DAY 137- DAY 131 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO SOUDA BAY/CHANIA - WESTERN CRETE

Mary...Thank you so much for your good wishes.  Very thoughtful and very much appreciated.

We enjoyed some wine and  canapés before dinner.

These are the  dinner menus from Waterside.

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Last evening we had dinner with Hotel Director Hubert.

We ordered from Waterside and Prego.

We began with appetizers from Waterside; Beet Root &  Grappa Cruised Salmon from the Modern Menu for Keith and Chicken Broth Soup with Matzah Ball for Anne Marie.

We both had house salads which was crisp green 

Keith had the Branzino fish entree from Prego and Anne Marie had the Beef Prime Rib from Waterside.

Dinner was delicious.  Rau was amazing and we enjoyed non-stop conversation.

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The seas were calm as we sailed to our next port of call.  The gentle rocking of the ship makes it easy to fall asleep. We sleep very well when at sea.

Keith was up early and enjoyed an early workout at the Fitness Center.  Afterwards, we enjoyed coffee followed by breakfast in our room.  We continue to have a light breakfast of  cereal and a banana.  

We got ready to visit Crete.  Our first and only visit was part of World Cruise 2008.  The overall population of Chania is  110,000 residents.

The area reflects a mixed culture of  Grecian,  Venetian and Turkish since it has been ruled and influenced by Venetians and Turks in addition to being part of Greece.  

Major attractions include:

Old Town & Venetian Harbor which includes modern restaurants, cafes and bars in addition to buildings from the past.

Maritime Museum of Crete which is  home to models of ships, nautical instruments, photographs and war relics.

Archaeological Museum which is located in a building that dates  back to the late 1500's.

Dimotiki Agora is a municipal market built between 1909 and 1913.

We arrived to the port on-schedule.

Once the ship was cleared Keith took along  walk within the local area.  He returned to the port and took the shuttle over to Chania.  Today is a national holiday in Greece (Labor Day) so some businesses were closed including the market which is adjacent to the shuttle stop.  Keith walked quite a bit of the town and many locals were enjoying a morning of sunshine and moderate temperature.  

While walking, I enjoyed  some nice views of snowcapped mountain ranges which I could see along the side streets

Anne Marie remained on-board Serenity.  After walking outside on the promenade deck she worked on packing. 

​We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace.  In the afternoon Anne Marie walked and worked on packing.  Our packing  is  a  bit  more complicated as we are shipping the majority of luggage home while taking a couple of suitcases with us for the River Cruise.  Adding to this is bringing the proper clothing to match the expected weather for the river cruise.

Keith played Paddle Tennis in the afternoon.  The weather was gorgeous.

Following is the daily Reflections program for today.  You will see a photo of us in today's program.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith