Just back! Our VIKING SKY-mazing 7 day Ancient Mediterranean Treasures - 6/25 to 7/2/2022. Full trip report with tons of pix!

[Sleep7]

Much cooler today.. these dogs looked pooped though.😛

 

[Sleep7]

Then it was the special dinner which was relocated from the Aquavit Terrace to the World Cafe due to the wind.

The expertly prepared Gyros with a smile turned out to be one of my favorite meals of the week.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

22 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Ha, we had 4111 summer of 2021 for an Iceland cruisecon the Sky.  I understand since then it was upgraded with 3 drawers inside the closet.  Did not like the long walk to the elevators especially when we were forgetting something and having to walk back.  Love the Sky though.

Hi TayanaLorna!

I actually didn't mind the cabin location.. would have been a bit better to be closer to the laundry room maybe? 💁‍♀️

[Sleep7]

13 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

Thanks so much for these wonderful posts. We will be travelling through the same ports in a couple of months. As well as being informative your enthusiasm is infectious and the photos are also building our excitement! The images of the daily are particularly helpful for planning. We look forward to following the rest of the series.

👋Oh thanks so much photopro2 for your very sweet compliments about the tone of my blog.  I'm SO glad that the pix and the info are getting you excited for your trip!!  I'm truly have a wonderful time posting every moment.😊

[TayanaLorna]

Love all your photos.  Thank you for writing this. It is interesting to learn how things on board have gone back to normal.  I noticed the Nordic Bathing Ritual is being offered again.  It was not during our 2 Covid times cruises.  Happy to see you still get masks and hand sanitizer.  

[Sleep7]

 

👋Goodbye mountains of Crete!

 

 

[Sleep7]

1 minute ago, TayanaLorna said:

Love all your photos.  Thank you for writing this. It is interesting to learn how things on board have gone back to normal.  I noticed the Nordic Bathing Ritual is being offered again.  It was not during our 2 Covid times cruises.  Happy to see you still get masks and hand sanitizer.  

Oh thanks so much TayanaLorna!  I appreciate the kind words about my reporting.

Yes.. things are much closer to normal than compared to last fall.  Not 100% normal but pretty close.

It was a wonderful week!

[Let Me Travel!]

I’m looking for a Med Cruise in either 23 or 24…you have made me want to go! Love your sense of humor…I’m not a whiner either, but just looking at those dogs made my arms feel very long and my heart was longing for shade! Keep the information coming! I’m loving it! 

[TayanaLorna]

5 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

Hi TayanaLorna!

I actually didn't mind the cabin location.. would have been a bit better to be closer to the laundry room maybe? 💁‍♀️

Our favorite cabin location is forward near but not at the elevators and yes closer to the laundry.  Love just going up and being at the Explorers Lounge or down and walking to the spa in my robe.  Question - do you still need a reservation to use the Spa facilities?  When we had 4111 we were in Iceland and doing all day excursions with lots and lots of walking so we got tired of walking so far on the ship in order to get anywhere.

[Sleep7]

With out belly full of delicious Officer prepared Gyros we walked around the ship and looked at the menu for the Chef's Table.  We had actually had this same meal on our last cruise so we didn't try to book a table for it.

 

 

[Sleep7]

Last but not least for the day.. the Beatles tribute show in the Star theater was AMAZING! 

The Viking Fab Foursome sang, danced and captured the hearts of the entire audience.  At the end they had us all waving our cell phone flashlights like "we were at Wembley."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

18 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Our favorite cabin location is forward near but not at the elevators and yes closer to the laundry.  Love just going up and being at the Explorers Lounge or down and walking to the spa in my robe.  Question - do you still need a reservation to use the Spa facilities?  When we had 4111 we were in Iceland and doing all day excursions with lots and lots of walking so we got tired of walking so far on the ship in order to get anywhere.

😃Hi! I wish I could answer your spa reservation question but we didn't partake of the spa at all so I honestly don't know.🤷‍♀️

[Sleep7]

TUESDAY - RHODES, GREECE

 

 

Also the first of 3 surveys.. only the best things to say!👏

 

 

[Sleep7]

27 minutes ago, Let Me Travel! said:

I’m looking for a Med Cruise in either 23 or 24…you have made me want to go! Love your sense of humor…I’m not a whiner either, but just looking at those dogs made my arms feel very long and my heart was longing for shade! Keep the information coming! I’m loving it! 

Hi Let Me Travel!

I'm so glad that my report is making you chuckle and also inspiring you to take a med cruise!

Thanks so much for letting me kn ow.

I felt bad for those dogs too.. they were just splayed out on the sidewalk.

They didn't seem to be in distress though.. maybe the sidewalk was just cooler there?

[Sleep7]

Good morning Rhodes!

Woke up to the sunrise and a pilot boat guiding us into the harbor. 

Photos can't fully capture what a beautiful walled city Rhodes is. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by Sleep7

[Sleep7]

Today's shout out is to the entire staff of the World Cafe! No matter what time you are there.. breakfast, lunch or dinner.. 6am or 6pm there are always there with genuine smiles ready to welcome you and make you feel right at home.

 

 

[Sleep7]

We chose the "Jewish Tour of Rhodes" today as we are Jewish and it's always interesting to learn more about our heritage.

It was a great choice.. our guide was fantastic.  Greeted us with a hearty "Boker Tov" which means Good Morning in Hebrew. 

 

[Sleep7]

Before World War II there was a thriving Jewish community in Rhodes and in Greece.

Here is some information about their history.

 

"For 2,300 years, Jews have lived on the island of Rhodes at the southern tip of the Aegean Sea. The community became Sephardic in the sixteenth century, and was among the most renowned Sephardic communities in the world. The synagogue in Rhodes, Kahal Shalom, was built in 1575 and is the oldest functioning synagogue in Greece."

 

First stop was the Jewish Cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

The trees actually looked like menorahs to us.

 

[Sleep7]

Then we continued onto the city center.  I was truly wowed by how truly beautiful and medieval the city of Rhodes is.  We had visited Carcassonne on our previous Viking cruise last fall and Rhodes was equally as impressive with its mostly intact layers of city walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Next stop was the Jewish section of town and the Kahal Shalom Synagogue which also houses the Jewish Museum.

 

 

On July 20, 1944, the Jews of Rhodes and the neighboring island of Kos were sent by boat to the Greek mainland and then deported by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only 151 Jews from Rhodes survived the Holocaust.

 

[Sleep7]

 

 

 

This is a Katuba which is a wedding contract that is signed when you are married by a Rabbi.

 

 

[Sleep7]

There were wonderful historical photographs of Jewish Life in Rhodes.

 

 

[Sleep7]

The names of each Rhodian victim of the *** were written on these pages.. very sobering.

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Also fascinating and heartwarming were how 42 Jews were saved by the Turkish Consulate General Selahattin Ulkum.  He insisted that the *** release the Jews of Turkish citizenship before deportation.  He is honored as one of the "Righteous Among Nations" at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem for his bravery.