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.
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