Day 7: May 6, 2015 - Mykonos and My Legs are on Fire!

The ship pulled into port at 8:00am. We got up, got ready, had breakfast, and headed off the ship around 10:00. The port was a little ways away from the city so we took a little shuttle into the city. The water was amazing! It was so clear and beautiful! We played in the water for a bit then did some shopping. The city was kind of in a u-shape so we made our way around.

It was super cute - while we were in one of the shops, Cory felt baby girl for the first time! It was a special little moment in Mykonos. 

We checked out one of the white chapels with the blue roofs that Mykonos is so famous for.

We then found a spot of beach and hung out for a while. Dad had to change into his swimming suit on the beach AGAIN. Cory fell asleep for a while, we had to cover his knees so they wouldn't get burnt. Like I said before, the water was absolutely beautiful! It was really cold though haha

After a while, Al and I went up to the shops for a bit. I got Mom and I matching Greek dresses, mine in blue, hers in Coral for Mother's Day. We packed up our stuff and headed to a little seaside cafe for lunch. Dad and Cory decided to be adventurous and get something Greek - they got chicken and pork souvlaki. Mom, Al, Jess, and I stuck with cheese pizza haha the waiter was super cute and funny. He even told Mom to enjoy Mykonos and have sex on the beach haha I was able to get a little bit of wifi while we were at the cafe.

After we finished eating, we played in the water a little more then headed back to the shuttle that took us back to the ship. Once we were on the ship and in indoor lighting, I realized my legs were very sunburnt! Haha and they hurt really bad... so Mom and I went to the cruise gift shop and found some aloe which helped.

We decided to eat dinner at the Tucanos-like restaurant. The meat was yummy and they had these really yummy garlic mashed potatoes. The maitre d' found out that Mom was allergic to pork so he kept bringing her out special meat, it was really sweet of him. While we were about to leave the table, Dad said, "Just a second, I'm having a meat orgasm". Sometimes he really surprises me haha we decided to have another hot tub night. I seemed to think that getting in a hot tub with hot water would help my sunburn... ya it killed haha but the pool felt really nice. I absolutely loved Santorini and Mykonos. They were the epitome of Greece for me. They were beautiful and full of fun places and shopping. It was a wonderful day (minus the sunburn)!

Day 6: May 5, 2015 - Donkeys, a Black Sand Beach, and a Hole in the Floor

We slept in and got a late start because we weren't pulling into Santorini until around 1:00. The ship anchored because there wasn’t a port big enough so they used a ferry to get us to and from the ship. Once we got on land, we discovered there were three ways we could get up to the city - walk, take the electrical tram thing, or ride a donkey. We picked the donkeys, obviously! We found the donkey place and it was only 5 euros a person. It was crazy - like four old men would help you get onto the donkey super quickly and then they would smack the donkey on the butt (get it - an ass’s ass hehe) and it would start going. They didn’t care if you were actually on correctly or comfortable or whatever. It was amazing! It was such a different experience than it would’ve been in the U.S. - first off, they wouldn’t allow us to ride the donkeys in the first place, let alone on the same pathway that people were walking on, and we would have to be strapped in and have guard rails and stuff. It was SO fun! Mom went first, then Al, then me, then Dad, then Cory, then Jess. Mom kept screaming because Al’s donkey kept biting hers. Dad and Cory were kind of freaking out because Jess was stuck behind another group and they couldn’t see her. It was hilarious! We climbed higher and higher and the view got more and more beautiful. The donkeys were so trained to just go up and down the mountain. I kept having to give mine a little kick to get it moving. Sometimes they got a little close to the wall and my leg would scrape against it. There were people walking on the same trail which was stupid for several reasons - it is a long freaking walk! The pathway is covered in donkey poop which makes the path really slippery. Plus, the donkeys don’t have steering wheels! We can’t control where they go or if they got close to people. Some old guy was like yelling at us because our donkeys were getting too close to his wife and Dad said, “Do you think they have steering wheels on them? We can’t help it!” It was awesome haha when we got closer to the top, this group of hippies were walking down and yelling at everyone riding the donkeys because we were hurting them and we were being cruel and we should just walk. Cory’s response to that was if the donkeys weren’t carrying people up and down the mountain, they would be turned into glue. I don’t think Cory and Dad have an opinion at all, do you? It was a super fun, beautiful, hilarious ride with Mom screaming and Dad yelling at hippies. 

We got off the donkeys and walked around the city for a little bit, took some pictures of the view. 

We decided we wanted to go to one of the black sand beaches so we found a taxi station and a bus station. The taxi was going to be pretty expensive for all six of us so I walked down to the bus station and discovered it would be 1.50 euros each. I pride myself on knowing how to travel cheap, I learned some good skills on study abroad! We got our tickets and waited for the bus to come. 

In the meantime, Jess had to go to the bathroom, of course. There was one on the other side of the bus station. She was gone for a while and we were about to send someone to go check on her when she came out all huffed and puffed. Apparently the bathroom wasn’t really a bathroom, it was a hole in the floor. And the best part is she had to pay to pee in the hole. She said she didn’t really know what to do because she couldn’t really aim… I was dying! She was all grossed out. My solution was we were going to the beach so she could wash off haha moral of the story - just hold it! 

We got on the bus and headed to the beach. Once we got there, we discovered that the black sand was actually little black pebbles which really hurt your feet but it was gorgeous! There were lounge chairs set up all along the beach and when we occupied a few of them and no one said anything or yelled at us in Greek, we stayed. It was so strange - I’m used to a beach that slowly slopes out to the water and deepens as you walk further in the water. This beach was different. There was like a build up of the rocks and right behind it was the water about a foot deep. Dad got to change into his swimming suit on a Greek beach while we held up towels around him haha so that was cool. Dad and Cory got right in but it was a little too chilly for the girls. I collected a bunch of rocks to bring home - they were mostly black volcanic rock that was smooth because of the water but there were a few white or red rocks as well. 

After a while, we walked up to the little beachfront shops and did some shopping. I found some epic leisure pants and a floppy sun hat, I was very excited! The lady was really cute and gave me a little wrapped up prize for shopping with her. I later discovered it was a little magnetic turtle - little weird but cute! 

We packed up our stuff, got back on the bus, and headed back into the city. We did some more shopping. We found this little shop with a bunch of cheap t-shirts and stuff. The girl running it was super friendly and cute. She had a bunch of baby stuff - I bought baby girl a donkey onesie haha the girl kept touching Jess’ stomach. We got baby girl two Greek dresses - one white one and one blue one. They are so cute! Al and I found some cool paintings and I, of course, had to buy a little donkey to remember that experience haha 

The last ferry to the ship was at 9:00 that night. We didn't want to risk it so we headed down around 7:30. We were thinking of taking the electrical tram thing down. Al and I started walking up there but the stairs got steeper and steeper and we were like there is no way pregnant Jess will be able to handle this. So we headed back down. Turns out, Jess and Cory had found a much easier way to get up to the tram and were already down the mountain. So me, Al, Dad, and Mom decided to walk down. The sun was setting while we were walking down and we got some truly beautiful views. 

It was super slippery and I was wearing flip flops so I kept falling haha plus, I have old lady knees and they were not liking the downhill stairs. But we made it back onto the ferry and back onto the ship. 

At 9:30, there was a magic show in the Stardust Theatre with the magician Jorgos. We went down and it was the weirdest thing... he did some pretty cool tricks but mostly just paraded girls around in skanky outfits and bragged about the awards he has received. It was strange... but entertaining. 

It was a wonderful day! I loved Santorini, the donkeys, and the beach. And thankfully, that was the worst bathroom we experienced in Europe this trip! 

Day 5: May 4, 2015 - The Island of Corfu

Al had been to Santorini and Mykonos before but she had never been to Corfu so we decided to do a tour excursion. We had to meet our tour guide by the bus station at 9:15 so we were up and eating breakfast by 8:00. Once the ship had docked, we were able to get off. We found our tour and got on the nice, air-conditioned bus. We booked the tour through Costco and were on the Shore Excursions Group. We first headed to an old monastery in Paleokastritsa that was about an hour drive away. While we were driving through the city, we saw how the economic downfall was starting to affect the city - there was garbage and graffiti everywhere. Our tour guide gave us her opinions on the matter as well as we traveled to our first stop - she was not a big fan of the government and how they have been handling it. As we got closer to the monastery, we had a beautiful view of the coast. In Cory's intelligent words, "The water is shining like pixie farts!" Even though I'm not really sure what pixie farts look like... it was beautiful water.

Once we got to the monastery, we got off the bus and the tour guide took us a little tour of the church and the gardens. It was very small and smelled like cats. We may have bailed out on her schpeal a little early and chilled in the shade... on our way back to the bus, Dad found Coke (the cruise only had Pepsi) and bought a drink he thought would be similar to Dr. Pepper - ya it was definitely NOT Dr. Pepper...

We got back on the bus and headed to an old Achilleion Palace. The tour guide bought our tickets and we followed her inside. We started off listening to her tour of the palace but got bored quickly and decided to explore it ourselves. We walked through the different rooms. There was a huge painting of Achilles dragging Hector through the streets of Troy, that was super cool to see.

We went outside to the gardens. There were a bunch of super cool statues, including the famous one of Achilles.

Cory and Dad found a lizard - it was hilarious! Cory started imitating the lizard while Mom jumped on Al and freaked out. Our group was still in the palace so we walked down to the little shop and got some souvenirs and snacks.

We got back on the bus and headed to the Corfu Town, the city part of the island. We didn't even try to stay with the group this time - we had to find a bathroom for pregnant Jess and thankfully found one at a McDonald's. While we were waiting, Cory pointed out some ancient sex calendars and playing cards for my entertainment - thanks? Dad and Cory went exploring the Old Venetian fort during our last few minutes on the island.

We headed back to port - we had to be back on board at 3:00. We went through security, and got back on the ship. The weather was perfect for sunbathing so we all got our swimming suits on and headed up to Deck 12. We discovered nachos and chips and salsa. Al, Mom, and I tried out the pool - it was super cold! I'm pretty sure they got the water from the ocean because it was really salty and cold. I got a little sunburnt...

We got some crepes for dinner and we were a bit exhausted from our day and the sun so we headed to bed. Overall, Corfu wasn't my favorite but it was beautiful!

Day 4: May 3, 2015 - A Day at Sea and Deal or No Deal!

So... we were a little sleepy and may have slept in until around 11:00 that morning. I was completely okay with it. I did, however, miss breakfast which was a bummer - the boat had some super yummy waffles that we discovered later in the week.

The boat was traveling from Venice to our first stop in Greece - the island of Corfu, so we spent the day at sea. I took advantage of this day and wore my cruise leisure outfit which consisted of some wide leisure pants (if you don't know what those are, you make me sad inside) and a soft sweater that had holes in it, so it was the perfect temperature. I loved every minute I spent in this outfit.

We had a relaxing day on deck, reading and eating at our convenience. We decided to go to the game show Deal or No Deal in the Stardust Theatre. Jess and I love this game so we each bought a card to play along. Archie, the cruise director, hosted the game. We played two games. They called the contestants up by the number on the card you bought. The first contestant was called up and we played along with her. She won like $30. During the game, there was someone in the audience that kept barking like a dog and it was really strange... it kept freaking Archie out. He called out the second card number and it was my card! Jess had paid for the game with her cruise card though so they called her name. I let her go up and she was SO excited. It was hilarious!

She picked Briefcase #12. Before the game, Cory was all about the strategy and how you need to take the deal because chances are, you won't win anything big. But as soon as Jess got up, he kept screaming "No deal! No deal!" and was so nervous and excited while Jess was up there haha Jess did really well! It ended up being between her briefcase and Briefcase #17 and there was only $500 and $125 left. Archie asked if she wanted to switch to #17 but she stuck with #12. She ended up winning $125 which bought us all pina coladas haha it was so fun and hilarious watching her up there. She did a great job and loved every second of it. That is definitely something we will never forget haha with her winnings, Jess decided to try some more of her luck in the casino but we didn't win anything.

Cory and Dad went to the Japanese restaurant for dinner so the girls went to the French restaurant, Le Bistro, because the dessert sounded really good. It was a little awkward because you were supposed to dress nice and I was still in my leisure outfit... Oh well. All of us ordered this chicken with mashed potatoes. The chicken was really froo-froo and not very good haha but watching Al try to choke it down was hilarious! The potatoes were yummy though. We each got these amazing desserts - it was like chocolate molten cake from Chilis but with gelato. I got Stracciatella. YUM!

After we finished dinner, we went up on deck to watch the sun set. We noticed one of the four hot tubs were free and we figured it would be cleaner to get in at the beginning of the cruise rather than at the end... so we hot tubbed for a while.

There was an acrobatic show in the Stardust Theatre at 7:30 that we decided to go to. It was this couple from Warsaw that have been together doing acrobatics for 10 years. They did some acts together, some apart. It was insane! It was really cool. They even brought their little daughter out on stage and she was really cute. It was a fun, cool show. Overall, it was a nice, relaxing day at sea!

Day 3: May 2, 2015 - All Aboard!

We were allowed to board the ship beginning at noon which gave us a little time to sleep in and get some breakfast. After enjoying some chocolate filled croissants and some of the best fruit juice I have ever had, we finished packing up and met our taxis outside to take us to the port. We got all checked in with the cruise line and gave them our luggage so they could take it up to our rooms. Once we were allowed to board the ship, we went to our rooms to drop the rest of our stuff off. We were supposed to have three rooms - one for Jess and Cor, and then adjoining rooms for Mom and Dad and Al and I. However, the Costco travel agent that Mom used messed up and only gave us two rooms. We were wondering how the sleeping arrangements were going to work because other than the bed, there was just a little couch that didn't even pull out. However, there was a bunk that pulled down from the ceiling. It was a little close and crowded but cozy and worked out just fine.

We dropped our stuff off and explored the ship. We were on the Norwegian Jade cruise ship. It is funny - it's a Norwegian cruise line, set to sail in the Mediterranean Sea, and came from Hawaii so it was all decorated with Hawaiian themes and names like the Bali Hai Grill and Bar and Blue Lagoon restaurant. Mom was awesome and bought us the ultimate dining package as well as the unlimited soda package. Unfortunately, there was no Dr. Pepper aboard but we survived. There was 13 levels to the ship. The first six or so levels had just staterooms for guests mostly. We had a stateroom on the 9th floor with a balcony overlooking the water. Level 12 had two pools, four hot tubs, an outdoor grill and bar, a gym (that we never used once), the spa, and the main buffets inside. Level 13 had a sun deck, an outdoor track, an outdoor chess set, and a basketball and/or tennis court. There were some fun restaurants that you mostly needed reservations for - an Italian restaurant called La Cucina, a steakhouse called Cagney's, a french place called Le Bistro, a Teppanyaki place, a sushi bar, and a Tucanos type restaurant called Modern Churosciaro. There were a bunch of buffets and other restaurants and bars that you could go to anytime all throughout the boat. There was a huge indoor theatre called the Stardust Theatre on deck 6 and 7. There was a casino, an art gallery, a photo studio, a library, and a duty free shop and gift shop. We encountered a lounge called the Medusa Lounge with a dance floor in the middle and a couple of rooms with doors and locks that were called "Whatever" rooms. I don't even want to know what goes on in those rooms. They claim it was for like private karaoke parties or to play video games but I'm pretty positive that wasn't the only thing going on in those rooms... Anyway, it was a very nice boat with very nice accommodations and activities.

After exploring the ship for a while, I took a little nap to try to get rid of a headache. I woke up to announcements from the intercom telling me I needed to go to the Stardust Theatre for the mandatory safety training. I met everyone else down there and was thinking it was going to be a long and boring safety training. Uh nope - they showed us how to put a lifejacket on and then dismissed us haha we went up to the sun deck to see the view of Venice as we left the port. It was a really cool way to see the city and enjoy the view as we disembarked on the Mediterranean. 

We ate at the Italian restaurant La Cucina that night for dinner. I got spaghetti with meatballs. It was a fun night. Al and I reenacted Lady and the Tramp. 

So far, I was loving the cruise. It was a little chilly for my taste but overall, it is a super fun and convenient way to travel. 

Stay tuned for more cruise fun!