The city with amazing history didn’t disappoint. Ruins that are 2,500 years old and still in amazing shape. Fantastic  food!! Classic European – highly walkable, plenty of places to sit for hours, drink wine and people watch. Our favorite thing to do!

We did the hop on/hop off bus, an electric bicycle tour, a walking tour of the Acropolis and museum, some shopping, and met our friends Ron and Jan for dinner on a gorgeous rooftop terrace.

How did Athens get its name, you ask? Back in the 500 BC time frame, both Athena and Poseidon were asked to give a gift to the city. Poseidon stuck his trident in the ground and produced salt water from the ocean and Athena gave an olive tree. Um, who needs salt water when the ocean is right there? Obviously, Athens being Athens, it chose Athena’s gift. And they built her an amazing temple – the Parthenon – on the Acropolis to honor her gift. But in fear of angering Poseidon, they built him a lesser temple on the Acropolis. Before coming here, I didn’t understand the Acropolis and Parthenon, but here’s the skinny – Acropolis means ‘high city’ and is the massive rock on which several structures – including the Parthenon – are built. It’s being lovingly restored after a millennia of looting, fires and earthquakes.

Now let’s talk about the food. We were a bit apprehensive, but no need to worry.    Tender meats in several forms – kebab, minced, gyro, etc – and scrumptious desserts, flaky pastries, and awesome pita bread. Oh, and the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini are to die for.  We ate our weight in doner, gyros, ham and cheese rolls, lemon tarts, baklava, and yummy small cookies.  Thank God the plane doesn’t have weight restrictions for us! #badweektodiet

Loved this bucket list place. Will likely return.

Decisions, decisions. That’s how our day started. Walk the 589!steps from the sea to the cliff-side town of Fira, take a donkey up the same steps or totally wimp out and do the cable car. What do YOU think we chose?  Yep, 589 steps it is!  We did the Rocky dance at the top. Like tourists. Whatever.

After we recovered, we wandered for a bit and ran into Ron and Jan. We took the bus – an experience! – to Oia where we shopped and had a fantastic lunch with local wine at the rooftop restaurant. They brought the bill – our first in Greece – and we assume it was what we ordered! We all delighted in saying ‘I don’t know, it’s all Greek to me!’

Stunning views from the terrace  here’s just one …

Now’s as good a time as any to talk about the Twizzy. As when we saw our first Smart car in Rome 12 years ago, we predict the Twizzy will catch on in big cities. What is a Twizzy, you ask? It’s a four wheel, 2 passenger sitting front/back, electric runabout vehicle.  Kind of like a motorcycle size vehicle with a top and four wheels. Biker wants one.

On this 10-day cruise, we had one day at sea. Andy and I spent it drinking and relaxing. What? You’re shocked? Come on, it’s us!

A workout, late breakfast and a bottle of Chianti on our balcony. Pure heaven.

We had plans to go onshore at the stop on Crete but ran into our new friends Ron and Jan and ended up whiling away the day drinking and chatting with them on the ship.  Oh, and I won the blackjack tourney – woo hoo! – and Andy and I teamed up with our new Aussie friends to win the trivia contest. Another day well spent!