Mediterannean Cruise/Disneyland Paris Day 4: Santorini, Greece May 16, 2022

 I found myself getting up a lot during the night. I don't know if it was because it was a new bed or my brain trying to make sure I didn't oversleep. At first, I left the light on in the bathroom to make it easier to get there. But, eventually, I realized that the light coming in around the cabin door made it easy enough to get there.

The alarm went off at the ridiculously early-for-a-vacation-time of 6:15. My husband K and I got up and, while I got into the clothes I'd set out last night, he was forced to wear the same pants and socks he'd been wearing since we left home. He was able to put on one of the new t-shirts we'd bought him in Athens.

We had a few minutes before our daughter J arrived. So, we stepped onto the veranda to take photos of the ship sailing into the area of the Aegean between Santorini and the neighboring islands. Just lovely. And definitely much better weather today than when J and I came here 6 years ago.

When J arrived, she stepped out for a photo or two, before we headed up to the Lido Deck for breakfast. I was able to get my cold cuts, cheese, and a roll. I was happy to find bananas, too. We were served things at various stations. I have a feeling that the self-serve days on the Lido Deck are gone.

While we waited for the elevator at 7:05, I realized that the artwork here was musically themed, just as ours was.

We all went to our cabins to wash up and grab our stuff. We did take a moment to step out onto the veranda to look at the island and the preparations for our visit. The top of the island was shrouded in mist and lit by the sun rising behind it. We could clearly make out the path that one would take if they walked up themselves or rode a donkey, neither of which we were willing to do.

We then headed to the World Stage to be there on time at 7:30. Unlike previous cruises, we had to show our excursion reservations on the Navigator app to be given our sticker. We were to be in Group blue 8, which was for Discover Ancient Akrotiri. We'd chosen this tour for several reasons. One was that J and I didn't want to do the same thing we'd done on her birthday cruise 6 years ago. Another was that Akrotiri was sort of Santorini's version of Pompeii. There are those who think this city gave rise to the story of the lost city of Atlantis.

Let's talk about Santorini before we head off. The name is a contraction of Santa Irini, or St. Irene, a name given to it by the Venetians. It is not the official name of the island. That is Thera or Thira. If you look at Thira and the other islands near it from above, you get this circular feeling. That's because they were once a single island in the Cyclades. A volcanic eruption in ancient times caused the center of the caldera to sink and fill with water. The volcano has continued to erupt over the years giving rise to a small island in the center of the caldera that is the focal point of its activity. When you are in the water and looking up at the towns hanging onto the top edge of the island of Thira, you get a real feel for being in the caldera.

We had time to sit and watch the folks in the World Stage. The place was by no means full, but there were plenty of people heading out to enjoy the various excursions or one that they had arranged on their own. Our group was finally called at 8:15 to head for the tender, which was actually one of many boats sent out from the island.

We were onboard ours at 8:22 and soon headed toward the southern curve of the island. We got a good view of our ship, as well as the port of Athinios, where we were headed. It looked like it mainly catered to tourists.Evidently, ferries come in here. It had a good flat area for buses to gather.

      

We docked at Athinios at 8:38. We were met by the traditional sign with the group number by our guide Marianna. We hit the windy road at 8:47. We passed houses and fields of grape plants before we were in the parking lot for Akrotiri at 9:05. Ours was not the only bus in the lot, of course.

We crossed the road to the complex of ticket booth, shop, food, and the covered excavations. Marianna sent us off to the restrooms, while she got the tickets. She passed them out when we returned and told us to hold onto them, because we'd need them for the museum later.

She then led us into the giant building that had been erected over and around the excavation site. Not all of it has been excavated, of course. But, this protects what has been done.

There was a school group seated on wooded risers, when we arrived and it turned out Marianna's son was in the group. When they moved on, we took their place, and then we learned about Akrotiri.

The town dated back to the fifth millennium BC and it was a fishing and farming town. It grew, of course, since it was in a great position between Cyprus and Crete. Its streets were paved and it had an impressive drainage system, as well as indoor toilets. (Seriously!) There remain signs of crafts such as pottery making and weaving.

Its habitation came to an end with a violent eruption, whose exact date is unknown, but seems to have been between 1620 and 1530 BC. However, unlike Pompeii, there were no victims here. They left in an orderly fashion. A series of earthquakes prior to the eruption, much like occur with other volcanoes, gave them a warning and they heeded it. There was no lava, just pyroclastic flow. Thus ended this Bronze Age Minoan civilization. This city actually sat on 2 previous ones, by the way.

It has been determined that big blocks of stone indicate a public building. The one near the entrance was a religious building, they believe, because they found votive offerings. They found holes in other spots, which indicated organic material had been here and rotted away. So, they poured plaster in them and let it harden. That's how they found these bed frames.

This was not a kingdom-there's no palace. It was probably a kind of early democracy.

As they excavated, they learned that the toilet was always on the first floor. That confused some folks on the tour, when we saw that it was definitely on the second. I reminded folks that in Europe there's a ground floor and then the first is above it. Back to the toilet- it drained into the city's drainage system.

The houses were built with a window next to the door. Since the old lintels rotted away, they've been replaced with concrete now. Outside stairs were usually across from the door. These stairs show what happened in the earthquake.

In the kitchens, they found some of the pottery that had been made here. Some of these vessels were absolutely huge. The various vessels held liquids, including water for washing, and grains.      

Excavations were begun here in 1870 by the Frenchman F. Fouque, when locals had found some artifacts in a quarry. Spyridon Marinatos, a Greek archaeologist, began working here in 1967, and actually died at the site. In 1974, Christos Doumas continued his work. The work shut down for a while in the early 2000's, when the original roof over the site collapsed. Around 2016, a Russian cybersecurity expert named Eugene Kaspersky stepped in with funding. (Since 2017, the US government has banned the use of software from Kaspersky Labs by US agencies.) So, why aren't they working on this? Well, Covid closed them down for a while. It sounded like Marianna herself was an archaeologist, who had worked here. And, now they can't get money from Kaspersky, no doubt because of sanctions on Russian entities due to the war in Ukraine.

When we finished circumnavigating the building, we had a few minutes for the restroom. We followed her suggestion to exit the complex to buy postcards from the archaeologists rather than the museum. This will help fund their work.

At 10:50, we were on the road again. Now, I'll share photos of the grape plants, as well as an iconic windmill. These plants are suited to this dry, sunny climate. They are close to the ground to conserve energy and moisture. There leaves wrap over the plants to protect the grapes.

At about 11:20, after a short hike from where the bus dropped us, we arrived at the rather warm Museum of Thera. Here we would see some of the objects found at Akrotiri. Others are off in museums in Athens. They had a bunch of votive offerings, but it is tough to photograph through glass. The objects were in amazingly good condition. Maybe, it is because they were covered by pyroclastic flow, rather than lava. These two objects are a table discovered by pouring plaster and a cool portable clay oven. I think the latter is just a genius design.

The Russian was particularly interested in the mosaics found at the site. These have been carefully removed and brought here to be displayed. They were quite lovely and colorful. These are just two of them. The work that went into preserving them is mind boggling.

When we finished at about 11:52, there was no guard in sight to let us out the gate. So, we had to take the long way around the building, which meant we had to climb more of the cliff, mountain, or whatever you wanted to call this side of the caldera wall.

When we got to the top at 12:03, we were greeted by a beautiful out into the water-filled caldera. The whole group started snapping photos, while Marianna started handing out our passes for the tram down to the port below. For whatever reason, she had not been given enough. We were among those waiting around for tickets. This gave us time to pose a few selfies and take in more of the view.

After we finished with her at 12:10 and gave her a 5 euro tip, K and J were patient enough to let me get back to our pressing concern. I had to make sure J's WiFi was nearby, or else I lost the connection.

When we were on the bus between the dig and the museum, I'd gone on Twitter Direct Messaging to ask if the bag had left the Santorini airport for the ship yet. I said that the last tender to the ship was at 4:30 and that I wanted the bag on the ship today. 

Since there was no answer from them, I went to the app. I tried searching for the bag and got no info.

Now, I found a shady area in front of the church and went to the app again. Caryn eventually came on and I wondered if it was the same Caryn as the other day, but did not waste time asking. I gave the bag tag number and related that I was told last night that the bag was at the Santorini airport. I said that my ship was now here and asked if the bag was being moved to the ship. Minutes went by and there was no response, so I asked if she was still there. She replied that she was and said, "just a moment". 

Meanwhile, we checked our Tile app. Tile is a small square piece of technology that we dropped into our suitcases, my purse, and K's backpack. It lets us see where these things are, if we are in the same general area. If we are not, a network is created by all the people who have the app enabled and lets one find things. We'd seen the bag sitting in Philly the day we arrived. I may have even seen it, when it was in Athens. Now, it showed the bag as being at the airport.

K went in to look at the church, while I sat there waiting. Finally, at 12:30, I wrote that the conversation had started 20 minutes ago and that I was wasting valuable time on this island waiting for a response.

 She finally responded that the status showed the bag at the ATH baggage office and she was sorry for the inconvenience.

That infuriated me. I wrote back that it was not in Athens. I told her to look at last night's conversation, which showed the bag was sent to Santorini last night and had arrived at 20:30. I copied the message with the flight info and put that in a text and noted that it was from her people. I told her to look for the updated file. I said that this was what Danielle found.

She said, "Just a moment please".

I went back to Twitter DM and asked where the bag was. Seven minutes later, they came back with the same ATH nonsense. Ignoring Caryn from today, I wrote that the app people said it was in Santorini and asked, "What is wrong with you people?"

At 12:54, I went back to Caryn and asked if she was still there. She was and was working on an update. I suggested that perhaps someone should just call the Santorini airport.

Meanwhile, we had started moving through town. It had seemed pointless to just sit there. I was even able to stop and buy a pin and three postcards. This fish is cool and the flowers are lovely.

I debated just going to the airport myself. J said, no, it was American's problem. K agreed with her. I knew they were right, even though I was still torn, because it was so close. But, I didn't know how we'd get to the airport and back and I wasn't sure how we could get it down to the port. J and I had been on the tram before. So, I knew its size and I didn't know that the bag would fit or be acceptable.

Caryn finally responded that she understood, but that for updates, they had to contact the Central Baggage Office and they would be open 8 am to 7pm CT. I did a quick calculation and realized it would not open until 3pm, which was dangerously late for us.

This was my response:

She responded that she had sent a message requesting an update and that an update would be provided. She then said that if there was nothing else, she hoped I had a great rest of my day. And, without waiting for response, she continued with their standard closing and ended the chat. Basically, she "hung up" on me! And that was my last conversation with anyone on the app.

We finished making our way down the pedestrian path, following arrows, until we made it to the line for the cable car at 1:10. As we joined the end of the ticket line, a boy threw something at us from a low balcony near by. He tried to look innocent, but I went up and said that I didn't think his mother would appreciate it. I didn't care if he understood English or not. I figured, he'd get the message.

We showed our tickets and joined the line behind roped door. A couple in front of us undid the rope and stepped out, which elicited immediate rebuke from the attendant. When it was time for the group to proceed, K and J helped me go down the steps to the second car from the bottom, because we did not want to join that couple.

We were headed back so that we could eat on the ship. Yes, we could have eaten in Thira. But, we'd already paid for the meal on the ship, plus we'd had our great Greek meal yesterday.

We got on the tram at about 1:15 and it was moving moments later. A couple of other people joined us and soon we were on our way down. As you saw in the picture above, it is a pretty steep drop. I was glad that I couldn't see out the front. It's amazing to think donkeys can handle the stairs in the photo below.

We were down in just a couple of minutes and unloaded with the large crowd and tried to avoid the other people trying to board for the trip up. We were in the Santorini Old Port and could see the Holland America tents on the wharf a bit of a ways down from the tram.

Crew members greeted us with cold wash cloths, as they usually do, and some water. We joined a rather large group awaiting a tender and more people joined us as we waited a good 20 minutes in the heat. I wondered whether we'd all fit, but at 1:38 we were on the tender and so was pretty much everyone else.

It was 1:55, when we got back on the ship. There was the usual scanning of our things, us, and, finally, our room keys before we were allowed to go to the elevators. We made a stop at our cabins to dump things before going up to lunch at 2:10.

I got my made-to-order salad and J and I picked up desserts to share.We got a fruit tart, passion fruit custard, and chocolate cheesecake. All were good. K added apple pie and gave me one of the plums he found. Both he and J got salads and J found a roll. When the waiter came, we got water and J and I turned over our drink cards for our sodas. It had been a long time since breakfast and we really enjoyed this meal.

When we finished at 2:48, K went to Customer Service to see about his bag. J and I went to my cabin to relax on the verandah. I took out needlework and she had her pad. From here, we could see tenders bringing folks back to the ship. It was pretty impressive watching them walk on top. It was incredibly pleasant out there.

K came back with the news that they were getting the bag. He just had to call back in a while to see if it was there. Just before 4, he  called them and they said it was on board. He needed to go identify it. When he got down there, he saw that his wasn't the only bag that the HAL port agent had retrieved. I must admit that the prodigal bag was greeted with great joy when it got to our cabin. I posted to Facebook to let our friends know, as they had been following the saga.There were extra tags and papers on it that attested to its travels. I suspect that the Holland America baggage tag helped the port agent, because we had not yet inserted the luggage info that had been needed to get it on the ship had it arrived normally.

There was no point to contacting the folks at the app, because there was no option to choose to say the bag was found. So, I turned to the Twitter DM. Ignore the time stamp, as that is EST. Add 7 hours.

Now, I could relax and just enjoy the trip! I started by taking a nap.

Tonight was the Gala Night and J in particular was glad K would not be wearing tan slacks and his plaid- colored shirt again. He decided he wanted to go hear the Lincoln Center performance, but I really needed that nap. So, he would meet us. It was J's job to wake me before she went to change.

J and I were in the line to check in at the Dining Room, when he joined us. We were led to the same table as last night and Eka welcomed us back as he handed us the fancy folded card menu for the evening. He willingly agreed to let me keep it. 

Gala means four courses for dinner. For the appetizer, I chose Orange Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, J ordered a fancily presented Prosciutto Ham, and K got the Baked Snow Crap and Dilled Salmon Dip, which, surprisingly, came with just one hard breadstick.

I, for one, enjoyed the soup/salad course more. J and I both chose Creamed Artichoke and Heritage Carrot Soup. K got Salad of Arugula and Frisee.

A lack of diversity in our choices caused us to not split the main courses. K and I both opted for Filet Mignon Oscar, although both of them said they knew I had to order it, because of the crab. J asked for NY Strip Loin. We all enjoyed them.

Dessert yielded only 2 different choices: Chocolate Soufflé for J and me and Strawberry Romanoff for K. They were delicious.

For drinks, J got a soda and I ordered an iced tea. K splurged on a $10 glass of Cabernet.

We were finished dinner at 7:10. K hurried off to the World Stage, as he was late for the show he wanted to see.

J and I went to change for the next activity. I stepped out to the verandah for a photo at 8:09 before she came to my cabin.

J arrived at 8:15 and we took our jackets with us, because we were headed to the Lido Deck pool for the 8:30 movie at the pool. At her suggestion, I grabbed a pool towel to put down on the lounge chair in case it was damp. K arrived before The Lost City started. It was very funny and Sandra Bullock was great as always. The only problem was that we were not sitting directly in front of the screen and I think that caused some of the sound problems we had.

We were at our cabin at 10:15. We confirmed tomorrow's meeting times with J before she left for her cabin.

My phone says that I walked 6,645 steps for 2.3 miles and climbed 1 floor.