Our last port of call is Poros, with another gorgeous day: clear blue skies, deep blue water, sailboats everywhere. More shopping, lunch with 4 new friends from the boat, and of course gelato!
This morning we say farewell to the Royal Clipper. Time to fly home. See you soon!
Another beautiful day, another small Greek island. More cute white houses going up the hillside, more sailboats in port. And another charming restaurant with good wine, Greek salad, mushrooms in garlic sauce, fried zucchini, and pork souvlaki. Why isn't every day like this?
Another picture-perfect Greek isle. The weather today was the best we've had: warmer, less windy. The Aegean Sea is startlingly blue, and two of our shipmates took a smallsailcraft out for a leisurely tour. I need to learn how to do this!
We skipped any town shopping and instead found a quiet café perched on a small hill overlooking the water and spent an hour soaking up the atmosphere.
We left Bulgaria last night, sailed past Istanbul early this morning, and are now traversing the Dardanelles strait and about to return to the Aegean Sea. The only real excitement of the day was being allowed to climb the masts of the sailboat up to a crow's nest for a great view. Spectacular!
Nessebar is just about the prettiest village we've seen in a long time: what was once a small island is now connected to the mainland by an isthmus. The old town is built up round ancient Roman ruins and there are ships and boats all around. Plus lots of restaurants and beaches! A group of us headed to another winery/restaurant for more tastings and a lesson in how to make Bulgarian dishes. The Shopska salad is my favorite. Then it was off to the beach for a leisurely, languid afternoon.
We had a great day today. The highlight was a wine tasting at a local restaurant that is part of a winery that bottles a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc, rosé and Merlot for local sale. We loved the wines so much that a group of us later took taxis back to the restaurant and had a lovely dinner. The cost for Debb & me, including a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc, worked out to $25! What a bargain.
Debb had fried whole scad from the Black Sea, which she polished off head, body and tail.
Our waiter Nikolai, who had also served us the wine in the afternoon, was an absolute delight.
A stop in the seaside city of Constanta, with a beautiful promenade, Roman ruins that reminded us of Tunis, and a Saturday afternoon festival with barbecue, libations, music and beer. And perfect weather!
We sailed through the Bosphorus and entered the Black Sea, on which border Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkey. We docked in Burgas, Bulgaria and spent the day in a rural village visiting women farmers who have been working the land since the 1930s. Then a quick visit to the port village of Sozopol and back to the ship. We next sail to Romania but we'll be back in Bulgaria twice more while we're in the Black Sea.
As you know, we don't get to stop for two days, as originally planned. Add Turkey to Algeria and Morocco (... and North Korea!) on the list of countries we've had to skip for security reasons. <Sigh> But we did pass through the Bosphorus Strait, a river that bisects Istanbul and is the place where Europe and Asia meet.
Below are pictures of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (or so we are told). Matt can tell me for sure, as he's been inside both mosques, but this is as close as we can get.
Another picturesque island on a gorgeous, clear day. We did some shopping in the small port town of Myrina, and in the afternoon I hiked up to the old fortress from where I took this photo.
Now we're having a day at sea as we sail from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea and our ports of call in Bulgaria and Romania. The cruise line felt it was too risky to stop in Turkey, so we are going to sail past Istanbul later tonight. I hope to get some pictures from the top deck, at the least <sigh>.
Another beautiful town on the Greek island Skyros. Known for a Byzantine castle that protected the island ages ago, which also affords a nice view.
Since shipboard internet is slow & expensive I'm keeping the posts and photos to a minimum.
Debb bought a sundress from the lovely Lucas.
We had a lovely dinner tonight at a quaint restaurant housed in a 200-year-old building (new by Greek standards) high up on a hill.
The weather here is so perfect. Mild, no humidity ... California without the traffic and taxes! Well, maybe the taxes here ... and maybe the traffic too <sigh>.
Debb enjoys some Greek baklava for dessert.
"How was it?" "Fabulous!"
Still, we *had* to finish with some gelato!
Fruit stand in Masakriaki Square
Debb buys some Greek coffee from Γεώργιος (George) at Coffee Island coffee roasters.
and a Greek "bagel" from astreetcart vendor.
Fresh meat ...
... and fish for sale at the farmer's market.
We spent most of today touring the neighborhoods of Athens with our sweet lovely guide Diana. More about culture and life here; less about ruins. Thus: A few neighborhood pics but not a lot of words ...
Though we did learn that every time a building gets built or renovated, they invariably unearth ancient Greek or Roman ruins and, by law, must build around the ruins and at the same time make the ruins visible to the public. As a result you can't walk this city without having an excellent feel for where the walls of the ancient city were located. These tombs are beneath the Zara department store. Patrons walk across the class ceiling every minute.
And, of course, the obligatory shot of Debb and her end-of-day reward: a local brew. Ahhh....!
Greece, not Georgia. We're taking a cruise out of Athens for two weeks, visiting many Greek isles as well as some ports in Bulgaria and Romania on the Black Sea. We *were* going to Istanbul, Turkey, as well but that was cancelled due to terrorist threats <sigh>.
We arrived in Athens a few days early, to get acclimated and see the famous sites. As always, adjusting to an eight-hour time zone difference is a struggle, but we down some caffeine at our hotel and head out into the city.
The view from the rooftop restaurant at the hotel: we can see the Acropolis (Greek for "big rock"???) and the Parthenon quite clearly in the distance....
We have a great midday lunch in an outdoor cafe nearby, sampling lots of tasty Greek foods. But now it's time to head back to the hotel for an early snooze -- need to catch up on missed Zzzzzz's.
