Greece, Malta and Italy

In this trip we visited the following cities: Rome, Santorini, Athens, Mykonos, Chania, Valetta, Messina, Taormina, Sorrento, Pompeii, Florence and Pisa.

As we approached Santorini island of Greece we were met with white buildings on top of the high hills as seen in the picture.

After spending the day in Perivolos beach we went to the capital of Santorini, Fira and from there we descended down to return to the ship using cable cars. The scene from the cable car was fantastic with the sun setting behind the islands by our "Jade" boat.

The next day we were in Athens, and of course the first place we visited was the famous Acropolis. The picture is by the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis.

The next day was at Mykonos island, Greece. The picture is by Kalifata beach which had crystal clear water and nice views with small isles surrounding it, but the floor of the sea was full of pebbles and vegetation that I scratched my toes coming out of the water.

The next stop was in Crete, Greece. It was made famous after the movie "Zorba the Greek" of 1964 starring Anthony Quinn. Remnants of many Ottoman buildings can be seen all over, with many mosques converted into churches. The picture shows the capital Chania's old harbor.

Next stop was at Valetta the capital of Malta. The picture shows the entrance to the historic Valetta harbor.

This picture shows the old capital Mdina which was originally built by the Arabs who left Malta around 1100 A.D. I could understand the Maltese language easily as it is 90% Arabic but written with English letters.

This is the Rotunda of Mosta of Malta that miraculously survived a bomb during WWII. They call it the Miracle Church.

Next we stopped at Messina in Sicily and we went to Taormina. You can see the Etna volcano by Taormina, Sicily near the ancient Greek/Roman theater.

This picture is inside the Greek/Roman theater in Taormina, Sicily. The Etna volcano is seen in the back.

Next stop was ion Naples, Italy. The picture is in Sorrento by the bay of Naples. The island of Capri is nearby where famous people own nice villas, such as Sofia Loren.

We visited Pompeii near Naples, Italy which was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius volcano in 79 A.D. The almost intact city is a sobering reminder of what happened 2000 years ago. The picture shows the volcanos of Vesuvius and Somma which used to be one mountain before the eruption.

From Naples we went next to the port of Liverno, Italy. From there we went to Florence (Firenze in Italian) and then to Pisa. This picture is of the magnificent Cathedral of Florence.

And of course, no trip to Pisa is complete without a picture of the tourist trying to straighten the leaning Pisa tower.