July 18 Tuesday Slept in for the first time since we left England. But of course that's 7:30 for me. I took my time getting ready for breakfast and even played some Candy Crush and Fairway Solitaire for a bit. Breakfast was not ideal. No buffet. Choice of over easy, hard, or omelet for egg choices. I went with the omelette. Imagine my surprise to find french fries mixed inside the omelette. They must've used the leftover french fries from yesterday's dinner. LOL. Then they offered really under cooked bacon and long hotdog looking sausages. Once again think God for bread rolls. They had juice on the table but I didn't care for it. When I asked for water they told me I couldn't get a glass of water but I could buy a bottle. After ... read more

July 16 Sunday continuation from previous blog... After having lunch with some of my travel members, I went back to my room to pack for tomorrow. We had to have our luggage out by midnight so they can collect it during the night, so that it will be ready to board the buses. We also had to make sure we packed an extra day of clothes in our carry-on because after we're done with Athens we are taking a ferry boat over to Italy. We will be on the ferry for almost 24 hours. It will be interesting to see what type of cabin I'll be getting for that one. After a short meeting at 3 o'clock going over the procedures for Santorini and for Monday, we had a few minutes to go up on deck ... read more

July 15 Saturday Up early at 5 am to reach our tour into Kusadasi, Turkey to see Ephesus. The buffet breakfast was very busy. The crew had the line of people entering between the buffet and the tables. You were then placed at a seat at a table for six. Then you had to go back to the entrance to go through the line to get your food. After getting your food you had to maneuver your way pass the line of people who are heading to their seat. Not very efficient. The food was ok but I didn't eat much. I left and went to get my backpack from my room. I went up on deck to take some pictures of the mainland of Turkey as we approached it. We were close enough that I ... read more

July 13 Thursday Early wake up to get to Delphi early. The room was warm all night but with the fan I was comfortable. Others complained about their room being too warm too. Breakfast was a great buffet. They even had spinach pie again! Yummy. I tried a dessert called Bougatsa. It was flaky, cut into squares and filled with a warm vanilla flavored creme. It was soooo good. We boarded the bus and head off at 7:30 am. On they way to Delphi we passed mostly small villages of one room shacks with metal scrap for roofs and cotton farms. We made a rest stop in Thermopylae. I picked up a cream pastry thinking it would be like the one I had this morning. Unfortunately it was not anything like it. I also tried my ... read more

July 11 Tuesday Got up at 5:30 to reorganize my items to fit the new fan in the large blue bag. Had a nice breakfast and then we left the hotel at 8 to head for Sophia, Bulgaria. The trip to Nis, our rest stop for lunch, was uneventful. Small towns, farmlands, and an occasional factory. The homes that we passed ranged from slightly dilapidated to nice well manufactured homes. Some had large balconies along the second floor. We did pass a cemetery or two for the first time. Niš is the third largest city of Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District in southern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the urban area of Niš has population of 187,544, while the administrative area has a population of 260,237 inhabitants. It is one of ... read more