European Adventure: Eastern Mediterranean Cruise (Day 1)

We had always dreamed of visiting the Greek islands, and at last our dream came true in May 2011 when we celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary onboard the Jade. Mr. P did his research and found that NCL had the best Greek itinerary for us. The cruise departed from Venice, Italy on Saturday, May 14 and made a round-trip voyage through the Greek islands in 7 days. We visited Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Olympia (Katakolon). Santorini and Mykonos were the top two places in Greece that we wanted to visit and NCL was the only ship that visited those two islands in one trip.

The first night we were invited to a cocktail party with the ship's captain in one of the ship's lounges. We had a few hors d'oeuvres (our favorite was the canapes stuffed with prosciutto, cream cheese and dried fruit) and drinks before heading out to dinner at Paniolo Tapas & Salsa.

Although the restaurant sounds Spanish, it actually serves Mexican food, which happens to be one of our favorites! We went a little overboard when ordering food but here is what we ate (of course we didn't eat it all!)

From the chef: Nachos with a trio of dips, including fresh salsa dip, cheese dip and a mango, tomato and lime dip

Cristy's appetizer: Taquitos with pulled pork, beans, jack cheese and ranchero sauce

Cristy's salad: Ensalada Tostada - toasted flour tortilla filled with lettuce, corn, avocado, tomatoes, black beans, cheddar cheese, eggs and strips of fajita beef

Michael's appetizer: Pulled ranchero beef quesadilla with Monterey jack cheese

Michael's soup: Sopa de Tortilla - chicken broth, cheddar cheese, chicken croutons (square chucks of chicken breast), avocados and tortilla chips

The waitress at the restaurant recommended the Il Popo as an entree and said it was big enough to share. Thank goodness we did, because it was a huge! It came with grilled chicken and skirt steak, peppers, onions, tomatoes, pineapple, jalapeno, Mexican rice, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream. We loved the presentation of the dish and tried to figure out how we could replicate it at home!

For dessert, we had flan with dulce de leche and a caramelized margarita tartlet.

Next we will blog about our first stop: Corfu, Greece! Stay tuned!