Tag: foodie

Sailing into Singapore

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January 3/4, 2026

We came into port on Saturday morning and had a nice breakfast on the ship before making our way out into Singapore. We had less than 24 hours in Singapore – so we knew we had to make the most of it. I had made a to-do list that would cover the major tourist locations in addition to doing some foodie-fun as well.

Our first mission, of course, was to drop off our luggage. When I had traveled to the Philippines for work previously, I had stayed at a Shangri-La hotel and it was absolutely lovely. In my search for a hotel I had seen there was one in Singapore, so it was a no-brainer that we stayed there for our one night.

Somehow, the universe looked down upon us favorably and when we checked in at 9:30 am our room was ready! The room was really nice and had a great view of the pool. We had a quick cat nap before we made our way out into the city.

Public transit in Singapore is incredible – I kept reading about the “MRT” (Mass Rapid Transit) and how they had tourist passes. Candidly, I love saving money and I know Andy and I can always figure out public transportation in a foreign country. The 1-day tourist passes came out to about $26 for both of us, and gave us unlimited access to the city. The MTR system was vast – and honestly puts any US system to shame. (Don’t get me started on how clean and safe it is as well…)

We made our way to the closest MRT station, which happened to be in a mall. It felt like we were in a whole underground city + mall. Because Christmas had just ended – there were a ton of sales and everything still felt super festive. We had to stay focused though – we only had the one day in Singapore and this wasn’t the time to go shopping. So, we got our MRT passes and got on the train!

Our first stop was the Newton Hawker Center. Have you seen Crazy Rich Asians? This is where Nick and Rachel go to meet his best friend and his fiancé when they land in Singapore. It also happened to be the closest Hawker Center to our hotel!

We were there during the day, so not all of the food stations were opened, but we made due. We got more noodles, rice, and chicken. One lady was really pushy and she almost talked Andy into ordering a beer – instead he got a peach Jinro from Korea. (It was really sweet). I stuck to a Tiger beer. The food was really good, but more expensive than our food market in Malaysia.

After lunch we hopped back on the MRT and made our way over to Gardens by the Bay. I’m sure if you’ve ever seen pictures of Singapore, you’ve seen these famous trees. We wish we could have seen them at night, but time was not on our side with this trip. They were still amazing to see during the day (and free!) – we walked around until our time at the SkyPark observation deck.

The SkyPark is part of Marina Bay Sands hotel – the surfboard shaped hotel that is also a famous part of the skyline. Naturally, I had to get to the top of it because I figured this would be the best viewpoint of the city. The cost was actually really affordable – about $50 for both of us to get up there! As far as we know, there isn’t a time limit for how long you can stay and there is a restaurant where you can get food and drinks. But remember – we were on a time crunch!

Photos of the photo spots

Looking up
Looking down

Places to see people! We did a complete walk around of the observation deck (I read every plaque – I’m one of those people) and took pictures. My mom went to Singapore in the 1970s – so I wanted to take pictures and videos so she could compare and see how much it’s changed from when she was there. (I’m sure a ton!)

Our Cruise ship getting ready to go for it’s new route
Singapore Harbor
Merlion
For the F1 fans

After we felt like we had taken as many pictures as our hearts desired – and we spotted our cruise ship in the distance! We made our way back down the elevator. Our next stop was the famous Merlion.

Unfortunately, this was a tough one to get to by MTR and we decided to hail a Grab (their version of Uber) to get over there.

We hopped out and blended in with the other tourists trying to take a picture of this famous statue – and of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which was weird because we had just been there 7 minutes before! We didn’t stay for too long, but it was a nice area.

We decided to walk to our next stop, the famous Raffles hotel. This is where the Singapore Sling was created. We hadn’t researched it ahead of time, otherwise we might have gotten there earlier, but we ended up waiting in a line to get in.

Thankfully the line was moving pretty fast – and it was in the shade. Once we got inside, we were greeted by peanut shells all over the ground and punkah fans on the ceiling. Back in the early 1900s, women weren’t exactly encouraged to drink in public. Juice was acceptable, cocktails were not. Enter Ngiam Tong Boon, who saw a loophole and ran with it. He slipped gin and liqueurs into what looked like a harmless pink juice, giving us the Singapore Sling – a discreet cocktail with a rebellious streak.

We had a few Singapore Slings on the trip, but this was definitely the best one we drank and the most expensive.

At this point we started to make our way back to our hotel. We wanted to have a quick dinner and then repack our suitcases to redistribute the weight for the flight. We opted to eat at the hotel since we had a credit with our American Express card – we opted for pizza and wine. A classic.

We were off to bed and had an early wake up since our flight was at 9 am the next morning!

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We were excited to get to the airport early because the Singapore airport is known for being one of the best airports in the world. We dropped our bags and were thrilled just to walk around the airport.

I had researched things to do in Terminal 3, which is where our ticket said we would be departing from. Unfortunately, we were actually departing from Terminal 1. (Noooo!!)

This meant that I was going to miss out on the giant slide and free movie theater – yes, you read that right. But when life hands you lemons… so we decided to walk instead of taking the train so we could see everything as we went.

The main attraction is the Jewel. This glass-domed stunner is home to the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, crashing through the center of a jungle-filled oasis like it’s no big deal. Jewel turns the airport into a destination. It’s the kind of place that makes you forget you’re in an airport… until you realize you actually wish your flight were delayed. Unfortunately for us… it doesn’t turn on until 10 am. So we took the train by it, and got to see the lush jungle surrounding it and used our imagination. (You can use yours too…)

We headed to a lounge to get a quick bite and a coffee and before we knew it we had to head to security to board our flight. For those of you who have really long layovers, just know that the Singapore airport even has free city tours that you can sign up for that take you around the city on a bus. (How cool is that?!)

Until next time – thanks for joining us on this trip!

Up Next: Our last US National Park cruise: New Zealand / Fiji / Samoa / American Samoa! – March 2026

Phuket – New Year’s Eve/Day

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December 31, 2025 / January 1, 2026

When we booked this cruise we were pretty excited that we were heading back to Thailand and that it was going to be over New Year’s. We were even more excited when we realized it was in Phuket, (southern Thailand) because we didn’t make it this far south so this was an additional draw for us!

Even though we had just done the island hopping in Langkawi the day before, we had booked a full day excursion to James Bond island. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s from The Man with The Golden Gun (1974). I had seen it quite a bit on social media, but candidly I hadn’t seen the movie.

But James Bond Island is a tiny island in Thailand with a tall rock that looks like it was glued straight into the ocean. It became famous after the movie, so now everyone calls it “James Bond Island” even though Bond was only there for about five minutes. You can’t go inside the rock (sad), but you can take dramatic photos, pretend you’re a spy, and wonder how the rock hasn’t fallen over yet.

Some tour guides (or locals in their stands) even provide you with golden guns to take pictures, which is a bit terrifying when you’re walking up and you see a bunch people pointing guns every which way!

Previously, the beach had been closed to swimming to protect it from tourism. Imagine my surprise when I walked up and saw people in the water! What?! I didn’t bring my bikini! It seems like most other people didn’t realize either, thank goodness… because we were still able to get quite a few pictures without a ton of bum bums in the background of our pics.

There were a few places where you could hike up and get better views far away from the beach too that allowed for even better pictures as well. It was a really lovely place!

After James Bond island, we stopped at a small fishing village where we could do a little shopping or grab some snacks. This fishing village popped up after James Bond Island got famous and they wanted to capitalize on the tourism in the area. There were many handicrafts to be bought and food that our guide recommended that we avoided (unless it was prepackaged) in case the water wasn’t clean. The whole “island” was built on stilts around a sand bar- crazy there is a whole village floating above the water!

After we got back to our bus we got dropped off at an ocean front restaurant and had a fantastic Thai lunch. We met a lovely family from Ohio that shared a table with us. We shared travel stories – and a love of Disney. They were a lot of fun to connect with – even their teenages were super social to talk with!

Once we got back on board we started to clean up before New Year’s Eve – it was a long, sweaty day out and about. So we both wanted to freshen up and get ready for dinner.

The main dining room on the ship was crazy – Andy said it looked like it was their Super Bowl! Since we had a late lunch we were okay waiting for our favorite server, Gama. We had ordered a special bottle of champagne from our sommelier, Alphonso, earlier in the cruise. He had it chilled and ready for us. We weren’t sure if we could share any with him. But his eyes lit up when we asked if he wanted a splash!

After dinner was ending, he brought over two small port glasses and poured a tiny taste for him and Gama and toasted to health and prosperity in the new year. They truly were the best servers we’ve had on a Celebrity Cruise, ever. It was a really special moment for all of us – and Alphonso is getting married in just a few weeks, which made it even more special too!

We hung out indoors at the Martini Lounge (in the AC) until around

11:30 or so before making our way to the pool deck for the big party. Once we made our way outside it was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. I knew Phuket would put on a party, but I didn’t expect lanterns. (You know, like Tangled – paper lanterns?) They were every where marking the sky. It’s one of those moments that a camera can’t capture and a moment I’ll remember forever.

All the floating lights were paper lanterns, it was incredible

Conveniently, after our Australia/NZ cruise – the pools were covered, so as the clock struck midnight no one was jumping in the pool. Shucks!

We didn’t stay out too much after midnight – we watched the fireworks a bit longer because they filled the sky all around (along with the lanterns) and it was beautiful to see.

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The next morning we had most of the day in Phuket, but since we went to bed much later we didn’t want an early start.

We also didn’t have much planned for the next day in Phuket, but we did want to get cheap Thai massages. It was important to me to find a good spa, and I had found a few. We walked about 30 minutes and the first spa was booked until 2:30, which just wouldn’t do. Thankfully, we had only passed about 70 other massage places.

I had asked the receptionist for recommendations and she had given us one nearby. They had availability and we actually were able to walk right in!

When we had gone to Thailand previously, we had cheap and wonderful Thai massages that left us both sore (and maybe a little bruised?). We were both looking for a sequel. Unfortunately, we paid about the same (maybe a little more?) but didn’t get the same level of pain. When I say pain – we both like deep tissue massages – we were hoping to be hurt. 😂

They weren’t BAD, they just weren’t what we were expecting. Either way, they were still adequate and considering we were walk ins. They were fine! And we paid less than $50 for for the hour for both of us with tip!

We started walking back to the ship and decided to get a drink. The cruise was really big on making sure not to drink the ice in the port stops, but we figured Phuket is a big enough area that it should be fine. We found a place near the beach and ordered a few cocktails and mango sticky rice. The drinks were good and the food was superior.

It was a really good start to the new year!

The next day is a sea day and then we will arrive in Singapore, which is the end of our cruise.

Up Next: Singapore

Eating our way through Penang

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December 28/29, 2025

Often referred to as the “Crown Jewel of Malaysia,” Penang earned its reputation long before it became a foodie pilgrimage. Founded in 1786 by the British East India Company, Penang quickly emerged as one of the most valuable trading ports in the region making it one of the busiest maritime routes in the world.

At the center is George Town which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Over time, Penang’s wealth shifted from trade to culture most famously its food! When we realized we were making a stop here we decided that we needed to do a food tour.

We booked one with the ship – and our first stop was the Wonder Food Museum, which was a real hoot. They had created a ton of interactive photo opportunities throughout – and a lot of their national dishes on display. Our tour guide let us know to take pictures of ones that looked interesting for the market we were going to later, so we knew to look for them while we were there.

Beatriz, our guide took a liking to us. Probably because she saw me quickly put on a chef jacket and pull out two frying pans and pose for a picture for Andy. She basically led the two of us from display to display while we were in the museum because I think she knew we would be excited to take pictures in the exhibits. (Pictures below as proof).

After the museum we went to a few different shops where we were able to buy different Malaysian goods. Malaysia is most known for the Batik, which features vibrant floral and geometric patterns with bold colors (pinks, blues, purples) from its wax-resist dyeing tradition. The store that we stopped by had a large selection for men, women, and kids. Plus, a ton of accessories that had a wide variety of different patterns. Basically, they would draw in the fabric in wax, then dye the fabric, then boil the fabric so the wax melts off- they dye doesn’t change the color under the wax, so it leaves a cool effect!

Next door, we walked into a store that “white coffee” and tea. They were both delicious, but when they call it white it means it’s instant and packed full of sugar. The teas were similar for the most part – loaded with sugar! The ones that didn’t have sugar were really expensive, but we took pictures in hopes to find something similar when we get home because they are known for their natural remedies.

After our shopping was done, we finally made our way to the market. This was a foodie heaven. Beatriz told us to grab a table and memorize the number. She explained that we could go to a booth: order, pay for the food, and wait there OR tell them our table number and they could bring it over. But she said it’s happened to her in the past where she’d forgotten she ordered something and she wandered off and when she remembered the food wasn’t there (likely because someone else had already taken it).

The market was super busy – so we ended up sharing a table with a couple that didn’t speak any English. They made great table mates! We ordered a LOT of food – it was all very affordable. Fried rice, fried noodles, dumplings, soup dumplings, meat skewers, and a large Skol beer. It was all super tasty and we left super full!

Our bus dropped us off at the cruise port, but Andy and I wanted to see if the local Starbucks had a Malaysia mug. We made our way over only to find out that they were out of stock, disappointing considering how muggy it was outside! On our walk we did get to walk by a very cool fort, which we learned had never been fired upon so never saw any military action.

That evening our Cruise Director had coordinated to have a local dance company to come on board to perform a traditional Malaysian dance for us. We really enjoyed it!

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We had two days in Penang, so we woke up in Penang. We lounged around the ship taking advantage of a quieter day on board. We decided to make another attempt at a different Starbucks for a mug (a bit over a mile away). We walked in and out of traffic for about 30 minutes to a super large mall. We couldn’t find a directory to help us find it, so we just started wandering.

That’s when we quickly realized how big this mall was. Eventually we finally asked a man who told us we needed to take a sky bridge to an entirely different section of the mall which was on a different block, the place was massive, and that is coming from people that grew up around the Mall of America. Once we made our way over there, we found a directory.

Their decorations were so cute!
Some will appreciate this

We were still lost, but this time we had more hope. I finally found a picture on Google maps and saw that it looked like it had exterior windows. Success! We found it! AND it had mugs!

We started our grueling 30 minute walk back in the humidity, but took a different route this time. This street was more interesting. There were more shops and restaurants. It was very cute, but we just wanted to get back to AC at this point.

We really enjoyed our time in Penang – it was a very cute city! We wish we would have had more time to explore, but grateful for the time we did have there.

Up Next: Langkawi

Salzburg & The Sound of Music

Posted in Europe 2025, Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, and SwitzerlandTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

September 9, 2025

We had another early morning of travel. Of course these are all self-inflicted because I want to squeeze as much as I can out of a trip. We had to return our car rental and get shuttled over to the airport and we weren’t sure how long any of that would take, since honestly, every airport is so different.

Thankfully, all of that went without a hitch. A lot of reviews talked about how poorly organized the Florence airport was… we didn’t experience that at all. Maybe during peak travel season (July/August) it’s worse? But we got through luggage drop and security quickly and even had enough time to impulse another leather purse before boarding our plane.

When we had woken up Jon and Yvonne had text us saying they were on their way to Florence from Austria. We had thought it would be fun if we could have seen each other in the airport, but the timing was slightly off. But then our flight got delayed for some unknown reason, and then we were just sitting on our plane. I told Andy, “I bet we are waiting for Jon and Yvonne’s plane to land.”

Sure enough, an Austrian Air plane landed and then our plane was allowed to move. I promptly took a quick video and picture and text them and text them, “Is this you?” And we were up in the air. Sure enough, it was indeed them. So that was a lot of fun that we got to “see” them on this trip.

It was a short flight to Munich. Once we landed we picked up our car rental. Our first car unfortunately had low tire pressure in all four tires, we discovered this after we had loaded all of our luggage. So we had to swap the car for a new one.

We made our way to our hotel to drop our luggage off before starting our road trip to Salzburg, Austria. And as soon as we made it to our hotel, we were quickly met with some of the worst customer service we experienced on the trip. We knew our room wouldn’t be ready, and had no expectation that we would be let into our room. But the girl seemed to think I was asking for that? But I was simply asking for our bags to be stored – and Andy was asking about parking.

The couple before us (Europeans – not Germans though) had asked about it as well. She had given them a form to fill out and explained in great detail some information and sent them on their way. When Andy approached she simply stated, “We’re full.” And offered no other information. Andy had to ask a few other ways about where else we could park, what other options we had, etc. before we found out the neighboring hotel options.

Honestly, it was a really poor experience and the only reason we booked that hotel is because one of their affiliate hotels was incredible last year in Sitges, Spain. Keep in mind, this is where I decided to spend my birthday. And at this point, I had even joined the Meliá loyalty program and had points. None of this was even acknowledged.

ANYWAY… bags were dropped. Parking was sorted and we were on our way to Salzburg! Austria requires that you have a vignette for tolls. So if you get a car rental make sure you either get the sticker or a digital one or you can get fined. Not fun.

But we made our own Sound of Music tour. We did our own version of the Do-Re-Mi steps. We tried to visit the nunnery. And we got to see where they had moved the gazebo to, meticulously groomed gardens, fountains, and ponds.

It was a lot of fun! The city was clean and beautiful. We got there before the rain started (we did bring umbrellas from the hotel – they begrudgingly loaned them to us) and only needed them for dinner.

The famous Pegasus Fountain

I had picked out a restaurant that had opened in 1663, Bärenwirt. When we were originally going to go, we had thought we were going for lunch. But because things had taken so long, we had revamped our plans and were now doing an early dinner. We found ourselves with no reservation and a very popular restaurant. Thankfully because we were a party of two, and it was early enough – the host said as long as we were okay sharing and willing to be done before 7pm we could join them, needless to say, we received a much more welcoming time in Austria than at the hotel.

I had some of the best dumplings I’ve had in my life – and Andy was happy as a clam with a sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut. It was such a delicious meal! The atmosphere was wonderful as well.

The food was incredible

We made our way back to Munich and turned in for the evening.

Up Next:
-Neuschwanstein Castle
-Schloss Linderhof

Hotel:
– Hotel München City Center Affiliated by Meliá

Cruise ships, trains, and automobiles

Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy Cruise, WineryTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

September 8, 2025

We woke up really early on Monday (4:45 am) to get ready to disembark from the ship. Normally on cruise lines, you can leave your luggage out the night before and they will carry it off for you, but if you need to leave earlier than 7:00 am – you’re on your own.

We got ready for the day and had breakfast – we were quite surprised how many other early risers there were with us. We made sure that we had everything with us and made our way down to the meeting place. We were quite surprised that they were already ushering people down to the gangway.

We actually think we may have cut the line (oops – it was an accident!) and ended up being the first ones off the ship. As we walked off we knew we needed to get to the train station. On Google maps, it looked like it was a short walk, but it was still dark and figured it would be easier to take a cab. Seeing as neither of us speak Italian, we asked the eager cab drivers to take us.

We were met with blank stares and then no one moved. We figured it was because no one wanted to take us because it was a short drive. Little did we know, it was because they had the whole system figured out. They were waiting until they had a van full of us and they wanted to charge 10 euro a person to bring us over.

Thankfully that took 5 minutes total, because everyone else behind us had the same idea. I had already bought tickets weeks before, but some of these individuals hadn’t yet – and some had mistakenly bought their tickets for the 9 am train (that was 2 hours away). We had to wait a little bit, but before too long we were on our way to Rome!

Our train was pretty full with regional folk and people from the cruise alike, and people were hopping on until the last minute. It was pretty chaotic. (Not as chaotic as our ride from London to Edinburgh, but pretty close!)

We pulled into the station and had roughly 15 minutes to haul from our platform to the next that was leaving for Florence. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t have all of our luggage, but we had to take that up and down stairs (which wasn’t ideal). But we made it with a few minutes to spare – and we were able to help a few Americans figure out their seats and where to stow their luggage as well even!

We love the high speed trains in Europe – on average our train was going about 154 mph. I really wish we had these in the US – makes travel so simple. When we made it to Florence – Andy and I split up. He took the tram to the airport to get our car rental, and I made my way to our hotel with our big suitcases to drop them and freshen up.

We both had one hell of a journey. He was on a “sweat train” and I was on a battle with cobblestones and some of the dumbest tourists (and yes, I’m aware I was also a tourist!). I also want to note that there are a lot of cities in Europe that are known for pickpockets, and Florence is one of them. And being a single female with two large suitcases, a backpack, and a purse – I wasn’t going to fall prey to anyone. I had my head on a swivel and was trying to memorize my Google maps directions as I was walking.

By the time I made it to the hotel I had sweat through my shirt and my muscles were shaking from being so tense – of course it was so early in the day our room wasn’t ready. Thankfully the hotel had a nice bathroom that I could get cleaned up in. They were able to stow our luggage while we were away.

Andy separately was having a heck of a time getting the car, but he was finally on his way to me with the car and our carry ons. We registered the car with the hotel, which allowed us to drive through some of the “local streets” that would have otherwise resulted in a fine. (Last time we were in Italy it took almost 2 years before the fines showed up in the mail, so we won’t hold our breath – they could still show up!)

And then we were on our way to a winery we went to back in 2019 – NostraVita! We were sad we weren’t able to coordinate with Jon and Yvonne on this trip, funny enough they were going the same week – just a few days later.

We had hoped that we would be able to sneak in another wine tasting on this trip, but due to a few things taking longer than expected we were only able to do NostraVita. But it was worth it. We had a great time doing the tour and seeing all of the new art pieces they had installed and the projects they had worked on since the pandemic.

Art recognizes the fallen grape
Re-enactment of a previous photo
So glad we were here just before harvest!

The last time we were there they had recently lost their daughter/sister – and we were able to see how they were paying tribute to her through the winery now. It was really touching and how beautiful it is to be loved so deeply by a family like them.

We were able to catch up with Annibale with some help from Carlotta translating. He asked a lot about how we kept busy during the pandemic, we could clearly see how he had kept busy. At the end, he made sure we knew that we shouldn’t wait six years next time to come back to visit. It’s just a good reminder how short life is, and it really is beautiful.

All Sangiovese Grapes!

While we were on the tour Andy had noticed a label that had said 2014 Brunello – which is the year that we got married. So when we were deciding on what we were going to buy, we asked Carlotta how much those would be. And she was able to verify that they had about 12 left – so we were even able to get some of those! It even made the trip more special – she also gifted a wooden wine box for us as well, which was so sweet.

Annibale- Master of all! (artist, wine maker, author, craftsman, and beautiful patriarch!)

We made our way back to Florence and had dinner in the Piazza della Repubblica, which was right by our hotel. We had a few items we wanted to do while in town. We wanted to buy some leather products, find a wine window and buy drinks from it, and look at the duomo. We had a very productive evening and we were able to accomplish all of them.

We love Italy so deeply and don’t want to wait so long before coming back. We definitely think we will be back sooner next time!

Accommodations:
Hotel Pendini

Up Next:
– Flight to Munich
– Salzburg
– DIY Sound of Music tour

Our first taste of Greece: Mykonos

Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

September 3, 2025

We arrived in Mykonos early today and were awoken by a ton of shaking. Not sure what the shaking was because we weren’t actually docked, (this is a tender port for us – which means they shuttle us back and forth to shore by smaller boats) but it was really windy. I guess Mykonos is notorious for being windy, but without the wind the heat would be unbearable. Honestly, it feels a bit like a hair dryer because it’s hot!

One of my favorite types of cuisines is Mediterranean, so we had booked a walking food tour while we were in Mykonos with Celebrity. It didn’t start until lunchtime so we took it easy in the morning and got ready at a leisurely pace.

We got there a little early, and walked around waiting for our guide to show up. Once Claudio did, we immediately knew that we were in good hands. We could tell that he carried himself with professionalism, was incredibly knowledgeable, and that he was well known with others in the industry.

And honestly, without him we would have gotten lost within the labyrinth that is the Mykonos maze. The maze was set up intentionally to confuse pirates that may have tried to invade to loot the town in the past. Now it just confuses tourists (including us) and makes for a fun adventure when you’re trying to find a shop that you spotted a cute sun dress in the window at earlier!

We had five different stops that included a variety of traditional Greek food and drink. The first stop was a bakery that had a Tiropitakia (cheese pie), which was something that the average Greek would grab when they were “on the go.”

Claudio also wanted to make sure he mixed in cultural stops too – so we stopped to see some windmills and “Little Venice.” It was a really picturesque area!

From there we had kebabs – some people in the group opted for gyros, which were the size of your head. Once we left that restaurant we reentered the maze. As we wove through the streets, we saw the interesting mix of high end stores (Louis Vuitton) with Mykonos branded mugs and keychains shops. And there were so many cats everywhere! Claudio taught us that cats are loved on the island because they help keep both the rodent and viper population under control, plus they’re cute!

The next couple of stops were a little quicker – the next was a sweet. It was called the “Ypovrichio.” The submarine – a rich white chewy sweet that is served on a spoon dipped in a long glass of crystal cold water. So that’s exactly what we did, we all stood outside a candy shop with our glass of water with these!

My 10-year old self would have killed for one of these. But it was a little too sweet for me now, but it was so fun to try!

From there, it was a quick walk over to our next stop where we had a shot of Ouzo and an appetizer plate with traditional Greek items that were all super tasty. The Ouzo was definitely an acquired taste – has a very strong licorice flavor (not my favorite). But, when in “Rome” in this case, Mykonos… bottoms up!

We rounded out the day at The Milky Way, our final stop for Greece’s spin at Turkish Delight and a sample of Mastiha (another one of their liqueurs). The restaurant was hopping so the server actually brought the glasses and the loukoumi out to us on the beach. Both were actually very good, and the liqueur was far tastier than the ouzo we had at the previous place.

After we finished those, we parted ways from Claudio and the rest of the group and made our way into the maze and started shopping. It was fun to drop into different shops, and window shop. But we didn’t leave with too many different things.

We made our way back to the ship with plenty of time because we wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost and left behind in the maze. (Although it might not have been the worst place to get stuck!)

Our tender ride back to the ship

Up Next:
Ephesus, Turkey

Panama – Playa Bonita Adventures

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April 23-27, 2025

Once we landed back in Panama City, we were transported to our resort by San Blas Sailing’s shuttle. We arrived early, and unfortunately the hotel wasn’t prepared for us. Our group has had experiences with all-inclusive resorts, and it felt like it’s a relatively new concept in Panama. The check-in process was slow, and they gave each couple conflicting messages about when our rooms would be ready. (We were told 1 hour, others heard 2 hours, and the last couple heard to come back at 1PM). Regardless, most resorts would typically give you the wrist band so you could start enjoying the resort, but this one said we couldn’t get them until 3PM.

We decided to make our way back into town for lunch – Mark and I had found a restaurant with fun drinks and a “crunchwrap,” so naturally we ended up there. Getting around Panama was really easy, Ubers were very affordable!

After lunch, we were all excited to get settled into our rooms and freshen up again. (The catamaran was amazing – but the showers were more like what you imagine in a camper). So we made our way back to the resort.

This time, two of our rooms were ready and we were able to get changed up for the pool. One of the downsides of traveling during shoulder season is that sometimes you run into maintenance that needs to be completed during a less busy time. Basically, one of the main pools was being drained and it meant everyone was forced into the same area of the pools. But it ended up being fine – and it was nice to be at the pool.

The resort also had a rotation on their restaurants, so the first night we ate at their Asian restaurant. The food was all really good and we enjoyed it before heading to karaoke. The rest of the group loves karaoke and they are really good at it. It was also fun to watch other groups sing – there was a good mix of performers in Spanish and English.

The next day we went to the historic district again and our driver gave us an excellent recommendation for Panamanian cuisine – El Nacional – it was SO good. I think it was my favorite meal of the trip!

We did a little shopping after lunch before heading to the Panama Canal. We got lucky because we didn’t research the timing of things ahead of our visit, because there could have been a chance that no ships were coming through the lock systems.

The Panama Canal is a man-made waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It saves ships a huge amount of time, roughly about 8,000 miles by letting them avoid sailing all the way around South America. (Hello Drake Passage!) Instead of taking weeks, the trip through the canal takes about 8 to 10 hours. Ships pass through a system of locks that raise and lower them to move across the canal (and passing through Gatun Lake). It’s one of the most important shortcuts in the world!

We were able to watch a few ships and a sailboat pass through the lock at Miraflores Visitor Center. They also had a wonderful video on the history of the canal narrated by none other than Morgan Freeman that helped us understand the impact the canal had on Panama.

The next day we were set to go out on an eco-adventure that would take us on a tram ride through a forest, to monkey island on a boat ride through Gatun Lake (part of the Panama Canal), and to a sloth sanctuary. The tram ride was a cool way to get to see the forest and the canopy, we didn’t get to see a lot of wildlife when we were on it – but I’m sure on other days you might have better luck. From our vantage point, we could see ships making their way down the Panama Canal.

The next stop was the high-speed boat ride, which took us through the canal and to monkey islands. We got to see quite a few monkeys that would pop down to the boat to get a snack from our guide. I believe we got to see at least three different species – and they ranged in different sizes. They were really cute and I think it was a worthwhile stop!

From there we made our way to the sloth sanctuary. It was really cool to see the animals up close (but not too close – they were on platforms and we weren’t able to get up and hold them unfortunately) – they are so weird. I just love sloths. There were also poison dart frogs there and a butterfly section as well. Overall, it was cool to see some of the native Panamanian species.

Our tour also stopped for us at a convenience store, because I think all of us wanted to get some local snacks. We tried a bunch of different candies and chips – which is one of my favorite things to do when we are abroad!

We rounded out the night at a speakeasy that Mark had found in his research. This was another highlight of the trip and the drinks were superb. They were based on different tarot cards, and each card had both a drink/glass associated with it. I’d highly recommend Arcano to anyone who is visiting Panama City!

Our final full day in Panama was a more relaxing one – Andy and I started our day off with a massage before getting lunch and spending the rest of the day in the pool. We had such a fabulous time with our friends and floating in the pool. We didn’t want to leave, but had a great vacation there!

Up Next:
– Europe cruise (August/September)