Back home

After breakfast off to airport. Flew back with easyJet, stopped at Marks for a couple of hours and taxi back home for 8:00pm.

Athens 2

Disembarked at 9:00 am and took a taxi to the Melia for the last night of our holiday. We still had another day of our bargain €20 HOHO so after a coffee and pastry we jumped on and did part of the circuit hoping. We __HO near the parliament and enjoyed a stroll through the ornamental gardens. The ceremonial guards marched past as we left the entrance. We had lunch on the roof restaurant overlooking parliament square then went to see the traditional changing of the guards ceremony.

HO__ to the museum then walked back to the hotel in time for dinner. Melia had upgraded us to executive room with bubble bath which was fun. 

Athens

Cruised back to Athens arriving just before sunrise for an overnight stay in the port. Planning to get a 2 day HOHO ticket for today and Monday, when will be overnight in Melia hotel again.

We caught the HOHO to the top of the Acropolis, passed on the Parthenon as the queues were too long, just walked down to Arch of Adrian and found a nice restaurant for lunch. Rosemary bought some unusual cookies which hopefully will make it back to Croft. It was coldest day of the year apparently but mostly sunny fortunately.

Saw the last theatre show, very talented acrobats and packed.

Crete

After a windswept rocky night we arrived in a very cold soggy port of Heraklion. Fitbit could not record sleep until we docked at 7:00 am!⁰ It's a busy commercial with containers stacked like Lego bricks. It brightened up a bit later so we took the shuttle bus into town and had a short walk around. Nothing to write home about except the designer shops, M&S and lots of coffee shops. We had two massive pork gyros and chicken souvlaki in a fast food taverna. Read about some Cretan history in the museum, which had a Ukrainian demo outside later, then caught the bus back. It's felt bitterly cold on the strong northerly wind and there is snow on the surrounding mountain sides. We were expecting this to be the hottest destination, but it was officially  the coldest day of the winter in Crete.

Rhodes

We arrived in Rhodes on a cold, windy but very sunny morning. We walked around the harbour and through the St Mary gate into the old town. Went to the Palace of the Grand Master, I did no both levels via the big stone stair case while Rosemary found another best friend. A lot of shops and restaurants were still closed for the winter season.

We stopped at a small taverna, by the side of a mosque, for a snack and coffee then walked back via the winding streets for a late lunch back on the ship. The sun was on our balcony again so we sat with a glass of wine, or two, until we departed at 4pm.

Gales were forecast for later on the overnight cruise across to Crete. The show featured the 4 staff singers and was high standard again.

Sea day 2

The second sea day started with Captains announcement of a named storm coming from the North would deposit snow on much of Greece. At sea it was windy with plenty of white horses, cold but sunny. 

We went to the art auction for the glass of champagne (and a laugh) then the music matinee. It's smart attire with lobster tonight and a Ukrainian balancing act in the theatre, which could be a bit of a challenge. We went to the Senior Officers party for a Margarita, missed the show but enjoyed the signature dinner (surf and turf and baked Alaska). Early night for an early start, maybe.