By now our shipboard routine was fairly predictable. Sleep, eat, shore excursion, lounge around, read, eat, rest, eat, etc. You can see a pattern developing here.
We chose not to take an organized shore excursion in Crete. We got off the ship and ventured forth on our own. That meant we walked & walked never quite sure where we were. We followed people who “walked with purpose” or looked like they might know where they were going. Eventually we figured out where we were. We were actually content to be taking it easy. We found a side-walk café and ordered a Coke Light and looked around at what we could see from our chairs. We did walk up a side street to get a closer look at our surroundings but that was all. We headed back to the pier after a bit and ended our visit to Crete. The ship was only in port during the morning. After lunch our ship sailed and headed to Corfu.
I should mention that both Crete & Corfu are part of Greece.
It was now Friday and we had docked in Corfu. This was to be our last shore excursion so I was looking forward to it. After boarding our bus we drove out to a place called Achilleion Palace. It was a villa that was built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1891 and was now open to the public. I wasn’t thrilled by the building. That’s not why I chose this excursion. The gardens and the view were said to be worth the trip. They were. I’ll post a few pictures.
After that visit we got on the bus so that we could be driven to another site – Paleokastritsa – where there was a monastery to see. After driving along narrow winding roads for what seemed a very long time our tour guide addressed us and said that the monastery was closing in 15 minutes so make the most of your visit. The resident Greek Orthodox monks take a siesta from 1-3 p.m. Well the monastery was again interesting but our time there was too short to really get a feel for it. It was the view that was to die for. I’ll post a few pictures.
We had to go down the same narrow winding roads again until we finally made it back into Corfu. Our bus stopped in the shopping district close to the pier. We had one hour to recover from the bus ride until we would go back to the ship. It was a nice break.
Cindy & I walked over to McDonalds where they featured the “Greek Mac” (think pita bread) where we each got our Diet Coke and sat outside and people watched. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that everywhere we went people rode scooters. I was envious. It made me think of my bike back home and I wanted to take a spin.
When Laura & BJ were here in Corfu a month earlier BJ left me a message at this same McDonalds. I couldn’t find it. It was only after getting back and talking to Laura that we discovered they had never actually told what I would be looking for and where I maybe would find it. If any of you are going to Corfu soon and are in the McDonalds next to a park close to the waterfront look under a planter stand and see if you find a message for me. I thought it would be cool to make this kind of contact with them. I took a picture of Cindy with her soda out in front of that McDonalds. I’ll send it to Laura & BJ.
We walked around Corfu for a bit. It reminded us of Venice surprisingly. It was full of narrow pedestrian filled side streets with little shops.
It was back to the bus.
The rest of our cruise was spend steaming back to Venice where we arrived on Sunday morning.
The trip back to Las Cruces was just like leaving there – long. We are still recovering and we haven’t put everything away yet.
So, where to next time? That is the question. Cindy can no longer say that she hasn’t used her passport.
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