Mein Shiff 5 – Cape Town to and around the Greek Islands

After two weeks at sea coming in to Gibraltar was exciting. We had been to Gibraltar on our Europe trip with the caravan fourteen years or so earlier, but coming in from the sea was different. We watched from the deck as we passed the Moroccan ports of Tangier and the Spanish port of Ceuta. The sea traffic was interesting as well in this narrow waterway.

We walked around the old town reminiscing about our last visit. We even went to the sports entertainments centre where we went ice skating for Johannas nineth birthday. Unfortunately we couldn't re-create the experience as a couple of years ago the ice rink was changed to a climbing wall.

Sally did some clothes shopping and bought some Marmalade and chocolate for Laura for her Eighteenth Birthday.

We walked partway up the hill through the botanical gardens, the zoo and up to the historical "Rock Hotel". Here we pretended to be aristocracy and had a few cool drinks in the air conditioning while taking in the view.

Two days sailing saw us travelling through the Dardenells on our way to Istanbul. We could see the World War One war monuments around Galipolli and just scraped under the Canakkale Bridge.

We visited Hagia Sophia Mosque this time and the museum. The Spice Market was open however the main Bazzar was closed as it was a Sunday. The walk around the Underground Water Cystern was crowded and not as nice as when we visited the first time without the crowds many years before.

We did however have a very pleasant experience with the local fire brigade. As we walked past the station I noticed the crew were sitting in a semi-circle having Turkish tea. It looked very Turkish and I thought I would ask them if I coud take their photo so that I could send it to Lawrence my recently retired, fire fighter brother in law. Instead they invited me to sit with them and offered Baklava and cherries to all of us. We talked of work and family and I finally got a photo however the tea was finished so they hid it from the photo.

An overnight sailing found us waking up in Piraus Port just outside Athens. We caught the Hop on Hop off and visited the changing of the guard at the unknown soldier, the botanical gardens and of course the Acropolis. There was a second functioning Amphitheatre which was setup for a show. I didn't remember this. It was hot and very busy at the Acropolis so we paid for a guide and jumped most of the queue.

We enjoyed being silly tourists and sitting in the back of a bar observing locals and tourists. Beautiful water.

We were so hot and the water looked so inviting that Sally and I stripped off to our underwear and went for a swim. It was lovely. Laura couldn't be convinced. Afterwards a lovely lunch shared between us and our first taste of Raki and bonus mini magnum equivalent ice creams. It was a smooth and an unexpected gift after our meal. We have since been treated to all sorts of digestifs and tapas. It is always a surprise and so far always been nice.

Taranto:

As we hadn't organised a tour as they would all be in German, we walked towards the old port. On the way there was a tour bus company with tours to the town of Alberobello. This town has all the houses with pointy round rooves. We arranged the ticketes for a couple of hours time and walked the rest of the way in to the old harbour. There we stumbled across a small fishing boat with a group of men drinking and working on something. I went over to investigate. I was greated with smiling faces, a tiny bit of English and invited to try the raw sea urchin, mussels and scallops that they were shelling. They were perfectly fresh and they were so friendly. I shared them with Sally and Laura might have even taken a small bit. They offered more seafood and beer but we eventually had to refuse as we had a bus to catch. Just amazing. These are the encounters that really make travel fun.

Alberobello:

Interesting houses, great views.

Amazing Castle / Fort and a swim in the crystal clear water at the foot of the castle. This time we were a bit better prepared with swiming costumes and a towel. A walk through the town and some shopping completed the day.

A day at the beach. Again, as we couldn't understand the daily tour instructions we had to find our own way around. First we walked through the town and did some more shopping. Then we walked out the other side in search of a beach. Not finding one we walked back to town and stumbled upon the bus depot. Some Gyros for lunch and then off to the beach. A quick swim and then into the bar for Sally and I. Too hot on the beach for us. Laura stayed and baked for a while.

Beautiful white houses and blue rooves, but we couldnt help but question why you would live there. Fifteen thousand locals and three million tourists visit each year. We landed in the old port which required either a cable car trip, 677 or so stairs, or a donkey/mule trip. For the trip up we chose the cable car which with three thousand tourists on our ship alone required a 40 minute wait. On the way back I walked down the stairs. About half way I was starting to wonder if I had made a mistake but I finished in about twenty minutes none the worse for wear. If I did it again I would actually take the mule up. It looked like fun and they looked well looked after and sturdy. The girls took the cable car down and so I was back on the ship before they had even made it to the car.

Santorini was again hot and busy. We found a couple of roof top bars to keep hydrated and lunch. The views were spectacular.

We got off the ship and walked down to the security area so that we could welome Laura on board. Somehow we didn't see her get off the bus and she called us from the ship to say that she had arrived. We quickly went back and showed her the room, bars and restaurants. After living on a extremely limitted budget she was looking forward to the five course meals.

We left Laura to rest and walked around the port and through the market.

On our return to Heraklion after the first week of Mediteranian cruising we didn't get off the ship. We took the opportunity of most of the guests getting off to catch up on some sleep and laze around the pool.

After completion of the second week of Mediteranian cruising we stayed in a B&B close to the town centre. We passed a few days soaking up Greek city life, shopping and catching up on washing and the website. We also arranged another couple of weeks in Europe as the truck was still not ready.

Breakfast of omlette cooked to order, fruit juice, coffee and fresh fruit.
Lunch of stir fry medium prawns shelled and deveined with a beer and ice-cream and topping for desert.
Afternoon tea of cheese and biscuits and beer or cocktails.
Dinner - five courses, martini and wine.

Days spent divided between dance lessons, lazing around the pool and shore visits. We also tried the sauna which we were told was a must do. A mixed naked sauna was something different.

Nights we took in some shows and did some dancing along with consuming more beer and cocktails.