Saturday, April 25 – 26
Saturday afternoon, Cheryl and I began another adventure. Departed out of SLC at 4:00 PM and after enduring a 9 hour flight arrived in Paris, Frances. After making our way from one terminal to three additional terminals and maneuvering through security once again, we were able to catch another flight to Athens, Greece. As the show, The Amazing Race depicts, we were the first to arrive at our pit stop. However, our two day excursion, keep in mind that by time we arrived in Paris it was Sunday, the 26th, had only just begun.
After spending some 13 hours in flight the last thing we wanted was lost luggage. Thankfully, our luggage arrives in one piece, well nearly one piece. Yes, TV Buffs we had encountered a Road Block. Cheryl’s brand new duffle bag had been ripped apart at the seams. After meeting our tour guide, who was at the airport to meet us with our name on a sign you know, we always wanted to be someone important arriving at the airport. I’m sure someone there went wow; Jeff Clyde is here at the airport. Gratefully our tour guide made her tip by walking us through customer service and we came away with a new American Tourist Duffle Bag similar to the one Cheryl had purchased.
Another hour in the taxi to Athens and finally arriving at our true pit stop the Philippos Hotel, we freshened up and climbed the hill to the Acropolis. We had run out of daylight and time to take the visitors tour but we were able to walk around the base and see the beautiful remains.
Spent the evening in the Plaka where we visited the shops and ate a true Greek Meal with Greek entertainment. By 9:00 pm we were exhausted for having endured the last two days and hence we retired with visions of a cruise ship tomorrow.
Monday, April 27th
Bright and early we arose and packed our belongings. Our tour guide, Nadine, met us at 9:00 AM and took us to our awaiting Cruise Liner the Aquatic Marine. Again after maneuvering through security and the ageless tourist, we managed to obtain all tickets and passes, and we sat on the deck for the afternoon.
Port of Call, Mykonos, was achieved at 6:00 PM just in time to enjoy the beauty of the village against the setting sun. Mykonos is known for the windmills, the white villages with contrasting Blue roofs and trim, and their churches. Mykonos was created with pirates in mind and to prevent them from robbing the village they created a maze of confusing paths. The streets are narrow and are laid out in a maze. No cars allowed. The village is full of winding roads that diverge into several paths and lots and lots of stairs. Did I tell you that there were lots of stairs in Mykonos.
Departing from the buses, Cheryl and I head into the heart of town. We knew that we wanted to see the windmills, look on the hill there is a windmill, and how do we get there.
After working our way through the maze, and assisting a mother with her groceries up an endless stair way, we were able to locate the windmill on the hill; but look down below along the harbor there is the famous 5 windmills in a row.
No problem, its’ a straight shot down the hill to the windmills. An hour later, we came to realized that Mykonos is a mazing village. It took us over one hour to find our way through a maze of paths, stairs, and shops before finally by chance wandering out into the opening where the windmills were located.
After being confused for over an hour and finding our way out of the maze, we felt we deserved a fresh strawberry, chocolate crepe. Mmmm… is all I’ll say.
Tuesday, April 28th
Kusadasi, Turkey – Envision the land of Turkey, high desert mountain terrains, camels with desert nomadic tribes, and frightening to a great degree. Well if you have envisioned the above like me you have envisioned Turkey wrong. Turkey is a lush beautiful countryside with high mountains, friendly people and so far the most clean country that we have visited. I was very impressed.
Our first stop after arriving was to the House of the Virgin Mary. Here it is believed that John the apostle brought Mary and she lived in the high mountain terrain until she passed away. The original building has been restored to build a shrine to honor Mary. The three springs where she stepped and water came forth providing her water still attracts visitors to the site to taste the water and to leave numerous wishes along the stone wall.
Next, we visited the ancient city of Ephesus III. This was an awesome site. Ancient stone columns still remain of the great city that was used to be. Ephesus was a powerful city since it was located on the sea which has now resided back leaving Ephesus high and dry and hence leading to the final extinction. Marble streets still remain that lead to the important parts of the city, (even the markings of the brothel directing strangers remains in the path) the store fronts, residencies with modern day conveniences, the library, and the great theater where Paul was tried. The great theater was the location where noted in Ephesians Chapter 19 the boy fell from the archway and Paul healed him.
I thought however, that we would never get out of Turkey. Ask one salesman how much for a rug and wholly cow! Some 20 rugs later we finally got a price and even then negotiated down to less than third of price only to realize that we couldn’t afford any such purchase. They tried everything they could to have us buy. The peddlers (maybe imported from Tijuana, Mexico) were ruthless. They would even block the door to the bus enticing you to buy Turkish Delight 2 for 5 euros.
Patmos was the next stop where one stopped and wondered at the sites what all they were beholding. First, the famed Monastery of St. John sits atop the city countryside and contains ancient artifact including manuscripts dating back to the 17th century. Next the grotto where the apostle John , 96 years old, would venture from the city to contemplate and where it is believed that the voice of God spoken to him and revealed the writings of Revelations in the bible. Here a spirit was present and indeed we knew we were where an ancient apostle had been.
Wednesday, April 29th -The island of Rhoades –
Rhodes is the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the celebrated Colossus of Rhodes, a 104 foot high statue of the sun god Helios standing on a stone base 35 ft high. This statue was believed to stand at the entrance to the harbor of Mandraki and possibly served as a lighthouse. In 225 BC it collapsed in an earthquake.
Rhodes is also the site of an enormous fortress constructed by the Knights of St. John. The walls of the fort are over 6 KM long with three moats to maneuver through before gaining access to the interior of the fort. The fort has stood over the length of time and still stands today. Some 5000 people live and work within the old city and are allowed to update the inside of the building but must maintain the exterior façade of the building. The old city has streets of small cobble and take the individual back into time.
Eventually the Knights of St. John were conquered by the Turks and they eventually ended up in Malta. The old city encountered a devasting blow when some300 years later a lightning strike found the gunpowder hidden location of the Knights of St. John and some 900 people were killed in the devastating explosion and fire afterwards.
Next we took a 45 minute trip to Lindo where we rode donkeys to the Acropolis and explored the ruins of the Temple of Athena. Remember that Acropolis means the highest point and hence many acropolises exist now.
We concluded the day exploring more of the old city and shops then back to the boat for sailing to Crete.
Thursday, April 30th-
Rough seas this morning and last night, docked in Crete and Cheryl and I were up and ready for the “Taste of Crete” excursion. An excursion that takes you into the countryside of Crete and sample the many different wines produced. Mm, that sounds good. Oh wait, we can’t taste the wine and we didn’t schedule such an excursion, so back off the bus and back on the ship for another 30 minutes while we await our excursion to Knossis Palace.
This is a huge archeological task to explore the remains of the Knossis Palace. The excavations and reconstruction of the palace begin in 1900 by Robert Evans a British citizen. We then spent a short few minutes in Crete and saw the Fountain of the Lions and then back to the ship for embarking. Hm, maybe we should have stuck with the Taste of Crete Tour.
Rough seas continue until we entered into the harbor of Santorini . This is a beautiful island with towering volcanic cliffs that rise from the bay. Here at the top of the cliffs two villages rest, Thira and Oia.
It is here that everyone sees the beautiful photos of stark white buildings with blue roofs against the sea. It was an awesome sight and a place that all would want to go back to and stay for some time.
The bus ride to the top of the cliffs will always be remember as the bus maneuvered up the switch back road on the cliffs, avoided traffic, and maneuvered through the narrow streets of the villages with parked cars and traffic.
The trip back down the mountain offered the option of three choices, a tram ride, a donkey ride, or walking. Since we had already ridden the donkeys and had walked all we desired we choose the tram. It was a fun and quick ride down the mountainside, however, we experienced a situation that nobody would desire. As we were exiting the tram and descending down a flight of steep steps an elderly gentlemen directly behind Cheryl and I fell. We don’t know if he passed out, tripped, or slipped but the sound of his head striking the marble floor will never be forgotten. The horror of what to do as we were in a foreign country was quickly brought to light. Where do we call for help, should we stay or keep moving to our ship? We made sure that he was still breathing and that medical assistances was on its way before moving to our tender boat concerned about missing our own ship and also concerned for the gentleman and his family. Thus we closed our Greek Isle Cruise and the Aquatic Marine headed back to home port.
Friday, May 1 –
Labor Day and the nation and all of Europe celebrates the spring time and Labor. Hence, we encountered another Roadblock. The workers at the Port of Pireaus were on strike and hence our ship was forced to go the Port Lycona and the crew had to unload the ship. Luckily our travel agency had been notified and Nadine was there to meet the ship as we departed and by 8:30 we were at our hotel Philippos in Athens.
We utilized the day to see all of Athens that we could. First, a walk passes the Temple of Zeus and up the street to the Parliamentary Building to observe the changing of the guard.
Hm, what are all the police for, and is that military personnel also.
Yup, Labor Day is the time for the various unions and individuals to express their displeasure with how the government is handling the economic affairs of state. Watching the news this evening, we see numerous demonstrations across Europe. Paris violence erupts, Amsterdam a lone car crashes through the crowd killing 6 before crashing into a monument and killing the driver, an apparent attempt on the royal family. Luckily, Athens has been comparatively calm while they demonstrated.
Cheryl and I tried to avoid the crowd by moving from the Parliament Center to the highest point in Athens. It was a short walk of some 300 stairs which we thought would never end before catching a vehicular up the mountain side to look out over the city. The trip was well worth the sacrifice.
Retracing our steps we spent a bit more time at the Temple of Zeus. Oh, did I mention that it is a national holiday, Labor Day, and all the national monuments are CLOSED. Surprise you have experienced another Roadblock. Peeking through the fence we took a few photos’ and then moved on to the Acropolis to only find the same thing. We had travelled across the ocean blue and due to the national holiday we are unable to see the great historic sites. Hm, a roadblock, well finding a hole in the fence we were able to slip up to the Parthenon and ….
Okay, the thought only crossed my mind so we satisfied our desire by walking around the base of the Acropolis and taking what photos we could and then a quick walk to Mars Hill where we climbed the hill and observed a great view of the city again.
Time for a nap, some quick shopping and dinner and then off to bed. 4:00 AM comes early in the morning.
