OneSixtyToOne

The tour bus was literally at the gangway. Knossos tour took us all day and we departed as soon as we returned. Never went into town.

Also live on the Sky

Day 11 - Looks like rain, feels like rain, here comes the rain. Today is a sea day so we slept in to get some needed rest. Clocks changed overnight so we got an extra hour in our favor. We woke up to rough seas and rain. Looks like bad weather finally caught up to us. Exterior decks as are all closed. IMG_0006.MOV After brunch we played a round of trivia in the Explorers lounge, went to the port talk on Messina, Sicily, and played a game of scrabble. The afternoon movie in the theater was Top Gun Maverick. Unfortunately we watched it on the plane ride to Europe. Tonight we have reservations at the Chef’s Table where they are serving the Xiang menu. Later tonight it’s a football party with the AFC playoff game on the big screen above the pool. I’ll pass on the 2:15 AM NFC game. Tomorrow we visit Taormina, Sicily. Interesting side note, this is where the current season of HBO’s White Lotus was filmed. The latest weather report is rain but skies clearing later in the day and hopefully we’ll have sun by the time we reach Naples. If it only rains on a sea day, I’ll take that every time. For now I’m resting up for food and football. I’ll be home before daylight. Just might get some sleep tonight.

Gin and vodka

Day 10 - Brokedown Palace Today we return to Greece and visit the island of Crete. It was raining when we docked in the morning, but just like our day in Delphi the weather cleared while we drove to the “Palace” of Knossos and it was a beautiful day. Crete is very mountainous with two peaks over 7,000 feet. They are made of limestone and there are thousands of caves, one being the mythological birthplace of Zeus. The snowpack trickles through the limestone and forms an aquifer. There are places at the beach where you can dig a small hole and drink from freshwater springs. The drive was long but scenery is worth it. We had another excellent guide that was a wealth of information. She told us that at this time of year Viking is the only ship in port and when we tour Knossos, people from our ship will be the only ones there. Typically there are long lines to view the Throne Room but we were the first group and had the run of the place. The “Palace” was a misnomer when discovered and today is thought to be and administrative and religious site containing vast storerooms of olive oil and food. Since its discovery other similar sites of the Minoans have been found. The original columns were made from the single trunk of a large cypress tree and painted bright colors. The site is truly amazing. It was covered with crystallized gypsum, which gleams in the sun. The elaborate system of rooms and staircases were thought to be the origin of the labyrinth and Minotaur myth. Bull jumpers Storage jars and chard walls of storage room caused by a fire. Throne Room Bull relief at one entrance We bid farewell to Knosos. Tomorrow is a sea day as well as a time change. We get an extra hour of well needed sleep. I leave you with a lyric from Robert Hunter’s Brokedown Palace, “In a bed, in bed, by the water’s side I will lay my head.”

Currently on the Sky. Here is a partial list.

Day 9 - Magic Carpet Ride Today we docked in Kusadasi, Turkey to visit Ephesus. Upon disembarking we were told to head towards the music and dancing. IMG_9764.MOV Today’s excursion was a tour of the Roman houses of Ephesus. It’s an additional cost from the other optional tour but well worth it. It’s hard to describe how spectacular this site is. The city was a port town in ancient times but the river silted up the coast and became a marsh land. This led to mosquitoes and malaria. That decimated this city of over 300,000 and the final blow came in the form of earthquakes and the city was abandoned. Because people left willingly, they took all their valuables, leaving only what they could not carry or did not want. The Roman houses have incredible mosaics, plumbing, and baths. The first picture shows how everything was discover, buried and knocked over. Everything you see raised up was painstakingly restored to the upright position. This was once the bus parking lot and columns were discovered underneath. Here is the library today. The Roman houses The theater After leaving the site we were taken to a showroom for carpets that sponsored by the Turkish government. Turkey has a program to keep the art of handmade rugs alive. We were greeted with a fascinating demonstration of silk making We then saw a demonstration of how s rung is hand weaved using a double knot technique. we were then brought into the showroom and offered traditional Turkey refreshments and a snack whole carpets, each with a unique pattern was shown to us. It was quite a demonstration. Everyone at the shop is employed by the government so no one is pressured to buy anything since there is no commission. I learned more about hand made carpets and their materials than I thought possible. IMG_9874.MOV We had an awesome sail-away view as we left Turkey, bound for Crete.

Day 8 - The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind It’s our final day in Athens (Piraeus). We originally had booked an Acropolis tour, not realizing it was the same one we did on the Classic Greek Extension. Upon boarding we changed it to the Cape Sounion excursion. When we went to our bus we discovered our tour guide was Maria, the same person who had led our three other tours on the extension. She was an excellent guide and we were pleased to see her again. The word of the day was wind, not just any wind but a high wind advisory was in effect and gale force winds were expected overnight. The drive along the coast to Cape Sounion and Neptune’s Temple was very picturesque and the wind driven waves made it even more dramatic Neptune’s temple is perched high on one cape, making it a strategic place to observe enemy warships. As we climbed the path to the top the situation became like Jim Cantor covering a hurricane on the Weather Channel. We were push around by some of the strongest winds We ever felt. More on the wind later.. IMG_9739.MOV The temple was built around the same time as those of the Acropolis. The view from the top is magnificent. After we returned to the ship we had our first High Tea in the Wintergarden. Two men (not pictured) decided to show up in robes, which I discuss in another thread. We then returned to our DV1 aft cabin to enjoy the sail away. At the point we hit open water the strength of the wind became apparent and the ship began rock from port to starboard. This continued all night causing me forgo any idea of having wine with dinner. Exterior doors on the promenade deck was closed and warning signs were in place. We attended the lecture on the Ottoman Empire by the resident historian during which loud bangs were heard, possibly from the sea anchors being battered? We were told that corporate has now dictated the times of the Port Talk (4:30) and Enrichment Leture(6:45) to try and lessen the demand for tea and dinner at those times. It might be working as we found no line after the lecture and service there greatly improved from out last cruise. I had the Beef Wellington and DW the ricotta ravioli in a lemon sauce. I tried one of the ravioli and it was delicious. The lemon paired with the ricotta resulted in a taste that reminded me of a rich Italian dessert. It you see this on the menu, order it! After dinner we were not so gently rocked to sleep. Tomorrow, our first visit to Turkey.

No, they stayed a few minutes, sat down, and then left. Their significant others were dress up looking like they were heading to a nightclub but wearing goofy hats, sort of mocking high tea and the English. I got the feeling the men were being passive aggressive. BTW I heard them talk. There were Americans.

We are currently in the Wintergarden enjoying the first high tea of our cruise when not one but two “dudes” entered in their bathrobes. 🤢

Day 7 - All Aboard We’re finally here! Great to see the Viking Daily again. This will be our first time in an aft DV1 stateroom so I’m excited to see the views when we sail away from various ports. As I posted earlier, we entered our cabin to find cake and champagne for our anniversary. Ironically the whole Manfredi’s issue was a non-issue but when we went to dinner there was no record of our reservation even though it was on MVJ before we left a week ago. There were plenty of tables available. As others have stated, the steak is thinner but still tasty. This doesn’t upset me because I can never finish a 1 inch thick cut. DW had the Osso Buco, which she enjoyed. The ricotta cheesecake was divine. When in doubt try both the white and red. After dinner we took a nighttime stroll around the promenade deck. Time to turn in after a long day.

Day 6 - Acropolis Now After leaving the hotel for the final time we headed to the Acropolis just in time to meet the rush hour traffic. We arrived at the Acropolis on a beautiful day for exploring, mid 60, sunshine, and a stiff cool wind blowing. We climbed the 80+ steps to the top and entered antiquity. The view from the top is spectacular. The whole site is in the midst of massive restoration project which aims at removing the damage cause by prior restorations, for example replacing rusted iron bars with titanium and concrete with marble. There is even a rail line to move the heavy materials. After about an hour we bid farewell to the Acropolis and headed to the museum. The museum is everything we’ve heard about it and more. The top floor is oriented to be parallel with Athena’s temple and contains pillars replicating the temple with friezes placed in the appropriate positions. They have cleverly reproduced all the pieces that are at the British Museum in white plaster so when you look at the work in total you are amazed at how much was taken. The darker pieces are the original. Besides the friezes, there is a sculpture garden that contains fantastic pieces that were destroyed my marauding Persians. The remnants of these statues were later collected by the returning Athenians and buried, only being found in 19th Century. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed in the area containing this marvelous collection. A multi media presentation recreates the color that these works of art once contained. Here are some photos of other exhibits. Next up, we finally arrive at the Viking Sky.

I’m interrupting this thread to give a big thanks to Viking. If you have read some of my posts about the adventure I had trying and failing to book pre-cruise reservations at Manfredi’s for our anniversary, here is an update. After a couple weeks reservations opened and we booked dinner. We just arrived in our cabin to find an anniversary cake and champagne. Nicely done! I was also able to book the Chef’s Table once on board.

Bags out in hall at 7:45, bag check by 8:45, bus left at 9:00 AM

Day 6 - You can checkout anytime but you can never leave Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head… After breakfast we placed our bags outside of our room, checked out, went to the lobby to identify our luggage, and are currently waiting for the bus to take us to the Acropolis. Big day ahead and we are anticipating boarding the ship. We have an anniversary dinner scheduled tonight at Manfredi’s.

We have booked a tour during the extension with Barcelona Day Tours. Will try and book something else with Viking on the port day. As these tours fill up quickly, I’ll have to see what’s available.

I am currently on the classic Greece pre-cruise extension and am enjoying it immensely. You can read my live posting of the trip here. The difference on the post-cruise extension is you do the Acropolis excursion after you leave the ship and before you check into the hotel. We will be checking out of the hotel, doing the excursion, then going to the ship.

Just returned from dinner. Delicious food at a reasonable price. Ample portions at 10€ for a dinner plate. I had a pork gyros platter and DW had a chicken souvlaki platter. An interesting side note, this family restaurant proudly displays a letter from the White House thanking them for feeding the White House staff during a state visit by President Obama.

Day 5 - Plaka and Potentates After another enjoyable breakfast we checked in with out Viking rep for some personalized recommendations for how to spend our free day. She provided a map and drew a recommended route. To avoid the closed streets around the Cathedral caused by the ex-king’s funeral at noon, she suggested doing the route in reverse. We took her advice and by the time we made it there the funeral had ended and we saw some VIPs leaving along with the press gaggle and the paparazzi. Reports of 1000 extra police in the area appeared true. We saw them inspecting delivery vans. We could not enter the Cathedral (off limits until 4:00 PM) but did get some photos of the floral arrangements sent by Royals and relatives. Before this we walked extensively through the Plaka district and viewed some adjacent ruins in the ancient Agora (marketplace). We came across an “Artisan Gelato” shop next to the Hard Rock Cafe. Strawberry - White Chocolate - Crisped Rice FTW. While finishing our gelato, DW was asked by a street vendor to watch her table of merchandise while she took a restroom break. About a minute later a customer approached and DW started to make recommendations, to which the customer responded “No English.” As you can see DW was disappointed with the No Sale. We ended our day at Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknowns to watch the Changing of the Guard. IMG_9594.MOV We are back at the Hotel resting before dinner. We’re going to try “Vasilissis” which has been previously been recommended by others on CC. It’s right around the block. The hotel is busy today. They are hosting an IT conference. Since I’m in IT myself I recognized the geek stereotype so I’ve coined this particular conference “greeky.” Tomorrow morning is checkout, our excursion to the Acropolis, and then off to board the Viking Sky.

Here is a quick answer. I’ll do the post for the day later when we return to the hotel. Tour director of the company Viking has contracted with (they are not a Viking employees) said she is 99.999% sure the program will be the same as the one we are currently one, meaning the free day comes AFTER going to Delphi. Believe me, after taking a hour to get from the airport, it’s no wonder they want to do the majority of the driving on the weekend. Also, we had the same bus and driver on a two day contract so this all makes sense logistically to me, do all the long distance driving on consecutive weekend days. She also said since it is low season, your tour company will probably let you reschedule since everyone needs the business. Take all of this with a grain of salt, but I would trust the locals instead of corporate. Good luck.

We took the included Falmouth tour and it was the worst of the dozens of the tours we’ve ever been on. It was a bus ride to nowhere. At one time the guide on the bus actually said “There is a beautiful beach and coastline down the road to our left but you can’t see it from here.” This has been our running joke every time we are confronted with mediocrity. On an independent visit to London we took the London Walks day trip to Salisbury and Stonehenge. It was definitely a site to see.

We have been to the mill for lunch as well as to Monet’s garden twice, both with Viking. The mill is very picturesque and the garden is incredible. When on the Normandy river cruise we took the “in the steps of the impressionist” excursion which not only visited the garden but also the town where Van Gough lived the final days of his life. We visited his grave where his brother Theo is buried along side of him.

Day 4 - Delphi (continued) What a fantastic day at Delphi! After viewing the changing of the guard (see previous post) we headed off to Delphi. Even though we encountered light rain (and lighter traffic) on the way, our tour guide guaranteed that the weather would be perfect when we arrived. She was 100% correct. There seems to be a microclimate in the area and we arrived to plenty of sunshine and a temperature of 60 degrees. On the road to Delphi We passed through the tiny but social media savvy hillside town of #ARACHOVA Once at Delphi, our guide gave an in-depth tour of the site, background history, and vivid descriptions of what we were seeing and how it looked in ancient time. Delphi was considered a sacred site and was neutral in all wars* (with the exception of 2 that were called sacred wars). Because of this neutrality it became almost like Switzerland, a place where treasures were brought and each city-state build a treasure house. Athenian Treasure House The path to the Temple of Apollo at the top of the site was once lined with statues donated by patrons, each trying to outdo one another. Only remnants of the pedestals remain. At the temple of Apollo you could seek the answer to your question from the Oracle. The sunken area near the back of the temple in the inner sanctum is where the Oracle was seated, inhaling vapors, and consuming sacrifices of burnt laurel leaves, while divining your fate. After some time exploring on our own, the tour continued at the museum which contains artifacts found at the site. Tomorrow is our “free day” to explore Athens on our own. Slight problem. The Ex-King of Greece died this week and his funeral is Monday at the cathedral. Most of the Royals in Europe will be here for the private funeral, including Prince William and Kate, as well as the Royal Families of Monaco, Denmark, and Norway. Roads will be blocked off and 1000 police officers will be deployed. Sounds like a traffic nightmare in a city that is already congested.

The Alhambra is probably the highlight of this voyage. It is a must see. There are a very limited number of tickets allowed per day to ALL cruise lines so it will be the first tour to sell out. The requirement to enter is a ticket with your name on it so even if there are onboard cancellations during the cruise, the spaces cannot be resold. The CARTAGENA FOUNDATIONS WALKING TOUR was one of the best tours we’ve been on. The city contains the most extensive Carthaginian ruins on earth. The Roman amphitheater and subterranean houses are a great experience. Avoid the Paris tour from Le Havre. It’s too long a bus trip. You won’t see much. Instead take the Honfleur excursion. It’s a fantastic medieval town right across from Le Havre with a lots to offer. The picturesque harbor full of sailboats and lined with shops and restaurants is a pleasure to wander around. The tour is fascinating. The town has the largest wooden church still standing in France. The inside is shaped like a ship’s hull as is the salt hall. The whole town looks like a fairy tale. In Portsmouth take the early include tour and asked to be dropped at the naval yard. There you can buy a ticket to visit Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory. The Mary Rose museum is incredible and I highly recommend it. It contains the remains of the wreck of Henry VIII’s flagship and this special building was constructed to display it. Three or four stories high, it’s one of the most impressive displays I’ve ever seen. The wreck has been placed upright and you look at the cross section while intermittently video is projected on the decks showing what life was like on the ship.

Day 4 - Delphi After breakfast we are heading to Delphi. Since it’s Sunday morning the streets of Athens are empty and we just happen to pass the Tomb of the Unknown as the changing of the guard was occurring. The bus driver was able to pull over on the empty street to allow us a photo op from the bus. More to follow after our 3 hour ride to Delphi.