Malta’s Capitals Old and New (Summer Sailing 2018)

Malta’s Capitals Old and New (Summer Sailing 2018)

I was excited to be in Malta! I had previously heard so many people express how beautiful the country was, and especially how stunning Valletta was. This was also a completely new destination for us – a new pin on the world map when we would get home. We knew that there was a lot of ground to cover in Valletta, so we chose to book a tour with the ship. Sometimes, in a foreign city that has as many sights to see as this one, it can be easier to be ‘on a leash’, getting dragged to the good places by the expert locals. So we picked the tour, Malta’s Capitals Old and New. Once again, we were going to be whooshed back in time, and then shot forward to the present. We started the morning off by driving to Mdina, which had an extensive history dating back to…

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An Unexpected Visit to Messina (Summer Sailing 2018)

An Unexpected Visit to Messina (Summer Sailing 2018)

So this post is starting off with a twist, as promised. While we were still docked at Souda, the captain came on the loudspeaker and announced that because of high winds and strong waves, the Oosterdam was not going to be arriving in Mykonos. Safety is always the priority, and he did not want to play games with Mother Nature. So instead, he managed to secure us a berth at Messina in Sicily. In the original itinerary, we were scheduled to visit Palermo, so this would mean we’d be exploring Sicily twice. To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I first heard the news. Even though we’d already been to Mykonos before, I was excited to go again and explore the fun aspects of Greece, instead of sightseeing. We had purchased a transfer to go to Elia Beach, which was one of Mykonos’s nicest beaches. I was already…

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Summer in Souda (Summer Sailing 2018)

Summer in Souda (Summer Sailing 2018)

Greece, in my opinion, is painted in social media and in blogs to be such an ideal getaway country.  The sky is always blue, the sea is even bluer, and you’re eating good food. The nightlife is good, the weather is nice and hot, and the shades of blue and white of the buildings make every photo you snap to be picture perfect. It’s a vacation country and its islands always make it on every ‘Where you Should Travel Next’ list. On our last cruise in the Mediterranean, we had stopped at Mykonos (which was on the original itinerary for this trip, too) and Athens. This time, our ship was going to be rolling into the port of Souda, which was on Crete Island. The town of Chania, which was only a few miles away from where the ship was docked, was where everybody was heading. Because everything was within…

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A Trip Down Memory Lane in Olympia (Summer Sailing 2018)

A Trip Down Memory Lane in Olympia (Summer Sailing 2018)

I found Olympia to be an interesting stop. It was an area so deeply rooted in history that it felt like we were going back in time the second we stepped onto land. For this one, we chose to go with a tour because it was a bit of drive to Olympia itself from the port that we were docked at (Katakolon). The one good thing that I find about joining a group tour is that anytime you’re on the bus, especially at the beginning, the tour guide will launch into this long spiel about the local culture, the history, and more background of the places that they will take you. It’s a great pre-cursor to all the sights that you’re going to be see. When we got to Olympia, our guide led us around the area, pointing out sights and giving us the history behind it all. We saw…

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A Stroll in Saranda (Summer Sailing 2018)

A Stroll in Saranda (Summer Sailing 2018)

To be quite honest, I never expected myself to end up paying a visit to Albania. In my mind, it was always one of those European countries that I’d never end up sticking a pin in on my travel map. But there we were. In Saranda. The night before the ship had docked, the cruise director made an announcement saying not to expect Saranda to be like the ports of call we had already docked at thus far. After seeing the grand old towns of Split and Dubrovnik and the stunning views, it was important that we didn’t expect to see the exact same things in Saranda. It wasn’t a popular port of call for many cruise lines, which is what made it unique, but also not as developed by tourism as other regions may be. We had chosen a tour that would take us all the way to the…

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