Today was the first day that Pieter had off in Santorini since I’ve signed on and he was so ready to get off the boat to explore and watch the sunset from one of the cliffside restaurants. We don’t drop anchor in Satorini’s harbor until 4 pm, so there was a full day to be had before getting there.
I had to start getting the dressing room ready for our backstage tour today around 11 am and waited for the first (and only) tour group to come through around 11:30 am. They were a very large group, but pretty quiet. I still really enjoyed it as usual and had a special treat this time. Eric decided to come up and hang with me while I was conducting the tour. The guests always love to see and talk to a dancer outside the show setting, so they were excited to ask him some specific questions about what he does. The tour leader from Guest Services asked if we could demonstrate a quick change – when I have to change one of the dancers backstage. It was a great idea and Eric went ahead and set up for the costume change while I finished up the tour of the Ladies’ Dressing Room. We prepared for one of the fastest changes for Eric in the “World Beat” show, where he would show not only the change, but “underdressing” as well. This is where usually the male dancers wear two or sometimes three layers of costumes on top of each other so that their quick change will consist of peeling off a layer. The guests seemed to be really impressed, so with mission accomplished, I reset the dressing rooms and headed to lunch. :)
We got off the boat at 5:30 pm on the first tender that crew was allowed. We ended up waiting in line for the cable car for quite a while, but at least we were technically ON the island of Santorini while we waited. Once at the top, we meandered around the shops and I took Pieter up to the places I had taken such beautiful pictures before. I ended up buying another white watch, since my crap one from Izmir broke after a week, lol. It’s one of those rubber ones that seem to be all the craze over here in Europa. Virtually indestructible for even me… yay. I finished all my crap….er…..souvenir buying for my loved ones back home and then headed to the restaurant that Pieter had chosen by seeing it from the ship, believe it or not. Very “Andy” from “Little Britain” when he declared, “I want to eat at “that one””…. lol.
We arrived at Restaurant Niki and took our spot amongst travelers, mostly from the U.S., on the patio. I ordered the best salad and best appetizer of the trip. (“Best of…” awards are definitely in the works for the end of the blog!!!!) We shared the appetizer simply titled “Feta and honey” in the menu and it did NOT aptly describe the wonderment laid before us… From what I could tell, a block of feta (as most dishes seem to start out with) was wrapped in phyllo dough, topped with honey and sesame seeds and baked to a golden brown. OMG, it was to DIE for. Then I ordered spanikopita, which was alright…not the best I’ve had honestly. The best salad award will most likely be going to the “Santorini Salad” from Restaurant Niki… it started off with a small bed of greens, topped with cherry tomatoes, capers, red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, kalamata olives and oregano and served with four slices of a whole wheat crostini-type toast-bread. I scooped the olives RIGHT off my plate and it became perfection. Dressing it with some olive oil and vinegar made it the delectable delight that was not only tasty, but satisfying to the eye’s palette as well.
This was the second time Pieter and I were surrounded by an uninvited group of valley girls (this time definitely from the O.C. and not Jersey), who completely took over the space they descended upon… These vacationing coeds took up three tables on the patio, which would have been bad enough… but the three tables were not next to each other which caused much cross-patio yelling the entire time we ate. It was beyond obnoxious, but at least one of them offered to take a picture of us eating there. Aye….
We made it through dinner in just enough time to WALK down the donkey path. I hadn’t braved this journey in my first two visits to this island, but I did know it was an option should one not want to wait in the cable car line OR jump to the front of it like I did two weeks ago :) . Pieter had taken this route before and led the way down the half-lit zig-zag trail that was still full of the donkeys who call it home. They graciously allowed us and fellow stragglers to pass along the sides and we tried our best to look out for the “dark spots”…you can imagine, and smell, what those represent.
Once back safe and sound on the ship, I had a night of “Earth Lounge” on Deluxe Music to look forward to! Ahhhhh sooooooooo relaxing, I love it!
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