Weekend Sight Seeing Adventure

Okay all you history buffs, what famous Military Fort is in the picture and what battle made the fort famous?

A few hints? Hm..well the original fort was a government project that took nearly fifty years to complete. The original height of the fort was approximately the same elevation as a little more than half the height of the flag poles in the picture. The fort was just recently completed when the battle occurred that made the fort famous. Can you name the fort?

Well maybe our video of our weekend adventure will give you some insight as to the location of the fort and possibly the name. Good luck and enjoy the video.



Yup, we had a lot of fun. Oh, the fort? Nope, not Fort Sullivan. Fort Sullivan is on Sullivan Island across the bay from Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is where the first battle of the Civil War was fought. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the United States at the time. The videos also shows Morris Island which is highlighted in the movie "Glory" and battle to take over Fort Sumter during the Civil War.

Brad Paisley Concert

Well I need to let everyone know how much I enjoyed my birthday gift last night. Not much really to say than it was WONDERFUL!!

Thanks to my awesome family I was able to enjoy a great concert with one of my favorite entertainers.

I almost missed the concert because I failed to check where the location was and when I arrived at the small city amphitheater I got this sick feel'n that I was in trouble. A mad dash across to the west side of the valley and over 45 minutes waiting in traffic lines to get to the parking area... well yea, my emotions were running at full steam.

Luckily, we missed only a few songs of the opening act with Jimmy Wayne,but "Do You Beleive Me Now" was a great way to start the concert and then Dierks Bentley got us all going "Sideways" and I couldn't believe "What was I thinking".

I was well ready to "Get a little mud on the tires" when Brad began to entertain us. Songs about celebrities,alcohol, mud, women, and fish'n; well I appreciate Brad's insight into life. I have been a fan of Brad Paisley for a long time now and he didn't let us down last night. This guy is one high class act and the real thing.

Nothing better than sitting with my better half and listening to some great music for the evening.

Sheep Dogs and Splash Dogs

Jenny called this morning and said the she and the kids were on there way to Soldier Hollow Border Collie Competition. Cheryl and I said, "Why not" and hurried and packed our belongings and headed up to meet them.



Now I nor Cheryl have ever been to a Border Collie Sheep Herding competition and had no idea what to expect. I had imagine a collie chasing a few sheep around, yelping at their heels and driving them into a pen. Hm, well I was somewhat close but it was much more complicated than my simple mind could imagine.

The collie would have to search and find the sheep on the hillside and then drive them through a gate, drive them to the sheep herder, turn them and drive them back up the hill through another gate, across the hillside through the last gate and then back to the pen. Once at the pen, the collie would spilt the herd for a brief moment and then drive them into a fenced pen. The owner and their dog would receive points for each task and it all had to be accomplished within 15 minutes. No small feat when you consider that the owner would give directions to the dog by way of whistles. Nothing but amazing.


Included in the competition were the Splash Dogs. This was a lot of fun to watch as the dog owner would hold a retrievable toy (rules would not allow anything that was alive or could be eaten) and throw it into the pool and the dogs would run and jump into the pool and retrieve the toy. Just look at these dogs fly!

Well as you can see by the pictures, we had a lot of fun watching these skilled dogs compete in an amazing way. We'll definitely keep this as a fun activity for future years to come.

Master of the Helm and Fishing

Woke up yesterday morning with the urge to go fishing, fly fishing that is. However, we first had to try our hand at mastering the premium water skiing boat. Taylor has been dying to have us join him on his new boat and show us his new toy and his hot dogging skills.

After a few loops about the lake and becoming comfortable operating the boat, we began to see if I had indeed master the skills to operate the craft. Taylor, first with his solo ski on instructed me to hit the throttle and at 30 mph back off and settle in at a cruising speed of 33 mph. Hey, right! Off we went. Oh, now you tell me about the perfect pass setting. Okay this isn't so difficult.



Taylor was able to enjoy the early morning slightly calm lake has he moved from his ski, to wake board and finishing up on the surf board. Hey wait a minute where's the photo of Captain Jeff, Master of the Helm? Hm, my photography crew may be heading for a brusin.








This evening, I venture out onto the river to enjoy some fly fishing. This evening's fishing demostrates my abilities as a fisherman. I hooked one pig of a trout and landed another pig. Hm, the pig I landed has two hooks... hey that is my fly that the first pig took when he snapped my tippet. Yup, that's right, I hooked a fish that snapped my line and so I grabbed another fly and "Fish On!" was the cry.
Best of all I got my first fly back and my pig was let go for another day of fishing.



Hey, it would have been nice to have a photo of my pig. I tried reaching my photo crew by radio but some lame excuse that the battery had died was all I got.

So you'll just have to enjoy photos of my son surfing here and yes, I'm the captain creating the perfect wake for him to surf. I'm sorry, everyone will just have to believe that I am the Master of the Helm and a grand fisherman.

2009 Adventure #6 Gooseberry

Yesterday, Cheryl and I found ourselves with the whole day to our self's. Hm...packed the car with some goodies and lunch, grabbed our fly rods and we were off first thing in the morning for an all day adventure.

We drove to Gooseberry Canyon with the thought of exploring our potential camping areas to bring the family or get away for a weekend. This area was beautiful. Halfway up Gooseberry, we pulled over and looked back down the canyon and were just taken back with the colors and scenery. I would highly recommend this drive to anyone, I'd even volunteer to be your guide if you would like.


Cheryl accused me of taking the drive to check out the construction project near the summit. Yes, the project was interesting and I took some mental notes as we proceeded through the project; however, being with my wife away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoying the great outdoors was what today was all about.


Our journey took us over the summit and into Lost Creek and down Seven Mile Creek. We were able to stop and walk about a bit enjoy the scenery. No pressure to hurry just take our time. As we returned home via Fish Lake we made several side trips to places of interest.

It was an awesome day to spend together and just take in the greatness of the day.

2009 Adventure #5 - Camping

I'm a bit behind in my blogging so I'm going to try and catch up on some of the awesome adventures and fun that Cheryl and I have been having recently.

The last week of June amidst trying to complete a CM/GC Proposal, we loaded up the trailer that we had purchased last year and invited all to come with us on a camping trip over the weekend.

Friday evening, we pulled into the campsite just as a large thunderhead storm arrived also. Philip and Jenny were racing to stake their tent down and trying to keep all their belongings from blowing downstream. Taylor arrived just shortly after Cheryl and I and with his assistance we leveled the trailer out and open the doors and everyone climb in and enjoyed a good old fashion rain storm. We played games and just enjoyed visiting with everyone.


Saturday, we enjoyed the beaches (what we could actually stake out) of Jordanelle State Park. We built sandcastles and as you can see it was also fun to for some to smash some of the structures made of sand. It didn't take long for my engineering blood to come out and we even constructed a mammoth dam. Even the Corp of Engineers would be amazed at the innovations and quality of this earthen dam embankment.


Saturday evening, I pulled out the Dutch Ovens and cooked a feast for everyone to enjoy. The mosquitoes were a pain that we had to deal with and it made fishing that evening very unbearable. We all went to bed tired. Sunday, with a bit of luck, I was able to land one small fish that Adyson and Lexi enjoyed touching. Adyson even got to release it back into the river with a mighty throw that sent the fish about halfway across the river.


It was fun to get together with our children and grandchildren and spend time fishing, riding bikes, playing on the beach and just enjoying life. Even Porter enjoyed his first camping experience.

We were just living the dream.

Mud on the Tires

Yesterday, Cheryl and I set out to do some fly fishing. However, Mother Nature was not cooperating and due to the ominous thunder clouds, we detoured and began another road adventure.

"There's a place that I know about. Where the dirt road runs out. We can try out the four wheel drive. Come on now, what do you say. Girl I can hardly wait.
To get a little mud on the tires".
-Brad Paisley

Well in Central Utah, we found where the dirt road runs out and tried out the four wheel drive. We could hardly wait to get a little mud on the tires as you can see.

Wait, is that Tay in the picture. How did he get there?

Hm.. well let's just say with a bit of shoveling, jacking, three tow straps and three hours later we managed to get a lot of mud on the tires!

Home Again, Home Again, Jigging Jig

Saturday, May 9th

Nearly became Roman citizens this morning. We arose at 4:00AM to catch our Delta flight. Taxi picked us up on time and soon we were dropped off with no questions asked in front of Terminal 5. Wait a minute the guard gates are all down and the taxi can’t even pull up to the curbside and the Terminal 5 is close? Our Taxi driver casual says well this is terminal 5 unloaded our luggage in the road and left us standing in the street wondering if we were in the right place.

Inquiries with all the airport employees reporting to work only indicated that Terminal 5 is closed and would open at 6:00 AM. Hm.., our flight leaves at 7:20 AM, and the terminal doesn’t open until 6:00 AM, okay maybe the Italian’s are more laid back then we thought. A few more early morning travelers arrive but nobody is going to Paris from this special American Terminal? Finally, terminal opens we rush into the ticket counter to obtain our tickets and only find no employees staffing the counter. Departure board doesn’t even show a flight leaving from Terminal 5 to Paris.

Guess what we have experienced a DETOUR Which way do we go?


By chance we were able to team up with a fellow American and his shuttle driver, a quick call to airport operator indicated that the Delta flight was being operated by Air Frances and would depart on time out of Terminal B. It is now 6:10 AM. The shuttle driver graciously transfers us and our fellow American to the proper terminal. It was a mad rush to find Air France, purchase tickets, proceed through security where they made us strip down to our skivvies almost, and run to the gate to begin boarding our flight. Luckily, we had found a great shuttle driver who made the difference.

Our flight then proceeded to Paris, where it began all over again. I’m starting to feel like O.J. Simpson in the old Hertz advertisements running thorough the airport and hurdling over anything our way. Paris we though that we had plenty of time only to find the security line stretching from Paris to New York. Fortunately, a security worker kept the next scheduled flight moving through security and with no resting from running from security to the gate we boarded our final connection to home.

We’re now off the ground and heading home…ZZZZZZ

The Roman Empire

Friday, May 8th

Ah, finally our last destination by quirt of the flight schedule was the Roman Empire. After catching our early morning flight from Malta, we arrived in Rome around 11:30 AM. A quick nap and we had half a day to conquer Roman. Hm, I think that we came awfully close to seeing everything but the Vatican and we’re not Catholic so who cares.





We walked I believe through all of the ages of Rome, beginning with the 16th century and right through the 17th, 18th, 19th and finally ending in the 21st century. First stop was a tour of the Coliseum where the spectators were entertained with life and death. They even had the opportunity to sway whether Caesar should put a gladiator to death for failure to perform or not. Hm, and they think that we live in a barbican world today.

Next, we visited the Forum where the Roman City was originally created by Rameus. Here we witnessed and walked through the great temple of Rameus and saw the wealth of the Empire in those days. The marble may be all gone, as our tour guide indicated “borrowed by the Vatican, but the expanse of the temples and the city is remains. By this time we had only walked through the 16 and 17th century and our walk was just beginning in the few short hours that we had to discover Rome.

A casual and much need dinner along a street café was enjoyed and our waiter was most helpful in assisting to ensure that we had a relaxing, no hurry meal. Next we moved through the city to the Fountain of Trevor, the Pantheon, and finally the …… well a long, long walk back to the 21st Century which brought us back to the Coliseum where we enjoyed our last coke and tribute to Caesar before departing to our hotel to gain a few short hours of sleep before catching our early morning flight to Paris and Home.

The Malta/Gozo Experience

Saturday, May 2nd-

Our day began bright and early, hm. okay not so bright since it was 4:00 AM and still dark but early yes. We took one of our favorite shortcuts today by utilizing our Greek Taxi Driver. All of our scheduled transfers this week were achieved with a Greek Taxi Driver and his BMW Taxi Cab. The two of them combined made the trips very quick and short.

Arrived at Athens Airport at 5:30 AM and caught our flight to Rome. Arrived at Rome at 8:30 AM and we were beginning to think that we will be in Malta by 12:30 PM. We even made a smooth transfer to the new terminal and gate ready to catch our transfer flight to Malta. Let’s just say it was too easy. We arrived at the new gate to find out that the flight had been delayed and instead of a one hour layover we were now faced with three hours. ROADBLOCK - some 4 hours later, three different gates, and the European courtesy of none, we were able to finally board a plane, hopefully, to Malta and take off. Needless to say our nerves were about ready to short circuit.

Arrived in Malta around 2:00 PM, rented our car and began the excursion to our resort. Hence, we begin another awesome adventure driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road. Cheryl, why do the windshield wipers keep coming on when I signal? Oh, the windshield wiper handle is on the left and the signal handle is now on the right. Another bad habit to break, I guess.
Located the Golden Sands Resort around 3:30 PM and spent the evening unpacking for the week, exploring the amenities of the resort and just RELAXING after all we are on vacation.


Sunday, May 3rd

First time since leaving on vacation, Cheryl and I slept in until 10:00AM. It appears that our relaxing vacation is beginning to get the better of us. Both of us our sunburn, Cheryl has developed a cold and now hives this morning. Hopefully, it’s not the Swine Flu that the world is now concerned about; even two cases were reported yesterday in Italy. Hm…we were in Rome yesterday to to speak of it. Did nothing all day…now we’re relaxing and on vacation. The only true effort that we made was to walk down to the bar near the beach for a Fruit Fantasy treat. A wonderful tall dish of various fruits and topped with ice cream. Mmm


Monday, May 4th

Our batteries recharged and now refreshed, we ventured out onto the “wrong side” of the road. First stop was to the ancient ruins and underground excavation of Hypogeum. This is a excavation site all underground of the Neolithic burial grounds (3600 -3000BC). This is such a significant find that they do everything possible to protect the integrity of the site which includes only allowing 80 people a day into the site. Therefore, we had a scheduled appointment for 9:00 AM to tour the site. No problem, plenty of time, think again, remember we are driving on the “wrong side” of the road and more important we have no idea where we are going.
After searching for an hour, driving pass the site 3 times (its all underground not visible from the street level), and stopping and asking for assistances 3 times we finally figured out that we were on the right street. Managed to Parallel Park the vehicle and walking up the street a bit we located a small door way with the entrance to the Hypogeum marked alongside. Okay, we are only 15 minutes late and slipped into our tour group just as the opening preview video was concluding. Ah, we made it.

Next stop luckily was the Tarxien Temples excavation site and even more important was the fact that we could walk to the site from the Hypogeum and didn’t have to move the vehicle. This site is full of megalithic structures that were excavated in 1914 and date from 3600 to 2500 BC. The remains of a large statue of a broad-hipped female figure were located on the site and is a common replica of the times.

The remainder of the afternoon, we spent in the Three Cities area. The three cities consisting of Senglea, Vittoriosa, and Cospicua closely knitted working communities dependent upon their dockyards for employment. The largest city Vittoriosa has a population of approximately 6000 people. We parked our vehicle at the start of the port and began our walking tour of the city here. Our little walk began at the Advanced Gate 1, where the Malta at War Museum is located. Here we climbed to the top of the fortress walls and could see across the bay to Senglea. World War II air raid shelters are still visible. Next, at the Church of the Annunciation, we toured the Inquisitor’s Palace. A brief stop in Liberty Square for lunch and soaking in of the street life we moved to the Sacra Infermeria, the first hospital to be constructed b y the Knights of St. John on their arrival in Malta. It now serves as a active convent. We then wandered through the streets of the village, and saw numerous homes.

We concluded our walking tour by walking down onto the warf where we could see the Fort St. Angelo and taking a harbor cruise in a small boat around the port of the three cities. During the harbor cruise it was pointed out how during World War II, the military utilized this harbor to stage their command area. Even still gun installations can be seen.

Thus ended the day and back to the resort just beating the rush hour traffic.


Tuesday, May 5th

After getting back from our travels yesterday, we thought that maybe there is a better way to explore the sites then driving each day? Hence, we book with the resort a bus tour of Mdina and Rabat. After traveling in a small bus transferring to a large bus and realizing that half of the group spoke German, we actually began the tour an hour later.

Our tour gave us a taste of the areas of Mdina and Rabat. First stop was the Mdina fortress again built by the knights of St. John. Outside of the inner city Mdina offered sites such as the St. Paul Cathedral, the Catacombs of St. Agatha,


and the Dingli cliffs which extend some 274 meters above the sea level providing a strategic location for defending the island and monitoring the air space above.



In Rabat, the Ta’Qail craft village, the remains of the air force airfield during World War II, was Cheryl’s favorite. Here a glass blowing factory and store to purchase the glassware. Handmade crafts and shops of a wide variety offered, tempted and often times succumbed too kept her attention.

Our final stop was the Mosta Cathedral Dome, the third largest in the world. This dome cathedral was constructed over the original church and when close to completion the original church was removed from the site. A beautiful church which depicted scenes from the savior’s life around the circumference of the dome. The miracle of this dome was during World War II, 300 people were inside the church when an air raid took place. During the air raid, a German bomb crashed through the dome but did not explode and thus 300 people were saved. A replica of the bomb is located here in the church today.

Tomorrow we take the vehicle back out and head to Valletta.


Wednesday, May 6th

Valletta was the destination today. After several rounds of consideration of options, we decided to take the shuttle bus to Valletta from the hotel and parked our trusted vehicle for another day. Once at Valletta, we walked the city streets and within the few short hours (6 hours) accomplished in seeing the Malta Experience, a 45 minute history of Malt;
toured the Casa Rocca Piccola the Palace of the ninth marquee.



We then made a very quick walk through of St. Johns Cathedral; and finally the Upper Gardens of Barrakka a birds eye view of the surrounding cities and the Grand Harbor.




Satisfied that we had seen everything possible that we could see, hm… well at least tired of walking up and down the stair lined streets and exhausted we caught the shuttle back to the hotel.


Thursday, May 7th

The end of our Malta Experience came to a conclusion by spending the day on the island of Gozo. During our drive to the ferry, we came to learn about a village they call Popeye Village. Hm, that is right Popeye the movie we believe was filmed right here on Malta. The ferry boat ride was only twenty minutes long and we were off the boat and onto our bus to begin the tour of Gozo. First stop was the Azur Window at Dwejra where we with our new English friends John and Irene stepped into a small boat and explored the caves and observed the Azur Window. The colors of the sea were numerous and beautiful.

Indeed, the highlight of the whole day was riding the waves and enjoying the scenery. Lunch at Xlendi Bay and then onward to the citadel of Victoria where one could see a 360 degree panoramic view of the Island.



Our last and final destination of the day was the ancient Temples of Ggantija. This was a beautiful day and a great way to end the day and week on Malta. ROADBLOCK – I hate these dam roadblocks! Evidently, during one of the stops of the day, suspected school children rummaged through my backpack and took my cell phone, I know, dumb I but it left a damper on a great day. After a thorough search of our luggage and a few e-mails we had achieved in disconnecting the phone and felt at ease for the remainder of the trip or until another roadblock surfaces.

Despite the events of the day, some interesting facts include: a low crime rate where the home owners will leave their keys chained to the front door; the homeowners will name their homes after the places they have lived in previously; the bus drivers all own their own bus and belong to an association that maintains equality amongst the drivers for fares; and their language has an Arabic base with Italian and English influence. Indeed our Malta/Gozo experience has been an experience.

The Greek Isles

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.