Aegean Day 8: Athens again

We didn't. Feel up to the Parthenon in the heat, that is. We were able to get into our hotel room earlier than expected. What I WISH we had done was go to the Acropolis in the late afternoon when the heat let up. 

We had tickets for an outdoor Greek play in the evening at the Koilon Theatre at the base of the Acropolis. The area was delightful pedestrian streets with outdoor cafes. I'm pretty sure there was a back way to the top from there if only we had come earlier.

Even the taxi driver had trouble finding the place. The small parking lot overlooked the Roman Forum.

From the rooftop you could see the Acropolis.

I had feared the play would be something sappy for tourists, but not at all. The frame had a modern tourist (who emerged from the audience with his cell phone ringing) knocked unconscious and transported back to ancient Greece where a comic tells him stories of the past, including Odysseus

and Medea.

These were speeches from actual ancient plays. One segment included a chorus. The actors were all men as they would have been originally. I was amazed at how little a beard mattered when the character was wearing a female mask. Definitely worth doing.

We flew home the next day. Another marathon of three flights, but all went smoothly. I had picked up Steve's sniffles and wore a mask the whole time. Good thing. When I got home, I tested positive for Covid. Hence these post-dated entries. Sigh. At least I have a microwave for hot food at home.

Aegean Day 7: Mykonos, Greece

Today was supposed to be our tour of the ruins at Delos, but that involved a mile walk in the sun, and I was quite sure I shouldn’t attempt that. Steve’s drippy nose has turned into a miserable cold, so he stayed in the room. I took the “seabus” to the old port and walked around an area much like I imagine Santorini would have been minus the cliffs.

 

I sat down in the shade in several places.

It was Sunday and when the crowd left after morning services, I sat in an Orthodox church and prayed for a bit.

I headed back to the ship before it got too hot. 

There were lots of lovely shops. The only thing that interested me was the clothes, but there was nothing I could imagine wearing in Wisconsin. Besides, it would have taken more effort to choose than I was willing to put in. The other thing that tempted me was the oyster bars, but I was pretty sure my stomach wasn't ready for that.

It did occur to me that one doesn't have to cruise to enjoy Greek islands. I saw signs for B&Bs. One could fly to Athens and take the ferry to someplace quiet and enjoy a week without the crowded cruise ship. Probably not Santorini since I read they are trying to limit the number of tourists.

 

Tonight we have to put out our suitcases before bed. Tomorrow we have to be out of our rooms by 8, but not off the ship until 9:30. Then we have the day in Athens, but of course, can’t get into our hotel room until mid-afternoon. Sigh. I have not been to the Parthenon since 1965. I hope we both feel up to going.

Aegean Day 6: Santorini, Greece

I had really been looking forward to this. Everyone I know who has been here raved about it. But Steve had been hesitant from the beginning about the downhill walking, and I definitely didn’t feel like going anywhere. So this is all we saw of Santorini. 

Ate a little soup for lunch. Joined Steve in the dining room for supper but ate little. The pool area, normally so crowded, was deserted. If only I had felt up to the waterslide!

Aegean Day 5: Ephesus, Türkiye

We were originally scheduled for a tour of ancient Ephesus at 7:45 in the morning, but with the Kavalas, Greece, stop, the ship only arrived at Kusadasi Port at midday and our tour moved to 12:45 PM. Not ideal with temps over 100. 

We were both here nine years ago when we did the 7 church of Revelation tour following the ICETE conference. I was back when the conference was near here. Consequently, I felt no need to take pictures. The reason I chose the tour we did was that it included the Terrace Houses, a wealthy neighborhood, that we hadn’t seen before. 

It was hot. Again, I filled my CamelBak with ice. I soaked my Mammoth Cave Wild Cave Tour bandana in water and draped it around my neck but it soon dried. About the time we entered the covered area at the Terrace Houses, I was feeling sick to my stomach. I sipped ice water from my CamelBak, but was definitely overheated. This was the one place where I DID want to take pictures.

But about half way through I was wondering if it would be better to thrown up on two-thousand-year-old mosaics or on the fiber-glass walkway where people would have to step in it. In the end I sat on some steps and threw up into my bandana. 

Steve had already wandered ahead. But someone else reported to the tour guide that someone was being sick down there. He came back with a couple bottles of water that he had me pour over my head. That helped a lot. Steve and I left the tour and wandered slowly ahead to the bus parking lot where we sat in a café and I drank a 7Up. The bus returned to very near the ship, so it was easy to skip the shopping and carpet exhibit. I threw up again back in our stateroom, although there was nothing left in my stomach to come up so it was just dry heaves. Sigh. Steve went down and cancelled our tours for days 6 and 7.

Aegean Day 4: Dardanelles, Türkiye

Steve got up for breakfast, but I slept late. Some people went back into town this morning or just through the port to the shops around here. We lazed around with no desire to go anywhere. 

Steve has been working on a puzzle in the library. A girl had started it, but said the first one she started got put away, so she left a note on this one, not to put it away, she’s coming back. Steve has been back several times without seeing her, but when he goes, he often finds pieces have been put in, so maybe. [In the end, the puzzle had about 15 pieces missing and a similar number of pieces belonging to different puzzles. Not the most satisfying.]

The “library” has paper backs around the walls, a few computers (but no Internet connection without paying the exorbitant fee), and card tables, so this afternoon (as we sail down the Sea of Marmara) it is full and noisy. The pool area is also full and noisy, and I can’t imagine sitting there without getting terribly sun burned. There is a real lack of indoor areas to sit out of the wind and sun and watch the shore—only the one fairly small lounge on the 14^th deck mid-aft that mostly looks out over the pool area. It has been closed several times for private functions. 

The music around the pool is dance party stuff.  We went to the piano bar one afternoon, but Steve plays better and was irritated by the lack of accurate rhythms. Not our Danube cruise with MPR and Minnesota Orchestra musicians.

 

Leaving Istanbul, we sailed down the Sea of Marmara and through the Dardanelles. Fascinating. A long peninsula came down the starboard side, but wide enough to have towns on it. 

At dusk we went under the longest suspension bridge in the world, built in 2022. Steve sat in the Deck 14 lounge so he passed right under, while I went to the front of the ship and took this video.

Aegean Day 3: Istanbul, Türkiye

 We awoke on the Sea of Marmara, approaching Istanbul. The port district where we docked (about 9) had lovely green roof gardens. We have been to Istanbul before (2015, 2022) so it was easy to resist taking pictures, especially since the skies were cloudy most of the day.

 

We had signed up for an all-day tour. First stop was the Hagia Sophia, my main reason for taking that tour. When we were here before, they were refurbishing for a museum. All was dark and full of scaffolding. Not so now. The main level has been turned back into a mosque (after having been a church for a thousand years.) 

 

Visitors were only allowed in the balcony, but it was all I had hoped.

 

The whitewash the Ottomans had used to cover Christian mosaics in 1453 had been removed.

 

From there we went to the Topkapi Palace, which Steve and I saw in 2022. We had a much more extensive private tour then. This tour focused on the treasury, which we skipped before because of the long line. 

 

This time we stood in line for about 15 minutes and were overwhelmed by the gold and jewels left by the royal family when they fled in the 1920s at the beginning of the republic. My favorite part was the jeweled books.

 

But I took this picture of armor for my grandson.

And, as we left, this shot over the rooftops of the haram which we saw last time.

 

We walked about 15 minutes downhill to a restaurant for lunch. We ended up at a table with a couple from Ireland who had traveled a lot in the US including doing 4 of the 5 National Parks in southern Utah. (They missed Bryce, my favorite.) They are headed to Smokey Mountain National Park this fall. The other two places were a Mexican woman and her almost-80-year-old mother. She reminded me of me traveling to Hawaii with Steve’s mom. "Mom" was flagging and we tried to look out for them the rest of the afternoon. They got a taxi back to the bus rather than the long walk out of the historic district. (Steve and I put in more than 17,000 steps for the day according to my phone.) [I was disappointed that we never ran into the Irish couple or the Mexican women the rest of the cruise, but then with 4000 people on board...]

For both the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque we had to dress respectfully. I had a long dress and a stole for head and shoulders. Steve’s shorts were deemed inappropriately short, and he was given a thin coverall. It didn’t reach as far as his shorts did, so he tied it around his waist. (I should have taken a picture, but didn’t think of it as the time.) The blue Mosque was gorgeous, but hot, so we didn’t stay long.

 

Of course, there was the ubiquitous carpet store stop. Gorgeous stuff. Very expensive although no doubt worth every penny. But I am happy with my handmade Ethiopia carpet and have no place to put another. 

 

Last stop: the Grand Bazaar, a confusing maze of shops under a vaulted rood. We walked from one end to another, made one turn to come back a slightly different way, and retreated to some benches in the shade outside for the last forty-five minutes. They were covered with bird droppings, but I pulled out a scarf from my back pack to sit on and ignored the mess. We were exhausted.

 

We missed our 6PM dinner reservation by quite a bit, but ate pizza on the promenade. Steve went to work on a puzzle in the library a floor below us. I sat on our balcony with my book and a glass of wine and observed the night life below. Very pleasant.

Aegean Day 2: Kavalas, Greece

Today's stop was at Kavala, Neapolis, the seaport of Macedonian Philippi north of Athens. The castle, aqueduct, and old city were early 15^th-c Ottoman, albeit on Roman foundations. 

It was hot. We had seen the heat wave on the news before we left home and been warned that some tours might not function.  At breakfast a kind waitstaff filled the bladder of my CamelBak with ice, which melted slowly during the day and kept me in ice water. We headed for the aqueduct as not being as high as the fortress

But afterwards Steve was game to climb.

 

The old city (surrounded by a much larger modern city that went on along the coast) reminded me of Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian coast, but then I suppose both were Greek civilization. 

There was no place to dock so we had to get tickets for a tender. Ours was not until 9:30. Holds 120 people and we were full, with the next lot waiting in line.

 

I took my life in my hands to walk this narrow walkway along the fortress wall, thinking I could walk all the way around (the other sides being much broader and more secure) but there was no way to get from this walk to the others, just a point where pictures could be taken of the city. Glad I didn’t try to talk Steve into it. He does NOT like heights.

 

On the way back to the ship we stopped in this church that evidently honors Paul’s Macedonian vision.

Got a tender back pretty quick (although as we embarked, I could see the line stretched out from under the shade into the merciless sun. 

Tomorrow: Istanbul

Aegean Day 1: Athens

I have long dreamed of cruising the Greek Islands, so when Steve saw an ad for one at a good price, we jumped at it.

After an exhausting 3-flight trip through Reykjavik and Copenhagen, we arrived at the Athens Gate Hotel 23 hours after leaving home. It's a classic old hotel with tiny elevators that fit the two of us with our luggage but barely. A 10-min walk from the Acropolis, the 8^th-floor restaurant where we breakfasted gives a fabulous view. 

After breakfast I went for a walk around the archeological park across the street. Traffic is heavy, so getting there was challenging with multiple crosswalks at the corner. (That's the acropolis through the arch.)

 

Our driver picked us up a little after 11. We had understood this was a medium-sized ship. Not so. It is one of the largest that exits--3-4,000 people in a holiday resort. (Someone complained last time that I didn't include enough pictures of the ship, so...)

This is the small, adults-only pool, but we never even used that.

Through the center of the ship is a promenade, mimicking the main street of a resort town with shops and bars.

It was multiple stories high. I definitely would not have wanted one of these rooms overlooking the noise.

Exploration led us to this small lounge on the 14th deck at the back of the ship. It was the only indoor place to sit out of the sun and view what we were passing. Everything else was geared toward the pool area with its live music and belly-flopping competitions.

We thought we couldn’t board until 1PM, but we could. We just couldn’t get into our rooms until 1. I was unimpressed with the steamtable buffet lunch.

“Our Danube cruise spoiled us,” Steve said, and he was right.

Dinner was in this elegant dining room, but with so many people to serve, it still wasn't hot. I resisted the temptation to ask for a microwave.

But our stateroom was lovely and spacious. Steve had ordered a room with a balcony. We were on the port side--landward for our clockwise voyage, so it was a great place to get away from the crowds.

 

We ended the day watching the sunset from our balcony. Very pleasant.