Today is the port I have been looking forward to for many months. Well it certainly met all expectations, and more. It was such a beautiful day, not a cloud to be seen as we sailed into the bay. All those postcards & photos I have seen don't lie. The blue of the sky & Mediterranean Ocean here is like no other.
Santorini does not have a port suitable for large ships to dock so we arrived by tender boats sent out to meet our ship. The excursion we selected began at 8.30am with our 10 minute boat ride to the port.
We were met by our lovely guide (a resident of Santorini) & proceded on a coach to the beautiful village of Oia where we spent an hour or so looking around and enjoying the scenery. We also had a coffee in a gorgeous cafe overlooking the port.
Our next stop was a winery at the very top of a mountain, overlooking the ocean. What a beautiful place to sit & relax, tasting 3 different wines they produce on the island. Just a bit of trivia ..... their grapes are grown on the ground, not on a trellis as per norm, for 2 reasons; the main being the high winds they often have doesnt damage the vines & Santorini had a very low rainfall so they do not require as much water when directly on the soil. So you see lot's of grapes just growing everywhere, not in any neat rows either.
After an hour at the winery we headed back on the coach to the capital of Santorini, Thira. The beautiful town also has lot's of the blue & white buildings with cafe's along the mountain top with outdoor eating areas overlooking the ocean. We had a lovely light lunch of Greek dips & local Santorini blonde beer which was very refreshing.
We had been given cable car tickets by our tour guide and instructed to make our own way to the cable car so luckily we allowed plenty of time as their was quite a long queue. The ride down took just 3 minutes then we waited only a short time to catch a tender boat back to our ship. We arrived back just before 4pm & the ship is due to sail at 4.30pm.
The photo below is of the alternative route down, lot's (2,000) of steps or donkey rides.
It has been a wonderful day, even better than we had hoped for. Lot's of walking especially steps & steep slopes so we will crash tonight.
Last night dinner was a Gala, formal night so we had to dress up. Tonight is just a normal smart casual night. The food had been very good on the whole & plenty of choice. I tend to stick with the fish/seafood choices as I have heard some of the red meat dishes are only average.
Will add some photos & try to send this tonight.
Before I go ..... A BIG HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL GRANDSON - JAMIE for 22/05
I'm sure someone will read this & pass on my message :)
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