Flying Home: July, 2007

On our way back to our hotel, Jay and I got on the wrong water bus, and while it dropped us close to our hotel, we couldn’t take the same path back.

It turned out to be a more interesting walk, going past a vibrant shopping area bustling with activity and several bistros.

In one bar, the Italian piano player sang an Elton John song phonetically, and other than not pronouncing the words exactly right, he sounded remarkably like EJ.

We returned to our comfortable and relatively spacious hotel room about 11:00 PM.

We hoped to see a light on in Rollie’s room so we could hang out in Venice, but all was dark.

We stayed awake about an hour watching TV and occasionally checking his room but by midnight fell asleep.

I understand they returned a little later.

We awoke early, and I took a quick walk by the canal before eating the included buffet breakfast.

While not exactly Sunday Brunch at the Hyatt Grand Regency in Kauai, it wasn’t a bad spread, although the eggs and meat were rather disappointing.

Overall, our hotel stay had been pleasant, with a convenient location and great air conditioning, but we really didn’t spend enough time there to truly appreciate the beautiful room itself.

The transfer company arrived on time, and we made the ten minute hike to the bus stop, where we boarded a van to drive to the airport making a rather boring departure from Venice.

Our guide took us to the Lufthansa check-in line, where we were over three hours early, but unfortunately, she put us in the line for people who already had boarding passes, so we had to switch to a long line later.

In the infinite wisdom of airlines, they ask everyone to show up three hours early and then have only one counter person available for coach passengers without boarding passes, and apparently few people had boarding passes.

Then, the very first family in line had a problem with their tickets, which took 45 minutes to resolve.

In the mean time, dozens and dozens of others took advantage of the time to cut in the line.

Somehow, we made it on our gate with time to spare, so Jay and I played some cards.

A quick hop flight to Frankfurt connected us to our flight to Washington, D.C.

Again, Lufthansa did their best to make the flight comfortable, including serving complimentary beer and wine as well as showing movies.

We arrived in D.C. just as they lifted a weather delay, so we entered the terminal to find total madness.

Security procedures call for passengers to pick up their bags and then re-check them.

It was like a cattle stampede, if cattle could drag suitcases with them and didn’t have enough sense to all run in the same direction.

Jay is a very calm person to have along in such situations. He just goes with the flow, so we were joking around even as it seemed we must be destined to miss our flight to LA.

I looked at our tickets, which said we departed at 17:11.

For some reason, I didn’t see the 1 in front of the 7 for quite a while, and I thought we might make it, but as we made it through the last security checkpoint, I suddenly realized our United flight was scheduled to leave at 5:11 PM, not 7:11 PM, and we were already an hour and a half late.

When we reached our gate, it turned out our outbound flight had been delayed over two hours by the weather, so we were able to board with everybody else about a half hour later.

Once on the plane, we waited an hour to be cleared for take-off.

The pilot finally came on and said we were fourth in line, and those in front of us would leave about every six minutes.

Having been delayed so long, I went to the back to ask for some water. “Get back in your seat, sir,” the male flight attendant ordered. “We don’t want our take-off delayed because you are out of your seat.”

I told him the pilot had just said we wouldn’t be taking off for eighteen minutes.

“Get back in your seat immediately or I will ask the captain to have you removed from the plane by security.”

Yeah, right.

Like that isn’t going to delay the plane more than giving me a glass of water.

Are airline employees totally brain dead?

With the exception of pilots and mechanics (hopefully), is that a requirement for employment?

About a half hour later, the plane took off, and we made it home only about three hours late with all our luggage in tact, so I guess you could call that an acceptable flight experience these days.

San Marco:July, 2007

When we arrived back at the Hotel Carlton & Grand Canal, Cheryl and Rollie were already in their room.

Unfortunately, Julie and Amy were staying at the Centauro, a hotel which Julie selected in order to be near St. Mark’s Square for their second day in Venice, so we had to rush to get showered and changed in order to find their hotel before it got dark.

This also would be the only chance Jay and I would have to see St. Mark’s Square before flying out in the morning.

We had Julie’s and Amy’s bags at our hotel with our own luggage, but since they only needed one suitcase for their last two nights in Europe, we only had to take one across town.

About the time we finished getting dressed, Gina, Laszlo and Jered arrived.

Cheryl and Rollie had chosen to relax in their room awaiting the arrival of the final trio, and after their long walk, the trio wanted a break before rushing out.

Julie, Jay, Amy and I needed to go immediately.

Again, cell phones would have helped, but of necessity we broke into two groups again.


We had no trouble finding the Centauro, a three star hotel located “a stone’s throw” from St. Mark’s Square, despite the fact that it was down a poorly marked alley.

When we dropped off Julie's and Amy's bags, it turned out the air conditioning only worked when the room key activated it, so the room was quite hot and stuffy.

Considering that the next day they went back to Campo Santa Margherita so Julie could see the area we enjoyed so much and Amy could go to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, it seems to me they would have been far ahead staying at our hotel.

Hindsight is 20-20, however, and we still wanted to see St. Mark’s Square.

Walking through Venice along canals and down alleyways at dusk was very pleasant, and when we arrived at St. Mark’s Square, we did not find crowds of people or pigeons as we expected.

We found a nearly deserted, picturesque setting where three orchestras at different restaurants took turns performing for the privileged few who happened to be there at this opportune time.

The ragtime stylings of Scott Joplin from one band did not seem quite as appropriate as the more classic European music played by the other bands, but it was all good.

After soaking in as much as we could as the sun set, we began searching for a restaurant.

Jay and I were still stuffed from lunch, but the girls were hungry.

After passing on several crowded eateries by the square and a lovely but very expensive hotel restaurant on a quiet canal, we wandered back toward the Grand Canal, where on a quiet passageway we found a little restaurant that must have been a few hundred years old.

It definitely wasn’t the top choice of tourists, but we liked the recorded jazz playing when we arrived, and the atmosphere felt right for Venice.

Julie and Amy ordered pasta dishes, but Jay and I passed on the food.

I had another glass of that excellent Venetian Chianti (okay, I don’t know if it is made anywhere near Venice, but it tasted like Venice), and we drank lots of bottled water.

Amy couldn’t finish her meal because of having such a large lunch, and the chef apparently took offense.


He came to our table and put a lot of Parmesan cheese on her dish.

He motioned for her taste it again.

Obliging Amy smiled, took another couple of bites, and said it was good, but she was full.

I’m not sure the chef understood, but having him come to the table with such concern capped off another great experience.


After we reached the Grand Canal, we walked the short distance to next to the Bridge of Sighs, where we enjoyed one last gelato, but the kids said they were tired and wanted to get back to their rooms.

They also passed on the seemingly obligatory gondola ride.

I kissed my wife goodnight in the most romantic city in the world and went off with my son on a water bus to our hotel, and she and Amy walked back to their hotel.

The others had enjoyed a wonderful dinner experience of their own on the Grand Canal at a restaurant straddling the sidewalk and a dock where most of the tables were.

They reported that the most memorable moment came when a water ambulance approached with siren blaring, and the waiter, struggling to convey what needed to be said in English, said something about the water.

Gina’s chair was situated above the crack by the sidewalk, and when the ambulance screamed by, a spout of water shot up, drenching her.

In her always good-natured way, Gina broke the tension by laughing, and then everyone in the restaurant laughed.

The waiter said, “Welcome to Venice.”

Venice to Burano: July, 2007

All too soon, it was time to head to Burano to meet the others.

What previously sounded like a break from the heat and crowds of Venice now seemed like an inconvenient obligation, but at 1:00 PM we left our lunch restaurant to catch the water bus to Burano.

Gina and Laszlo had stayed a night on Lido Isle before the cruise, and they suggested taking the Grand Canal to Lido and then connecting to Burano.

It took us longer to get to the Grand Canal than we anticipated, and then we had to wait a few minutes for the right water bus.

Looking at a map later, we might have been better off continuing across the island of Venice to take a different water route to Burano, but we enjoyed the beautiful buildings on our way to Lido.

We arrived at Lido around the time we were to be on Burano, and it turned out we missed the connecting boat to Lido by a few minutes, so we had to wait a half hour for the next one.

I went over to the town to find a restroom, and it gave me the chance to enjoy a little of the atmosphere of Lido Isle.

While not in the heart of tourist activity, it seems like a wonderful place to stay while visiting Venice.

With a 24 hour unlimited public transportation pass costing only 15 Euros, that’s much lower than the price differential between Lido and St. Mark’s Square, which is about fifteen minutes away, if you catch the express water bus on time.

Motoring across the open sea toward Burano generates a nice wind flow, and there is some nice if not spectacular scenery, including the island of Murano, famous for glass blowing.

The trip from Lido to Burano took about 45 minutes, and we were sure we would meet fury for showing up over an hour late for our rendezvous.

It turned out the others had been enjoying their day in Lido and also felt like they were breaking away from a place they were enjoying.

Why can’t cell phones work worldwide just like they do in the U.S., without a lot of extra charges?

That’s what we needed: cell phones.

When we found them, we learned that they had also missed the more direct boat to Burano, and so they caught a boat that went over to the other side of the island of Venice before backtracking to Burano.

The funny thing is that if they had either waited for the next boat in Lido or we had gone to the other side of Venice to catch our boat, we might have met up for the boat ride.


As it was, they only beat us there by about fifteen minutes.

Julie, Rollie and Cheryl were starving, so they enjoyed a meal at a little restaurant, and Gina, Jered and Laszlo joined them for drinks.

Jay, Amy and I wandered out in the streets looking for cheaper drinks and browsing the interesting shops which specialized in lace and blown glass.

The others joined us in shopping. Jay and Amy bought fountain pens with glass feather stems as souvenirs.

By this point, our Euros were running very low, so we charged the pens as well as lunch.

Burano is a delightful little island with canals making it feel like a smaller version of Venice.

It doesn’t take all that long to see, but to savor it would require more time than we gave it.

We headed back to Venice less than two hours after we arrived.



Cheryl and Rollie rode water bus buses all the way back to the hotel, but the rest of us decided to walk after we stopped to change buses on the far side of Venice.

The walk through town again surprised me by being charming and uncrowded.

When we reached the Grand Canal, the Julie, Jay, Amy and I caught a boat back to our hotel, but Gina, Laszlo and Jered chose to continue their stroll.

Venice: July, 2007

Several of us had purchased one night post-cruise in Venice through Royal Caribbean, so we had transfers from the pier to the hotel included.

Rather than getting off as early as possible and toting our own bags as usual, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before heading to the hotel by transfer.

This proved to be a mistake, as the transfer turned out to be an inconvenient wait for a bus that took us about halfway to our hotel.

From there, we hoofed it, and I can tell you that many of the passengers were none too pleased by this arrangement.

Elderly people were particularly annoyed with the long walk.

Other people in our party who didn't have transfers walked to our hotel faster than our "transfers," despite the fact they were lugging suitcases.

After checking into the lovely Hotel Carlton & Grand Canal, we saw our bags floating along
the canal in a boat on the way to the hotel.

That's the way to arrive at a hotel in Venice: by boat.

I would have preferred the option to have my  bags transferred and be cut free in Venice sans luggage as soon as the ship docked, giving me three extra hours to enjoy my day in Venice.

Regardless, we split into two groups, with Julie, Rollie and Cheryl taking a water bus to Lido Isle to swim in the Mediterranean and lounge on the beach. Laszlo, Gina, Jay, Amy, Jered and I walked to nearby Campo Santa Margherita for the morning.

Jacque, Kendra and Kelsey had spent two nights in Venice pre-cruise and had to catch a plane from Zurich the next morning, so they weren't with us.

The word from those who had stayed in Venice before the cruise was that Venice was hot and packed with tourists, so we decided to meet on the small, rustic island of Burano at 2:00 PM. to escape the crowds and city heat in the afternoon.

Walking along the canals and through little alley ways toward Campo Santa Margherita, I found Venice to be enchanting and very uncrowded, completely the opposite of what others had said, leading me to the inescapable conclusion that almost all of the tourists jam into St. Mark's Square and the surrounding areas without ever finding this wonderful part of Venice.

The temperature was warm, but I would guess maybe in the low eighties, which for me is quite comfortable.

Our group wandered along through what felt like a quaint village.

Gina bought a new pair of sandals to replace some uncomfortable shoes, and we stopped frequently to check out the shops and farmers' vegetable stands.

When we reached Campo Santa Margherita, we settled into a couple of sidewalk cafe tables for drinks.

I had an espresso, with all the power and flavor of a full cup of coffee condensed into a demitasse cup.

Somehow, I made it last quite a while.

After watching the world go by for a half hour or so, Amy and I went out to scout out lunch restaurants.

Several looked very inviting.

We also looked through some shops, including a custom mask shop, and shared a gelato.

There was an exhibit of the creative genius of Leonardo da Vinci in a beautiful old church that we looked in on, and Amy came back here the next day with Julie, I'm told.

We finally found the perfect spot for lunch, at a restaurant that looked like where "Lady and the Tramp" shared their spaghetti and meatballs.

We went back and gathered the troops, and they all agreed with our choice.

We knew we had made a good choice when they brought out fresh baked bread served with vinegar and olive oil to go with our drinks.

Jay had some kind of spaghetti dish, and we also ordered three pizzas to share.

Jered and Laszlo ordered horse meat pizza, so I told them they would have to live with their choice, because Amy, Gina and I wouldn't be sharing either our eggplant or onion and sausage pizzas.


In the end, we had more than we could eat, and of course Jered and Laszlo had some of the good pizzas, although they did finish their Italian stallion on their own.

In Italy as much of Europe, you order bottled water with meals, or you don't get water, so we drank a few bottles in addition to the lemonades and ice teas.

Gina and I had wine.

Gina snagged the real bargain, which was a small carafe of white wine for about the same price as my glass of house Chianti, but to me, my robust red wine tasted like Venice.

Day at Sea: July 2007

The last full day on Splendour of the Seas would be spent motoring from Corfu back to Venice, so the prior night was the perfect time to stay up late and party. Yet, the usual late-night dancing machine, Jered, had not made the scene. After breakfast, we learned that Jered had fallen asleep after returning from Corfu and apparently slept in a weird position, resulting in a severe pain in his neck which brought him to the Medical Center to be under a doctor’s care. As to whether it was the odd sleeping position, extensive swimming in Corfu or those crazy twist moves that won him a tee shirt a couple of nights earlier, we will never know, but he was in bed most of this sea day.

Anyway, we enjoyed a great breakfast followed by a leisurely morning hanging out around the pools. We skipped the Trivia game, retiring for this trip as champions. Julie and I attended the Crown & Anchor Platinum and Diamond Member Party at noon in the Viking Crown Lounge. They serve complimentary hors d’eurvres and drinks to guests who have cruised more than ten times with Royal Caribbean. We gained entry due to several weekend cruises from San Pedro. Like the song says, “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere,” and this rule always applies on sea days. My buddy Mike Rood gives everyone permission, even if he’s not there, so we each had a drink. The chocolate covered strawberries were the best treat. After we had been there a few minutes, chatting to various crew members who stopped at our table, we saw Rollie, who was on his first cruise, walking over from across the room. He and Cheryl had been relaxing there, Rollie said, enjoying the views, when this party started. They received free drinks and appetizers, without knowing why. The captain came over and talked to them, and they told him they were really enjoying their first cruise. Rather than spoil the moment, the captain told them to enjoy the party.

Eleven of us met at the dining room for lunch at one, but with a table that sat only ten available, I decided to pass. Instead, I wandered over to the Art Auction preview and eventually up to the pool area, where the outdoor barbecue smelled too good to pass up. I had some delicious barbecued ribs and oatmeal cookies, because once I gave up my seat at the dining room table, carbs didn’t count.

I met Jay down in the Art Auction, where we watched others buy the pictures described by the auctioneers. I left early, but Jay managed to snag my free art for attending, which he gave to one of my nieces. One way or another, the afternoon passed. Gina, Laszlo and Amy scaled the rock climbing wall and played mini-golf, Julie, Jacque, Kendra and Kelsey read by the pool, and I kind of floated around checking out what everyone else was doing. It was a relaxing day, other than packing for our arrival in Venice the next morning.

After our farewell gourmet dinner in the King & I Dining Room where we cheered for and then bid adieu to our excellent wait staff, we headed over to the 42nd Street Theater to see the juggling duo of Lajos Nereus & Kathy Donnert. When the lovely Miss Donnert came out on stage, we thought she would be primarily eye candy, but she proved to be an excellent juggler using large balls in an artistic and challenging routine. Then her partner came out with a dazzling exhibition of ring juggling. The Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers also performed admirably, and of course the Splendour of the Seas Orchestra professionally and skillfully backed everyone as they did throughout the trip.

Julie and I couldn’t stay awake for the “Battle of the Sexes” game, but Amy and Gina said it was fun. Before turning in, we sadly put our bags outside our room in preparation to depart after one last cruise breakfast in the morning.

Corfu: July, 2007

After a leisurely morning on the ship, we were to arrive in Corfu about 12:30 PM.

The captain announced we would be staying three hours later in Corfu than scheduled, but then we ended up being delayed getting off the ship by about an hour.

Cheryl decided to spend the day onboard enjoying the ship, and Laszlo planned to go out on his own around 2:00 PM.

Everyone else departed the ship together about 1:45 PM with a general plan of going to the beach, although some spoke of first seeing some sites in town.

By this point in the trip, we had come to realize that trying to get more than a handful of people moving in the same direction at the same time can be slow going, as coming to a consensus takes time.

Julie didn’t want to take a chance of missing the best part of the afternoon transporting to the beach.

To reach the Bay of Paleokastritsa, which we heard had the most beautiful beaches as well as some decent snorkeling, Julie grabbed one of the waiting taxis, pointed to a map and told the others we would be going there with Jay and Amy.

We said we would love to have everyone join us but understood if they would prefer to do something else.

The cab driver quoted 40 Euros, and we didn’t try to find any other rate, worried that if we didn’t act, we might miss the chance when other cruisers began swarming the taxis, as happened in Santorini before we decided to just take the bus to Oia.

Corfu is definitely the greenest of the Greek Isles we visited, which I understand is due to Corfu receiving about three times as much rainfall as the other isles.

This, however, was a bright, sunny day with temperatures in the eighties.

We enjoyed a quiet ride on the winding road through the lovely countryside. Our cab driver made few comments but efficiently delivered us to our beautiful destination.

Old Greek dead dudes, as Bill and Ted would call them, like Sophocles and Homer (not Simpson) wrote about the gorgeous Sirens whose alluring songs tempted sailors to abandon caution and crash their ships on the rocks of Sirenum Scopuli where they lived.

While I don’t think Corfu was the Sirens’ home, it is hard to imagine more tempting, craggy rock-lined beaches than at the Bay of Paleokastritsa.

There are actually two bays with beaches separated by the main drag.

The larger beach attracted more people, including several modern day Sirens sunbathing topless.

We went to the smaller of the two beaches, which our cab driver told us would have better snorkeling.

The sea was surprisingly cool. We expected warm water similar to the Caribbean or Hawaii, but this water was cold enough to give me chills if I didn’t keep swimming.

I suppose this shouldn’t have been shocking, since our previous swim in the Aegean Sea by Santorini proved to be cooler than the waters off the Dalmatian Coast in Dubrovnik, but I didn’t think I would wish I had brought a rash guard to stay warm swimming on this trip.

The coral and underwater vegetation is generally muted shades of brown and green here, so it isn’t surprising that the fish trying to blend into their environment were also mostly undistinguished in color. Still, swimming in the turquoise sea around the craggy rocks was refreshing.

Jay and I enjoyed hiking through the crags along one side of the bay, catching some different views of the scenery.

There were boats pulling innertubes, banana boats and something that looked like an inflated easy chair from a dock in our bay.

The larger bay had cave tour boats that go in and out of some small coves.

It all looked fun, but we passed on boat rides this time.

As the afternoon flew by, it soon became apparent that the others had sought a different path.

Eventually we decided to head back to the port town.

At a café between the bays, we ordered a taxi.

While we waited, the kids made it clear that they preferred to head back to the ship so that we could have dinner at our usual table.

A few minutes later, a jovial and loquacious cab driver arrived with our chariot…okay, it was a regular taxi with a price of thirty Euros for the return trip.

As we drove, he spoke lovingly of Corfu and everything we were missing.

He couldn’t believe we hadn’t asked him to take us up the hill to the monastery above Paleokastritsa Bay, or to a scenic viewpoint called “God’s Balcony” when we were right below it.

We told him about the Crete quest, and he said how much he liked people from Crete.

He said many of the people of Corfu were Venetians or Europeans from other areas that had arrived in Greece later than citizens of Crete.

When we told him about drinking ouzo, he asked if we had mezes (essentially appetizers) with the ouzo, saying there were many bars that served only different kinds of ouzos and mezes.

He gathered his fingers together and kissed their tips, spreading his fingers as he took his palm-up hand away from his lips, a gesture he repeated frequently as he described delicious cuisine and beautiful sites of Corfu we were missing.

I asked how much extra it would be to swing through the town and point out some sites, and he agreed to ten Euros, but the kids insisted on returning to the ship for dinner, so we passed, although I still paid him the extra ten because he really made the cab ride special.

We learned later the others had taken a bus to a closer beach and then gone out to dinner in town.

We picked up Cheryl and enjoyed another wonderful dining room experience despite our half empty table.

Nobody missed the ship, and we dutifully headed for the Trivia game, in which we had been humiliated (and rewarded with key chains) the previous night.

Did I already mention that we won this night?

I guess I did, but perhaps I should remind you: WE WON!

After the longest losing streak in our Trivial history, the hostess finally asked the right kind of bizarre questions.

The previous night, questions about sports photos found us floundering, but this night asked questions about topics with no particular point or significance, which is our specialty.

Leatherette baggage tags….ooohhhh yeah!

We all went to the 42nd Street Theater to see Spectrum, a quartet of tuxedoed singers, perform “A Tribute to Motown and R & B.”

Several of us were in the front row center, and when Spectrum did their Temptations-influenced dances to the catchy melodies, we did our best to keep up, prompting them to give us props from the stage.

They asked for a man in the audience to stand up and say something about loving his woman.

Now of course I would have stood up and made a spectacle of Julie had she been next to me, but she was sitting in the “mature” section next to Rollie and Cheryl about 2/3 of the way back in the crowd. Rollie, between the two ladies, stood up and received the microphone.

He proceeded to speak for about fifteen minutes about his first date with Cheryl and how it was impossible to get him to utter more than a few syllables before meeting her.

I must say, she changed his life!  He paid her a nice tribute and received a big round of applause.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the show, and being fired up by all those great Motown classics, we were ready for Rock-A-Rokie.

As inspired as I felt, I couldn’t bring myself to sign up to sing in front of a crowd.  Considering that twenty years ago I used to carry a guitar with me and serenade unsuspecting people almost everywhere I went, perhaps I changed even more than Rollie.

Gina and Cheryl did eventually drag me up to join them on a song, but my microphone didn't work, and I can't say I was upset about that.

Thinking about this late night out, I just realized I forgot something that happened the night before at the Rock n’ Roll Dance Party.

There was a twist contest, with Jered and Amy selected from the dance floor to be one of three competing couples. Amy backed out, so the hostess brought in a woman to replace her. Jered didn’t win, but got a T-shirt for participating.

Santorini: July, 2007

In the 2005 movie “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” a teenager named Lena rides a donkey up the steep hill to visit her grandparents in scenic Santorini.

The part of Lena is played by Alexis Bledel, who for several years played Rory Gilmore on one of our family’s favorite shows, “The Gilmore Girls,” which undoubtedly helped my youngest daughter Amy relate to her Greek vacation.

When Amy learned we would be visiting Santorini, she insisted she would ride the donkey up the hill. 

She enjoyed the ride up so much that she rode back down at the end of the day, and she thoroughly enjoyed every moment in between.

That’s the perfect attitude with which to approach a port: have specific objectives but flexibility, and always have great enthusiasm.

Her mother wasn’t as thrilled with the ride up, on which her donkey bashed into another donkey, cutting Julie’s leg.

My nephew Jered rode a donkey up, but after reaching the peak, he decided to head back to the ship to recover from many late nights of partying in the disco.

Most of us had decided to take the tram to the top.

On paper, Santorini seems to be a simple port to explore.

Either the tram or donkey would be four Euros. 

For us, it would essentially be a postcard port. 

We weren’t trying to learn any history but rather simply enjoy the amazing beauty of the blue domed buildings high above the deep blue sea.

In reality, the port was congested with too many tourists, most coming from cruise ships, making the line for either the tram or donkey rides long.

Rollie had the best idea: hike to the top.

He beat us all to the top by a half hour and got a great aerobic workout.

He said that he received several offers to ride donkeys on his way up, probably because some people didn’t enjoy the feeling of riding a wobbly creature into old guardrails next to sheer cliffs and got off before making it to the summit.

The tram itself was a quick ride, but the line took a terribly long time, with hundreds of people cutting in front of us until we finally reached a walled area where we could block them back from wall to wall.

Having our tenders delayed, also presumably due to port congestion, had me quite frustrated by the time I made it to the village.  I began to wonder if I should have paid $66 for a shore excursion that would have beat the crowds with an earlier tender, but then Santorini became wonderful.

On top is Fira, a quaint village of white-washed small shops lining cobblestone streets.

Our oldest daughter Gina stayed in that village with her Aunt Cheryl, who has health issues that limit her mobility.

They enjoyed lunch and some browsing before taking the tram back down.

Laszlo wasn’t there, having taken a Volcano Hot Springs Tour instead.

The rest of us hustled through this village to catch a bus to Oia (1.2 Euros each way), where we found what we expected: engaging architecture along breathtaking vistas.

After snapping lots of photos, we began looking for a restaurant and found one with the most amazing views, but there were no gyros, which Jay, Amy and my niece Kendra had been craving since I started bragging about the gyros I had in Heraklion with Gina and Rollie.

I wanted a gyro too, but the prices for the view restaurant felt as steep as the cliffs of Santorini, with a Diet Coke alone costing 4.7 Euros.

The four of us made an awkward retreat, leaving Jacque, Rollie, Kelsey and Julie to enjoy a meal with a spectacular view.

The four of us walked back toward the bus stop to where we had seen a gyro café.

We pointed to the sign to get the gyro combination plate for 5 Euros.

It looked like a soda and two gyros, but we assumed it was one cut in half to show both ends. Kendra chose another plate that had French fries, gyro and soda for the same price, which should have been a clue.

When we received our meals, Kendra had what she thought she ordered, while the rest of us had two large gyros and a soda each.

The food was terrific, but we couldn’t eat it all, so we gave some to a cat.

Our view wasn’t as spectacular as on the other side of Oia, but we could see lots of blue water.

After lunch, we caught the bus back to Fira, where we took a leisurely stroll browsing in shops.

Amy led a group onto the donkeys for the downhill ride, while Julie, Jay, Kendra and I sought the perfect cliffside taverna for some ouzo.

We settled into one with a spectacular view and shared the small bottle of ouzo, clinking glasses in Santorini like characters from some Hemmingway novel I never read.

The anise-flavored liquor is surprisingly good. I don’t like licorice, so I would think this drink would be appalling to me, but it is really quite excellent. It goes down smoothly.

Then again, I think it was the company more than anything.

We had some other drinks to help quench our thirst, but the ouzo stole the show.

From there, we continued our hike down the hill, giving us more perspective on Rollie’s climb up.

At the base, we found a little swimming area in the ocean next to another taverna.

It didn’t take any arm-twisting to get any of us in the water.

The cool, clear water felt amazing.

At a certain point, Jay and Kendra took a break.

We decided to buy some beer at the taverna to essentially pay for using their steps into the water, and Jay, in his wet bathing suit, plopped down on the padded seat.

The waiter came over, quite upset, telling Jay to get up. Holding the damp seat cushion with disgust, the waiter asked, “What can I do with this now?”

He then motioned for Jay and Kendra to be seated in the chairs with cushions removed and wasn’t much happier after taking the beer order

Back in the water, I looked down at my watch and saw it was 4:00.

“What time were we supposed to be back on board?”

I decided to head down to the tender loading area and discovered the last tender was at 4:15.

I ran back to the taverna, waving for the others to join me. They paid for the half-finished drinks and took off running. As we boarded the tender, the crew was loading up their signs, but we weren’t too late!

This, of course, was not the end of our day. We changed into formal clothes and enjoyed sugar-free mojitos at another scenic sail-away in the Crown Viking Lounge.

Another amazing family dinner in the dining room, exchanging stories. Formal portraits followed by our biggest Trivia loss of the trip. We were so bad that we won the booby prize for worst score. We will all cherish those plastic Royal Caribbean keychain tags, for they invigorated us to the point where we won at Trivia the next night (leatherette baggage tags)…but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

I have never been on a cruise so many days without a full production show with costumed singers and dancers. The cruise director announced this was the first show by a new cast that had boarded the ship only the day before. They were a talented bunch of performers, energetically performing songs from movies like “Footloose” and “Dirty Dancing,” but the chemistry wasn’t there yet. Still, we all enjoyed the show.