I Love To Tell The Story: The Last Day

OK, I may have cheated a little with this post by starting with a picture from the night before! But it's a cute pic and who really cares?! The last day on the ship includes two stops one in Crete which was brief and I really don't understand why the cruise line stops there unless it was to pick up passengers! (Don't mean to offend anyone but it was Sunday morning and there wasn't a lot to see in our limited amount of time and you will gather that from the pictures!)

Saturday night on the cruise ship was Greek night and we were asked to wear the colors of the Greek flag! I thought our group did a pretty good job!

We are in Heraklion, Crete.

Many centuries ago, Heraklion was considered so important to its Venetian occupiers that they built a set of walls strong enough to withstand a siege that lasted a staggering 21 years and cost the lives of many, many fighters on both sides: Venetians and Cretans on one side, and Turks on the other.

The port and our ship in the background!

At a loss for what we could do on a Sunday morning in Crete, Brigadier General Joe Frazar and his wife posed for their picture in front of this tree and in turn took ours! It was sooo exciting! We were laughing a lot that morning! We are standing in Eleftherias Square. Eleftherias Square is the main square of Heraklion, near the Archaeological Museum, the Astoria Hotel, the Prefecture and the Gate of Saint George.

A look back at Crete!

Yes, I can't believe I posted this picture either! But I was so excited about seeing Santorini.

Our first look at Santorini.

Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera.

To get to the island you must do so by tender boats - the cruise ships remain anchored out in the bay.

Inside the tender boat - they are not always this nice!

A quick look at the tender boats pulled along shore. Now to get to the village which is at the top of the cliffs you have three choices - an uphill climb, donkey ride, or a cable car.

The line was very long but we chose...

to ride the cable car!

I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. If you have been to Santorini you will notice that there are no pictures of the volcano, we did not have time to make that trip. And as beautiful as Santorini was and is, I was not willing to miss the boat home!!