The ABCs of Greece & Italy! X, Y, and Z, and that Friends is THE END!!! :) See you in Asia and Australia, Join Me THERE!!

[pkondz]

Yeah it really was. Maybe another time. But first:

Costa Rica/Belize
Canadian Maritimes
South African Safari
Cambodia
Australia.....

You're ambitious!
I'm hoping to make it to the end of the street to get the mail.

It actually wasn't too bad. He was an excellent driver and it was too steep on the one side.

Wait... too steep???

Annnnd I forgot. Put it up on my LincolnLanding Photography Page on FB and forgot.

And here I reminded you and everything!

Glad I could help! I know a LOT of folks hate Ouzo for the anise/licorice flavor, but the raki, from what I hear it awesome. I have a small bottle that I bought there, that I have yet to open.

So Raki doesn't have that taste, then?
And yes... I don't like Ouzo for just that reason.

You only get about 3 thimblefuls when you order.

3 shots???

Because he is the pickiest person on the planet. Quite literally.

Oh

If you like fish shots you will be in for a massive fish photo dump when we get to Bari towards the beginning of our Italy portion, so not too much longer.

Don't like fish shots... like that shot.

Thanks! Since you gave it such high praise I posted it on my LincolnLanding Photography page.

Yay me!
What do I win??

It's her special talent!

Oy...

"Free". The best marketing tool a cruiseline ever used.

What do you mean? Did you pay extra for it???

 

[pkondz]

I like the themed bars a lot. Like Trader Sam's, themed Speakeasys. They're fun!

Agree!

TOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

So... you're saying it was too much?

Coconut?

Give that lady a cheroot

Nope, I'm old and decrepit.

I've met you... hardly.
Good thing I wasn't there or I'd have beat him with my walker.

Nope.

Just as well. She probably doesn't remember.

Yes, they were. That sommolier I mentioned earlier? I saw her up at 7:00AM one morning on the deck in her suit and I KNOW she'd been up in the dining room until 11:00PM.

Those are... my hours! And I know that's insane.

 

[rdkeim]

Enjoying your adventure! Anxious to hear about the Italy portion too. My DH and I are going on a tour in Sept.

 

[afwdwfan]

Here’s a super informative article explaining the Cretan “Alonia”.

Didn't guess that... Interesting. I'm familiar with threshing floors here in the US that worked in a similar manner but with slotted wood floors. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to still separate everything from what is basically a hard mud packed floor after the threshing is done.

I wouldn’t know. We couldn’t get there. The road from Vamos to the monastery is a winding, uphill road that happened to be getting a facelift while we were there. It was closed.

Oh no... Apparently signage isn't a priority in Crete.

After the process was passed along, the hostess led us out to use the restroom and browse through the courtyard and a small "museum" of antiques gathered from the old family home (did you know the ancient Greek word for "farm" is "Georgia"?) and other villagers' donations.

I really thought the "museum" was going to be a gift shop. This looks like it was more interesting than that.

Too bad I broke one 3 days later. One fell out on the floor of our cabin and in the process of looking for it, I found it by stepping on it.

Oh no!

Luckily, I found a place in an artisan village here in Arizona with a legit silversmith who said he can fix it, so I'll take it in next week.

Good! Hopefully it will be like new!

Grabbing a "quick" coffee was always an adventure in Greece and Italy. It’s like the ultimate guessing game of how to play. At some places you just find a seat outside, sometimes inside, but most of the time outside, and someone magically appears to take your order. Sometimes, you went inside and ordered and then found a seat, sometimes, you had to stand at the bar. I can tell you that if you guessed wrong, you looked like an idiot 100% of the time. Which was 100% of the time. Then you had to figure out how and where to pay. The creamy, caffeinated deliciousness was 1,000% worth the turmoil of appearing imbecilic.

I feel this way about every coffee shop I've ever seen, even here in the US. They speak a language I don't understand. I guess it's a good thing that I just don't drink coffee and usually have no reason to go there!

This chapter took up more real estate than I thought it might when I titled it, so you’ll have to hang tight for Pt. 2 wherein Mikki and Mom whoop it up a little too hard.

More of that Greek wine?

My first one was the Candied Apple Martini: Grey Goose Vodka, apple schnapps, pomegranate juice, and butterscotch schnapps. Does that sound cloying to the point of disgusting?

Or martinis... And yes. It does.

Meaning, after our first round, I didn’t care and wasn’t keeping track.

That strong, eh?

I think she ended up drinking 4 or 5 of those things. God rest her liver. There is NO WAY she didn’t have a monster hangover the next day.

I'm glad the 2 of you were able to enjoy an evening and a few drinks together. Even if it became a few too many!

 

[vamassey1]

I've enjoyed the last two updates. I always learn so much from your chapters.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Not really feeling the Main Dining Room that night, we opted to hit up the buffet and graze on whatever looked good. Do not ask what I ate; there is simply zero memory. Whatever it was, it was lackluster and forgettable.

So basically Applebee's, then.

My first one was the Candied Apple Martini: Grey Goose Vodka, apple schnapps, pomegranate juice, and butterscotch schnapps. Does that sound cloying to the point of disgusting?


It was.

I don't think I've ever had a martini, so I have no idea. But I'm sorry you didn't care for it.

Did I drink it? Yeah, but it took a long time.

This sounds like an old Jim Gaffigan routine: "This cheese is gross. I don't even like it. I guess I'll finish it."

Mikki got impatient with me and ordered her 2nd one- this time a “something else”. Meaning, after our first round, I didn’t care and wasn’t keeping track.

Well, that escalated quickly.

She liked it as well and started to get chatty. We struck up a conversation with some lady who was equally chatty and babbling about her job and cruises and whatever else she could think of the regale us with. After 20 minutes, Mik and I started to roll our eyes at each other and turned attention back to the super friendly bartenders as a diversion. I mean, we didn’t want to be rude, but holy smokes lady, go sleep it off.

"I mean, didn't you notice that at some point in our conversation I started reading a vomit bag? Didn't that give you some kind of clue, like maybe this guy's not interested?"

Focused back on the entertainment in front of us, the bartender decided he would flirt with Mikki and started making us napkin sculptures and slinging several more (unordered) martinis her way.

Wow, and right in front of Mom? Dude is bold.

but she was becoming “done” and confessed she didn’t want to finish the last one he’d set in front of her, so I took one for the team and finished the last half of whatever it was.

Hey, I admire the team spirit there.

She’s great company and a lovely travel partner!

I'm glad you could enjoy being together!

 

[Steppesister]

P is for: Practically Perfect Ending to Greece​

Today would be our last day in Greece; our last port of call and possibly our 2nd best shore excursion. (Ephesus, Turkey still takes the cake for best shore excursion because of the impressive ruins and neato carpet factory.) Given the opportunity this island, Zakynthos, would be the one I would return to spend an extended bit of time on. The waters were absolutely crystal clear, the scenery was like something out of Middle Earth, the food delicious (how can you go wrong with gyro stuffed with fries?!), and there was plenty of adventure to find.

Mikki and I got our requisite number stickers in the theater, grabbed our water, and headed to the area where we’d board our bus.


Just kidding!


This time, we didn’t bother with a bus; we were taken to an ancient, barely running 4X4 Nissan (?) which joined a small caravan of 5 other 4x4s in various states of (dis)repair which would bounce us up into the mountains of Zakynthos Island for a cross-country adventure to be remembered!

​

This was billed as a 4x4 cross-country tour of the island which would take us into the highlands of the middle of the island, over to the Shipwreck Beach Overlook, down to a very small private cove to swim if we chose, and then back to the ship after a stop for some last-minute shopping.

​

Zakynthos Island is the greenest island we visited on this trip and, of all the shore excursions offered, I am very glad we ended up on this one! The day broke cloudy and misty….not ideal for a day laying on a beach half naked (most of the other offerings).

​

Once we got on our way, our guide introduced herself and she turned out to be the best of the drivers who ran this outfit. She was a middle-aged gal from the Netherlands who moved to Greece 25 years ago. She married and had since divorced, but decided to stay since she’d had her own business on the island for years. She’s since sold that business but now drives and guides for the 3rd party tour operator that ran this trip. She was incredibly frank and forthcoming about the pros and cons of living in Greece, especially as a single woman and business entrepreneur; I loved her transparency and down-to-earth style.

It turned out that most of the other drivers couldn’t even speak adequate English to share what we were seeing along the way, and more than a few on our tour were verbally disappointed and frustrated with the entire experience. I was extra grateful that we had such an exceptional guide who taught us a ton about life on Zakynthos.

​

In no particular order, some of the things we learned:

-- The stone fences you see all over Zakynthos and, in fact, all over Greece, are called “dry fences”. They are hundreds of years old and made with NO cement, mortar, frame, reinforcement, etc…. Even through multiple earthquakes, they still stand yet today. Fences aren’t made like this anymore as they take a very specialized skill from masters who are not being replaced and they take too long to build.

(Not a great photo, but you can see a dry fence on the left of this one. But I actually took the photo because olive trees like this one are hundreds of years old. Absolutely massive!)


(More stone construction)

View as we drove:


​

-- Male chauvinism and misogyny is still very much alive and a thing in Greece and it takes grit, self-confidence, persistence, and shoulder shrugging to face it. I wish I could remember our guide’s name, but she has that art mastered. Despite many business setbacks on the island, she has ultimately, in the end, earned the respect of the local drivers and tour operators, and now they come to her for advice. However, this, she shared, sadly isn’t the case for all women. Domestic abuse is still quite common, and the police tend to turn a blind eye. It would be nice if I didn’t have to say that some things may never change.

-- Zakynthos’ most major threat is actually forest fires. No, not due to climate change. These fires, although completely illegal, are intentionally set by local landowners to “extend” their land use. If I understood correctly, if a fire goes through the indigenous cedar stands, they become eligible to be cut for wood, but also, once the wood is cut, the land is suddenly farmable. “Crappy” forest land? Problem solved. Selfish? 100% Profitable? 100%.

During our 4 hours out and about in the mountain tops of Zakythos, we came across many fire crews stationed as lookouts, so they are trying to combat the problem, but it sure sounds like a land use, legislative issue to me. But that’s only one partially-educated lady’s opinion.

- There are loads of super picturesque stone “houses”, more sheds really, that are used for shepherds and farmers all over the island. Many are super old and only in crumbles, but there are also many that dot the countryside and are used for summer shelter for both animal and human.

]​

-- Wild herbs are EVERYWHERE on Zakynthos. Want a tasty soup? Get yerself a chicken, go on a hike, dig a few potatoes, and voila!!! Mikki and I spotted thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, mint, juniper, and obviously olives and grapes growing wild along all the roads and at our stops.

(Sage and thyme)



​

Our first stop was at a cliffside café perched atop a beige-cliffed precipice over inviting turquoise waters far below. There was no purpose other than giving us a nice view over a pristine cove and letting us enjoy a snack and rest. I’ll admit, the view was intoxicating and it was hard to pull ourselves away.

​

But, it was time for a late morning snack so we took a seat with some others in the small outdoor, family-run café and ordered. Late mornings always call for a latte.


Always.

​

Someone else in the group decided to bless our table with a nice plate of mezes which was just perfect! Everything was so tasty and, as yet, I hadn’t had any dolmates, a definite Greek favorite of mine. Yum!!! The tomatoes were still sun-ripened and sweet in October, the olives tangy and just-right bitter, and the lamb kefta perfectly minted. Mmm………….

​

Stealing a couple more glimpses of the cove far below, we loaded up again and were off to the Shipwreck Beach Viewing Platform. At one point, our driver got separated from the convoy, adding to the super fun adventure. Yeeeehaw!! A quick phone call got her on the right road again, and not long after we arrived at the little touristy destination parking lot. There were several vendors there selling honey, almonds with several choices of coating- strawberry (say what?!), cinnamon, etc.., nuts, olives, olive oil, etc…

It was there we’d hang out until everyone had had a chance to go out onto the platform for the all-coveted view of Shipwreck Beach.

PREPARE FOR A RANT.....

Shipwreck Beach is THE main attraction on this island for tourists and admittedly IS a very cool sight to see. It is no wonder it is highly Instagrammed and offers its own shore excursions directly there by boat. But for those who don’t want to actually go TO the beach, there is another option- seeing it from far above from a viewing platform that takes a bit of effort to get to. I think all told our jeeps took an hour to get there.

The platform is set high up on a cliff with the water and beach hundreds of feet below; the beach itself is literally ONLY visible from above from this ONE solitary spot on the whole island. When we arrived, there were probably 60?? people in line on the sidewalk/steps that lead to the platform which holds a maximum of 2-3 people at a time.

Now picture this: The line is full of 20-somethings whose entire vacation depends on this one photo and it has to be just perfect (please note the sarcasm). I mean God forbid their hair is not parted just right for a selfie. They get out to the platform, it’s finally their turn and they spend 5-7 minutes out there taking dozens of photos from every angle imaginable. Then they take MORE minutes looking at the photos and editing the photos, deleting the photos, retaking the photos. GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY. 60X5=300!!!!

Look, I like a good photo too. But I will never take more time than is polite so that everyone can have a turn. Just snap a photo, maybe retake it once, and move the heck on.

All told I think it took almost an hour in line (only because some people figured out it wasn’t polite to dawdle) to get a glimpse of the beach below. Do I wish I had more time to get a few more shots? Sure. But you get what you get and move on. Here is what I could grab in the 2 minutes I took (because there were still 30 people behind me and wanted the same chance).

(Looking straight out to sea.)

And then leaning way over and to the left....



(One cell phone, one camera)

And to the right from the parking lot area...

​

Rant over. And I promise I won’t bring this up again. It’s just become a big pet peeve. I see in Disney too and yes, it torques me off there as well.

Continued in next post....

 

[Steppesister]

P is for: Practically Perfect Ending to Greece

​

Continued....

As a recap here are the places we were touring for the day:

(Port of Zakynthos, some cafe somewhere, Navagio Beach Viewpoint, Xigia Sulfur Beach, Therianos Family Farm, back to port)
​

Back in the saddle, we headed back down to the lowlands of the island to our next stop- Xigia Beach. Unique to this one is the sulphur content of the water that comes out of underwater hot springs into the cove. So yeah, it’s a bit stinky, not terrible, but a little. Ever swam in a stinky sulphur body of water? If you have, you may have noticed that your rings, necklaces, or any other silver thing you happened to have on came out bronze-colored. I wear silver for the most part. And whoops!! I forgot to take my stuff off. It’s definitely not the first time I’ve done that. Luckily, a little silver polish reverses the reaction, and it cleaned up in no time. This is not like a sulfur hot springs; it is most definitely salty seawater.

This beach is so soooooo perfect!! It’s really tiny with a few tiki-style umbrellas and chairs for a 5 Euro pricetag (during summer… it was free and completely abandoned when we were there, but who wants to swim in the cold and rain?!) Best part? There is this amazing pulley thingy rigged up to the top of the cliff where there is a little basic café that you can send orders up to. Just plop your order in the basket, pulley it up, and after a little bit, your order of snicky-snacks and booze come whisking down for your beachy keen enjoyment! Drawbacks, if there has to be some: the beach is not sand. It’s made of little pebbles which for the most part aren’t very nice to step on. Ouch, remember your water shoes! The parking lot is very small there. The restaurant mostly only has 7-11 style snacks and a couple of “cooked” items. And, from what I read, it gets crowded in high season by 10:00AM. Nevertheless, this is pretty much a dream come true beach.

​

Did we swim? I dipped in up to my knees and splashed around a little. The water was not freezing cold but was not tropical warm either. Then it started to drizzle. I guess I thought it’d be a good idea to get out and start to dry off in case it got worse.


It did.


There would be no drying off.

​

The entire trudge back up the long, VERY steep hill to the café got me completely drenched and when I got there, all the seats that were under the covered area were taken. Mikki had gone up ahead of me (and is faster because I’m old and out of shape) and was sitting in the off-and-on drizzle at a picnic table looking at her photos. To escape the showers I took a peek in the little gift shop across the parking lot which sold beach toys, towels, swimsuit covers and sunscreen.

Only about 4 or 5 of us even walked down to the beach at all. So, here’s the deal… this was billed as a 4x4 ADVENTURE shore excursion. They were very clear there would be some walking, getting bounced around on undeveloped, dirt roads, etc… but by the time we got to the beach, I think a goodly amount of the group were sadly pretty disgruntled with the tour in general. The guides didn’t speak English very well at all (except ours), so they had no clue what they were seeing, or what the guides were saying, they didn’t catch the history or culture. I think the dreary weather set the bad mood in cement so they mostly brooded in silence in the café drinking beer. There was no WAY I was going to miss out on the incredible beauty of that tiny little beach cove; even the soaking was 1000% worth it.

Our last stop was at the Therianos Family Organic Products Farm. It’s funny, no matter how much research I thought I’d done, none of our shore excursions were really what I’d pictured going into them. I didn’t really know what to expect really, except for maybe the Acropolis because I’d been there before; everything else was a bit of a surprise and mostly in a good way. What I mostly didn’t expect were the stops at family for-profit businesses on almost every single shore excursion. I don’t mind learning the processes of making local products, in fact, I actually enjoy it, but this seemed like a string of informercials with a bit of guilt-buy strategy built in.

​

The farm itself was quite lovely with gardens of flowers, veggie plots with dangling sun-ripe tomatoes, a few animals, and a very tidy gift shop (who knew?!) where we could buy their “World’s BEST!, Award Winning” olive oil. We had another sit-down group presentation about all the accolades of their products, how the olive oil can be used medicinally, we tasted the tiny raisins they grow, had sips of wine from the vineyards, etc… And it worked too. Mikki ended up buying several things to take home but more I think because this was her last chance to do so. I bought a little something too but gave it away as a Christmas gift.

(Pesto, anyone?)

(This was the beginning of my door and hardware obsession...)





​

While I don’t love being a captive audience, I do have to say that the family hosts were incredibly gracious, and their hospitality was warm and friendly, just like everyone else on the island we came across.

The olive oil farm was officially our last stop of the tour and it was time to head back to the barn. It was well after lunch time by then and all I’d eaten that day were a few bites off of that little snack plate at the overlook café. I was hangry. I mentioned that I was to our super nice guide lady, and she said she’d love to stop at a fast food restaurant for a take-away gyro which was directly on our way back to the tender dock. “They are the best on the island!”, she assured me. YES PLEASE! This was the last item on my Greek Food Bucket List: Dolmates, Spanokopita, Moussaka, olives, hummus, and Gyro. Check, check, check, and check!!!

(Oops, super blurry. )​

Within minutes I had a pile of gyro chicken, veggies, yogurt, and hot fries stuffed inside a hot, fluffy soft pita all wrapped up and ready to go! And it was HUGE!! We thanked our driver and tipped accordingly, then headed for the tender loading area. But, before hopping on, we took 15 minutes to sit on the pier to enjoy our delicious gyro, which legit was one of our favorite shore excursion meals. Thinking back, the ones that comes to mind are the very first one in Olympia, the fresh fish on Santorini, the Biblical Feast meal near Ephesus, and this one. One in a sweet family cafe, one fancy-schmancy, one "themed", and one fast food.

With that, our tour of the Greek Islands was done. We still had a full Sea Day ahead of us and I’ll hit that in the next update.....

 

[pkondz]

This sounds like an old Jim Gaffigan routine: "This cheese is gross. I don't even like it. I guess I'll finish it."

Yes!

our last port of call and possibly our 2nd best shore excursion.

Semi-high praise indeed!
Unless you only saw two things, then... not even that. (And yes I know you saw more than 2 things.)

Ephesus, Turkey still takes the cake

mmm... cake...

because of the impressive ruins and neato carpet factory.

So you're saying what would top that would be impressive carpeted ruins.

Got it.

how can you go wrong with gyro stuffed with fries?!

This time, we didn’t bother with a bus; we were taken to an ancient, barely running 4X4 Nissan (?) which joined a small caravan of 5 other 4x4s in various states of (dis)repair which would bounce us up into the mountains of Zakynthos Island for a cross-country adventure to be remembered!

Well, that would certainly explain the lack of busses.
Was it because the roads were too narrow? Too twisty? Busses just not allowed?

over to the Shipwreck Beach Overlook

I do know this one.
Never been, but have seen many photos.

a very small private cove to swim if we chose

Haven't gotten that far... wondering if you did.

She was incredibly frank and forthcoming about the pros and cons of living in Greece, especially as a single woman and business entrepreneur; I loved her transparency and down-to-earth style.

Sounds like a true free spirit.

It turned out that most of the other drivers couldn’t even speak adequate English to share what we were seeing along the way, and more than a few on our tour were verbally disappointed and frustrated with the entire experience.

You guys really lucked out, then.

The stone fences you see all over Zakynthos and, in fact, all over Greece, are called “dry fences”. They are hundreds of years old and made with NO cement, mortar, frame, reinforcement, etc….

Cool!
I watch a show where they've been examining a similarly constructed stone fence.

Not a great photo, but you can see a dry fence on the left of this one. But I actually took the photo because olive trees like this one are hundreds of years old. Absolutely massive!)

I like it and can see the fence too.

(More stone construction)

Wonder if that one was mortar-less?

View as we drove:

Gorgeous.

Male chauvinism and misogyny is still very much alive and a thing in Greece

Woot!

erm... I mean...
That's a shame.

Despite many business setbacks on the island, she has ultimately, in the end, earned the respect of the local drivers and tour operators, and now they come to her for advice.

Good for her. For reals.

Domestic abuse is still quite common, and the police tend to turn a blind eye.

Okay, that's horrible.

Zakynthos’ most major threat is actually forest fires.

Was not expecting that!

These fires, although completely illegal, are intentionally set by local landowners to “extend” their land use. If I understood correctly, if a fire goes through the indigenous cedar stands, they become eligible to be cut for wood, but also, once the wood is cut, the land is suddenly farmable. “Crappy” forest land? Problem solved. Selfish? 100% Profitable? 100%.

Seriously???
Never would've thought that in a million years, but... as soon as I read it... Sure. Of course.
Doesn't make it right, but... not surprised in the least.

Get yerself a chicken, go on a hike, dig a few potatoes, and voila!!!

Do the potatoes grow wild there too? Or even are they grown there?

Mikki and I spotted thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, mint, juniper, and obviously olives and grapes growing wild along all the roads and at our stops.

I'm impressed that you knew all those!
I would've been: "Huh. Bushes."

Our first stop was at a cliffside café perched atop a beige-cliffed precipice over inviting turquoise waters far below. There was no purpose other than giving us a nice view over a pristine cove and letting us enjoy a snack and rest.

Purpose enough. Stunning view.

Late mornings always call for a latte.

Or not.

Always.

Or never.

Someone else in the group decided to bless our table with a nice plate of mezes which was just perfect! Everything was so tasty and, as yet, I hadn’t had any dolmates, a definite Greek favorite of mine. Yum!!! The tomatoes were still sun-ripened and sweet in October, the olives tangy and just-right bitter, and the lamb kefta perfectly minted. Mmm………….

Whoa... that sounds so good!

At one point, our driver got separated from the convoy, adding to the super fun adventure. Yeeeehaw!! A quick phone call got her on the right road again

Wait... I thought your driver was the one all the other drivers depended on... but she gets lost???

Now picture this: The line is full of 20-somethings whose entire vacation depends on this one photo and it has to be just perfect (please note the sarcasm). I mean God forbid their hair is not parted just right for a selfie. They get out to the platform, it’s finally their turn and they spend 5-7 minutes out there taking dozens of photos from every angle imaginable. Then they take MORE minutes looking at the photos and editing the photos, deleting the photos, retaking the photos. GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY. 60X5=300!!!!

They should have a catapult on a timer. If you take more than 2 minutes (or even maybe one minute), you get launched into the sea below.

I guess that's taken from the bridge locks in Paris. Soon they'll have to be cut off too.

That's the view! Wow!

Rant over. And I promise I won’t bring this up again. It’s just become a big pet peeve. I see in Disney too and yes, it torques me off there as well.

I've never really noticed in Disney. Maybe because I don't care that much.
What I mean is, I'll gladly stop and let you get your photo... but if you're going to take too long, I'm marching in front of your photo.

 

[pkondz]

Back in the saddle, we headed back down to the lowlands of the island to our next stop- Xigia Beach.

So you never went to the first beach at all?
I guess with the weather, that's not too bad, but... still...

Ever swam in a stinky sulphur body of water? If you have, you may have noticed that your rings, necklaces, or any other silver thing you happened to have on came out bronze-colored.

I have, but I haven't done it wearing anything silver.

Luckily, a little silver polish reverses the reaction

Phew!

This is not like a sulfur hot springs; it is most definitely salty seawater.

I've done the former, but never the latter.

This beach is so soooooo perfect!! It’s really tiny with a few tiki-style umbrellas and chairs for a 5 Euro pricetag

Practically free. I've paid a lot more for a couple of chairs at Typhoon Lagoon.

but who wants to swim in the cold and rain?!

Yeah... no.

Best part? There is this amazing pulley thingy rigged up to the top of the cliff where there is a little basic café that you can send orders up to. Just plop your order in the basket, pulley it up, and after a little bit, your order of snicky-snacks and booze come whisking down for your beachy keen enjoyment!

How cool is that!
I really like that!

Drawbacks, if there has to be some: the beach is not sand. It’s made of little pebbles which for the most part aren’t very nice to step on. Ouch, remember your water shoes!

Unfortunate, but... like you said, wear your water shoes.

Did we swim? I dipped in up to my knees and splashed around a little. The water was not freezing cold but was not tropical warm either.

Glad you got in a little, but...
did I miss something? I thought it was sulphur-fed so would be warm?

There would be no drying off.

uh oh...

To escape the showers I took a peek in the little gift shop across the parking lot which sold beach toys, towels, swimsuit covers and sunscreen.

The key word there would be... towels? No?

Only about 4 or 5 of us even walked down to the beach at all. So, here’s the deal… this was billed as a 4x4 ADVENTURE shore excursion. They were very clear there would be some walking, getting bounced around on undeveloped, dirt roads, etc… but by the time we got to the beach, I think a goodly amount of the group were sadly pretty disgruntled with the tour in general. The guides didn’t speak English very well at all (except ours), so they had no clue what they were seeing, or what the guides were saying, they didn’t catch the history or culture. I think the dreary weather set the bad mood in cement so they mostly brooded in silence in the café drinking beer. There was no WAY I was going to miss out on the incredible beauty of that tiny little beach cove; even the soaking was 1000% worth it.

Well, I'm glad, despite the soaking, that it was so worth it for you.

I didn’t really know what to expect really, except for maybe the Acropolis because I’d been there before; everything else was a bit of a surprise and mostly in a good way.

Good!

this seemed like a string of informercials with a bit of guilt-buy strategy built in.

At least the informercials were pretty. With pretty nice people, too.

The farm itself was quite lovely with gardens of flowers, veggie plots with dangling sun-ripe tomatoes, a few animals, and a very tidy gift shop (who knew?!)

Oh, sure. Don't most farms in the US have gift shops attached?

No?

where we could buy their “World’s BEST!, Award Winning” olive oil.

I bought a little something too but gave it away as a Christmas gift.

Had you done that on purpose? I mean, buying that item as a Christmas gift?

Pretty!

(This was the beginning of my door and hardware obsession...)

Ah!

Was that rose growing out of a tree trunk??????

Looks like a nice little shaded nook to enjoy a little nosh.

What am I looking at? Those look like hummingbird feeders??

While I don’t love being a captive audience, I do have to say that the family hosts were incredibly gracious, and their hospitality was warm and friendly, just like everyone else on the island we came across.

Then I'd say it was okay to stop... despite the infomerciality of it.

she said she’d love to stop at a fast food restaurant for a take-away gyro which was directly on our way back to the tender dock. “They are the best on the island!”, she assured me. YES PLEASE!

Absolutely!

This was the last item on my Greek Food Bucket List: Dolmates, Spanokopita, Moussaka, olives, hummus, and Gyro. Check, check, check, and check!!!

I'd have to say you hit all the highlights.

(Oops, super blurry. )

But also looks super delicious. I've never heard of fries in a gyro before.

Within minutes I had a pile of gyro chicken, veggies, yogurt, and hot fries stuffed inside a hot, fluffy soft pita all wrapped up and ready to go!

<drool>

 

[juniorbugman]

n no particular order, some of the things we learned:

-- The stone fences you see all over Zakynthos and, in fact, all over Greece, are called “dry fences”. They are hundreds of years old and made with NO cement, mortar, frame, reinforcement, etc…. Even through multiple earthquakes, they still stand yet today. Fences aren’t made like this anymore as they take a very specialized skill from masters who are not being replaced and they take too long to build.

They actually run dry stone sculpture courses at the local college at my cottage. Linking an article here. People come from across North America to attend.
When we were making our wall down at the lake we used the dry wall technique.
Dry Stone wall course

You guys really lucked out, then.
Cool!
I watch a show where they've been examining a similarly constructed stone fence.

I know that show. Hoping they will find something - anything.

(Sage and thyme)
​

I like this photo as it looks in focus and out of focus at the same time.
Glad you had a great day - maybe and learned a lot.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Zakynthos Island is the greenest island we visited on this trip and, of all the shore excursions offered, I am very glad we ended up on this one!

It looks like a nice island. You really got lucky with your guide, especially since she stopped for gyros at the end.

The little pebble beach is very nice. I would like the fact that it wasn't full of tourists.

 

[pkondz]

I know that show. Hoping they will find something - anything.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Oh come on! I just caught up yesterday!

The waters were absolutely crystal clear, the scenery was like something out of Middle Earth, the food delicious (how can you go wrong with gyro stuffed with fries?!), and there was plenty of adventure to find.

Sounds like heaven!

It turned out that most of the other drivers couldn’t even speak adequate English to share what we were seeing along the way, and more than a few on our tour were verbally disappointed and frustrated with the entire experience.

That was really a luck of the draw situation. I can see why some would be frustrated.

Domestic abuse is still quite common, and the police tend to turn a blind eye.

Wow, that's so sad.

Zakynthos’ most major threat is actually forest fires. No, not due to climate change. These fires, although completely illegal, are intentionally set by local landowners to “extend” their land use. If I understood correctly, if a fire goes through the indigenous cedar stands, they become eligible to be cut for wood, but also, once the wood is cut, the land is suddenly farmable. “Crappy” forest land? Problem solved. Selfish? 100% Profitable? 100%.

Man. It almost sounds lawless.

Wild herbs are EVERYWHERE on Zakynthos. Want a tasty soup? Get yerself a chicken, go on a hike, dig a few potatoes, and voila!!! Mikki and I spotted thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, mint, juniper, and obviously olives and grapes growing wild along all the roads and at our stops.

It's all intertwined with the poison ivy. Have fun!

Our first stop was at a cliffside café perched atop a beige-cliffed precipice over inviting turquoise waters far below. There was no purpose other than giving us a nice view over a pristine cove and letting us enjoy a snack and rest. I’ll admit, the view was intoxicating and it was hard to pull ourselves away.

Gorgeous view!

Now picture this: The line is full of 20-somethings whose entire vacation depends on this one photo and it has to be just perfect (please note the sarcasm). I mean God forbid their hair is not parted just right for a selfie. They get out to the platform, it’s finally their turn and they spend 5-7 minutes out there taking dozens of photos from every angle imaginable. Then they take MORE minutes looking at the photos and editing the photos, deleting the photos, retaking the photos. GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY. 60X5=300!!!!

Oh man. How many of them end up getting shoved off the cliff?

That is stunning!

Simply lovely!

There was no WAY I was going to miss out on the incredible beauty of that tiny little beach cove; even the soaking was 1000% worth it.

Agree. When will you ever be back? Go see what's out there!

Within minutes I had a pile of gyro chicken, veggies, yogurt, and hot fries stuffed inside a hot, fluffy soft pita all wrapped up and ready to go! And it was HUGE!!

Wow, it sounds great! But...yogurt?

They should have a catapult on a timer. If you take more than 2 minutes (or even maybe one minute), you get launched into the sea below.

This is the best idea yet!

 

[pkondz]

Wow, it sounds great! But...yogurt?

Hmmm… good point.

Sure it wasn’t Tzatziki, Liesa?

 

[KathyM2]

That selfie taking at hot spots phenomenon is so super annoying. I remember the exact same thing when I went to see the Prime Meridien in Greenwich, UK and there were so many tourists taking their sweet time with the photo taking. Ugh, so frustrating. You got some amazing shots though in your limited time!! Also, pita with fries in it sounds heavenly!

 

[Steppesister]

Hmmm… good point.

Sure it wasn’t Tzatziki, Liesa?

Sigh… yes, was trying to keep it basic, but yep, tzatziki it was!!!

 

[afwdwfan]

This was billed as a 4x4 cross-country tour of the island which would take us into the highlands of the middle of the island, over to the Shipwreck Beach Overlook, down to a very small private cove to swim if we chose, and then back to the ship after a stop for some last-minute shopping

Of course shopping has to be a stop on the tour.

During our 4 hours out and about in the mountain tops of Zakythos, we came across many fire crews stationed as lookouts, so they are trying to combat the problem, but it sure sounds like a land use, legislative issue to me. But that’s only one partially-educated lady’s opinion.

Interesting... and yeah, I'd think putting some teeth into the illegality or changing the "after fire" usage guidelines would make a huge difference in stopping that problem.

Now picture this: The line is full of 20-somethings whose entire vacation depends on this one photo and it has to be just perfect (please note the sarcasm).

Sounds about right...

Here is what I could grab in the 2 minutes I took (because there were still 30 people behind me and wanted the same chance).

Should have taken your full 5-10 minutes like the others. Beautiful location!!!!

There was no WAY I was going to miss out on the incredible beauty of that tiny little beach cove; even the soaking was 1000% worth it.

I'm glad that you had the good tour guide and were able to enjoy the day a bit more than some of the others. And that view looks completely worth getting soaked for.

World’s BEST!, Award Winning” olive oil.

Makes me think of this...

Within minutes I had a pile of gyro chicken, veggies, yogurt, and hot fries stuffed inside a hot, fluffy soft pita all wrapped up and ready to go! And it was HUGE!! We thanked our driver and tipped accordingly, then headed for the tender loading area.

Looks delicious. Yes, you definitely hit the jackpot with your tour guide!!!!

 

[pkondz]

Sigh… yes, was trying to keep it basic, but yep, tzatziki it was!!!

You can mail me my major award

 

[Steppesister]

Q is for: Quad to Quint in Venice

*****This is a text heavy, photo-lacking chapter. Bear with me, the next ones have TONS of great photos!*****​

Our last day was at sea and it was mostly filled with laying by the pool, sipping on an occasional cocktail, and finally getting down to the unsavory task of repacking. Yuck.

A word about the pool that we enjoyed most, even over the hot tubs. I don’t know about other Celebrity ships, but the Constellation has one pool in particular (I think I wrote about this before, but will again in case I hadn’t…) that is a “Thallasotherapy” Pool which is basically a warm seawater pool. According to some research, which is somewhat sketchy and loose, there are some health benefits to a nice long soak in the minerals of sea water. I wonder if the biggest benefit is derived from simply unplugging and unwinding for several hours laying in a nice warm pool and closing one’s eyes. In the pool there are areas to stretch out and recline so you can just soak. Which is exactly what we did.

For several hours.

It was bliss!! If I'd known about this pool earlier, I'd have skipped the lukewarm hot tubs altogether and used this one more.

The week of touring had definitely taken its toll on sleep and energy, and this was just what I needed to re-charge for the next long, rigorous spell of touring!! After our mega-long poolside day, we both headed back to pack leaving out what we’d need for our last “formal” night. We gussied up as best we could and had our last meal in the Main Dining Room. Before we headed back to the room we got perhaps one of my favorite photos of us together.

​

Would I cruise with Celebrity again? Probably not. I’ve only cruised 3 times: Once in high school, and I have no recollection of what company it was, once on Holland, and once with Celebrity. Comparing Holland to Celebrity, Holland would win hands down. I’m certain Disney would be even better, but I’m pretty fogey-ish now and like quiet. I don’t want to be splashed in the pool, I don’t want to hear whiney kids complaining about the food, or running around in the dining rooms. And get off my lawn. Plus, I’m poor as dirt right now and a Disney cruise would be like asking for the Crown Jewels. Holland America, of the two, just had all-around far better service with nice touches like room service breakfast menus delivered every evening (didn’t ever have that on Celebrity), more frequent attention to bathroom amenities, and a few miscellaneous evening services, like ice fills, that were never offered on Celebrity.

Would I cruise with my folks again? I think so, now that I know what they will and will not be able or want to do, I can adjust my expectations knowing I’ll only see them at dinner.

Would I sail the same itinerary? Nope. There are other places I want to see, but beyond that I know now which Greek islands I prefer and would go back to (not via cruise) and stay a bit longer. But would I go to Greece again? Yes, I would… but first the Philippines and Australia. Did I mention that Mikki is engaged and having a destination wedding near Manila in February? Yep! Her fiancée’s family is from the Philippines and is helping arrange things a bit in finding a really nice, all-inclusive venue for them. And since I’ll be “in the neighborhood”, I thought I’d hop to Australia and maybe one of the South Pacific Islands to take a look-see.

Okay, back to this trip….

The disembarkation process was SUPER easy. We opted to tote our own bags and not wait around for valet service so we could get on our scheduled train. A word about that… Remember that horrific fiasco getting TO the port? Yeah, hard lesson learned! We did NOT do that again in making too tight a connection. My folks just can’t move quick, and frankly, even if you are younger and faster, tight train connections WILL be a disaster. We scheduled our trains with 45 minutes in between leaving plenty of time to haul bags up and down the platform connection tunnels, going potty, finding our track, etc…. And it worked great.

Leaving Ravenna, the port city that is NOT Venice like Celebrity advertises, and you learn about later (which really ticked me off!), we headed to Ferrara where we switched trains to the Santa Lucia station in Venice.

Trains: Italian trains are bomb-diggity. Did you know that there is not only a national rail company, but several private companies that share the rails? We took a few of them here or there over the course of the trip, but I will say that they all have some things in common. The first-class seats will get you Wi-Fi, a cup of coffee or tea, and more room for luggage. Normal seats are just as clean, the speeds and times are nearly enough the same to not fuss about, they ALL leave ON THE MINUTE of their scheduled time (do NOT be late!), all have bathrooms that are clean, and snacks to purchase if you need them. The easiest way to grab tickets is: 1) think ahead and buy at least a few days prior to your trip, or you’ll pay more, 2) if you want to sit next to your people, pay a tiny bit extra and pick your seats together when you book, 3) download the Trainline App and you can book super easy and quickly with that- you just plug in your to and from and it shows you all the options to choose from, and 4) if your train is cancelled you can, with not too much hassle, get switched by going to the ticket window at your station. Yes, trains can and do get cancelled now and then.

We found our AirBnb with some effort as we needed to get on a regular water taxi from the train station to the Rialto Bridge water stop. Toting our bags as best we could, we found the stop to board, bought tickets, and then stood in the wrong side of the floating station/dock and waited forever, only to realize we sucked at water taxi logistics. The crowd was huge, but somehow we managed to get out of the wrong line that wasn’t moving anyway, moved over to the correct side and then fought our way onto the next packed boat. We were all incredibly grateful that someone gave up their seat for Mom but getting her back there through the sea of people and then off again 5 stops later was insanely difficult. But we did it and got all checked in after a short walk from our stop.

A few random shots from the water taxi and the walk to the apartment:

​

The only photo I got of our AirBnb this time. Apparently, I was enamoured with the ceiling:

​

Everyone was pretty hungry and we all know Dad doesn’t wait to eat when he’s hungry. The first place he sees is going to be the BEST food he’s ever eaten and nothing else could possibly do. No searching for something more appealing or with better reviews; if it’s the first place he sees that’s where he wants to eat. This caused more than a few “moments” along the way because I had done enormous amounts of research into the places with the best reviews and looked like they'd be a good fit for us. Nevertheless, for some reason I didn’t set out with them immediately and have no recollection why, but at some point I found them in a pizza shop on the same block as our apartment. I guess I was hungry too so stepped up to the counter and ordered a slice of pizza. They had maybe 10 options, some with just sauce, mozzarella, and a leaf or two of basil, a true Margarita, some with just meats, others with veggies, and still others with cheeses. All of them looked mouth-watering, but I am pretty sure I went with a slice (in Italy slices are usually square at these types of places) of cheese medley. I also ordered an Aperol Spritz since it was “that time of day”. I mean, do you really need any other reason?

Now… here is where things got weird and stressful all over again. Anara, my youngest, was scheduled to arrive into Marco Polo Airport with barely enough time for us to dump our luggage at the AirBnb and for me to race off to the airport to meet her. After MUCH discussion and deliberation, we decided that Anara is a big girl and that with some text coaching we could guide her to where we could meet her. I didn’t make this decision lightly, but the cost to meet her would be a bit steep and by the time I could get there she could be most of the way across the lagoon.

Understandably she was VERY nervous. She has a bit of anxiety as it is and asking her to do this was a HUGE stretch for her. But she is smart and street savvy so we knew she could do it.

She skillfully managed to make her way to the ticket kiosk for the Alilaguna Water Taxi, bought a ticket for the Orange Line, and told the seller she wanted to get off at 2nd stop called Guglie. Unfortunately, she ended up having to wait a VERY long time at the dock for the next boat to make her crossing. Back in Venice, while I was busy texting her with clarifications and step-by-step instructions, Mikki, my dad, and I took off to find a little place to wait for her at Guglie while Mom went back to the apartment to take a nap. We ended up at the:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vinoteca+Vintido+alle+Guglie/@45.4485077,12.3098215,14.91z/data=!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x477eb1c04ee4286b:0xf8e4ef92ce77d305!2sGuglie!8m2!3d45.444294!4d12.32445!16s/g/1pxyrk6fp!3m5!1s0x477eb184979e89b5:0x5888cf1e7412e663!8m2!3d45.4442304!4d12.3248413!16s/g/11h38fps4_

…. and it was disgusting.

But at least it was a picturesque enough place to wait.

​

None of us were hungry, but we felt obligated to order something for sitting at the table while we waited. I ordered some plate of cicchetti and a glass of wine, NONE of which was edible. The wine was so bad that I literally took one sip and let the rest sit there. $10 and 30 minutes later, we left with Anara safely with us. She was exhausted, wanted a shower, and some dinner.

Up next…. What would 3 ladies do with themselves until dinner….?