Day 12: Santorini, Greece

The ship arrived to pure darkness but daylight was quick to come.

Today is a beach day. When I booked my excursion for Santorini, I picked the afternoon slot but the local company canceled so now I’m headed to the beach at dawn!  Seriously we are now going to the beach at 8am!

Perivolos Black Sand Beach

After 8 days of non-stop excursions this is exactly what I needed today. A few hours to just lay on the beach and relax! Of course, our bus dropped us off in a tourist area, but we were the only tourist.  The season is winding down and many places were already closed.  I found my spot and did a lot of nothing.

The chairs and umbrellas were free if you ordered from the restaurant and bar so since I missed breakfast that’s what I did.

This is my first meal off the cruise ship . . . on a beach and I must say it is delicious!  I ordered a Greek Salad (a real Greek salad; notice no lettuce) and a mango pear pineapple smoothie.  I am not a smoothie person, but they were both delicious!  I walked the beach several times.  The rocks were nice since they did not stick to your like regular sand. and the water clear.

All good things must come to an end so we are off to Fira.  I just wandered around the small streets looking at the same stuff. I stumbled upon a cafe and had a slice of pistachio cake.

I decided I was ready to go back to the ship, but it is a process. 

Normally there are two options; walk down or funicular.  The walking path was closed which meant everyone had to take the funicular to catch the tender boat back to the ship.  It took over an hour!

I realized I only have two more nights on the ship so tonight I’m having my favorites since my time is limited!

 

I found a spot to relax out on deck to enjoy the last hours of sunshine!

The sunset was the most amazing one I have seen!