ROME TO SANTORINI

 

LIFE ABOARD THE CELEBRITY EQUINOX:  Although our ship is far from the world’s largest it is a goodly size.  Its length is greater than the length of the street (Wedgewood Dr.) on which we live.  To be found on its 16 decks are 3 pools, a lawn club (with natural grass for lawn bowling, etc.), 10 restaurants and 15 bar/lounges.  The main theatre/concert hall seats 1150 and has two levels of balconies.  There are two shopping areas, but so far I have managed to mostly avoid the many high-end shops.  The disappointment for some, perhaps, is that the basketball court is actually only ½ size.

On the day we boarded we went to an early floor show followed by a late dinner.  After the meal we bar hopped (not drinking, just sitting) to check out the entertainment.  Within a short time we had managed to catch snippets of a classical guitarist, a dance band, a hard rock singer, a jazz quartet, a classical string trio, and a wonderful a cappella quartet.

The second day was a “sea day”, as we were sailing directly from Rome to Santorini.  We started the day with coffee on our balcony as we sailed through the Straits of Messina (between the mainland and Sicily).  We lingered long enough to miss the served breakfast and had to make do with the smoked salmon eggs benedict in the buffet.  After breakfast one of Betty’s internet groups had a brief social.  That was followed  by a no-charge wine tasting (Wine 101) which took us up to lunch.

In the afternoon we had a quick swim before I headed off to choir practice (yes, that’s what I said). This left time for a quick glass of wine on the balcony before we dressed for our first formal dinner;  preceded by another performance of the a cappella group, and followed by the evening floor show.

Food on the ship is very good.  Dinner was crispy frogs legs, corn soup, sorbet, rack of lamb, and tart tartin, all with an excellent cabernet from Washington State.  The first day I purchased more than a few  bottles of dinner wine to be drunk with each night’s meal, thus getting a small discount.

BACKSTAGE BODY ODOR:  We were fortunate enough to be invited to join a small group for a very interesting backstage tour of the theatre (which seats 1372, not 1150 as I previously said).  The current production cast has 18 performers plus 11 technical people.  During a show there are many costume changes as well as a lot of perspiring, particularly among the dancers.  Not all costumes can be laundered so during changes the costumes and the performers are sprayed with a mixture of 3 parts water and 1 part vodka; a tip for the next time you run out of deodorant.

SANTORINI:  The weather was perfect (mid 20’s) for our first port-of-call.  Santorini is reputed to be the most beautiful of the Greek Islands.   In order to get from the tender dock to the town of Fira at thetop of the cliff Betty took a cable car.  I chose the more traditional ride on a donkey up the 600 steps.  The donkey worked his (or her) way up the steep incline such that I waited several minutes for Betty’s high tech mode of transportation.

Unfortunately we only had about three hours from arrival until dark.  Thus, we could not do much touring except to walk around the one town.  Although Fira is a bit of a tourist trap, the scenery is spectacular.  We ended the afternoon by having a beer and watching the sunset on the patio of a cliffside bar.  Fortunately the donkeys quit work at dark so I had no embarrassment in taking the cable car back down to the ship.