May 3: Corfu

 Corfu & Return To The Villa of the Roses!

Welcome To Corfu

Six years ago when on the "Mediterranean Odyssey" itinerary with Viking Oceans we had a single stop in Greece.....here in Corfu.  And the excursion we opted for that day turned out to be one of THE most memorable of all excursions we've ever done - we took about an hour long tour of the quaint town of Corfu then were transported to a private villa, high atop the hill overlooking the water where our hostess made us a home-made Greek lunch.  So when this itinerary had a stop here we knew we had to do this again!  So, like last time we began with a walk through the city - ironically with the SAME GUIDE we'd had six years ago, Mahi.  But this tour took us on a new route and the focus was different.  Today is Easter Friday in the Greek Orthodox Church and so there was to be a lot of celebrating and over 50,000 tourists in town this afternoon.  

Good morning Corfu - our view as we sailed into the port

The view off the balcony as we prepared four our excursion

The old fort guarding the harbor

Old Corfu:  City streets (top right & left); old market & museum tour

The "red jars" - EVERYONE has one of these....fills it with water and then on Saturday morning at 11am EVERYONE throws them out the window onto the street.

Coffee house (L) built by Napoleon 200 years ago / The oldest church

Selfie overlooking Corfu Bay

After walking the town we boarded the bus to head up to the Villa of the Roses.  Here we were greeted by our hostess and cook for this afternoon.  It was as gorgeous and panoramic as I'd remembered from six years ago.  We had a small toast with Ozo liquor, walked briefly around the grounds to take photos, then settled into our tables overlooking the pool for our cooking lesson and lunch.  It was all so delicious and the weather was perfect, if not a bit chilly - which we were very happy with.  Later in the evening we had reservations at the "Chef's Table."  We've done this on each of our prior two Viking Oceans trips and we've always found these "dining experiences" interesting.  In our opinion, if you're looking for GREAT food, or a filling meal.....this isn't for you.  But if you're looking for a unique dining experience, it's well worth the try.  There are five separate courses all paired with a separate wine.  Very interesting, but as an example....tonight the first course, an appetizer to be fair, was listed as a "Sweet Potato Chip."  It was.....literally, A CHIP.  LOL.  All the courses to follow were "uniquely interesting" like this - but like I said, it's worth the experience and does make for good stories :)

Welcome to the Villa of the Roses

The panoramic photo op of the day

Homemade lunch poolside

The lunch view over our shoulder

Preparing our fresh, homemade Greek lunch

First course - homemade bread and homemade tzatziki

Followed by Greek salad & moussaka

The massive appetizer...."THE Chip" :)

Me & My Dinner Date!

Tomorrow we sail to Montenegro and a new country on our trip.

May 2: Ancient Olympia

 The Ruins Of Ancient Olympia

This morning we were out the door by 8:15am to venture out and explore the archeological site of the ruins of ancient Olympia, home of the Olympic Games for over TWELVE CENTURIES!  As I post the photos of the ruins we visited I'll note the number on the illustration above for reference (for those of you truly interested!).  The photos today are not nearly as breath taking or spectacular but today was more about WHERE we were than what we saw.  And to understand what we were looking at was the significance of the day.  The bus ride was short, less than forty minutes through the Greek countryside and small villages.  And the weather this morning was in the upper 60's - just wonderful, especially for us Florida kids.  We walked down the inclined sidewalk to the site - which had been lost for hundreds of years because the two small rivers next to the site had flooded several times and deposited over a dozen feet of silt that had completely buried the site.  But in the late 1800's it was discovered and it's been being excavated and restored ever since.  

Temple Complex: #11 on map above
This is the main temple complex, on our left as we arrived at the site

Olympic Flame/Awards Site:  #14
Here is where the original Olympic flame burned continuously for over twelve centuries (WOW) and this is where the winners of the competitions would be awarded their prizes and recognized.

Training site: #5
Note on the illustration at the top, all of these places were covered so that the activities went on rain or shine.  This is where all the participants trained each day for the month leading up to the competition.....and it was here where it was decided by the judges WHO would compete!

The Sanctuary: #10
Note the inset (upper right) of what it looked like.  This was one of the first "propaganda" displays in history....statutes of the heroes of Greece were in here for all the spectators and visitors to the temple to see on their way to the inside of the complex.

Temple of Zeus: #15
This was one of the largest and most elaborate temples of the ancient world.  This one column that is restored took FOUR YEARS to restore, and it would have been one of the "smaller" columns supporting the outer roof of the temple

Temple of Zeus as it would have looked
Note the columns - compared to pic above.  The statute of Zeus inside was so enormous, and covered in ivory & gold that it was one of the original Seven Wonders of the World!

Temple of Hera: #12
This temple dedicated to the wife of Zeus, Hera, was - ironically - the first temple on the site!  In it originally was a statute of Hera and one of Zeus.  

Flame Lighting:  #13
Doesn't look like much and if I hadn't told you, you'd never have known what this was, right?  But it is RIGHT HERE that every two years they have the very elaborate ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic Flame that is then carried to the site of the Summer Games or Winter Games.

Summer Games 2024 Torch Lighting
Here's a photo from this past April when the torch was lit for the Paris Olympic Games.  What's "interesting" is that this ceremony is conducted by a high priestess and her fellow priestesses - but in ancient times women were forbidden from taking any part in the Olympic Games!

Spring Fountain:  #12
Note inset of what this would have looked like.  Again, wouldn't think much of this until you think more carefully.  With 50,000 spectators arriving for the games and "camping" in the surrounding areas, they would all "use" the two small rivers for "everything" if you get my drift.  And so it became a MASSIVE problem to have fresh/clean water for the games....until this fountain was built and fresh water could be brought in - happened during the Roman times.

The Olympic Treasury:  #22
The enormous amounts of wealth brought in by the Greeks - which financed the expensive building of these temples and elaborate statues - was stored here

Stadium Entrance:  #19 (lower left side)
Here is the tunnel entrance - originally this was all covered by ground and grass - for the players, trainers and judges.  Note the stadium through the entrance.

Olympic Champion:  The 440 yd. dash
Note I SO distanced my competition that you can't even see any of my rivals in the photo......WOW, certainly a gold medal performance

The Selfie of the Day
Photographed at the stadium entrance, shortly after my historic performance (noting that I didn't even break a sweat - Kim was so proud!)

We left the site and headed to the Tourish Club for a cooking class, a fabulous lunch and then some Greek dancing (and more plate throwing - though FAR fewer plates today LOL).  Another wonderful day in Greece.  We departed Olympia around 3:30pm - look at the photo below of how gorgeous, of course Kim, but the color of the water!  Tomorrow we will arrive in Corfu, Greece where we will explore the town and then have a homemade Greek lunch at a private villa overlooking the Adriatic Sea!

May 1: Santorini

 Oh Those Views!

We arrived in Santorini around 7 am and soon we began to tender to shore.  Once we landed we boarded busses to zig zag way, WAY, W-A-Y up to the top of the island.  Then over the next seven hours we covered the island from one end to the other.  The views all day....just STUNNING.  These pics are good (if I do say so) but they really don't do the views justice!

On board the tender

You can see the vehicles on the curving roads....trust me, this does NOT do justice to how very VERY high the mountain is / how VERY narrow and winding the road is!

One of the famous blue domes of a Greek Orthodox church in Santorini

"THE View" - not from Google....that's what we saw from the panoramic promenade

The obligatory "We're in Santorini" Selfie!

The crisp white rooftops and the oh-so-blue waters are stunning

Panoramic Santorini to the "other side"

Next stop was Santo Winery and this was the view from their outdoor bar :O

Now THAT's the view you want when enjoying a glass of wine

Another look at the view from the winery

A panoramic look - that's the Viking Seato the right side (the smaller ship)

Next stop Pyrgos where we climbed about 100 stairs from the bottom street level to the church at the top....this does NOT do the steepness or height justice

A trio of shots of the climb

The final stop was a great lunch at a Greek restaurant where we followed the Greek tradition of smashing plates on the floor while the dancers finished their routine!  :O

One final look at the stunning view of Santorini.....often times you Google a place and get the "post card" photo but when you are actually go there it's just not the same.  Not with Santorini - truly delivers what you're expecting to see

We'd no sooner arrived back on board before we set sail for Olympia.  Tomorrow we will visit the ruins of the original Olympic games and then have a cooking demonstration at a local restaurant of authentic Greek cuisine!