Our Cruise to the Mediterranean (Part 2)

SANTORINI, GREECE
On Thursday, June 2nd, we docked on the island of Santorini. Known for it's black sand beaches, crystal-clear waters and whitewashed villages that cling to the volcanic cliffs that make Santorini a wonder to behold. Santorini is known as the lost kingdom of Atlantis. First settled around 3,000 BC the civilization disappeared when the island was engulfed by a volcano eruption around 2,000 BC and was uninhabited until 1,000 BC. Today the island has very little vegetation, and because of the high humidity, the volcanic rocks draw the moisture from the air and the plants get their roots systems watered through the rocks. People do not water their plants and there is very little rain fall on the island. The island is know for growing it's vineyards very low to the grounds in basket shapes. The island is considered a "resort" style area, with many multi-million dollar homes to many rich and famous people, (i.e.: Pitt/Jolee, Onassis, Oprah, etc.). It is considered one of Greece's most beautiful islands. We arrived at the island by a pirate ship tender and rode by bus to the top, where we toured a winery, sampled local cuisine and shot some beautiful photos of the local area. We then rode down the winding narrow roads site seeing the country-side and the beautiful beaches. A stop in a small town for some more trinkets and souvenirs, and we were walked over to the cable cars for a ride down the side of the mountain to the docks for a trip back out to the ship There are 3 ways to get up and down the mountain: donkeys, (they don't smell very good), walk (over 600 steps and remember the donkeys leave behind presents), and cable car, (we chose the cable car). There are donkeys roaming all over the island. Many people love to return to Santorini for their destination vacation.

MYKONOS, GREECE
On Friday, June 3rd our ship docked at Mykonos Greece - the last of the Greek islands that we would be touring. Dave and I did not book an excursion for Mykonos. Today we would be on our own to wander the town and sight see the sea side village. So after breakfast, we grabbed our sunglasses, a hat to shade our eyes, our camera, a couple bottles of water, our bags for carrying souvenirs, the Euros for purchasing said souvenirs and away we went, with no destination in mind or knowledge of the island. Mykonos is know for it's many old windmills, quaint narrow cobblestone streets, picturesque white painted villages, hundreds of churches, golden sandy beaches and the most friendly people. And I must say also, some of the most delicious food!! The Romans conquered Mykonos in 146 BC, and then Mykonos was under Turkish domain from 1207 until 1537, after which when it won it's independence. Thus, the island has many cultural influences, (Italian, Turkish, Grecian). Even today, the village is very old world and a lovely area to explore, take photos, and shop. The streets are very narrow, and people usually walk everywhere, but when an occasional vehicle does come down the street, people all step into the shops to make way for the car to pass down the street then step out of the shop and go on their way. While in Mykonos, Dave and I stopped at an Olive Tree shop, where they use the roots from old (1200 - 1500 year old dead olive trees), to make items for sale. Dave's brother, (a pharmacist), collects morter & pestles and we bought him a beautiful one for his birthday. The great thing about traveling to foreign countries - you can always find unique birthday and holiday gifts for friends and family. We did more souvenir shopping, photo taking, and sampling of the local cuisine. I found out the gyros are NOT made from lamb in Greece, but only chicken and beef. We Americans make them from lamb. Funny how we always thought lamb gyros were a Greek thing. The only bad thing was that somewhere in Mykonos, Dave lost one of his hearing aids !! We re-traced our steps but never found it.

NAPLES, ITALY
After a day at sea, we finally docked on Sunday, June 5th, at our final destination, Naples, Italy. Dave and I chose not to tour Naples, but to instead tour Sorrento and Pompeii. We were warned that Naples was very crime ridden and if you ventured into Naples do not wear any jewelry and no watches of value. As we rode through Naples, we discovered it was a lot like Rome, very crowed, noisy, and a lot of graffiti. Except for the very old buildings you would think you were in Los Angeles. Shortly we were out of the city and in the beautiful countryside. As soon as we entered Sorrento, I felt like I had arrived at a place my heart and soul were destined to be. I instantly fell in love with the town. When we walked into the center of town all five of our senses came alive. We could smell the floral from the flowers everywhere, the foods cooking as the restaurants were preparing for their lunchtime customers. We could taste the salt from the ocean. We could feel the cobblestones under our sandals from the streets that were hundreds of years old. The colors from the shopkeepers spices, foods, and wares that they set out for buyers were delights for the eyes. Yes this was a place that I knew I would want to return to again and stay for a week (or two). Of all the stops - THIS was my favorite. The people were so friendly. Our next stop was to a shop where they did in-laid woodworking in the same fashion as they have done for over 200 years. The work was so beautiful. I purchased a few small pieces and some handmade Pinocchio key chains for gifts. Then on to a farm, (Le Sorgente), where we saw a demonstration of how they hand make mozzarella cheese everyday, (365 days a year). We were treated to a light lunch of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Salomi, olives, olive oil, fresh make bread. YUMMY. There was lemoncello and lemoncello cream. For dessert there was lemoncello ricotta cake that was to die for !!. I am determined that I will find the recipe for this cake, even if I have to write to the owners. It was not a cheesecake, but more like a pound cake. In the kitchen the ladies were making eggplant Parmesan. Dave told the tour guide that it was OK to leave him behind to help the kitchen ladies. When they were serving dessert, the tour guide told the ladies that Dave was allergic to dessert.  After our light lunch, we walked around the farm and explored a little.  The lemons were the size of softballs!! The farm garden was to die for!  The fruit grove where every imagineable fruit tree grew and the olive oil processing house. The chicken coup, the pigs, the cows.  This was truly a self-sufficent farm.  I was totally in my element here.

Our next stop was Pompeii. Our friends, (Karen and Neil), went to Pompeii early in the morning then returned to the ship. They said they were rained on. Lucky for us, by afternoon the rain had stopped and the sky was cleared and the ground dry. At the bottom of Pompeii, we stopped at a shop where they still do delicate handmade cameo pieces the same painstaking delicate way that they have for hundreds of years. I was looking for just a cheap piece for a necklace and as a surprise for me, Dave purchased me a lovely ring with 3 cameo settings done by a master craftsman.

Next our trip up to the city of Pompeii. It was hard to imagine the city that had been buried under 17 meters of volcanic ash would be in such good condition. The pottery, the paintings on the walls, and even the skeletons and bodies were in good details. Our tour guide was a history major and so we were given a detailed look into the lives of the people of Pompeii and how they lived. Pompeii was truly a city of pleasure, (money, food, and sex). We saw how the traders brought there wares into the city and unloaded them off to be sold, we saw the "Red Light" district and the menu paintings on the wall, where the men would point out what they would like to purchase. We toured the political house where the politicians would bring words from the rulers to the people of what was happening and collection of taxes for rulers. We saw the slave trader arenas and the gladiator arena. It was amazing! In it's height of glory, Pompeii had a population of 122,000, which was the equivalent of 1.5 million people today. So, Pompeii was indeed a very large city for it's time. We returned to our ship just in time for departure. It was again a long, long, very long day. At dinner, we compared stories of our trip to Pompeii with our friends and they saw completely different sections of Pompeii than we did, and heard completely different stories about their sections. It all depends on who your tour guide was.

We were tired from our long day, and we had to get our luggage packed and ready for our stewart to put out for airport pick up by 11pm. Good thing we brought an extra suitcase with very little in it for all the things we purchased. Karen is looking to buy a suitcase in Rome, so she can take home her purchases. The one thing I do wish is that we had an extra day in Rome to visit St. Peter's and the Vatician. But, once we disembark tomorrow we have just enough time to get to the airport, get through customs, and get on the plane and head home for the good ole' U.S. of A. OH WELL, Maybe next time.

Now that we are home, we are still enjoying our memories of our trip to the Mediterranean. Looking up recipes and cooking with the spices that we brought back from Turkey, Greece, and Italy. And remembering how wonderful things tasted when we were actually there. We have a couple of places that we would like to go back an re-visit and we would like to go to Northern Italy next time.

It was truly a memorable trip.