Greece – The Neverending Lori

Lovely, Lovely Mykonos

June 13, 2023July 4, 2023 Lori Martin

On May 18th the Explorer of the Seas arrived at the port of Mykonos, Greece. We got off the boat and got a ticket for a boat to Mykonos. The views from the boat were breathtaking. The water is the most amazing royal blue while the shore is dotted with white homes and buildings, sandy beaches, and a lush green hillside.

Drake, Sara, and I had no plans other than exploration. We looked around once we got off the boat and decided we’d follow the shoreline in the general direction of the windmills. No need for a bus here – Mykonos is very walkable. We leisurely walked around, exploring the beautiful island and admiring the incredible scenery. We stopped at a few shops, made some purchases, and wandered on.

Mykonos is a place I would love to go back to and stay a few days. While we were exploring we found a small beach tucked in between hillsides. There were a few people who were prepared and had their swim suits on. The water was so beautiful – if I’d have had my swim suit the kids would’ve lost me for the day! We watched as one of the ladies in the group swam out and you could see how incredibly clear the water was.

I loved Mykonos! Ready to go back any time!

It was amazing to walk around and seamlessly go from residential to commercial areas. A lot of the homes are painted in the stark white but they paint the trim, doors, shutters (etc) in a bright contrast color like red, blue, or even yellow. We saw gorgeous mosaics made from stones. A resident with a green thumb must get creative to have their green space, as there aren’t many “yards”, so you see a lot of potted plants on the front and in window boxes.

This patio had a gorgeous mosaic, made from stones that were laid on their side.

This resident made their own green space with plants and trim paint – and you can see the bright blue accents on the home next door. The contrast in the colors is striking.

We found a beautiful cafe on the shore and enjoyed a delicious lunch. Drake and I had Gyros, which were amazing, but nothing like what we have at home. The meat was pork, but more like bacon than tenderloin or another cut. It was served with a few small pitas on the side, used mainly to help scoop up the delicious crispy meat.

It was a really relaxing and mellow day. We walked along, stopped in shops that grabbed our attention, made some purchases, and had great food and drinks. I purchased a ring in one of the shops as a souvenir of our wonderful day on the beautiful island.

After a gorgeous day shopping and exploring our way around Mykonos we boarded the ship to set sail for Argostoli. I enjoyed our day in Mykonos but was ready to enjoy the ship a bit, so when we got to Argostoli the next day I decided to stay on board with my book, my knitting, and relax in the sun. Drake went out and explored Argostoli and said it was quite beautiful. I think we were all ready for a “do your own thing” day, and we each had a nice time independently. I took a few photos from the ship, but did not venture into Argostoli myself.

I didn’t realize my private yacht was waiting for me! Ha ha!

One of the items that was suggested to me as helpful for a cruise are the magnetic hooks. The walls are all metal, so the magnetic hooks are handy for items that might otherwise end up on the floor, bed, or couch. Drake brought hats and the hooks were great for hat storage! We also used them for jackets and sleepwear. You can hang these on the wall or from the ceiling.

It was a bit unbelievable to leave Argostoli and realize that our time at sea was almost over. Unfortunately, the port of Ravenna, where we sailed from, had experienced heavy rainfall causing flooding, so our ship was being rerouted to a different port. Royal Caribbean kept us informed and updated us when they had information. We knew we’d be docking somewhere other than Ravenna and that our shuttle (because it was booked through RC) would be picking us up where we disembarked and taking us to Venice.

In the meantime we just enjoyed the amazing food, drinks, and activities offered on Explorer of the Seas. We went to the casino (with Drake and Sara both being lucky winners), played bingo (with Sara winning), participated in some trivia and name-that-tune games, and explored the ship.

We were informed that we’d disembark in Trieste, Italy. When we woke up we realized that was a container port, not a passenger port. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Each passenger was assigned a group number, luggage tags were issued for that group number, and your group had a specific time for disembarking. Thankfully our time was 0715 and not 0515! We had our bags tagged and packed and were ready to go at 0715. We stayed on our floor, but not in our room, and waited for our group number to be called. When our number was called we took the elevator down and were on our bus by 0820. The biggest issue causing time delays were people not following instructions and going to the disembarking area before their group number was called.

We boarded our bus and headed out. The journey was enjoyable. The countryside had beautiful farms, churches, and fields of flowers.

We arrived in Venice at Tronchetto at 1035. Now it’s time to enjoy a few days in Venice before heading back home. For this part of our stay we had rented a 2 bed/2 bath apartment in the San Polo district. The location was wonderful and offered us a central spot to explore the city.

Stay tuned for adventures in Venice – including catching a pick-pocketer in the act!

Travel

Athens, Greece

June 9, 2023July 4, 2023 Lori Martin

May 17, 2023 – The Explorer of the Seas docks in Athens, Greece. We were ready for a day of adventure. Drake, who has Classics as one of his majors, seemed to be excited about Athens, given it’s rich history. He had spoken to a professor who made a few recommendations on what to visit in Athens. We packed up the backpack with the necessities for the day (sunscreen, water bottles, wet wipes) and headed out.

We located a “Hop on/Hop off” bus and bought our ticket, got on and headed for the Acropolis. We did the basic bus ticket which was about $22 or so per person. We got to see a little bit of Athens as the bus headed toward the Acropolis. Once there we got off the bus, got our tickets, and started walking. It’s so amazing to walk that hill, look around, and think that settlements at this site date back to the 4th Century BCE.

The first photo I took was of the breathtaking Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This majestic structure was built in 161 CE by Herodes Atticus to honor his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was used as a theater and is said to have been able to accommodate up to 5,000 people. In 267 CE, the structure was left in ruins by the Heruli. However, it is still used for cultural events to this day, which is just incredible. I cannot imagine how incredible it is to attend an event there.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus in the photo at the top with different views of the Parthenon below it.

The Parthenon – absolutely stunning. It’s one thing to see places and items in textbooks, videos, or even photos online…but to see them in person is amazing.

The Parthenon was built as a temple to the goddess Athena. Construction on the structure began in 447 BCE. After 9 years the main structure was completed. The next 6 years were spent adding decorative touches and making structural improvements. The Doric-style temple is made of white marble.

Imagine that – a structure that is over 2400 years old, constructed of white marble, and you’re standing next to it, admiring it’s glory and the careful restoration constantly taking place! It was incredible.

Drake and I stopped for a photo at the Parthenon – beautiful wildflowers grow randomly on the grounds of the Acropolis – Drake and Sara on our way to the top – The view from the top was spectacular and a bit mind blowing!

I love this photo that I took of the Parthenon – it was truly a sight to see!

Also located at the Acropolis is The Erechtheum, which is also called the Erechtheion. This temple was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. This breathtaking structure was constructed between 421 and 406 BCE. As you can see in the photo below, the structure contains six female statues, which are placed as supports for the roof. These statues are known as the Caryatids, or Daughters of Athena. It was a gorgeous day, and the Erechtheion was spectacular.

Wandering around you never knew what you’d find. Sara found several gorgeous cats, one of whom was brave enough to get close enough to say “hi”!

Massive “gateways” stand, even through they are no longer attached to the walls that originally defined the boundaries of the fortress.

We saw piles of what seemed to be “like” items. I can only imagine that as they are restoring the various structures, pieces that are found are placed with other “like” pieces in order to hopefully return them to their original structure. It reminded me of doing Lego sets with the kids and we’d start by sorting the pieces into piles of the same color in order to help locate what we needed at each stage of the build!

Another fascinating thing for me was to focus on the cityscape below – the massive city of Athens fans out from all sides of the Acropolis, so packed together you almost forget that you’re looking at thousands of homes, businesses, schools, etc. Again, the photos don’t do it justice and it really is something to experience first hand.

When we left the Acropolis we made our way to the Acropolis Museum. We walked, as it was close by. As I’m often known to do, I got distracted by flowers – a gorgeous azalea bush that had trailed down a wall and was in full bloom. It was so vibrant and striking against the blue sky. The photos below show the “close up” and a view from afar, at the Museum entrance.

As you walk to the Acropolis Museum, you’re walking over a “dig site”. There are panes of glass in the pavement so you can see the excavation below you.

The sign in the photo collage below was interesting to me, as it illustrates how what we do today may survive long past our own lives. Will someone be viewing my blog in 2,000 years as an artifact from the 2020’s? Doubtful, I’m sure!

I don’t have much to say about the Acropolis Museum because I spent the majority of my time in their patio cafe, drinking a cold soda and handling a work emergency. They had wifi and I had not paid for wifi on the ship, as I wanted to focus on the trip and not on my phone. After this situation, I went ahead and got wifi on the ship so that anything work related could be handled before we got to port, at which time I put my phone back into airplane mode and enjoyed the day.

Now, just in case my husband and business partner reads this, please don’t feel bad that I missed out on the Acropolis Museum because I was trying to sort out the situation where you lost your cell phone, asked me to locate it from the Tile app, messaged via Facebook saying not to worry, you had found it – in the parking lot, where you had apparently ran it over with your truck. Now that I’m home, you have been added to our Verizon account and can purchase a phone, accessories, or anything else that you want without me being involved. But, I am glad that the technology exists which makes it possible for me to sit on a patio cafe in Athens, Greece and order you a new cell phone with next day delivery in Illinois. Ha ha – life is CRAZY!

All joking aside, there was some cool stuff in the museum that I saw before I made my way to the cafe to handle the phone issue. We saw some cases with handmade “tools” which were used to make it possible for the Athenians to work smarter, not harder as they built the incredible structures of the Acropolis.

After we were finished there, we leisurely strolled along, figuring we’d find a bus stop eventually. We did a little shopping and then located a bus stop and boarded our bus to head back to the port. It was a lovely day in Athens, and we were able to see some truly incredible sights.

As the Explorer of the Seas left port, we stood on the balcony and admired one last view of the unforgettable Athens.

Plenty of entertainment, activities, food, and drink awaited us on the ship as we set sail for what was my most anticipated port, Mykonos.

Until next time – make every adventure memorable!

Travel

Corfu, Greece

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023 Lori Martin

On May 16th we sailed into the port of Corfu, Greece. A couple things of note about this arrival. One, the weather was complete crap. It was raining like mad. Two, we docked next to another ship. Given our stateroom location, if went onto our balcony it felt like we could toss something to the folks on the other ship (which, to be clear, we did NOT attempt).

Drake and Sara were ready to roll – Drake had a raincoat and Sara is more adventurous than I am, so I told them to have a great day and I was going to leisurely get ready and then see where the day took me. At one point I looked out and it was raining so hard it seemed like it was raining sideways. I was happy I had stayed on ship. I got ready, had a leisurely meal, and then looked out to see that the sky had cleared, the rain had stopped and it was a beautiful and sunny day. I decided I’d grab my bag, foldable backpack (just in case – it easily clips to my crossbody bag) and head into Corfu to explore on my own.

Now, let me be clear – this is NOT in my comfort zone. However, this trip wasn’t either, so it was time to break out of my comfort zone and do somethings that were out of the ordinary for me. I disembarked and walked along the pier to the spot that you went through customs. Once through that I walked and saw a “Hop On-Hop Off” tour bus. I stopped and got the information from a woman at the tent and decided this was a good way to see Corfu given the time I had available. The round trip tour would take approximately one hour (and cost about $20 USD), and given that I felt comfortable with a 2-hour window before I needed to head back, this worked for me. I got on the bus and away we went.

The HO/HO busses usually have earphones and channels with the “tour guide” in different languages. Unfortunately the connection was poor at my seat (and two others I tried) so I didn’t get a lot of the info. I was able, however, to follow along with the map they gave me with my ticket, so I was able to identify where we were and what we were looking at.

Corfu, or Kerkyra, is one of the Ionian Islands off the northwest coast of Greece. Before uniting with Greece in 1864, Corfu was under Venetian, French, and British rule – and Venetian fortresses can be seen towering over the city.

Had I had more time to explore, I would’ve gotten off the bus and checked out the fortress or perhaps had something to eat/drink at one of the waterside cafes. As it was, I was able to enjoy the sights of Corfu from the bus, which was a good option.

The architecture as well as the countryside were beautiful in Corfu. I’m thankful that I decided to venture out on my own and see it closer than from the ship! There were several ships at port that day, so depending on where you port, you may have a long walk to get to the area for tours and busses. By this time of the trip I was starting to get into that more relaxed state that Europeans seem to have, so I enjoyed my leisurely walk to and from the ship. This was a day where my hat with chin strap and sunscreen were both necessary as it was windy and sunny. I like that sunscreen as it’s not too heavy and doesn’t feel greasy, but is also free of oxybenzone & octinoxate. I try to keep the “face and body stick” from doTERRA in my bag to apply to my face as I’m very “fair skinned” and burn easily.

I got back to the ship well before the “last call” for boarding, so I went to the room to see if Drake and Sara were back. No sign of them so I sat on the balcony, enjoying the sun and the activity on the ship next to us. Drake and Sara got back and we compared our days in Corfu. They had gotten rained on but they’re young and adventurous, so they had a good time. As Explorer of the Seas started to leave Corfu, the ship next to us got into full-on party mode by the pool – live band and all! It was so funny being right alongside them. I felt like we should break out into Meatloaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” with each ship singing a part (If you’re too young for that reference, sorry!).

Off we went, sailing into the night, headed for our next stop – Athens. What did we do on the ship that evening? I should’ve kept a journal or notes, but honestly I hadn’t planned on enjoying it so much that I’d blog about it – but I can tell you we had as much fun as we wanted, ate great food, enjoyed a few good drinks, and slept well. We didn’t get to a lot of the entertainment offerings on the ship and were never bored, hungry, or thirsty!

One thing I will say – we had three to the room, so we had the beds combined for a King and then the pull out couch. I thought the couch was horrible to sleep on. It was really hard, even when we piled extra blankets on it for some padding. I’m generally not a horribly picky sleeper, but I give the couch in our stateroom zero stars! Thankfully, we were able to rotate sleeping arrangements a bit and everyone slept well.

See you next time – in Athens!

Travel

Adventure Awaits!

June 1, 2023June 4, 2023 Lori Martin

On April 22 my 21-year old college student son sent me a text asking “would you possibly want to go on a cruise next month”. I was really busy with work so I told him to come up with an itinerary, including air travel to/from and then let me look at it and I’d see if I could get away.

Long story short, I decided I could get away. Maybe it was more I decided I NEEDED to get away, but whatever – tickets were booked and plans were made. The next few weeks will be filled with information about this trip. First of all, this was our FIRST cruise ever. I pretty much had decided I was NOT a cruise kinda person – but then I also remembered once upon a time I “was not a rollercoaster person” until I actually rode one and realized I loved it.

I’ve decided to take my love of writing and my rekindled love of traveling and combine those to make this blog a good informational spot with my no-nonsense opinion on places, excursions, etc. In doing so, I’ll also be participating in the Amazon affiliate program (more information can be found HERE) so you will see me linking to products – BUT, I do not want this blog to become one big advertisement, so I will only be linking up to products that I have personally used and found helpful. I may receive a commission if you purchase from the link(s) that I provide, but this isn’t my life’s work! I promise I will only link to something I personally use.

Now, back to the cruise. We booked a 7 night Greek Isles cruise leaving out of Venice (Ravenna) with Royal Caribbean. Our ship was the Explorer of the Seas. Once we booked it, I decided I should read up on what to know about cruising a bit.

But first – one thing I ALWAYS take when I travel is a anti-theft crossbody bag that I purchased AGES ago. This thing has been with me for YEARS. This bag was perfect for this trip, because Venice has a LOT of pickpockets, sadly. You’ll read about this in a future post, but I actually caught one IN THE ACT because I got complacent and didn’t zip my bag’s zipper while waiting for gelato. (Really good ice cream will make you lose your mind, clearly). Now, my bag is Travelon brand. Maybe they all have this, but the zippers on mine clip to a little ring, so someone cannot unzip your bag as easily because the zipper is clipped. Had I known how handy this bag was, I’d have probably bought one a bit larger, but mine does the trick for now. I can keep everything safe and secure, and the bag is small enough that I can wear it under a jacket. You can find the line of Travelon bags HERE.

I joined several Facebook groups for Royal Caribbean cruisers, read a bunch of articles online, and watched You Tube videos when I couldn’t sleep. One night about 11 pm I read a post from someone who had realized that their Greek Isles cruise from Venice didn’t actually leave from Venice, but from Ravenna, which was 2-3 hours away.

WHAT??? Oh no. What did our itinerary say? It said “Venice” and then a name in parentheses, but that SURELY was the port name or something, right? It definitely was NOT the name of a city a few hours away from Venice….right? WRONG! Our cruise was leaving from Ravenna, 2-3 hours south of Venice, and I had realized this in the middle of the night. Guess who was not getting good sleep that night? As I read the posts, it became clear that the plan was to call RC the next morning and book transportation from Venice to Ravenna and back. OK – I could breathe again, and it would be ok. Back to reading about the Top Ten Things To NEVER Do When Cruising (number one was ALWAYS “book last minute” which is exactly what we did, so IMO, those lists SUCK – because spoiler alert – we had a GREAT TIME!!!

TIP – If you are cruising from Venice and your itinerary or anything you see says “Venice (Ravenna)” you are NOT cruising out of Venice. Do not panic (been there, done that, it didn’t help). Call Royal Caribbean, explain the situation, and IF you are flying in before cruising day, they’re going to offer to book you on a shuttle bus that goes from Tronchetto (the transportation hub in Venice) to Ravenna. Here’s what you need to know about THAT! (See map below) You can take a water bus (vaparetto) to Piazalle Roma. Get off there and then walk to the People Mover (follow the signs). Take the People Mover to Tronchetto. (the people mover runs between Piazzale Roma, Stazione Maritima, and Tronchetto). Your gut instinct may be to get off at Stazione Maritima, especially when you see all the signs for “Cruise Ship” and such – BUT if your transfer from RC says “Tronchetto”, go to Tronchetto!!! Once you come out of the People Mover you will cross the street to the building where you should see people in vests with “Trumpy Tours” on them. Check in with them and they will line you up.

You’ll get on a bus, they drive you to the port at Ravenna, and you don’t have to worry about a thing. If the bus gets a flat and is running late – they’re not going to leave you. BUT, if you rent a car and it gets a flat and you’re running late, they MIGHT leave you, so why risk it?

People were “salty” that the line at the port in Ravenna was long. We were on the bus for a while – yes. But we were in a line of busses and nobody was moving until one bus unloaded and everyone got off. It was raining, so instead of making passengers stand in the rain, we sat on the bus until we could get to the tent, disembark, get our luggage, and move through the boarding process (mostly) out of the rain.

Now, what is my other “OMG, why would you NOT book transportation through Royal Caribbean” rant? Well, while we were cruising, the beautiful port town of Ravenna was hit with a crazy amount of rain. I believe I read they got an entire year’s worth of rain in 2-3 days, so the port and town were flooded – BADLY. So badly, they could not use the port. Instead of disembarking at Ravenna, we were rerouted to Trieste. This change did not impact us at all, because instead of getting off the boat and boarding a bus to Venice from Ravenna, we just got off the boat and boarded a bus to Venice from Trieste. We were given a schedule, which due to the logistics I figured our 0715 disembarkation time would be delayed, and it was. We were ready to go at 0715, but did not have our “group number” called until about 0800, and we were on the bus at 0820. The biggest issue here, IMO, was people not following instructions. You were to remain on board until your group number was called – and ONLY THEN were you to proceed to the disembarkation deck. We saw a lot of people who were headed down and then staff had to send them back up. This tied up staff, elevators, and time. Relax, follow instructions, and relax. Once on the bus at 0820, we headed for Venice and arrived at Tronchetto at 1035.

We were staying a few extra days in Venice near the Rialto bridge. From Tronchetto we took the People Mover to Piazzale Roma, then got on the #1 to the San Silvestro stop, where we had arranged to meet Marco, our Air BnB host.

Because we were staying a few days, we bought a 3-day ACTV pass (water bus). This enabled us to hop on/hop off and get around the city and other islands quite easily. Just make sure you look at the sign to know where you are and which direction you want to go. Worst case scenario if you get on the wrong one, you have a nice long ride around the Grand Canal if you’re going the long way around! Below is a map for the #2 line. I’ve circled the Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto locations in red. You can take the Vaporetto to P.Roma and then the People Mover is a short walk – with signs marking the way.

In hindsight, I would’ve purchased our ACTV tickets online ahead of time. We stayed one night in Venice before the cruise and then 3 nights after. I didn’t realize it before the cruise, but you can buy a combo ticket for the Vaporetto AND People Mover, which is handy, as the line at the People Mover ticket kiosk was long both times we were there. In the future I’d buy those tickets and have them on my phone to avoid the lines. Also, another tip at the People Mover – the escalators are motion sensitive, so it may look like it’s stopped and you need to haul your luggage up/down the stairs, but they are NOT off! They just need some motion to activate them and off you go!

So – that’s a LOT for the first post about the cruise, but as I said, I am going to be detailed in hopes of helping someone else. Tune in next time for more details once we got ON the ship – but here’s a spoiler – loved it so much we booked an Alaskan cruise for next year after the kids graduate (one college and one high school)!!! The countdown is ON!

If you have specific questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Until next time, live adventurously….