Best Trip Ever Part 2

Our first morning on the ship, we woke up to views outside our balcony that looked painted on the horizon.   Mountains sliding straight into deep blue water.  Hilltop villages dotted with white washed roofs glistening against a perfectly blue sky.  I couldn't believe we were in Santorini.

We ate our breakfast on the deck overlooking the island.  I almost wanted to pinch myself because all of it just seemed too good to be true.  It was like a dream come to life.

By mutual agreement, our group opted to wait a couple of hours to avoid waiting in line for a tender.  Since Santorini is a smaller port, our ship couldn't actually dock, but we had to go in groups onto smaller boats called tenders to be shuttled into port.  By the time our group finished a leisurely breakfast and met up at 10 am, we hopped onto the tenders without a line in sight.

We arrived in the port to discover we had to get up the mountain to actually get to the villages and towns of Santorini.  There are three ways to get up the cliffs:  take a cable car, ride a donkey or walk.  After considering the length of the line for the cable car (too long), our group divided into two camps - walk and donkey ride.  The donkeys completely and utterly freaked me out, so Chris and I decided to walk.

We set up the steep trail of cobblestone steps with Christine, Dylan and Tony.  The view alongside the trail was crazy beautiful the more we climbed.  (And the amazing view helped to distract us from the piles of donkey poop we had to avoid as we climbed up the stairs.)  Slowly and surely, each of our friends riding donkey's passed us riding up the hill.  About halfway up the climb, I thought I was going to die.  Not only was the climb steep and never ending, but the donkeys had dropped off their passengers and were now running back down the hill full throttle without anyone guiding them.

Not a person, not a soul.  Just a bunch of wild, crazy donkeys running right back down the steep stairs in a giant stampede without any sign of slowing as they charged you.  I was terrified.  As Chris laughed hysterically, I hid behind him and cried as the donkeys swarmed us.  I was convinced we were going to be pushed over the side of the cliff and become the cautionary tale of what happens when parents attempt to vacation without their children.

It was not fun.  I may have begged him to take me home.  Thankfully, my husband is a very kind and patient man.  We finally made it up the trail, sweaty, tired and alive, no thanks to those damn donkeys.

We walked around the town, enjoying the view and went on to find cabs to take us to another village on the other side of the island.  We spent the day walking, shopping and gaping at the views, which were unlike anything I have ever seen.  We had lunch at a restaurant with a view that was beyond spectacular.  It was truly an amazing day.

We celebrated that night by enjoying dinner in the ship's private dining room called Privee.  Our friend Tony had arranged it for us through a friend of his who works for the cruise line.  Guests normally pay up to $1,000 dollars just to reserve this room, but we had it all to ourselves for free!  Free!   As guests in Privee, you are allowed to order off the menu of two of the ship's specialty restaurants, their Italian restaurant and their steakhouse.  Our group fairly gorged themselves sampling a little bit of anything and everything we could.  It was a fantastic meal.

Our next day, we awoke as we pulled into the dock in Turkey.  I don't think any of us knew what to expect for Turkey.  While we knew there were amazing ruins nearby the port, most of us had decided to find a beach and enjoy the sun for a few hours, after shopping in their market.

The market was overwhelming.  The shopkeepers are very aggressive and will follow you to try and get you into their shop.  At first it was funny, but after a while it became annoying.  We made it through the market fairly quickly and set off to walk to the beach.  Our walk was by the water and was really beautiful.  As we walked, we saw a man waist deep in the water standing with his back to us.  He quickly reached into the water and after a moment of moving his arms back and forth, pulled out a large fish.   He held the fish out in front of him, twisted off its head, threw the head back into the water and put the fish into his pocket.  The whole process would start all over again.  We all joked that the guy was the chef from our ship catching tonight's dinner and storing it in his pockets.

After a long walk through Kudaski, the beach turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Our group decided to divide and conquer.  Some opted to go to the ruins, Christine, Danielle and I decided to go back to the ship and several of the guys, including Chris, decided to walk the city some more.

Christine, Danielle and I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon poolside.  It was perfect weather and really relaxing.  After a few hours, Chris came back to the ship to say hello and let us know that he, Tony and PJ had decided they were going to find a turkish bath.  It was a brain child of PJs and the boys were hankering for some adventure. I walked back to the room with Chris before he left and we had this conversation.

"Please remember you have to be back on the ship by 5 pm or it will leave without you guys."  I cautioned him.

"We'll be back in plenty of time."  He told me.

"I know this is PJ's idea, but you have to be careful in Turkey, so you can't be his sidekick right now, okay?  You have to be the adult in this relationship today."

Chris eyes widen, "I don't want to be the adult today.  Tony's coming with us.  Why can't Tony be the adult?"

I roll my eyes at him, "Because Tony doesn't know PJ like you do and how to handle him.  He's not ready to be the adult in that relationship.  Okay?"

Oh dear lord.  

It was two minutes to five and there had been no sign of Chris, Tony or PJ.  Not a peep.  We were just ready to get into panic mode, when the three of them jump in front of us at the pool in matching, skin tight, red Turkey t-shirts.

We were all hooting and hollering at the t-shirts and their goofy grins.  But we laughed even harder when we heard about their traipsing all over Turkey to find a turkish bath, being brought right into a mosque during prayer and finally ending up in the basement of a turkish hotel where they were laid out in a circle on a concrete slab for turkish massages.  It was quite a turkish adventure.

That night we had, arguably, our best meal on the ship at Red Ginger, the ship's Asian restaurant.  The food was unbelievably good.  I had heard before our cruise that Oceania was known for its food and after our first few meals, I can attest it really is that good.   It was as good, if not better, than any restaurant I had ever visited.

After dinner, the girls opted for pajamas and a game night, while the boys headed for the casino.  (Note to self:  I suck at Guesstures.  Awesomely suck.)  Our next day was a day at sea, cruising towards Italy.

Best Trip Ever. Part One.

At one point during our European adventure, Chris looked at me and said intently, "This is the best trip I have ever taken in my life."

And it really was.  It surpassed every expectation I had for our trip.  The ship, the places, the weather, the food and the people, oh our lovely friends, who made us laugh so hard my cheeks hurt from smiling.  It is an amazing gift that we have a big group of friends who know simply how to enjoy each other, to laugh with each other, with not a slice of drama anywhere.

The toughest part was the day we left the boys.  I drove them all to school that morning and Aidan started crying when I hugged him goodbye.  He cried and cried as if his heart was breaking.  I cried and cried because I knew my heart was breaking.  After he went into the school, I cried so hard I couldn't pull away from the curb because the tears were blurring my vision.  It was a tough morning.  I sent a few texts to my sister in law Lynda that basically said, "What the hell was I thinking."  She, ever patient, reminded me that they would take great care of my boys.  And I knew they would.  Deep down, I knew my boys would have a wonderful two weeks being loved up by their aunt and uncle and grandparents, but it's hard to get past the tears to the reason.

I was better once we hit the road to the Toronto airport.  I cheered and laughed with my girlfriends in the car the whole drive up.  It was even MORE better when we checked into the airport and were shown to the first class lounge. (And started making drinks from their free serve yourself bar.  Adult drinks that made us giggle like lunatics who have never been away from home before.)

First class is the way to travel.  Particularly when you have done it free.  (Both our bags were overweight when we checked in.  But the attendant didn't blink an eye and just smiled sweetly and told us to have a good trip.  After we walked away, Chris leaned over to me and whispered, "Everyone is so much nicer to you when you are flying first class."  Heh. Yep.  So true.)

We got on the plane and were greeted with champagne in crystal flutes.  We each had our own little compartment with plenty of leg room, our own television and a seat that folded flat.  Yes, our seats folded completely down without encroaching on anyone else's space.  It was an airplane miracle.  After champagne, they offered us hot towels and a complimentary toiletry kit.  Dinner was like a five course meal paired with wines.  Yes, at this point I could have probably been forced to end our trip here and now and it would have surpassed all my expectations.  I am easy that way.  Free wine!  Free movies!  Good to go.

After a layover in Paris (and free chocolate croissants and expresso in the first class lounge.  Hello no suffering vacation!), we arrived in Athens.  This was the moment that I realized that Chris had never been anywhere in his life where he did not speak or read the language.  While we attempted to figure out transportation to the hotel, he looked completely overwhelmed.  I have been with my husband for over half of our lives and I have never, ever seen him like this.  He will deny it to the day he dies, but being faced with all the signs in Greek freaked him out.

We made it to the hotel and immediately connected with our friends who had arrived before us to head to the Plaka district in Athens.  We walked around the cobblestone streets until we found an outdoor cafe that looked both busy and promising.  A few giant Greek beers later, accompanied by the best gyro of my life and I was even happier than I thought possible.  (Hello french fries wrapped up in my pita.  I love you and your friend baked feta, bubbling with feta-y goodness.)

After dinner, our friend PJ was determined to track down a golf cart tour he had sworn he had seen carrying people around to show the historical sites.  We didn't believe him, but walked and walked through street after street trying to track down the golf carts, until unbelievably a girl jumped out of the shadows and yelled, "You look for the cart tour?"

We all smiled and nodded yes.  She smiled back and said, "Four euro each!"  So, like good tourists everywhere, we all dug in our pockets and gave her four euros, even though there was still no sign of the infamous golf cart.  After she was paid, she disappeared back into the shadows and told us to walk up two streets and take a right to find the golf cart.

It was at this point that I turned to Chris and asked if he thought we had just been taken.  It was like we were every cautionary tale come to life.  Give us Greek beer and feta and we will open our wallets to anyone who asks!  Americans are great that way.

But sure enough, we rounded the corner and there were the carts.  We jumped onto the tour and enjoyed the tour of Athens from the relative ease of a golf cart, right up until the driver took us out onto a main drive with taxis and cars and buses (oh my!).  Imagine being a passenger on a golf cart on a busy and crazy street of NYC because that was sort of what it was like, except instead of being scared like any normal person would be, we just laughed like loons.

After the golf cart adventure, it was time to head back to the hotel.  (At this point, we had been awake for like 28 hours or something crazy.  I was starting to see double.)  Our group paired off to grab taxis back to the hotel.  PJ, Danielle, Chris and I offered to grab a cab together.    Immediately upon entering our cab, PJ started chatting it up with our driver.  The driver loved it and after a few jokes back and forth, he turned up the music on his radio until it blared with some greek dance tune.  We all bopped in time to the music laughing and yelling through the open windows.  The driver loved this even more.  Before we could blink, he slammed on the brakes in the middle of the street, put the cab in park, jumped out of the cab and started dancing in the street.

I was laughing so hard I swore I came fairly close to having an accident in the backseat of that cab.  We all yelled and cheered our driver on, watching him dance back and forth next to the cab.

Greek people are fun.

We slept like the dead that night, but woke excited to get to our ship.  After a morning of breakfast and enjoying the view of the Acropolis from the hotel's rooftop pool, we hopped on a bus for the ride to the ship, the beautiful Marina.

Check in was much easier than I had thought it would be.  From stories I had read on cruise ships, I had heard it would be hours of lines and hours of waiting around.  Instead, we walked up, waited all of three minutes in line, checked in easily and were offered bottles of water by the ship's staff.   I quickly realized that a smaller ship on a luxury cruise line is a much better way to travel than the mega-ships on commercial lines.

Marina is beautiful.  She is like an elegant, five star hotel.  I often forgot we were on a ship instead of at a resort.  We started our visit having lunch at her poolside grill - Waves, which serves burgers and chicken on the grill and has an ice cream stand (best smoothies ever.).   The girls enjoyed the rest of the day lounging by the pool in double-wide, cushioned loungers that were akin to the most comfortable couch ever.  Every so often, a waiter would interrupt us to ask if they could fetch us a drink.  (And the no suffering lifestyle continues.)

While we soaked up the sun, the guys were off to explore the ship.  This was the first sign to me that traveling with a group of couples is such a great balance.   I could sit and read for hours upon hours (oh my kindle, you are my soul mate), enjoying the sun and conversation with friends.  If Chris sits for more than ten minutes, he looks like he is going to jump out of his skin.  I loved that I could enjoy what I like to do, but he had buddies to go play with too.  All good and everyone is happy.

I finally managed to pull myself away from the sun and my lovely lounger to see our room with Chris.  It was beyond anything I had hoped for during our planning.  It reminded me of a plush hotel room, with room enough for a bed, a couch, a desk and bedside tables.  We had our own private balcony that was simply paradise.

After getting settled, we all had to attend a mandatory emergency drill (muster!), complete with life jackets.  It was a bit surreal to see all the guests stomping down the stairs into the ballroom with their life jackets around their necks.

The drill was thankfully short and sweet.  We went back to our cabins to change for the sailing and dinner.  The ship has several specialty restaurants and tonight we were set to dine at their Italian restaurant Toscana.  We enjoyed a few moments up on deck, watching the sun set before we ate and ate and well, ate an incredible meal.  My favorite part of the whole meal was the olive oil menu.  Yes, a menu just for the olive oil.  And it was two pages long.  Well, that and the wine.  Always the wine.

The ship rocked us to sleep that night while we sailed for our first stop, Santorini.   We were officially on our way!