Dreams do come true

I had wanted to cruise the Greek Islands ever since I was a teenager, and last year that dream came true!

Cutting it fine, flying in from Australia into Athens, Greece, on the afternoon of boarding, we had booked a private transfer to save stress (but with 2 nights docked at Piraeus port we figured we would be ok, despite the agent’s warnings). And it all turned out totally hassle-free.

A smaller ship than our previous 2 cruises, the Pullmantur “Horizon” looked a little tired, but was perfectly adequate. Daily gym visits kept the kilos at bay – especially with the integrated drinks package. The energy of the nightly theatre performances, and the quality of live bar music, outshone our (limited) experience of on-ship entertainment. It was certainly an international experience – sailing the Greek Islands on a Spanish-speaking ship!

For our day in Athens, we pre-purchased an Athens Mini Pass for both the “get on, get off” tourist bus, and entry to the new Acropolis Museum, dedicated to archaeological finds from the Sacred Rock and foothills. (Travel tips: the bus stop was to the left of the port, across the road next to the kiosk, and the pass voucher had to be converted to a ticket at the Acropolis stop.)

A highlight was sitting on the large terrace behind the Acropolis museum eating Baklava against the backdrop of the Acropolis and Parthenon above. And it was fun to try find the same restaurant in Plaka where we had dined 9 years earlier – epic fail though: it was all Greek to us! Back at the Acropolis stop at the end of the day, we took a random walk while waiting for the next bus – up and around in adjacent parkland – and stumbled upon a fabulous view of Acropolis Hill. A fitting farewell.

Then the cruise itself – first stop: Santorini: the “goddess of the Aegean Sea”, where small tenders transferred us towards the surprising 300m high Caldera cliffs; the whitewashed houses of Fira (aka Thira) looking like snow on a mountaintop.

By the time we reached land, the queues for the cable-car were enormous and we had an appointment to collect a motor scooter for the day, so we skipped the line, hustled past the donkeys, and zig-zagged our way uphill on foot, drinking in the stunning views of the bay when we needed to take a break.

Then scooted off (literally) north, to the quieter town of Oia (pronounced ee-ya), for even more spectacular views (where the most famous blue-domed churches are).

By taking an inland route to circle back to Fira, we discovered a completely different view of the island, and still had time to explore Fira before it was time to take the easy way back down to sea-level by cable-car.

Next stop: Marmaris, a tourist port city on the Mediterranean cost of southwest Turkey. It was exciting to touch foot in a new country on this 7 night cruise.

And Marmaris was marvellous! An amazing marina, beautiful sandy beach with paved promenade, cute winding alleys, whitewashed houses, a castle and museum, and an undercover Grand Bazaar (if we had understood the incredible exchange rate we might have done some serious shopping – perhaps it’s best we didn’t!)