2023 - Exploring Turkey and Greece

Well, while it isn't exactly "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues - although I seriously never understood what that song meant anyway, every Azamara cruise features an evening they call The White Night when passengers are encouraged to dress in white and party with crew and staff on the pool deck.  Of course, this is weather permitting.  I didn't attend this event on the last cruise I was on but last night I put on my white capris, t-shirt and jacket and headed up to the deck meeting the British couple I have connected with.  The evening involves a massive buffet with every kind of food you could imagine, drinks (of course), live music and dancing.  Unfortunately, last evening was windy and cold so most people were accessorizing their white outfits with the blue blankets handed out by the crew.  Also, it was so windy that some tables were cleared of their wine and water glasses with one gust of the wind.  We managed to sit there long enough to drink s...

Several days ago, Captain Michael announced our ship would not be visiting Mykonos as the strong winds there would make it impossible for tenders to ferry passengers from the ship to the shore.  So, that port was replaced with the island of Syros with its port of Ermoupoli (so named for the goddess, Hermes).  My initial reaction to the news was one of disappointment; however, as we docked there yesterday morning, I could see it was a very pretty place.   The view from my veranda Syros, also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is 78 nautical miles south-east of Athens. The area of the island is 83.6 km² and it has 21,507 inhabitants. The capital is Ermoupoli and other town are Ano Syros, and Vari.  It turned out Ermoupoli was an architectural gem with colourful mansions, neoclassical buildings, imposing churches (two of which were situated on the two hills in the town), pretty squares and a lovely seafront crowded with...

After Thessaloniki, our next port of call was Volos.   This is a coastal port city at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly.  It is situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 330 kilometres north of Athens and 220 kilometres south of Thessaloniki.  It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Knowing nothing about this area - I'd never actually heard of it before - I decided to book a shore excursion.  It was titled  Mountain Villages of Portaria and Makrynitsa.  Both villages are located on Mount Pelion.  The bus climbed up and up a typical mountain road with innumerable hairpin turns until the buildings in Volos looked like small dots.  Unfortunately, the weather was very cloudy so the views weren't clear.  Also, the cloud ceiling was quite lot so it was damp and cool.  The village of Makrynitsa turned out to be quite charming.  it is nicknamed "the balco...

May 8th was an "at sea" day which gave everyone a chance to catch up on things like sleep, emails, laundry (not me), etc.  Later in the day, as we headed to Thessaloniki, we went by Mount Athos.  On the side of the mountain are hundreds of monasteries.  It was quite a site and the captain slowed and then turned the engines off so we could drift quietly along the shoreline out of respect for the religious orders here.  He did mention that there are no females allowed in any of the communities, including female cats.  Later at dinner, the British woman sitting beside me remarked how it would be challenging to prevent female birds and insects from being there!  If you look closely at the photos, you can make out some of the small communities up and down the hillside and along the shoreline. The following day, we were docked in Kavala.  This is one of two ports I had never heard of.  I had signed up for an excursion which would take me to the Nestos R...