Holy Trinity Monastery (535m) at Meteora, Greece
featured in the James Bond film 'For Your Eyes Only'

	Total Days		11
	Nights on board		10
	Days at sea		1(actual 2)

Itinerary
Sunday 21st November	-	Fly to Athens, Greece Embark Viking Sky in Piraeus
Monday 22nd	-	Piraeus, Greece (for Athens)
Tuesday 23rd	-	Volos, Greece
Wednesday 24th	-	Thessaloniki, Greece
Thursday 25th	-	cruising the Athos Peninsula
Friday 26th	-	Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)
Saturday 27th	-	(Rhodes, Greece)
Sunday 28th	-	(Santorini, Greece) Heraklion, Crete
Monday 29th	-	Souda Bay, Crete
Tuesday 30th	-	Nafplio, Greece
Wednesday 1st December	-	Piraeus, Greece Disembark & Fly to UK

When our cruise in the Far East aboard Viking Orion was cancelled by Viking, we transferred to this itinerary a little closer to home, bringing us back to Viking Sky, the same ship upon which we were stranded off the coast of Norway in 2019! Viking Sky 2019 >> And even though she was one of those airlifted off the ship by helicopter, our friend Angie decided to join us!

While we all kept clear of covid-19 prior to the cruise, sadly a family health-crisis of an entirely different nature resulted in Andrew deciding to remain at home for this one; particularly disappointing because having enjoyed our previous experience of an Explorer Suite on Viking Venus so much, we had upgraded our accommodation to an Explorer Suite again, which aside from the odd visit from Angie, I would have to 'suffer' all on my own!

Explorer Suite 4000		The Parthenon eBike ride in Athens		The Hilltop Monasteries of Meteora		Cruising the Mount Athos Peninsula

Some of the holiday's highlights included: an e-Bike guided tour of Athens; visiting the Hilltop Monasteries of Meteora, one of which featured in the 1981 James Bond film 'For Your Eyes Only'; cruising the Mount Athos Peninsula and seeing its remote Orthodox monasteries; visiting the ancient city of Ephesus with no crowds; more monasteries in Crete and in Souda Bay, meeting-up with sister-ship Viking Venus, on which we had cruised around the UK earlier in the year.

Ephesus The Library of Celsus		Arkadi Monastery, Crete a massacre in 1866 sparked the Greek revolt against the Ottoman Empire		Mycenae Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon		Viking Venus in Souda Bay, Crete

Unfortunately, we never made it to Rhodes or Santorini because of bad weather and we instead made a stop in Heraklion, Crete - where more monasteries were visited! (Seems to have been a theme for this trip!) Also, two days before we were due to fly home, the UK Government introduced new covid-testing rules for all arrivals, causing internet-stress I could have done without!

Cruise Mileage: 1,561 nautical miles
Total Mileage to date: 217,450 n miles