Day 16 - Santorini, Greece

Today we visited one of the most picturesque places we have seen: Santorini, Greece.  From the boat, we immediately saw large cliffs leading to mountains with white houses atop appearing like snow.  On the island of Santorini, there is no large port where our cruise ship could dock so the only means of accessing the island was through smaller boats called tenders that dock with the cruise ship and ferry passengers to the island-- easier said than done.  Our group was the first to exit the ship onto the tender which can hold 60-70 people.  The smaller boat docked with the cruise ship by a mere rope did not calm its up and down motion. While we were waiting in line to be cleared to enter the tender, we could see the boat violently moving up and down in the distance. Everyone was saying, "We have to get in that boat??" Employees of the cruise line and the tender grabbed our arms to help us into the turbelent boat.  Once in the boat, it still was a struggle to wabble towards an empty seat.  It was entertaining to watch how each person dealt with the obstacle. When our Catholic Answers group was finally safely on the boat, away we went to the island of Santorini. The ride to Santorini was a wild one. It felt like we were on a roller coaster, but it was an exciting experience. We heard later that our group was the only one allowed out of the boat on-time. They actually had to move the cruise ship around because the waves were too choppy! The others had to wait over an hour to get to the island! 

Our buses and guides were waiting for us when we got off of the tender. This excursion turned out to be very low key. We drove around the small, beautiful island, stopping at a few Greek Orthodox churches and even a local winery. We ended the tour by walking along a row of shops to a beautiful view of the island. The wind blows constantly on the island of Santorini, so the weather was breezy and wonderful. When the tour was over, we were given some free time to walk around.  Matt and I were able to find the local Catholic church (the only one on the island). It is called St. John the Baptist Catholic Cathedral. Although we had been at several Orthodox churches that morning, it was very welcoming to be in a Roman Catholic church. It feels like home after being in foreign churches.

Cathedral in Santorini

We then visited some of the gift shops and decided to eat lunch in town. We ate at a local Greek restaurant. Matt got a tortellini dish and I got a small pizza. After lunch it was time to make our way down to the tender so we could get back on the boat. Before we left the ship that morning, we knew that there were several ways to get down the steep cliffs to the sea. The ways included: cable car, donkey ride, or walking. The lines for the cable car were an hour long and the donkeys were disgusting, so we decided to walk. Plus it was free and we each have two legs that work quite well. We began the long hike down the cliff. For some reason, we did not think the walking path all the way through. This path is the same path the donkeys walk down. Originally, we thought, "No problem, we'll just walk around the donkeys who are making their way up or down the path!" Riiiight. First of all, we had to walk through a large pack of donkeys awaiting their next riding victims. The ground was brown and wet and the smell was almost too much for me to take. Disgusting. After we passed the donkey loading station we had to dodge donkey droppings all the way down the ridiculously steep and long path. I think I will be satisfied with my life if I never see a donkey again.

The tender ride back to the boat was not as wild as the first one, but we still rocked and rolled with the boat. Back on the ms Prinsendam we had about an hour to clean up and get ready for the Catholic Answers talent show. A few of the women on the cruise had arranged for several people to show off their talents. Matt and I decided that we had no talents worth embarrassing ourselves over (Matt did not have his guitar. I, on the other hand, have no talents to show off, unless they want to see me crochet or scrapbook). It was a pretty fun night which ended with Matt and I up on the stage with several other couples square dancing.

Dinner was routine, but Matt and I were not very hungry because of our slightly late lunch. Tonight the boat was a rockin'. We could not walk in a straight line as we made our way back to the cabin. When we got back to our room, we could hear the waves crashing on the side of the boat. Between the meal freshly in my stomach and the rough water, I did not have a fun night. The most terrible feeling is to be sick on a cruise ship, especially when it is dark and there is no place to go but your stateroom. I felt so sick and there was nothing I could do to make the feeling go away because I could not get off of the boat! Luckily, Matt has not had to deal with this kind of situation. We ended the evening with watching the movie The Great Debaters and going to bed early. We have to be careful while hanging around our white haired friends. I think we are becoming like them!! :o I just hope Matt doesn't start wearing his tall socks with shorts in public!