First stop was a lovely local winery. We enjoyed this stop, because of the amazing views and the wine itself. This was the type of winery tour we wanted to do in Bordeaux. It was literally a 10 minute lesson of the wine production, then straight to tasting. We tried a dry white, a light red of some description and finished off with a couple of tastes of their dessert wine. Very nice!
Next it was off to Oia. Oia is situated at the most northern end of Santorini island. It is a beautiful spot to see the blue domed chapels. This is the home of the white paint. Touching it we realised why...it is surprisingly cool on a hot day. We cruised around this part of the island for an hour or so then our tour finished off in the main area known as Fira.
Fira is the main town that tourists would mainly go and stay. It is right at the top of the cable car entry. If you so choose to, you can even take the long walk from the top or bottom on foot or by donkey. We'd heard about the donkeys, but were absolutely stunned at the sheer number that we encountered. They would have been quite frightening to tourists not used to donkeys or even horses for that matter, given how close they get. Both of us felt sorry for these guys and there was no way we were going to pay for a ride. Instead we patted them and shoed the flies away!
Greece is such an amazing place with so much diversity in their geography alone. Santorini affords one of the most breathtaking views in the world and is an area in the Cyclades consisting of 5 islands in total. The islands were formed from lava and when driving around, the volcanic rock was also quite evident.
We enjoyed our time wandering around and taking in the general splendor. The stone streets and the small alleyways were quaint and very picturesque. We ended up stopping at a bar to make use of the wifi and have a couple of drinks on this gorgeous 29 degree day! Lunch was a gyros in hand, whilst meandering.
Bonus, we came across Magda and managed to snap a pretty good shot of her. Score! We've entertained ourselves throughout the cruise celebrity spotting and naming various passengers and crew. So far we've spotted James Vanderbeek (Dawson' Creek), Daniel Craig, Stephen Segal, Eddie Murphy's brother from the movie Bowfinger, Gwen Stefani, Justin Beiber, Thirsty Merc lead singer and Snoop Dog! If only they were the genuine article.
Given our late start, there was no way that we'd be leaving Santorini until the very last tender boat at 6pm. It took us a while to get back down from the top, with all the wow factor, photos, donkeys and chatting along the way. It was well worth the walk and would also be a challenging walk up...but that will have to wait. Our cable car ticket was wasted in the end, but it was included in the cost of the shore excursion.
Back on deck it was shower up and get ready for tonight's progressive trivia round. We needed a bit of a lift after the tri-bond flogging. A couple of the answers from last time are still haunting us! Tonight was Beattles trivia....nooooo, not our forte. About half way through, the nice English people sitting beside us helped us out. Brilliant! Is that cheating? We are only two and most other teams are up to 6. Anyway, we finished on a respectable 12 / 15, which was third overall. This certainly helped our aggregate score. Only two nights of the trivia to go and then hopefully the grand prize is ours.
Our dinner was once again magnificent, with the 5 star treatment that we have grown accustomed to. Off to the casino for a little loss! Hahaha...but we are still up on the gambling. Woot! We met a whole heap of Aussies there tonight and more later on at the club.
It was quiet at the club when we rocked up about midnight. Apparently the karaoke comp was still going so we headed down there. Just as we got there it finished up, so back to the club it was. We met some young Americans, who we had danced with about a week ago, so they were up for a big one. We danced up a storm and the flat shoes really helped with longevity!
We had a great night and made it to close, then headed out onto the deck with some others we'd met for awhile. Luckily we ended up going back into the Italian time zone and so the clock got a cheeky wind back and we knew we had an extra hour of sleep! Winner!
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