I’d mentioned in last week’s newsletter that I was just back from a Greece Intensive cruise with Azamara. We escorted a group of 20 clients on a great 7 night cruise around the Greek islands, including a day in Ephesus, Turkey for a Virtuoso Voyages special excursion.
And boy – it was hot! But we had an amazing time in our moving hotel room, onboard the small ship, Azamara Quest.
It was wonderful to travel with my family of four (and some extended family members and clients) to see Athens, and then visit the islands of Mykonos, Rhodes, Patmos, Crete, and Santorini.
I think I loved them all – each island had it’s unique history and beauty.
It was so exciting to visit the Acropolis and see the Parthenon, the Olympic stadium, the Parliament buildings and guards, and have a tour of the old city.
I fell in love with Mykonos. Oh, Mykonos – I shall return!
We roamed around Rhodes (pre-fires)- some time at the beach, and explored the old town.
We visited the lovely Patmos – including the cave where John the Baptist wrote the Book of Revelations, and the chapel built in his honour.
Our captain re-organized our itinerary onboard Azamara Quest so we weren’t in town with 5 other large ships at the same time. Pretty genius to me. So instead of visiting Heraklion in Crete, we went to Agios Nikolaos, Lasitji, next to the town of Plaka. We enjoyed a terrific tour of Spinalonga – once controlled by Venetian military, and then the Ottomans. After the Turks were kicked out, the island became a leper colony right up until 1957.
Last day of our cruise was spent in Santorini – we visited the volcanic exploration site, experienced a wine tour; had a Greek Taverna lunch with music, dancing, and breaking plates; and then a much too short visit to Oia and Fira. Oia – we will be back! “According to science…, Santorini was devastated by one of the largest known volcanic eruptions about 3,600 years ago. The explosion was the equivalent of 40 atomic bombs of the kind that were dropped on Hiroshima. The sound of the eruption was so loud that it would have been heard as far away as Sweden. It was so powerful that it destroyed the ancient city of Santorini, Akrotiri , dealing a huge blow to the Minoan civilisation, burying the island under pumice and rocks.
Let me know if you’d like to do a cruise of the Greek Islands!
