Santorini, Greece

July 1

According to my daughter, whenever we are on vacation together I “wake up on 10!” (Phrasing and emphasis are all hers. LOL)This morning’s workout was a two and a half mile walk/run around the jogging track. We both then joined Charisse and Ross for breakfast at Savor, where we were encouraged to try some “zero calorie, good for your tummy (LOL)” cream puffs by two synchronized singing table side presenters. We couldn’t say no, but none of us liked the cream puffs. Eating vegan is not really possible on the cruise. My choices would be too limited, particularly at breakfast. While I’m not - and would not- try to eat meat, I am trying to eat omelettes (no cheese), so that I will have some protein, and something other than the carb heavy hash browns, fruit, and wheat toast I seem to be stuck with. While I was sunbathing after our breakfast we anchored the waters off of Santorini, Greece at approximately 1pm. So I awakened to a stunning vista of Snow White buildings with pristine lines perched atop majestic cliffs on the port side of the ship.

There were ten of us from our friend group who tendered to the island at approximately 3:30, then (eschewing the donkeys) we took an exciting cable car ride to the top of the cliffs where the town of Fira is situated. We went our separate ways for two hours with plans to meet up and take a shuttle bus to the town of Oia to see the buildings with the iconic blue roofs that Santorini is known for. Fira is your typical touristy port, full of souvenir shops and restaurants. I immediately went to find something to eat and ended up at a restaurant called Zafora. The service was not great but the food was okay. I ordered fried eggplant, which was good, and tzatziki, which I didn’t care for and didn’t eat, as it was too much dairy for me.

Luckily Ross messaged me about a frozen yogurt shop with vegan selections, and the people at the yogurt shop told me about a vegan restaurant called Sense, which was upstairs from them. The service was much better here and I got a dish called Spetzofai for takeaway, so that I would have dinner back on the ship tonight. It’s composed of vegan sausage and colorful bell peppers in a rich tomato sauce and was good, although I would have enjoyed it more if I had eaten it hot. Oia was as stunningly beautiful as advertised, but because we had to be back at the dock by 9pm we only had about thirty minutes to take it all in. We took time for some pictures and a little souvenir shopping, and I accomplished my mission of buying some real Greek olive oil. If all goes as planned, we will be docked in Mykonos when I wake up tomorrow morning. 

Oia in the background