Day 8 - Rhodes

Our last Greek island was Rhodes (Pronounced Rho-des).. not Rhode like in USA! hahaha.. it was bitter sweet.. can't believe it's our last day in Greece.. awww.. time passed by too quickly for me.  I mean.. how more relaxed can you be?  Island tours during the day, casino at night.. ahhh.. bliss...

We didn't have much to do in Rhodes.. we had a good tour guide who was funny.. but he brought us to see more pottery!  Again.. didn't we have enough of that in Primary school???  So we saw the same thing over again, but I got to admit, this person was way more creative than the one we saw in Izmir.

Unfortunately, we didn't take much pictures in Rhodes because PrincessBling's camera ran out of battery.. I only remembered the lunch place.. where we had a beautiful view of the beach.

And naturally, we had to see more stones :P

Rhodes was beautiful though.. 

Just love the white houses in Greece. 

Sorry folks, but other than that, I don't quite remember what Rhodes was like.  But I felt sad to leave Greece.. and board the cruise for the final time..

Day 8 - SANTORINI!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! Today is the day that we visited Santorini.  I was so excited because I've seen pictures and I've heard stories and it all points to one thing = Santorini is the most beautiful island in Greece!

Santorini is a special island.  It's actually built on a volcano (dormant thank goodness) so the city lies on the top of the volcano.  To get there, you have to sit a cable car.. or sit this..

That's right.. DONKEYS!!!!  Remember 'traveling pants of the sisterhood'?  Hoo boy.. I wasn't going to up the easy way.. I mean.. the queue for the cable cars were crazy.. think all the cruise ship docked at the same time and everyone left the ship.. no no no..I had to do this..

Giddyup horsey.. whoops.. donkey I mean!  hahaha.. I was scared shitless to say the least.. although the donkeys were the one pooping more than me.  It STANK!  I just grabbed on for dear life and let the donkey do the walking.  At first my donkey was really slow.. stopping after every few steps.. I'm like... what.. load too heavy???  THEN.. he decided that he wanted to be competitive.. he wouldn't let other donkeys over take me.. each time one tries.. my donkey would start sprinting up the road.. I was so scared.. trying to stay on the donkey.. pulling it's reign.. trying not to pee in my pants.. all I could do was scream!  Got used to it after awhile though.. but boy.. was I glad when he reached the end.. 

I later found out that PrincessBling was so scared after watching me go that she shared a donkey with hubby.. and the donkey was led by a man.. so no scary sprinting for her!

Santorini is quire crowded.. with houses after houses pushing each other for the best view of the sea.  

We decided not to join the tour for the day and go off on our own.  Once we got to the city.. it was an UPHILL climb to go anywhere.. and everywhere had donkey poop on it.. it was horrifying!

We rented a little four door car for only 50 Euro and zipped around in it... thank goodness we rented a tiny car.. not only did it take less time for the aircon to cool it down.. the roads were tiny!

We decided to go to the place where they always show on TV.. I can't recall what suburb.. but it's where all the white houses on the hills are.. and boy.. it sure didn't disappoint!

How beautiful is that???

All the houses were painted in white, and their swimming pool had bright blue bottoms..making it look like the ocean.. and just makes you want to dive in it!

After maybe 15 minutes in that suburb, we decided it's time to go to the beach.  Santorini is famous for the black sand beach.. so we tried to go and find it.. unfortunately.. with my navigational skills.. we didn't make it.  We kept coming back to that same darn intersection!

We did drive past a black pebble beach which didn't look very nice to begin with.. so we drove on.  We drove and drove.. went to the backs of the island which was the industrial side.. wasn't very pretty.. 

Until we came to another beach where they had some restaurants, so we stopped for food.

Looks scrumptious doesn't it?  Their octopus was to die for and their fish was soooo fresh.. except for that piece of steak looking thing in the middle.. I had no idea what fish it is and it's chewy.. still nice though.

Once done with lunch, we had to go back to drop off the rental car and make it to the ship before it departs.. so sadly.. we didn't make it to any nice beaches.  

To makes matters worst.. I accidentally left my camera in the rental car.. so I lost all the pictures I had taken in Greece.

We also saw this Taiwanese(?) couple taking their wedding pictures in Santorini.. I can't believe that people would do this.. spend so much money on something that they probably won't even go back and look at one year from now.  Poor groom, he was sweating like mad and sure didn't look like he was having fun! :D

On the way back, we had to catch the cable car down.. and bump into my parents! hahaha  The ride was really fast.. quite scary.. luckily there was no wind so the cable car wasn't shaky.

Ahhh.. Santorini.. they were right.. you are beautiful!

Day 7 - Mykonos

Mykonos has got to be my favorite Greek Island.  It's just so beautiful!  From the moment we took the small boat into the island (our cruise ship couldn't dock at the harbour) I was in awe.  It started with the fresh produce that they were selling on the streets.

The produce was brilliantly colored, from the red tomatoes to the peppers to the watermelon.. looks good enough to dig my teeth in.

Our first stop was to the church, where the bells were centuries old.

The church was beautiful.. but unfortunately, I was denied entry because my shorts were too short (???) and they offered me a cloth to tie around my waist.. but I had caught a glimpse of the inside of the church already.. so I wasn't gonna be bothered about dressing up and going in.

After the church, we went further down view it was the 'best view of the ocean' and took pictures.. in the freaking hot sun.. we took it and rushed back into the air conditioned bus.. frankly.. I didn't think that the view was all that.. but judge for yourself.

You can see our cruise ship in the distance :D and the windmill behind PrincessBling.  But yes.. the entire city was caked in white.. mainly because it's a cooling color.

After that, we went for lunch in the city, where we were greeted by... 

A pelican!!!  The city is roaming with pelicans.. and they just walk around like they own the place.. not even bothered by the hundred of cameras stuffed in their face and the hundreds of tourists chasing after them.

Lunch consisted of mix seafood platter.. and let's just say that it's super fresh!

Prawns, calamari, sardines.. it was all there!  I had gyros again cos I love it.. but it was a little dry.

We were supposed to see the windmills but I wasn't interested because we already saw real ones in Europe when I was there in 2009.  This windmills were funny looking..

Like.. how on earth does it capture the wind when there's like no propellers?

It was free and easy after lunch.. we just had to be on time to catch the last boat back to the cruise at 11pm.  Soooo.. we decided to roam around the city shopping.. I heard that there was a Chanel store somewhere..

The city was confusing.. one alley turns to the next and you get lost.  We were just walking round and round and FINALLY stumbled upon the Chanel shop.. PrincessBling got her first Chanel bag.. I didn't get anything because it was a small shop and I couldn't find anything I liked.

We rushed back to the cruise after to get our bathers so we could go hang out at the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  We went to the beach via taxi and boy was it breathtaking.

The water was brilliant blue .. so clear you could see right down to the ocean floor. All the front row of chairs were taken, so we had to do the second row... which was still fine.

Look just how gorgeous it is!  We had to pay 6 Euros for the seat, but the guy never came to claim the cash.. so we had it for free.  They had China ladies walking around offering massage, so I signed up for 30 minutes for 25 Euros.. so while the others were splashing around in the sea.. I was lying in the sun having a glorious back massage!  It was pure heaven!

Finally decided it was time to dip in the ocean.. and it was FREEZING.. not to mention super salty.. made us extra buoyant in the waters.. haha.. but the water was so cold.. I sucked in my breath each time the waves came.. in the end...I just jumped in and swam around til my body got used to the cold.. after maybe 5 minutes in the water, I was done.  Time to get up and get back in the sun!

Going back into the city was an adventure.. we couldn't find a cab!  Turns out that there were only 31 taxis in Mykonos and all of them were taken.. think that they just didn't want to drive out to the beach with no one going there as they won't earn any money.  We FINALLY had to hop on the Contiki tour bus.. hahaha.. that was interesting.. they were getting picked up again at 3am!  This is purely a partying tour.  But thank goodness we managed to get back into the city.

Dinner was once again.. seafood platter.. it was so yummy.  I can't get over how fresh the seafood were!

Now it was our turn to party.. we went to 'The bar Downunder' where the owner was Australian.. and had redbull vodka BUCKETS, and shots after shots of who knows what.. and after that.. we moved on to another bar.. and had a shot called 'F*ck me up'.. which was HORRIBLE.. true to its name.. we were grossed out that it killed the mood.  So we decided to call it a night and go back to the cruise ship.

Why is Mykonos my favorite island?  It's so picturesque and quaint.  Love how you could get lost in the alley, very reminiscent of the time we were in Venice.

This is one place that I would definitely come back to if I had the chance.

Day 6 - Izmir

We start a brand new day in Turkey, the Island of Izmir.  Yes, this part of the cruise took us outside of Greece.  For me, it was really evident that we were not in Greece anymore.. for one.. Turkey is a Muslim nation.. and this was rampant..

Yes.. Genuinely Fake alright.. nice play on words though.  They took us to a pottery factory (haven't we had enough of that in primary school??) and the manner of the saleslady was AGGRESSIVE.. they were really pushy and in your face.. and won't leave you alone til you purchase something.. that's why I kinda stayed away from the salesgirl and slowly moving towards the tour bus! 

We were taken to a leather factory as well where they put on a fashion show.. and then the selling begins.. I was still trying to make up my mind on this leather jacket when the saleslady came and presented the jacket to me in a bag.. well, how do I say "no, I don't want it".. talk about AGGRESSIVE!

We went to see MORE ruins.. this time is Ephesus and it was HUGE!  There were heaps and heaps of people around as you can see in this picture.

Again, another brilliantly hot day.. but these ruins were beautiful.  It was nicely preserved.. even down to an old board game etched into the marble floor!

One fascinating thing was the shared dunny!  Like I didn't know olden day people can stand pooping so close to another person.. in public too!

WHAT THE!  And they sure had small bums back then.. hahaha.. there's water below that flushes all the waste away.. and no.. there were no ancient 'rocks' left behind .. hahaha

We were taken to yet another stadium.. this one could hold 25,000 people!  Amazing isn't it?  And you know what?  The last person to perform at this stadium was Elton John!  It's known for it's awesome acoustics.

Man, everyday was so hot.. I drank more water in one day then I usually do in 3 days!  But it's good to keep yourself hydrated and not suffer from Sun Stroke.. yes.. slip slop slap people!  Can you believe it goes up to 40 degrees everyday??  And it's humid too.. so not only are you sweating buckets, you're getting burnt by the sun too!

But wouldn't have traded this trip for anything else.

Day 5 - Samos

We docked at Samos at about 8am in the morning.. so we ate breakfast on the cruise... eggs, bacon, ham and bread.. that would be my morning staple for the next 7 days.. can't believe that they didn't offer any different option daily!

Samos is a pretty place.. just look at the city center.

It's just so picturesque, with the palm trees surrounding it.. makes it look like a postcard or something.. but as we're out really early, none of the shops were opened yet.. so we were just strolling around the streets enjoying the beautiful sights.

 
Lunch was free and easy, so we ventured around to grab a bite.. yes.. more gyros!

Think that's the president of Samos or something.. can't recall what that statue was of..we'll just say president of Samos! haha..

We had the afternoon off.. so we decided to walk from the cruise to the beach and have an afternoon siesta by the waters.

Not wanting to tan, I picked a spot under the umbrella (we had to pay like 3 Euros to rent a chair!) while PrincessBling and her hubby went to play in the water.. I got in for 5 minutes but the water was absolutely FREEZING.. and bloody salty too.. made us more buoyant though!

We had to trek back.. UPHILL to the cruise ship after the siesta.. thank goodness I had developed stamina with my exercise regime so wasn't tired with all the walking.

That's our cruise ship!!  It's one of the biggest cruise ship around..but it's disappointing that the 'swimming pool' turns out to be a waddle pool.. and we were so looking forward to lounging by the pool with a nice tall cup of ice cold beer.. instead.. we ended up in the lounge sipping on bellinis and acting mature.. hahahaha.. 

And it was back to the casino at night!  They put on shows on the ship but I wasn't interested in any of them.. casino is funner.  And there was nothing else to do on the boat but eat, drink and play!

Day 4 - Kos

Our first island that the cruise ship stopped at was Kos.  PrincessBling kept wondering why the tour guide kept saying "of Course".. hahaha.. 
We boarded our tour bus and went down to the city center.

The town center was very quaint and quiet (well, maybe it was too early in the morning) and we walked around a bit, before being led to .... a tree.

Now what's so special about a tree?  Damn if I could remember.. hahaha.. I just remember that it's really really really old and is the seedling of another tree that was somewhere else.. but this tree is the national symbol of Kos.

After that, we went to see more ruins (or as my daddy would say.. what.. more rocks???)  This site was beautiful.  And it's the first time that I noticed that Athens was filled with stray cats.  AlanHarperIsMyIdol and CryptKeeper would love it!

Here's a friendly kitty who tried to get some hazelnuts off my mummy.. btw. Athens is known for their hazelnuts.  This cat unfortunately got very disappointed to find that it was a nut and not meat!

When we reached the ruins.. it was breathtaking.  We couldn't resist ourselves ..

Hahaha.. us kids were goofing around pretending to be statues..I thought that this was an awesome picture.. before the whistle blew and we were told to get off the ruins!  That's me on the 2nd column from the right.

It was another hot day, with brilliant blue skies.

And naturally I wanted to get out of the heat as soon as possible.  But we trekked up the ancient stairways and took the leisurely path (covered with trees) back down.. 

It seems that oranges are also an integral part of Greek cuisine.  They're selling it everywhere.. only 1 Euro per glass.. it was nice and refreshing after that trek down!

Another hectic day and I couldn't wait to get back on the cruise.  This is because of this..

Pokies!  Yes.. the ship sailed at 6pm that night, which meant that the slot machines would open 30 minutes after (something about not being able to open when docked due to laws and stuff).. we wanted to play at the tables, but it didn't open til 8pm that night.. 

I love slot machines.. sure way to lose money.. but fun to get jackpots and stuff.. in the end, I lost 100 Euros on the pokies.  BUT.. I made back 75 Euros on the tables playing Caribbean Stud Poker.. PrincessBling taught me the game and it's seriously fun.  I got a flush and earned myself a cool 100 Euros.. it was fun with all us 'kids' at the table.

The cruise was mainly staff with foreign workers.. but I did notice that most were Filipino!  They were fun to talk to and you can hear about their cruise experience and stuff.

From there, we went drinking.. and by midnight was truly exhausted.. and another bottle of wine was opened.. I beat a hasty retreat when everyone had their backs turned! hahahaha

Day 3 - All Aboard!!!

Today, we flew from Athens to Heraklion where we were supposed to board our cruise ship, the Costa Atlantica.  But we weren't gonna board til late afternoon, so we had a nice lunch in the city of Heraklion and managed to get some shopping done as well!

Lunch was our first experience with Greek Gyros (pronounced Ye-Ros) and it came looking fantastic.

That's pork belly gyros with french fries.. YUMMO!  I ordered the tasting platter, where they has Mousaka (Greek food) which to me.. looked and tasted like lasagna.  Oh well, food connoisseur I am not!

Doesn't that water just look so enticing!!! 

Would love to have one of these boats to travel in.  Just being in the waters would be amazing!

Ahhhh... what a nice way to cool down.. with an ice cool beer.. Greek beer to be exact.  It's much much lighter than Heineken and so refreshing.. yes.. Mythos has become my staple in Greece!

When it came time to board the cruise, we were in such a rush that we took no cruise pictures.. only this beautiful sun set from the balcony.


The rooms in the cruise was small but cozy.  I had a sofa bed which just fit the length of me thank goodness.  I had to bunk with my parents again.  


This was my very first experience on a cruise.  Surprisingly, it wasn't very rocky.. very stable infact.. and my mummy suffers from severe motion sickness, and even she was doing well on the cruise.. 


Dinner was late, but it was fine dining.  We had like 5 courses to choose from.. food was Italian and French unfortunately.. no Greek food.. oh well.. guess it's Greek food in the Islands!


We were waiting for the casino to open.. but it never did :( so in the end, we called it a night and went to sleep.  I slept like a baby on the ship.. 


Can't wait to wake up the next day for buffet breakfast AND visiting a new island!!!!

Day 2 - Athens

Woke up to the glorious sun rise again and like totally rushed down for breakfast.. I LOVE buffet breakfast.. their bread rolls were YUMMY.. so chewy!  Anyway, I was as always.. raring to get going.  Today, we were going to visit the castles and then ancient stadium.

Look at the clear blue waters in the background.. makes you want to jump in doesn't it?

Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of the castle, as I lost my camera.. so PrincessBling was kind enough to send me some of her pictures.

Castle Gates

It was REALLY hot at the castles.. look at us just cowering in the shaded area of the castle walls.  This castle once held prisoners in TINY rooms, I get claustrophobic just looking at it.. and there was this one guy who was imprisoned wrongly for 7 years!!!  How did he manage in that little hole? (Again, sorry for the lack of pictures)

Bird's Eye View of the City

Look how big Athens is.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Too bad about those graffiti and abandoned building lots.. 

We then moved on the the stadium of ancient times.  It's actually still used to this day for theatrics and performances.  There is this spot in the centre of the stadium stage, where all you have to do is whisper, and it's heard by the entire audience.

Yeah, everyone is glaring at the spot and trying to see if it actually works.. and amazingly.. it does!

Look at just how huge the stadium is!  And we can hear the actors from the very top of that stadium!  Unfortunately.. it's hot, with no shade.. so we rushed through the presentation and sought comfort under the trees!

Back together again... Lovely!  (BTW, I'm taller than PrincessBling.. she happens to be standing on a rock!)