Welcome to Greece! After about 15 hours of travel and four different time zones, we landed in Athens, Greece, around one o’clock. My first transatlantic flight was not very successful in the sleeping department, but I was able to catch up on some movies I had been wanting to watch, including warfare and how to make a killing. The in-flight food was better than a bad MRE, but Maddie and I had fun rating it as well as making hourly updates on our main 8-hour flight. The travel was slightly stressful, but we got through it, with a quick stop in Switzerland, then onto Greece. The hotel was super nice, and they even made the chair-bed up for me. The gym was awesome, and the rooftop bar was beautiful.
We took an individual tour with an awesome guide who drove us all around the city, starting with the Acropolis and the Parthenon! We then toured the angora, which was an ancient marketplace and meeting space. Our guide took us to what we wanted to do, and we ended the day with some fun shopping. The next day we woke up, I went running, and then we got on the cruise ship.
Our room on the ship had two twin beds, a pullout couch (where I ended up), and a balcony where there were two chairs. We are on the eleventh floor, which is nice because the food is on level twelve with the pool. The theater is across the ship, but the jogging track is two floors above us and super close, which is awesome.
The first stop in our cruise was the island of Mykonos, which was a breathtaking first stop to run to. I woke up and ran on the jogging track, looking at everything the port had to offer. We went on shore and explored the island, taking a ton of pictures and doing lots of shopping. We saw the famous windmills and explored all of the alleyways. The flowers flowing everywhere on the white building with all of the colorful doors and windows were absolutely gorgeous. This was my favorite stop in Greece.
The second stop was in the coastal port of Katakolon. At this stop, we took an excursion to see Olympia, Greece. This is where the original Olympic Games were held. After a bit of stress, we were able to find our tour with a tour guide who was kind of rude and get on the bus to begin our journey. The overall tour ended up not being too bad (just a lot of walking for grandpa), and we finished up with some shopping. We all gathered on our balcony to watch the ship leave port and drink some champagne. The night ended with the end of Mamma Mia- Here We Go Again and some good family time looking through pictures.
The third stop was Corfu, Greece, which ended up being one of my favorites, tied with Mykonos. Here we took a boat tour to see the caves along the coast in the city of Paleokastritsa, which had the most beautiful blue seas surrounding it and very rocky beaches (which I was the only one to swim in). The tour then took us up on a mountain to see the bay from above, which was breathtaking and honestly, it all felt like scenes from Mamma Mia. The day ended with a military appreciation reception, which grandpa did talk for 8.5 minutes, then announced to the whole audience he had commissioned me a week earlier and made me stand up (I am very loved). We grabbed some dinner and an early night afterwards.
Overall, I absolutely loved Greece and took so many photos. I have been in charge of the camera pretty much the whole trip, which has been really fun. I loved seeing all of the people, who were extremely nice and friendly, and getting to experience something new. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the cruise brings, and I hope it is just as beautiful. This is Katie, signing off!
PS. Diet Coke is so hard to get here, I shall be looking forward to a good cold Diet Coke when we get back to the States.
PS.S. I will add lots of photos when we get back; it’s hard to upload them overseas.
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