Beautiful and Historic Greek Islands
After land tour, we took a Celestyal 4-night Cruise to Mykonos, Patmos, Rhodes, Santorini and Crete.
Rhodes is one of the most beautiful islands in Greece. Acropolis of Lindos is a fascinating archaeological ruin, standing over 100 meters above the sea and overlooking gorgeous beaches and waters. This magnificent palace was built between 10th and 4th centuries BC for Greek God Athena. I was amazed by its grandeur.
The Colossus of Rhodes is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Across where the ship docked, there is a medieval castle. The strong wall of the castle stretched 2.5 miles long, amazing!
I was looking forward to Patmos to see St. John’s cave. It did not disappoint me. Even though it was not allowed taking photos inside the cave, seeing the actual cave where John lived was like a dream. It was here John saw a vision and heard Jesus speaking to him, thus he wrote the Revelation. The monastery built on top of the cave was nice. We didn’t climb the many stairs to St. John’s Church; instead we drove by and saw the church from a distance.
Patmos is the smallest Greek island. On the island, we visited a 400-year-old house. From the window of the house, we can see a nice view outside. The most interesting thing walking through the alleyways was seeing different kinds of hands on the doors. The guide told us man could tell from the door’s hand whether the hostess was married or not because the hand on door showed wearing a ring or not.
Santorini is the island we had high expectation. We took the excursion package where a bus took us from the ship dock to the most northern village of Oia. When we arrived at Santorini around 4pm in early April, it was perfect weather not too hot not too cold, and the best of all not too many people. Seeing postcard-like scenery, taking many pictures of the azure seas, caldera landscape and white and blue houses, and sitting on a bench to relax and enjoy the moment was a truly satisfying experience. Many people came to Oia to see sunset, it was absolutely stunning.
The day we arrived at Mykonos we met a hurricane with strong winds and heavy rain. The port was closed due to safety reason. It was unfortunate but we were glad we were safe.
Crete is the largest island. There was not much to see there other than a market place to shop.
Even though we went to Turkey’s Ephesus, because this was the second time I visited Ephsus, I am not going to repeat what I have already blogged in my Turkey trip blog. However we visited a fancy Turkish carpet place.
Last but not the least, Celestyal cruise’s food was good. You can eat buffet all three meals or you can order from a menu at supper time.
