October 26, 2022 - Wednesday - Sea Day

Today we cruised from Crete to arrive in Piraeus tomorrow morning. For us it was a leisurely day at sea. I worked on this blog while Alice worked on her record keeping. 

We also took advantage of our unused onboard credits. These came as part of credits accumulated over the course of numerous bookings and cancellations during what is euphemistically called the pause. We started with $2,500 and after booking shore excursions we still had $1,400 left. If we didn’t use that up by the end of our first cruise the balance would disappear. It would not rollover to our second cruise. 

What to do? We did not want to buy jewelry. We decided that the spa would be the beneficiary. Alice and I both got haircuts. I got talked into a hot stone massage. I must confess that I really liked it. Alice had an exfoliating massage and a hot stone massage. She felt the exfoliation was a bit harsh and painful. She liked the hot stone massage. 

We still had a long way to go. Alice set up a consultation with Bruno, the acupuncturist. She has been suffering pain in her foot and ankle since she twisted it in Turkey. Since she has experienced acupuncture before and she felt comfortable with Bruno’s analysis they started treatment. When Bruno had applied the needles he had Alice rest for a while. Then he asked her to walk. When he asked how her pain was she was surprised by how much better she felt. 

They developed a treatment plan. I accompanied Alice to the next session and had a long chat with Bruno while my little pincushion rested. He is very practical and compassionate. He will work closely with Alice to lessen her pain even more in the time we have. He will give us a thorough report of his treatment and results. And he will help us find a practitioner back home. 

We are in agreement that this will be a worthwhile way to use our credits. 

October 27, 2022 - Thursday - Piraeus

We docked at about 10:00 this morning. The port is full of cruise ships. Most of them will depart in the evening. We will be here overnight. Tomorrow is turnaround day. Most passengers will leave. 20 of us will stay for the next cruise. 

We had a meeting with the Guest Relations manager and learned what we needed to do tomorrow. We also were told what services would be available to us. 

We stayed on the ship rather than go to Athens. We were grateful for the time we spent here before the cruise. We watched as others left on tours or took the hop-on hop-off bus. 

We had learned that if we booked a cruise on board we would get twice the normal discount. So Alice and I met with the future cruise consultant. He provided information on all cruises to Scandinavia in July and August. We had told Sean that our present to him for his 50th birthday next year is to take him and Shelly on a cruise. We suggested Alaska and Scandinavia but said it could be anywhere. I had given him the Holland America website to do some research. Now we called him to let him know where he could check on Azamara.

I brought the blog up to date in the afternoon while Alice went swimming. This is a first for her and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next we met with Bruno. He used 12 needles to work on the pain in Alice’s foot and ankle and to see if he could help with her fibromyalgia. There was improvement in the foot and ankle but only slight improvement in the fibromyalgia. 

He wants tomorrow to be a day of rest and have the next treatment on Saturday. 

I still can’t believe this does not hurt.

After dinner we attended Azamara’s Destination Celebration. This is a Covid replacement for the Azamazing Evening where all passengers were taken ashore for an evening of entertainment. For now a special local talent is brought onboard for our entertainment. This night it was a violin duo with 5 backup musicians and a singer. The music was contemporary performed in a dueling style. Of course some of it was Greek music. Think Zorba. The violins were electric and the sound was fantastic. The band and vocalist added an extra dimension. We had a great time. 

The Entrance 

The Duel

A Serious Note

I almost forgot to show you the Chocolate-Raspberry Spire that I had for dessert  

October 25, 2022 - Tuesday - Chania, Crete

Today we visited China for the 3rd time since July 20. The first two times we did it on our own and had a wonderful time. In September I walked a gentleman to a patient’s room at the hospital. On the way I learned that he was from Crete. He encouraged me to get out of the city and visit some villages. We started that in Agios Nikolaos. Today we took another shore excursion out of the city.

After a scenic drive along the coast and into the hills we stopped at Gavalochori. This lovely village features wonderful views, a very nice town square and, of course, a church.

Many shops around the square featured local folk crafts. One shop had a lady sitting out in front working on a project mounted on a large pillow on her lap. Her hands were flying as she twisted thread off of many spindles into lace. This Cretan bobbin lace is made by interweaving silk threads with 14 special wooden tools that are called kopanelia. According to the Historical Museum of Greece, “Bobbin lace (kopaneli) is a traditional lacemaking technique dating from the Renaissance, which appears in variation in Crete.”

Our Purchase

After demonstrating the craft for a while she motioned for us to enter the shop. There she had several finished pieces for sale. We found a small doily that is representative of the art and bought it. She communicated the prices by writing them down. A young clerk, who also spoke no English, handled the cash. We later learned that the older woman was part of a group of elders who are teaching the young girls of the village how to carry on the art of Cretan Bobbin Lace.

We finished walking around the square. Then we headed toward the church. This particular church was closed some needed restoration so our pictures were limited to the exterior. The views from the front courtyard we’re lovely. 

On our way to the next stop we passed olive groves being set up for the harvest that was just about to begin. Large nets were being placed under the trees. Then men with long poles shook the branches causing the ripe olives to fall into the nets. The olives are then transported to the oil presses. No machinery is used in the harvesting.

Passing through the foothills of the White Mountains we arrived at Georgioupolis. This is a small beach resort town on the shore of the Aegean Sea. It draws both tourists and locals.

The beach is sand and looked very nice. At one end of the beach a river flows into these sea. Boats for rent are tied up along the river bank. Half day tours also depart from here. One man soliciting us explained that you need to reserve tour a day in advance and it had to win the morning because the afternoon wind made the sea too rough for the small boats.

Next to the river mouth a long rock pier led to a small white church. It is Agios Nikolaus. Yes same name as yesterday. Different church. Most churches near the water are named this as the patron for seamen.

Then it was a long walk up the hill to this town’s square. It had the requisite shops and many, many restaurants. After a quick walk around we headed back to the coach with a stop on the river bridge. A large flock of geese on the river were being fed the tourists. The squabbling for the food was raucous. 

Back in Chania the coach was not allowed to enter the old town. In the morning because we started before the shops opened the coach came all the way down to the water. When we left the police closed off streets so we could get out of the old town going the wrong way on a one way street. Now trfficmade this prohibitive. We parked and walked in. aliceand I were happy with this because the walk took us down the leather street. We had not done this before. Everything leather imaginable was sold here. There used to be many leather companies here. Now we are told there are only two. Most of the products are imported.

The objective of the walk was Syrtaki Taverna near the tender stop. Here we enjoyed Cretan cheese pie and raki. In Turkey we had been told that raki is like ouzo. This was not the case here. Ouzo has a anise flavor. This raki was like grain alcohol. Maybe it grows on you. We did not find out. We finished this treat and took the tender back to Journey arriving at 1:50. This got us to the spa just in time for Alice’s 2:00 massage. We are using our shipboard credits in the spa before they expire on the 28th. Shipboard credits will not rollover to the next voyage when doing back to back cruises.

All went well. We truly enjoyed the whole day. We are looking forward to a sea day tomorrow. 

October 24, 2022 - Monday - Agios Nikolaos, Crete

Today we docked in Agios Nikolaos. 

Alice and I are taking a shore excursion to get out of the city to view the countryside and villages. After a nice drive into the mountains we stopped to visit the Bioaroma factory. This family run business is dedicated to the environmentally friendly growth, harvesting and processing of herbs and flowers. Essential oils, lotions and creams as well as seasonings are the products. We learned about the significant volumes of plant material necessary to extract small volumes of essence. We learned how soaps and lotions are made. The containers have been engineered to be biodegradable or consumed as scrubs and cleaners. No part of the products or containers needs to become trash. 

After a truly informative presentation, we were given time to shop in the company store. It was full of inviting things. In the interest of not filling our new suitcase just yet, we limited ourselves to one anti-aging lotion designed to ease facial wrinkles. At checkout I was grateful we limited ourselves. Bio Friendly is not cheap. We were glad to be supportive of this company that employs 20 people and strive to preserve the environment.

Next we stopped at the village of Kritsa. This charming village is small but has all of the essentials. Shops surround the square. Many of them feature local crafts. There is also an Orthodox Church that is currently in use. A visit here was a nice prelude for what was to come. 

Restaurants abound and we passed a bakery on the way back to the coach. It featured 4 pastries. We selected 3 of those that seemed most interesting. These were sold by weight. It was just 2 euros for the 3 pieces. In Elk Grove that would not have covered half the cost. We enjoyed these later in our stateroom. 

Before returning to the coach we walked the neighborhood and visited the churchyard. Then we were off to what turned out to be the highlight of the tour, the church of Panagia Kera.

This church is small but beautifully preserved. Colorful frescos adorn the walls and ceilings. Our guide was splendid in explaining the history of the church and the process of creating the frescos. These frescos date back to the 14th century. We spent 45 minutes inside before starting our return trip to Journey. 

This was a rewarding excursion that exceeded our expectations. 

that We departed after dark and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.