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Four of our twelve course tasting menu from Delta Restaurant in Athens: The second course - Sea anemone served with soft lemon bread and creamy aged caviar. Served surrounded by edible nasturtiums. The sixth course - Grilled oyster scallop served with a lemon cream and salted capers and wild garlic flowers. The ninth course - Brined sole fish in mastica and mint sea water served with grilled served with Swiss chard poached in warm butter and served with grilled pickled cherries, fennel and Greek caviar with fizzy rhubarb sparkling wine sauce (appearance of a sunflower - the petals are actually dried fennel). The twelfth course - Acidic poppy flower seasoned with sea buckthorn served with caramelizad butter mousse and a toffee of aged hazelnuts (in chocolate choux).

Two of the Cycladic figures from the Leonard Stern collection on loan to the Museum of Cycladic Art.

Sorry I haven’t posted since yesterday morning. Our after noon at the Museum of Cycladic Art was great. We were there for three hours. We followed the museum suggestion of starting on the top floor and working our way down. The top floor held art reflecting scenes from everyday life in ancient Athens. By examining the artifacts on this floor, one learned a lot about the everyday activities of men vs. women, religious practices and the Underworld and funeral customs. The third floor focused on Cypriot Art and Culture. The styles from Cyprus differed significantly from the art of Mainland Greece on the second floor and the Cycladic art on the first floor (what we actually came for). We learned a lot on each floor, but the Cycladic art, particularly the Cycladic figurines were intriguing. Right now there is another special display of “Cycladic treasures” on display in the adjoining Stathatos Mansion. There are 15 of rare Cycladic figures from the collection of American collector Leonard Stern. Based on an agreement ratified by the Greek Parliament recently, this collection in on display in Athens now, then will be returned to be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before being returned (along with over 150 other Cycladic art pieces) to Greece. This sounded great to us until we talked with our tour guide today and found out this agreement is quite the controversy in Greece since the exhibit time at the Met (according to our guide) will be 50 years before their final return. I haven’t checked on this fact yet, but I can understand how some Greeks might feel these items should be returned much sooner. Controversy aside, the 15 figures were quite impressive. I can really see how figures like these might have inspired the work of artists such as Modigliani, Brancusi, and Giacometti. Two example photos to follow. After our afternoon at the museum, it was time to return to our room to enjoy a coffee on the terrace and read. By the time 7:00 pm rolled around, we were dressed for our dinner out at the Delta Restaurant. We called an Uber - there within 3 minutes and headed to the restaurant. It is a very lovely space, quite minimalist. The view over the harbor was very nice. Our 12 course tasting menu was delicious and unique. We enjoyed the wine pairing - champagne for the first five courses, then a curated wine for each following course. I won’t bother you with photos of all of the courses, but will include a few to give you a sense of the chef-inspired creations. We didn’t get back to the hotel until a bit after midnight so it was a challenge to make our 8:00 am tour of Mycenae and Epidaurus. I’ll write about that experience tomorrow morning

The view from our terrace at the Elia Ermou hotel.

I usually don’t do Live reports about a cruise, but decided to try one now that I have a keyboard for my iPhone since typing on my phone is too time consuming. We are leaving on Saturday on the Viking Sky - Athens to Athens, billed as the Greek Odyssey cruise. I booked the cruise back in April during a promotion that was just too good to pass up. We flew Delta from JFK nonstop to Athens, arriving yesterday morning. Our original premium economy seats had been downgraded to Comfort+ when Delta changed equipment and the new plane had no premium economy. After much discussion with Delta, I was able to get them changed to Delta One (helps that we are both Gold Medallion and my husband is a Delta Million-Miler). Even with lie flat seats, flying 9 hours is no fun. I will say that the Delta service is good, but in no way compares to the service we received in September from CDG to Boston in business class on Air France. The food and wine on the Air France flight was so much better than what we received on Tuesday night’s flight in Delta One. Even our premium economy internal flights within Europe on Air France were great - smoked salmon sandwiches on a 2 hr flight! But as far as American carriers are concerned, I still prefer Delta over the other US alternative. Once we arrived in Athens, we had a pre-arranged ride to our hotel. Obviously, arriving at 10:00 am, our room wasn’t ready yet, but the hotel stored our bags and we went out exploring. This is our fourth time in Athens so we have a basic familiarity with the city. It was nice to get some exercise and fresh air. Although it had rained during the early morning hours and was presently cloudy, the temps were in the mid 60s so we couldn’t complain. I had prearranged a late lunch reservation at a restaurant that is a Rick Steves favorite - Mani-Mani. It was a lovely small place, the food was excellent and the service was super. Our problem was that we were tired and not particularly hungry, even though we hadn’t eaten anything since the evening before. Our flight into Athens was bumpy so we didn’t receive a breakfast service on the plane. I felt guilty leaving food unfinished because it was all excellent. Note to self: Don’t book a restaurant on arrival day. By the time we walked back to the hotel from the restaurant, our room was ready. This hotel, the Elia Ermou hotel, is great. If you decide to stay here, definitely book an Acropolis view room on the 6th floor. We have a huge terrace with a retractable awning. The room has two double sliding doors that open up onto the terrace. The Acropolis, lit up at night or under the sunny blue sky in the morning, is quite the sight to behold. Since it is off-season here, this room is only $125 a night. We’re spending a lazy morning in just to sit on the terrace and drink coffee (although their breakfast on the 7th floor with an even more spectacular view is good too). This afternoon, we plan to visit the Museum of Cycladic Art, then prepare for our dinner out, a reservation at Delta, a Michelin 2 star restaurant. The Delta reservation is a gift from our son and his wife. Needless to say, we are not eating anything more until dinner at 20:00 tonight!

We were on Viking Sea (Amazon cruise San Juan to San Juan) welcoming 2020. We were docked in Manaus, Brazil on New Years Eve. Viking had a big party (dancing, sparkling wine, etc) in the atrium area. About 11:45 my husband said we should go out on deck. It’s Brazil, he was sure that they’d have some fireworks. Off we went to the deck area right in front of the Explorers Lounge. There were only two other couples there. At midnight, the sky exploded with fireworks for about a half hour. Everyone downstairs missed the great show that we felt Manaus put on just for us. So if you’re docked somewhere, don’t just stay in the shrouded Atrium!

Thanks! Which tour option did you choose?

Was your private wine tour out of Santiago? If so where did you go and with what tour company?

Because we were flying into Santiago we still are. Will tour there for a few days, then head over to Buenos Aires a few days early. Shouldn’t be too hard to tour on our own for a few days. Just sad we’ll have to Easter Island another time.

I wonder if the Patagonia trips are still a go? Or the Atacama desert? I can understand them canceling Easter Island since it just recently reopened but why the Paraná Delta?

We are booked on Octantis Jan 17-29. We had the Easter Island Pre-excursion booked and several weeks ago we received the email that said it was cancelled. I noticed on MVJ that it still indicates sold out but it has been deleted from our schedule. We are disappointed too. I wonder if they cancelled all their pre-excursions?

Thank heavens. Any idea when disembarkation does take place?

We are disembarking the Octantis (Antarctic Explorer Jan 17-29) and noticed that our disembarkation begins at 12:00 am on the 29th. Will they be sending folks off at midnight for the charter back to Buenos Aires? Our guest statement says not to make air arrangements before 5:00 am. Does anyone know if there will be multiple charters? We are spending extra time in Buenos Aires after the cruise so won’t be flying out to the US that day, but I’m certainly hoping we don’t have to disembark at midnight in Ushuaia!

What cabin category did you have? Did that affect your ability to get the excursions you wanted?

We had the free economy air and air+ for the Antarctic cruise too. I opted to back out and arrange my own tickets. I had so much trouble trying to upgrade my air+ tickets for last summer on Delta (our preferred airlines), I decided not to risk the chance. We prefer Delta1 or business for such long flights. I was told by a supervisor last summer that the Delta contract is not as flexible as it used to be so that’s why they’re using other airlines more. Don’t know that that is true but with all the airlines craziness right now, I’d prefer to work with Delta directly. Our flights have changed once since booking, but I could get in and choose other times quite easily. I check my tickets every morning (we have 3 upcoming trips). That way, I can initiate changes to my liking before Delta even officially contacts us by email about changes to flight schedules. .

I second Bryggeloftet & Stuene. But save room for their Cloudberry Pavlova - the best dessert I had in Norway. Our other favorite is Bjerck on the harbor near the TI, 2nd floor in US terms, 3rd floor in European terms. Their fish soup at lunch was spectacular, but their brunch trays look good, too. Just visited both places in February 2022.

If you are speaking of the Parintins included excursion (the only excursion that day) - Everyone who wanted to go could. The show was spectacular and no buses were needed since the venue was a short distance from the tender dock. We walked around the small town when the show was over. There was a colonial church and the arena where the larger Boi Bumba shows were staged during the yearly festival. We felt safe since it really was a small town. I agree with Jim that in the larger cities you did need to be very away of those around you.

To anyone who is planning for one of the Antarctic expedition trips December 2022 through February 2023: What is your understanding about approximate times that the charter from Ushuaia will arrive in Buenos Aires (at the end of the trip)? I am unsure how early I could schedule a flight back to the US or if I decide to stay a few extra days in Buenos Aires, how much time I might have in Buenos Aires to do something that evening. My guest statement from Viking does not provide guidance on this.

True. However, I like to have control in my initial booking so I book directly with Viking so I can immediately make room choice on the spot rather than waiting for TA to get back with me. I’m always upfront with the. Viking agents that I plan to transfer the booking within a few days. I approve the Viking invoice and have a booking number before transferring. The Viking agents always say to me that most people do transfer so no worries. They still get credit for the initial contact. On occasion I call Viking agents I’ve used before but on more than one occasion that Viking agent has left Viking. When I’m on a cruise and book with the cruise consultant, he or she always asks if I want to move the booking to a TA. To be honest, my TA has done very little for me except the OBC. But I’ve just always called or online chatted with Viking when I have a question about the particular cruise. Sometimes, if I want a more definitive answer I contact tellus@vikingcruises. But we travel independently worldwide a lot so I don’t need much hand holding.

We have been able to use our OBC to book excursions through MVJ. It doesn’t show in our credits but magically appears as we’re adding excursions into our cart.

Actually for our 17 day Panama Canal cruise last November that I transferred to a TA, we got $1000 in OBC for excursions, etc. I think that was quite a perk!