More Bits and Pieces from Greece

We have now completed our cruise around the Aegean Sea on the Viking Venus, and I thought I would share some final bits and pieces about the trip.

The first stop after leaving Athens was Volos, the sixth largest city in Greece with a population of about 150,000.  Here is a view of the town as we were arriving in port.

One of the selling points for Viking cruises is “an included tour in every port.”  Our shore excursion for this day was a bus ride up the winding switchbacks of Mt. Pellos with stops at two of its twenty charming villages:  Portaria and Makrinitsa.  

Our visits to these towns were marred only by the fact that Viking sent at least six busloads of passengers on that same included tour so the streets were teaming with tourists from our ship, all wearing Quiet Voxs around our necks with earpieces that allowed us to hear only our particular guide’s narration of the tour.

Scott and I managed to find a quiet café where we enjoyed a STRONG Greek coffee and a few minutes of peace as we admired the views of the harbor far below.

This is an agricultural region and apples were everywhere.  I thought these jars of the fruits of the region were beautiful.

The roofs of these very old houses are made of local stones--a beautifully arranged tableau that is also functional.

Our last two ports of call on this cruise were Chania on the island of Crete and Nafplio on the Peloponnese Peninsula.  In Chania (pronounced han-ya), we walked with our guide (and again crossed paths repeatedly with other Viking tour groups and their guides) through the charming old town and around the old harbor. 

Chania has strong Venetian influences from the time when the city-state of Venice ruled the seas and built fortifications in the area.

We opted for an optional (paid) excursion out of Nafplio and spent a full day exploring the very ancient ruins of the Peloponnese and having a traditional lunch of Greek salad, tzatziki and bread, roasted lamb, and potatoes. 

Our first stop was the spa city dedicated to Asclepius, the god of medicine (statue below).  The site was dominated by a large theater.  Our guide stood in the middle of the stage and talked in a normal voice to demonstrate the fantastic acoustics that allowed us to hear her no matter where in the theater we had decided to stand.  

The function of the spa was to control what people ate, keep them in quiet isolation, and allow their spirits and bodies to heal themselves.  The setting was so beautiful and peaceful that I could envision its healing powers.

We were charmed and amazed by the remains of Mycenae, the city where the mythological King Agamemnon ruled the mightiest city-state of Bronze-Age Greece more than three thousand years ago.

A family burial structure.  This is the entrance.  Inside the gate is a huge round structure.

The entry gate into the acropolis of Agamemnon.

The acropolis on the top of the mountain.  Rocks were plentiful for the building!

Nafplio (pronounced naf-leo) was also controlled by the Venetians and their fort/palace there was lovely.  I returned to the ship with our tour group via the bus; Scott opted to go down the 900-some steps on his own.  He actually arrived back at the ship before we did!  The photos are his.

Our cruise ended after ten days back where it began, in Athens. 

I’ll end with some thoughts about Viking Ocean Cruises.  Many of the people we met are absolutely committed to Viking, even through they do not provide “frequent traveler” benefits.  The Viking ships are new (the first one of this fleet set sail in 2015) and well-designed.  All of the ocean ships are the same.  They hold just over 900 passengers (our cruise had about 600), so are considered small ships.  Only adults are allowed to sail with Viking.  There are no casinos, no water parks, and no loud bands playing.  The staterooms are well-appointed and all have verandas. 

The food is good.  There is a large selection of self-serve options in the World Café, there is a sit-down Restaurant, which we enjoyed most nights, and there are some specialty restaurants that allow for a limited number of reservations.  Viking includes house beer and wine with lunch and dinner.  For the most part the wines were good, and they changed each day, allowing us to try several French, Italian, and German wines.  Additional drinks can be purchased individually at a reasonable cost.

There are several expert lectures offered throughout the cruise and entertainment is offered most nights in the theater.  For a two-week cruise, these are solid offerings, but having been on other ships with more entertainment options, I think I would get bored with Viking’s offerings on a longer voyage.  I’ve only been on one other Viking cruise, three years ago, and one of the entertainment offerings was a repeat of one I had seen before (the music of Abba).

One of the things Scott enjoyed several times was the Viking exercise room and the sauna.  There are swimming pools and hot tubs, as well, but we did not use them.

Viking is expanding its offerings and has many wonderful itineraries, especially around Norway, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean.  They are not a low-cost cruise line, but we found their cost-per-day to be reasonable with the benefits of a smaller, adult-only ship and several included offerings.