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Greece 2021

August - September 2021
We signed up for this trip in May of 2020 when our Germany River trip was cancelled because of COVID-19. We choose September because we thought COVID-19 would certainly be controlled by then. We have to be flexible - it will be an adventure. Read more
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  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 1

    Beginning of Trip

    August 31, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We got to the Dulles Airport at 2 pm (about 3.5 hours early).  Because we have Premium Economy (United calls it Premium Access), there was a separate start for check-in.  No lines or waiting.  We didn't have TSAPre because of Global Entry excited, but the Security from no time to get through and we were at our gate in no time.  Check-in the day before had been a nightmare.  Beyond the normal check-in take(names contact info and number of checked bags), We has to submit PDF files of our Vaccination cards; use the United App to scan our passports and attach a copy of Greece's Personal Locator form.  Then we had to wait for about an hour before or information was approved and we were sent boarding passes.  A little before boarding started we had to go to the deal and have them review the same documents we had sent United the night before.

    After that boarding was easy.  The food was good (dessert was sea salt caramel gelato) and I had a glad of white wine (a Chenin Chardonnay).  I watched "Singing in the Rain" and John watched "Guardians of the Galaxy".  I didn't sleep on the flight, but I took two walks up and down the aisle.  The flight was uneventful.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    1
    Day 2

    Arrival in Athens

    September 1, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    We landed at the Munich airport basically on time.  We went through customs and I got my first stamp in my new passport!

    The flight was about a half an hour late leaving.  But made up most of the time so we still landed at about 2:30pm. There was a bit of a wait to get our luggage.  But, getting through Customs was a breeze.  Another couple on the Tauck cruise was on our flight.  They live in Sacramento and retired from Locked Martin. What a small world. 

    We are staying at the Grand Bretagne Hotel. By the time we got to the hotel and got our luggage, we had less than 20 minutes to change clothes for a informal walking tour of the area right near our hotel.  Six or seven couples who had arrived today were in the tour. Our Tour Director, Michael Furillo, took us on a walking tour of the area around our hotel and gave is some restaurant recommendations as well as some things to do tomorrow since the Tour doesn't officially start until 6pm tomorrow.

    We decided to go to a Restaurant called Hermion. John got grilled lamb chops and fries.  I had traditional Moussaka.  Everything was very good. We were exhausted so after dinner we headed back to the hotel.  There was a peaceful protest n taking place in front of our hotel.  There we some speeches and some singing. Since we don't speak Greek, we had no idea what the protest was about.  We are planning to visit the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. Hoping to get a good night's sleep.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 3

    A Free Day in Athens

    September 2, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    I ended up not getting to bed until after midnight, so I didn't get up until 7:30 and didn't get down to breakfast until a bit after 8 am.  As I was heading to the restaurant, I saw an open door and a glimpse of the Acropolis. When I got seated I had a nice view from my table. 

    Breakfast was a buffet where they serve you.  I learned later that I can order of of the menu of I want.  Breakfast for me was plain nonfat yogurt, fruit and a little bit of scrambled eggs.  I had coffee and grapefruit juice as my beverages. 

    We got a free extra day in Athens from Tauck (called a "Gift of Time") so we were seeing some sights that aren't on the agenda for our days in Athens.

    John got up a little after I got back from breakfast.  We decided to visit the Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology.  The museum offered a Senior rate, which was nice. They had three exhibits. One on machines and automation, one on musical instruments and one on armor.  It is a small museum, but very interesting.  We spent close to 2 hours there.   Then we stopped at a little taverna and John got a ham and cheese hand pie and I got a sausage roll. 

    After our lunch we headed to the Benaki Museum.  The museum has pottery, silver, and Greek regional costumes.  The exhibits were arranged from restless to more current (like 18th century).  There was also a section on Christian art.  Most of the Christian art they had on display was from the Byzantine and Cretan areas and painters between the 13th century to the 17th century.  What "stopped me in my tracks" with the paintings was that all the subjects (Mary, Baby Jesus, adult Jesus and all the disciples) had dark skin.  I had never seen Christian paintings where the subjects were not all white.  I am still struggling to find a word to describe how I felt, but good will have to do.

    Then we headed back to the hotel to get dressed (Resort Casual) for our Welcome Reception and dinner.   While John was getting ready, someone buzzed or room.  At the door was a hotel staff person with a china tray with two small glasses and a small bottle of what turned out to be a distilled alcohol called Mastic Liqueur.  We haven't tried it, yet.  But we do intend to. 

    At the Welcome Reception we got to know two other couples and learn something about the Tauck trips they had taken in the past. Most of the people on this tour had been on at least 3 tours and some as many as 10. For dinner we had a choice of Moussaka or sea bass.  John chose the Moussaka and I chose the sea bass.  Both were very good. We got the guest list and Tauck pins to wear when we are on tour.  It supposedly helps the people on the ship and at the tour locations we visit know we are with Tauck.  We also got our bag tags for the ship; the list of excursions we can choose from; and some useful and polite Greek phrases.  We also got the "official" notification that we probably will not be going to Ephesus (for political issues between the two countries. - not because of COVID-19).  It is a bit of a bummer, but I am looking forward to all the places I will see.  And I still get to go to Patmos. Also, the sailing ship can hold up to 140 guests.  Our Tauck group has 26 people.  But there will only be 68 guests total on the ship. The other 42 are with other tour groups, I guess.

    Tomorrow we go to the Acropolis and to the Acropolis Museum and then we will have free time.  I am sure we will use some of that time to repack so Tauck can get our bags and take them to the ship tomorrow.

    Now it is off to bed. The bus leaves at 8 am so everyone needs to be ready to go before 8 am.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 4

    Morning Tours in Athens

    September 3, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Today we visited the Acropolis and later the Acropolis Museum.  I realized it is almost 49 years since I was in Greece.  It doesn't seem as if that much time had passed.  We got to the Acropolis will before the crowds.  There is a lot of renovation being done.  I couldn't remember any renovation when I was there before.  It turns out the renovations began in 1983 almost 10 years after I was there.  I remember the two temples but not the theater.  We walked up  when I came all those years ago and it is possible we came by a different route and never passed it.  Who knows. It is still amazing. 

    After the tour the women in our group (probably all 17 of us) headed for the restrooms.  Well the were only 2 of the 4 stalls that were working.    The of us decide to use the men's restroom.  Of the there, only one was working.  So one of us went in while the other stood watch.  A man came to the top of the stairs where the line ended, but we told him none of the stairs worked and he turned around and left.  Being able too use both restrooms helped stopped up the process considerably. 

    Then we all headed back to the meet up point to walk down to Acropolis Museum.  It is impressive.  The building is the same dimensions as the Temple of Athena and the interior has two rooms as the Athena Temple and positioned the same.  On the top floor there is a section of the floor is all glass. They had to put little black dots on the glass to reduce the uneasiness of people who are afraid of heights. That same flooring is outside the museum near the entrance, too.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 4

    Free Time After the Tours

    September 3, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    After the museum we headed back to the hotel and John and I headed for the Terina Restaurant.  I was still full from breakfast, but John doesn't get up in time for breakfast.  He decided on a pepperoni pizza and I ate three of the 8 slices.

    When we got back to the hotel we showered and started packing up to leave the hotel tomorrow.  We get on the bus at 8:45 am and our luggage gets picked up at 9 am to be taken to the ship while we tour the National Archeological Museum.  

    We ate dinner at this Restaurant called Public Cafe.  It is in this small department store.  The store has 5 floors.  The 5th floor is where the restaurant is.  We sat out on the small balcony that surrounds the restaurant on all three sides and looks down on the square where our hotel is.

    The food was very good.  I got a salmon pasta dish and John got a beef orzo dish.  While we were there a protest march started on the side of the square where the restaurant is located.  Traffic was blocked to keep it off the street where the protest was happening.  The waiter told us that it was a group of doctors protesting, but he didn't know what they were protesting about.  The police  seemed to sympathize with the doctors' issue.  In fact, there were as many, if not more, police as doctors.  After dinner we returned to the hotel to finish packing up.  We will say good-bye to Athens after our tour of the museum.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 5

    Goodbye Athens - Hello Greek Islands

    September 4, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    ‍This morning I decided to get a meal off the menu instead of using the Buffet.  I ended up getting an egg overeasy, a sausage, a half slice of toast, black coffee and grapefruit juice. A lot less food and more of what I wanted to eat.   After breakfast, I checked us out of the hotel and we got on the bus to go to the National Archeological Museum.  Our luggage was being moved to the ship as we toured the museum.  The museum was nice.  Our guide took us through several of the exhibits and then we had about 45 minutes to check out anything else we wanted to see.  Then it was off to the pier to go through the process of getting on the ship.  We had to go in and show our Vaccination cards and fill out paperwork to get our COVID-19 tests.  The process was pretty straightforward and relatively quick.  We were negative (again).  Then we got our key cards and got on the ship.  Lunch was ready, so after we got to our room and dropped off our carry on bags, we headed to the the Lounge where lunch was served.   Lunch was a buffet.  I got a chicken gyro some veggies and John got chicken tikka.  Both were good.   I went back to our cabin and our luggage had been delivered.  I went back up to the Lounge and John and I walked around the ship on two levels just to get some exercise and take in the ship.  I was hoping I would get familiar with the ship, but so far that hasn't happened. 

    Then we returned to our cabin and unpacked.  At 3:30, there was a safety drill.  Evidently, they are required to have several of them while we are sailing.  They don't take long so, no biggy (I hope).  We also found out that Greece Government is now requiring that we be tested this coming Monday.  So at that point John and I will have been tested 4 times in three weeks. But it's all good. 

    As we  were "setting sail" we got to watch the sails being unfurled.    That was impressive.   And within a few minutes we were out of the "seabreak" and into the Mediterranean sea - our cruise has begun!

    Before dinner we got a briefing about Milos, our first "port of call". We also learned that because of weather forecasts we will be swapping the days we go to Santorini and Mykonos. 

    Dinner was pretty good.  I had a tomato tart for an appetizer that was excellent.  John's steak was very good, but my shrimp and scallop risotto was just so so (it initally came with no scallops). I mentioned the "oversight" and they brought me the scallops for the risotto.  The panacotta we had for dessert was excellent, too. 

    I am still *very* confused when trying to get around on the ship. I just can't remember where everything is.  I have taken a picture of the ship's deck plans.  Hopefully, I will get oriented before the trip is over. 

    I am excited about this trip.  It has been a lesson in flexibility and I am sure there will be additional opportunities to be flexible.  The flexibility aspect makes this more of an adventure.  I like that.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 6

    Tour of Milos

    September 5, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    ‍‍During most of the night I could hear engine noise.  I put in earplugs, but they didn't help much.  I am hoping I will sleep better tonight. After a breakfast of yogurt and granola (the guy serving me was kind enough to pick out the chocolate pictures in the granola) some fruit and coffee, I did a few laps around the boat, but it wasn't a lot of distance.  I figured I would need to get up earlier so I would I have time to get more laps in, but I got in plenty of walking on the tour today.  We took the tender (the boat that takes us from the ship to the port in the town we are visiting) to the bus waiting for us in Milos.  Kelly was our local guide and she was very good. 

    Our first stop was for a walking tour of the city of Plaka (evidently there are cities named Plaka on several of the Greek islands).  We made a stop at a little shop for coffee and a watermelon tart.  The watermelon tart was wonderful. It seems that watermelon is a favorite fruit in Greece.  I had a Greek coffee (similar to Turkish coffee).  It was very strong and very good.  Then we were given some free time to walk around.  Then it was back to the bus to go to see Sarakinko Beach. The beach has a lot of caves and crashing waves.  There were a considerable number of people on the beach, but most of them seemed to be there just to be seen.  We had to walk gingerly down to the beach and back up. 

    Then we headed to a restaurant at Paleochori Beach for lunch. On the bus Michael took our lunch orders.  The choices were lamb, pork or a vegetarian alternative.  John and I chose lamb. We sat with another couple from Tauck.  It was nice getting to know some of the passengers better.  First we got some crispy pita bread and some toppings (olive spread, tzatiki, and a creamy fish spread.  All were delicious.  John only liked the fish spread.   The next "course" was a watermelon salad with cucumbers and onions.  That "course" was followed by a basket of bread, which was followed by a basket of zucchini chips and a dipping sauce.  At that point I was feeling stuffed and then our main dishes came out (I had totally forgotten there was a main dish).  The lamb and potatoes were very good.  The lamb was so tender and fell off the bone.  The last course was dessert.  It was a custard like dish.  They said it was similar to a napolian, but with no chocolate.  When we finished lunch, John and I headed out to walk off our lunch.  After our walk we got back on the bus and headed back to the town to get the tender.  John and I took another walk to look at the beach in the town.  The tenders were scheduled to leave the dock at 15 minutes past the hour and 45 minutes past the hour.   However we got to the dock at 3:10 pm and the next tender didn't come to the dock until 4:15 pm.  It was no big deal and we got ice tea while we waited. 

    We we got back on the ship we showered and dressed for dinner and headed down to the lounge to learn about our trip for tomorrow and then up to the Open deck on deck 4 for a Welcome by the Captain and am introduction to the head staff.  Three sisters in our group invited us to join them, their mother and another couple (not on the Tauck Tour) for dinner.  We got the Captain's Table.  John and my food selections today were better than most of our choices last night. I picked the traditional Greek Bean Soup and John got a fried risotto ball for appetizers.  For our main course, I got shrimp and chorizo over couscous.  John and mostly everyone else got the Beef Wellington.  They were both very good.  The sisters had chocolate souffle as a dessert, but John chose a fruit trifle and I chose fruit tart.  They were both very good. 

    I really enjoyed having dinner with the the sisters.  We all laughed a lot.  Tomorrow there will be a BBQ on the Open deck and we are all getting together again for the dinner.   I can't wait. 

    Tomorrow we need to be on the outside upper decks around 6:30 or 7 pm as we sail into the Caldera .  It is supposed to be a sight not to be missed.  John is even going to get up to see it!

    So it is off to bed for me so I can be ready for our tour of Santorini.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 7

    Tour of Santorini

    September 6, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    John and I both got up early this morning to watch the ship go through the Caldera at sunrise. The colors of the sunrise over the houses on the top of one of the islands was beautiful.

    The sea was rough/choppy today and getting into the tender to take us to the Athinios Port on Santorini was a bit of a challenge. At Athinios Port, we met our guide, Mariana, and headed to our first stop - The Archeological excavations at Akrotiri. At the site are the remains of a catastrophic volcanic eruption in1600 BC. The eruption tore the island apart. The actual artifacts excavated are in the Museum of Prehistoric Thíra in Thíra.

    The remainder of our tour included some history, culture and photo opportunities for us. Our next stop was Oía (pronounced Ía) at the upper end of Santorini.

    Our next and final stop was Thíra. There we went to a restaurant and had some Greek appetizers (a tomato salad; a fava bean spread; tomato fritters; and meatballs). It was more than enough for lunch for us. After the lunch John and I went to the Museum of Prehistoric Thíra. At the museum we saw the items that had been excavated at Akortiri. After that we headed for the cable car to take us down to the dock to get the tender back to the ship. There had been an option to go down by mule, but we opted for the cable car. At the dock the water was a lot rougher than in the morning. It was a challenge getting from the dock onto the tender. The challenge for the tender driver was to get the tender lined up with the ship. They made several attempts before they got lined up. But what was more difficult was getting off of the tender and onto the stairs to the ship.

    Tonight was the BBQ. There was tons of food - salads; meats & fish; side dishes; and desserts. After the dinner, the staff did lots of dancing and in the end we all joined in. It was a fun evening.

    Tomorrow we got to Patmos.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 8

    Tours of Patmos

    September 7, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today was a short touring day. We got on the tender at around 8:15 am for a short ride over to the port town of Skala. There we meet our guide, Nikos, and boarded our bus for the drive to the Monastery of St. John in the town of Chora, the capital of Patmos. We were able to see a bit of the Monastery. On the first floor was the chapter. We could see the Markets and a bit of the sanctuary. There was also a case that contained the chains that John wore while a prisoner on Pathos. The case also contained the skull of St. Thomas and also the skull of John Christodoulous (the man who completed most of the monastery). St. John is buried at Ephesus (another reason to be safe that we couldn't go too Ephesus). On the second floor were some ancient Bibles; some icons; some priests' robes and the contract the king wrote up of all the support he, the king, would provide.

    After the Monastery your, we headed for Cave of the Apocalypse. Although small it was impressive it. A church has been erected around the caves.

    Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures at either site. We were taken back to Skala to either head back to the ship or to look around in the town. John and I decided to walk around the town. We had been encouraged to try the two traditional foods of Greece (or Patmos) - Cheese pie and pungi (sp?) that had been recommended by Nikos. Pungi is a sweet pastry. John wasn't interested in either of the suggestions, so we searched around for lunch for him. We eventually found an uncrowded restaurant where John got a macaroni pie and I got a salad. When John had finished his lunch, we went back to a look for a shop that sold cheese pie and the pungi. The pungi was pretty good, but the cheese pie was pretty dry. We wandered around a bit and bought some gelato. It was pretty good. Then we headed back to the ship. We walked around the ship several times and then got ready for the "port talk" about the tour to Mykonos and Delos. We then headed to dinner. I had salmon and John had rack of lamb. Both were excellent.

    Looking forward to the tour tomorrow.    Read more

  • The Travels of PaulaGreece 2021
    Day 9

    Tour of Mykonos and Delos

    September 8, 2021, Aegean Sea ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today we went to the island of Mykonos. It was windy and the sea was very rough. We left the ship at 8:35am and took the tender to Mykonos. We took a short tour of Mykonos and then headed back to the dock and took a large "sea taxi" to Delos. We were able to see lots of homes and learned a lot about how the houses were constructed. There is a major effort going on to recover the remains of the major Temple that was destroyed in an earthquake. The major issue inhibiting progress is funding. It was interesting, but it looks like a lot of work and a lot of funding will be required.

    After touring Delos, we headed back to the sea taxi and returned to Mykonos. We searched for a place to eat. We finally found a Souvlaki/gyro fast food shop and got lunch there. Then we had to find our way back to the tender landing. We made sure we continued to go down and followed the streets where the wind was blowing the strongest. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for our tender.

    Tonight we went to the steak and seafood restaurant called Candles. You have to make reservations for the restaurant since it only seats 30 guests a night. The food was wonderful. John got a filet mignon and I got a grilled shrimp dish. For dessert we both got creme brulee. We made reservations there for Friday, our last night on the ship.

    Tomorrow we have our appointment for the COVID-19 test required to get back into the US and also to get on the Air Canada flight. For that flight we have to fill out several forms.

    Tomorrow we will tour Monemvasia. I have never heard of it, but am looking forward to learning about the town.

    Now it is off to bed.    Read more

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