American Mom in London: Greek Isles Cruise: Port of Santorini

The third port of our cruise was the one I had been most looking forward to; the Greek Island of Santorini. It definitely lived up to my expectations. The ship couldn't dock at this port so we had to take tender boats from the ship to the island. We booked a Royal Caribbean excursion this day since people on excursions got priority to get off the ship and on the tender boats the earliest. I wanted to spend as much time as possible on the island.

As we approached the island, all the white buildings on the edges of the cliffs made the island look like it was covered in snow. We started our excursion in the village of Oia, which is the picture perfect, to-good-to-be-true place you picture when someone mentions the Greek Islands. The city is perched at the top of a cliff and is a maze of whitewashed houses and churches with blue domes. I felt like I was walking around in the movie "Mama Mia" (although the actual location of the film was on the Greek Island of Skopelos). We did a bit of shopping and a lot of photo taking and then ended our time in Oia with a gyro and beer break for David and I and an ice cream break for Colin.

After some time to explore Oia, our next stop was at Santo Winery where we got to try some local wines and have some Greek snacks including olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, and bread. Yum! The tour concluded in Fira, the island's main town. We had drinks and a Greek salad (and more ice cream for Colin) at a cafe with yet another unbelievable view. There was definitely no shortage of breathtaking views on the island. We then meandered back to the cable car which we took down to the dock where our tender boat was waiting to take us back to our ship.

Santorini was such an unbelievable place. I really hope I am able to make it back there someday.