzzle was looking good,

but made me hungry

All the adults wanted to swim, but nobody was swimming, just sitting around.

So, I swam in the kids' pool and played on the slide.
Until dinner time...

 

[hippiechicken]

Back through Sicily

 

[hippiechicken]

I did my first Rainforest Room for this Sea Day and next time, I'm getting it for the entire cruise! (Along with the wifi)
I went 3 times that day, the last time heading back before closing but stopped for a swim by myself.

Also had the RR to myself at this hour!






Then, we lost one more round of trivia... which is extra sad because my friends and I won 4 times in January....


We made it to Naples by 7 am!

 

[hippiechicken]

I learned there were hard-boiled eggs on the second to last day!



There were also Churro waffles..

We walked off the ship mixed with DCL tour groups at 8:30

We were supposed to meet our driver at 8:15 for Amalfi Coast: Ravello, Amalfi, Positano, & Sorrento Day Tour through AmalfiTourCampania. We booked this last minute when my mom couldn't go as we were going to Capri with them. My sister and I did Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast in 2019 but didn't have enough time in Amalfi, so were excited to spend the entire day there.
We stopped for some amazing views and photos

before our driver gave us time in Ravello.

This driver quickly became our favorite when he dropped a pin in the What's App so we could find our way back to him!! We got lost several times before, so it would have been helpful to know that was an option before the last day! This driver also would nicely tell people to move out of our photos! He was our favorite, and had he been earlier in the trip, we probably wouldn't have tipped the others so well!
We tried to skip Ravello, but were so grateful we went!




An old lady sold me the cutest baby rompers for my grandson!



Then we stopped for a coffee and restroom break at Caffe Calce.

 

[hippiechicken]

I had been eyeing lemon dresses for awhile and almost bought one a time or 2...

Luckily my daughter wasn't responding to my shopping finds so I didn't buy anything..

After not enough time in Ravello, we headed to Amalfi, but just for some photos.

We drove along the coast, stopping for some views

and shopping like this Ceramic shop where we spent too much after my sister accidentally broke something...

But I always need more cheese knives, and wine stoppers make great gifts.
They have an online store and ship, so I may buy a table someday!




Then we continued on...

 

[hippiechicken]

We tried to stop at a winery for a purchase, but since it was Sunday, not everything was open.
However, we stopped at 12:30 for lunch at a family's home in Positano...

I may have dropped a pin for my daughter, just in case...

but it is actually a restaurant in their home... with an amazing view of the coast from our table!

Grandpa cooked for us, dad served us, the daughter worked the bill...
And the food was amazing!



Then on to more photo ops!

 

[hippiechicken]

We ended in Sorrento where we watched limoncello being made and this place gave us samples, so we bought a lot!


I had so much limoncello, that I finally bought a lemon dress for way too much money!!

I was worried that our driver wouldn't find us, but he noticed the costume change right away!

It was the perfect tour of the Amalfi Coast. I want to spend a week there in a few years!


Donald greeted us at 4:30 back at the port.

Then Minnie.


And I learned on the last day that there are chips and salsa hors d'oeuvre in the lounges! Can't wait to plan my next cruise!

 

[hippiechicken]

We enjoyed our server and assistant so much!











We must have lost trivia one more time!

 

[hippiechicken]

And I finally stayed up late enough for snacks.



We got some final photos with friends then picked a package.


The puzzle was completed.

I cried by the pool

had a last snack from Cove Cafe with room service coffee for in the morning.


before breakfast with some birds in Rome at 7 am.


We walked off with our luggage at 7:50 and our driver from Civitavecchia Shuttle Express was scheduled for 8.
We were on our way to Rome by 8:15 and caught our 9:55 train to Venice on Italo. I booked the nice seats for my mom for a scenic view for the 4 hour ride. Without them, we had the extra room. The train was nice, with snacks

and a personal trash can! Airplanes should have these!!

 

[hippiechicken]

Masks were required, and my sister slept the entire scenic ride!!

She actually woke up when we reached Venice, and I was so excited, we got off at the wrong stop!!
We bought tickets for the next train to the island, then missed it, so bought another set. It put us back an hour...
We arrived by 3, but waited forever for my pre-booked water taxi, but by 3:30, someone yelled my name, so we hopped in!

Next time, I'll hail my own cab.
How beautiful is this city!!


Our fellow travelers may have been jealous by my dropoff for our AirBnB


After the initial shock of carrying our overweight luggage up 5 flights of stairs, we could really appreciate the AirBnB
view from the window sill

 

[hippiechicken]

Too hungry to do anything else, we headed out to find food,

and found pizza at the first corner.

Italian coffee is better than Greek coffee...

We also found St. Mark's Square, which was really the only plan for the next day.



It's a lot bigger than the World Showcase makes it seem!!


I was mesmerized!!

We scoped out some places for dinner...

then made our way back to our room for a rest.

 

[hippiechicken]

We decided to take a sunset gondola ride since we weren't ready for dinner yet.

We had an excellent gondolier who had been working for only 2 months in the family business.

By 10, the square was flooded and everything was closed!!

We found a little place that may have felt sorry for us, so gave us packaged bread (which was actually pretty common in Venice)

and made me carbonara without any meat!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Where did you two get your pirate costumes?

 

[hippiechicken]

Where did you two get your pirate costumes?

Mine is from Ross..
My sister's was from Party City about 10 years ago..

 

[hippiechicken]

We didn't have any plans for Venice, in fact, we only went there because the flights were $500 per person to fly home than from Rome...
However, I read a blog that said take a view from the T Fondaco dei Tedeschi Rooftop Terrace and scheduled that for 11 am. I didn't know if the timing would work, so didn't even mention it to my sister.
I woke up before 8 to the sun shining in my window, so made my way to my perch where I watched Venice wake up with deliveries of produce and people coming and going.

Already missing room service, I finally woke my sister up so we could go find some coffee.
We passed the trash collectors,

then headed the opposite direction of St. Mark's to check out the place. We found a cute square with a cafe.

and I had the Italian breakfast for 15 Euros.

My sister ordered eggs and bacon and a side of toast.

The server didn't mention that it came with toast...

We took the scenic walk heading to the Rialto Bridge.

 

[hippiechicken]

We stopped for some fresh juice and water because Venice doesn't have water fountains on every corner like Rome!

My sister had a costume change at some point.

Our schedule, or lack of, worked perfectly for the rooftop view








All of the walking made us hungry, so we found a cute piazza for lunch.