An Athens Adventure

Athens, Greece November 11, 2011

We left the Silver Wind with a bit of sadness this morning, went into the port terminal, collected our luggage and headed for the taxi stand to find a cab to take us to our hotel in Athens. Lynda negotiated a fare of 15 Euros and we were on our way. Our cab driver, Eunysis, almost immediately started to make a deal with us to show us the sites of Athens this afternoon. Our plan had been to find our hotel, reconnoiter the area and then tomorrow take a get on-get off bus to all of the major sites. Eunysis told us the weather was suppose to be cold and rainy tomorrow and that he would show us the sites today for 20 euros an hour. After much discussion between Tim and Lynda it was decided we would take Eunysis up on his deal. So after dropping our luggage at the hotel we got back in the cab and headed for the Acropolis.

On the way he explained that we could buy one ticket for each of us that would get us into all the major sites. When we arrived at the parking lot below the Acropolis Eunysis pointed out the direction we should go to get to the ticket office but first there was something he needed for us to do. He asked Tim to take a package to his cousin who was waiting about 50 meters up a path by the parking lot offering to knock 10 Euros off the price of our tour. His cousin, Arestes, would be waiting in a small opening wearing a brown leather jacket. We agreed to deliver the package. Little did we know that Arestes name would be so prophetic. Tim found the opening in the trees and Arestes without a problem. However, as he handed the package to Arestes, a small but sinewy built man jumped out from behind a tree and grabbed at the package. Tim saw the flash of a long stiletto the intruder was holding and, with speed that he did not know he possessed, kicked at the attacker’s arm, sending the attacker to the ground and the knife skittering across the ground. Before Tim could react any further, Arestes grabbed the knife and slit the throat of the attacker. Tim fled back down the path towards the cab. He was met about half way down by police. With an immense sense of relief he stopped to explain the situation but before he could two police officers grabbed him and roughly carried him the rest of the way down the hill to the waiting taxi that was now surrounded by police cars and officers. We were loaded in one police car, Eunysis, now hand cuffed, was put in another. We were all taken to a police station where we were told to wait and Eunysis was led away, never to be seen again. The police separated us and began questioning us, ignoring our pleas for the right to call the U.S. Embassy. After several hours we were brought back together, released and taken back to our hotel with no explanation as to what had happened. Needless, to say we needed a drink so we headed to the nearest taverna and were shocked when we entered and saw Arestes sitting on a stool at the bar, smoking a cigarette and nursing a bottle of beer.

The above paragraph was for our beloved son, Jeff, who was convinced that our description of the ride through the old town of Alexandria with our driver, Mustafa, sounded straight out of a Robert Ludlum novel. Here is what really happened. We did, in fact, catch a cab at the port driven by a driver named Eunysis and he did offer to show us the sites in Athens, an offer we accepted. We spent a wonderful, albeit, tiring four hours visiting some amazing places. The first stop was the Acropolis. The Acropolis sits on top of the highest hill in Athens and was the seat of the Greek government when it was built in 430 B.C. The surviving buildings are immense and we were in awe of the views looking out over Athens from the Acropolis. As with the Pyramids in Egypt, one cannot begin to comprehend how these structures could possibly be built over 2000 years ago. It took us over 45 minutes to walk to the top of the Acropolis, wander among the various buildings and climb back down to our cab. From the Acropolis we went to the Temple of Zeus, which is also the site of Hadrian’s gate. When built, the Temple of Zeus contained 104 columns of which 16 are still standing. Hadrian’s gate separated the old, original part of Athens from the newer city. We’re talking thousands of years ago. Fortunately the Temple was on fairly flat terrain and easy to walk about. Eunysis next took us to the stadium that hosted the first of the Modern Olympic games in 1896. The stadium has a seating capacity of 60,000 people and by present day standards is not very impressive. 116 years ago we are sure the Olympic athletes of the world thought it to be quite something. From the stadium Eunysis took us to the Roman Agora and the Tower of the Winds. The Agora was the first major market built by the Romans in Athens. The Tower of the Winds was a combination clock and weather station. There was once a bronze weather vane atop the Tower that showed the direction of the wind and the tower itself acted as a sundial. There was some sort of water device inside the Tower that showed the time of day on cloudy days and after dark. At this point Eunysis pointed out a nearby square where we would find some shops and cafes and told us to take an hour to browse about. We took advantage of this time for a welcome beer and glass of wine and a light lunch. After lunch we did drive by’s of the University of Athens (the original Spartans? J), and the Parliament building and then drove through Plaka, a wonderful neighborhood of small streets filled with many restaurants and shops. We plan to head back there tonight for dinner. Our last stop was the Ancient Agora, the Temple of Hephaestus and the Stoa of Attalos. These were all on one site and very impressive ruins. In one of the displays here we saw examples of devices for timing speeches, a system for selecting jurors and an explanation of the system of ostracism where the citizens of Athens voted for the person they did NOT want to hold an office. These people were sent away from Athens for 10 years. Maybe we should use this system in the States then all of the politicians would be sent away for 10 years. Couldn’t hurt.

Our hotel, while attractive and comfortable inside, is not particularly well located. We are right in the middle of the Central Market area which during the day is abuzz with activity but after dark may not be quite so exciting. We will use a cab to get to where we want to go tonight. Who knows? Maybe we will have another adventure!

Good Evening. It is 8:30 and we are back in our room after a lovely evening out. We walked to the Plaka area and found a little pedestrian street with lots of enticing little shops. After a bit of window shopping and buying we went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by one of the shopkeepers. After the extravagant four course meals we have had on board our ship, a simple dinner of moussaka, Greek salad and wine was wonderful. While at dinner a guitar player came in and started playing and singing near our table. Lynda, as she is want to do, started flirting with him and, of course, he ended up at our table. We assume he was playing and singing Greek folk or popular songs. We couldn’t tell. It was all Greek to us! (Insert groan here.) The guitar playing was very good and it was understated. Unfortunately, he blew it because he started singing Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” as he left our table. After dinner we did a bit more shopping and walked back to our hotel in a brisk wind. Probably mid to low 50’s. When we got back to our room we were treated to a spectacular view of the Acropolis, lit at night, from the window of our 8th floor hotel room. How spectacular is it? Tim thinks it is even better than watching Keith Nichol catch a “Hail Mary” pass from Kirk Cousins as time expires in the 4th quarter against Wisconsin. We will see what tomorrow brings. We would like to see the changing of the guard at the Parliament Building, but it depends on the weather.
The next post has more pictures of Athens.

Pictures of the Acropolis

From top to bottom:

The Theatre of Dioysus
The Parthenon
The Pandrosieon
Us in front of the Acropolis
The Acropolis from our hotel room

Nauplia, Greece

Nauplia, Greece, November 10, 2011

Short blog today. We are currently anchored off the coast of the Greek island, Nauphia. There is probably some historical significance to Nauplia but we are not sure what it is. Tim went into town on the tender from the ship on his own this morning. He spent about 45 minutes at a café with WIFI and another 30 walking about town. It is a lovely town situated on a pretty little harbor. There is an imposing fort on a large hill overlooking Nauplia. Nauplia is very much like Heraklion, Crete in that there are many interesting shops both locally and chained owned. Tim did not see a market/bazaar as we saw yesterday in Heraklion. It was once again a beautiful day for a stroll about town which Tim enjoyed thoroughly. We arrive in Athens at 7:00 tomorrow morning when we will disembark the ship, so the rest of today will be spent packing. We will spend three nights in Athens, flying home on Monday, the 14th. We will undoubtedly post one more blog about the sites we see in Athens.

Someplace Familiar?

Heraklion, Crete, Greece, November 9, 2011

Today we left the exotic east and returned to the comforts and familiarity of the west. We will not miss the filth, particularly in Egypt, nor will we miss the overly aggressive hawkers on the street selling their cheap souvenirs, but we will definitely miss the atmosphere that speaks of foreign lands. Maybe we have spent so much time in Europe that it has become so comfortable that it does not feel like we have left home. We hope not.

We did not take any of the ship’s tour offerings but opted to walk on our own into Heraklion. We were joined by our friends, Gerry and Sue from Tampa by way of Brighton, Michigan. It was a beautiful day, temperatures in the upper 60’s and we strolled along enjoying the shops, and chatting like old friends. Heraklion is very clean and was filled with stores with names we recognized: Mark and Spencer’s, Zara, Ben and Jerry’s, Starbucks (Ugh!). We stopped at one or two tourist sites, nothing special, but mostly window shopped and bought some gifts for family! Is the family excited? Even the small shops were hosted by very quiet, friendly shop owners. After an hour or so of strolling, we found a café with WiFi and each of us caught up on e-mail, etc. After more meandering we discovered that Tim had gotten us semi-lost. This became abundantly clear when we came upon a lovely little square we had already been through when Tim thought we were several blocks to the east. Fortunately, there was a restaurant in the square where we could get a beer and a snack and reassess our position and further route. As we were at a restaurant it is time for a culinary aside.

We have been to several restaurants in Detroit’s Greek Town where we have had saginacki, a deep fried cheese that is brought to your table where the waiter pours booze, probably ouzo, over the cheese, sets it on fire while everyone yells “Opa”. According to Jerry and Sue this is also done in “authentic “ Greek restaurants in the Tampa area. We thought it would be very Greek of us to actually do this in Greece. We are sorry to report that this is a “Greek” tradition that must only be done in the States. We will continue to conduct further research in Athens. It is the least we can do for our faithful readers. After a delightful repast of fried cheese, minus the “Opa”, and beer, we continued our leisurely trek that eventually returned us to the ship. The afternoon was spent reading and napping in no particular order.

Tonight was the Captain’s farewell cocktail party. We have learned that crew members generally sign 6 month contracts with Silversea with little or no time off during that time. As the cruise season is ending in the Mediterranean, this is the final cruise for many of the crew which made for an interesting party tonight. This has been the nicest cruise on which we have ever been. The level of service has been incredibly high. Every time we encounter a crew member we are greeted with a smile and a “how are you today”, many times by name. Within the first couple of days all of the maitre d’s in the restaurants knew our name as well as most of the waiters and bartenders. Of course it helps that there are only about 235 passengers on board the ship, but still. The food has been excellent. Our last cruise a summer ago was 14 days long and by the end of the cruise we were a bit bored with the food. Not so on this cruise. We are already making tentative plans for another cruise with Silversea. After dinner we took in a show which featured singing and dancing from different countries around the world. As shipboard entertainment goes, it was quite good. We then went out on deck and observed the beauty of the full moon and returned to the Panorama Bar and danced the night away. Ok, it was one dance, but it was a long one.

2 Days in Egypt

Port Said, Egypt, November 6, 2011

We woke up this morning docked at the entrance to the Suez Canal. The city of Port Said (pronounced “sigh EED) was founded in 1859 at the time of the construction of the Suez Canal. In 150 years Port Said has become one of the largest cities in Egypt. Our arrival in Port Said coincided with the beginning of the second most important Muslim holiday. This Festival occurs a month and 10 days after Ramadan and lasts for four days. The first day is when the wealthy share with the poor. We were warned as we left the ship that we might see animals being slaughtered on the street. The rich people bring their animals, slaughter them and then give the meat to the poor. Fortunately, we did not witness this however are dinner companions, Jerry and Sue saw carcasses hanging in the street as they were taking a tour bus to the Pyramids. We did, however, see cars with blood on them and animals in pickups being taken for slaughter.

We opted for a two hour tour of Port Said in a horse and buggy. Our tour actually consisted of eight horse drawn carriages with a tour guide. We noticed as we left the terminal area and headed for the carriages that policemen were loading rifles in the back of a couple of jeeps. Turns out they followed us on our entire two hour tour. There were lots of cars on the street filled with young people, honking their horns, creating a festive atmosphere. The tour was a bit disconcerting because our guide seemed to be re-writing history, in particular in regards to Egypt’s wars with Israel. We planned to stay on the ship the rest of the day, however, Tim was having problems with the computer and the posting of our blog. In frustration, he called reception to find out if there would be an internet café open in Port Said. When assured that there would be he set off. Fortunately, he did not feel the least bit threatened while on the street and the man in the internet café was very friendly. Unfortunately, there was no WiFi in the café so the blog still did not get posted.

In the evening we had dinner at the pool grill. At night the pool grill becomes what the ship calls a hot rocks grill. You order your meal from a selection of meats and then a lava rock which has been heated to 900 degrees Celsius for 24 hours is brought to your table and you cook your dinner. In actual practice, your meal is partially cooked and then it is finished at the table. We both had filet mignon which melted in our mouths. It was a beautiful evening and we had interesting dinner companions which made for an enchanting night.

Alexandria, Egypt November 7, 2011

Alexandria is a major shipping port so we once again docked in a commercial area with lots of freighter traffic about. We had arranged a private tour of Alexandria before we left home and upon leaving the boat our guide, Mustafa, was there to greet us. Our first stop was the Royal Gardens, also the location of the Royal Palace. The Gardens encompass an area of 450 acres. While Mustafa called the gardens “beautiful” we thought them less than. We both commented to each other that the British would have them looking pristine. The Palace is a large building of over 50 rooms that was the vacation home for the Kings of Egypt up through King Farauk. Since the revolution in the 1950’s when Nasser became the President, the Palace has been used to host visiting dignitaries. There is a staff that maintains the Palace even though it is seldom used. Mustafa thought it would make sense to open it as a museum. When we first greeted Mustafa this morning we told him that one of the things we needed to do was find a place with WiFi so we could get our blog posted. On the grounds of the Royal Gardens there was a luxury hotel built by King Farauk where we posted our blog in royal opulence. For lunch we were taken to a restaurant that was very famous and had been open for over 100 years. It turned out to be a Greek restaurant with a nice view of the Mediterranean Sea. We could not decide if it had once been an opulent restaurant that had turned a bit seedy or if Alexandrians still considered it to be the ultimate in fine dining. Lynda had chicken which she thinks was actually chicken and Tim had fried calamari. We were also served soup, each of us getting a different kind, neither of which we could identify but were actually quite tasty. One thing we have neglected to tell you is that at all of the off ship restaurants we have been taken to we have had hummus and pita bread that is out of this world, including our restaurant in Alexandria.

The highlight of the day occurred after lunch. We were going to visit the catacombs and our route took us through the old town of Alexandria. The streets were narrow and not well paved with little sign of anyone observing traffic laws. We ended up in a monumental traffic jam with three lanes of traffic, on a street built for two lanes, all headed in the same direction with a trolley car coming towards us. There was much yelling and gesturing with passerby’s trying to help direct traffic. In the middle of all of this we heard a siren behind us. At first we thought is was an ambulance but Mustafa told us it was a funeral procession. The “ambulance” was followed by 8 or 9 men who were friends of the deceased and who also were trying to direct traffic. Women are not allowed in the funeral procession. They meet the procession at the cemetery. We followed the procession to the entrance of the cemetery where we watched the friends remove a stretcher with the body wrapped in sheets. We were told that there is no coffin. The body is placed in a vault in the ground and than a cover is put on the vault. Lynda asked if we could visit the cemetery but Mustafa said we could not because we were not Muslim. Of course Lynda tried to tell Mustafa that her Uncle Ahmed lived in Cairo and was certainly a Muslim but to no avail.

The catacombs were over 1800 years old. We climbed down 99 steps to see rooms with square openings where mummies in sarcophagi had been placed. Really quite fascinating. From the catacombs we visited the Pillar of Pompeii. According to Mustafa this pillar is the tallest in Egypt and the two sphinx guarding the pillar are the third largest in the country. During our discussion with Mustafa about Egyptian antiquities, the name Zakari Hawas came up. He was the former head of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities whom we had heard talk on our Around the World Expedition a couple of years ago. Mustafa became a bit agitated, calling Hawas a tomb robber and if it had been a choice of removing Hawas or Mubarak, Hawas would be the one to go. We don’t know if this is a widely held belief in Egypt or just Mustafa’s but we were certainly surprised.

Our route back to the ship again took us through old town and it was an exhilarating ride. There were lots of people out on the streets in a celebratory mood. Shops and grocery stores were open with their goods on display and we passed many cafes with men sitting at tables smoking hookah pipes.

The one thing we noticed both days in Egypt and which our friends on board the ship also commented on was the filth throughout the city and countryside. Everywhere you look there is litter and trash which the locals seem oblivious to. This is most unfortunate because Egypt has a very exotic feel to it and the people we have met have been very friendly.

Tonight the ship hosted a barbecue on the pool deck. We mistakenly thought it would be an American style barbecue with ribs, chicken, potato salad, etc. How wrong we were. It was a lavish buffet with many wonderful appetizers, salads, grilled meat and shrimp, as well as a carving station with beef and fish. There was also a fresh pasta station. It was another gorgeous evening. We may never get use to having to cook for ourselves again.

Tomorrow we spend the whole day at sea on our way to Crete so we probably won’t post a blog. See you in a couple of days.

Pictures

The top picture is the Sea of Galilee looking across at the Golan Heights. The bottom picture is the mosaic from Japan of the Mother Mary and the Baby Jesus. Note the oriental faces on each.

The pictures in the Nazareth blog featured the Synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus preached and the Gardens of B'iatha in Haifa.

Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

Haifa, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee November 5, 2011

Today was another long but enlightening day. We left very early and took our bus to the top of the high hill the surrounds the port city of Haifa. Here we saw the top part of the Gardens of B’iatha. B’iatha is a sect of the religion of Islam that was formed in the mid 1800’s. They are a liberal group that give women considerably more rights than traditional Islam. For some reason our tour guide was unable to give us, the leader of B’iatha built a golden domed building about half way up the hill and then a series of gardens stretching in both directions up and down the hill from the domed building. They are large, very formal and beautiful gardens that we could see from our ship At night they are illuminated and as we left the harbor this evening they were very striking.

We left the Gardens of B’iatha and drove to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation. It was in Nazareth where the angel came to Mary and told her that she would be with child and she should call the child Jesus. Before 1964 there was a Mosque near the site that dwarfed the Christian church. In 1964 Pope Paul VI visited the site and announced that the Vatican would see to the building of a much larger church. The resulting structure is larger than any of the other buildings in the area and is very contemporary in design. Countries from around the world were invited to send a mosaic honoring Mother Mary and baby Jesus, resulting in a series of mosaic panels both inside and outside the church that are beautiful indeed. Of particular interest were the mosaics from several Asian countries that portrayed Mother Mary looking like an oriental woman. Again, we thought of Nazareth as a small town but, in fact, it is a bustling city of 45,000 people today.

From Nazareth it was on to the Sea of Galilee where we ended up a kibbutz located where the River Jordon leaves the Sea of Galilee. It was somewhere near this site that Jesus was baptized. One can arrange to be baptized at this center. While we did not see any baptisms, we did see many people take their shoes off and step into the river. After seeing all the catfish and muskrats swimming about, we chose not to! On our way to this site we had passed the church where Jesus performed his first miracle; turning the water into wine. At the gift shop at the River Jordan, in addition to stocking small bottles of Holy Water from the River, we could have bought “First Miracle Wedding Wine”.

After lunch our bus took us to the site of Jesus’s miracle of feeding 5000 people with two loaves of bread and five fish. There was a lovely little church marking this spot. Nearby we visited the town of Capernaum. Jesus left Nazareth shortly after turning 30 and spent 19 months preaching in and around Capernaum. Unlike Jerusalem and Nazareth, in Jesuss’s time Capernaum was a large city. Now it is just a tourist site featuring archeological digs. Parts of the synagogue where Jesus preached are still standing although recently it has been determined this particular structure was built in the 5th century, probably above the original. It was also in Capernaum that Jesus met many of his disciples for the first time.

Our last stop was at the Church of the Beatitudes, where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount outlining the 8 beatitudes. This site also had a pretty little church that was built in the 1930’s. We also saw vestments worn by Pope Paul and Pope Benedict when they visited here and they left as gifts to the church.

At each stop mentioned in the Bible, both yesterday and today, one of our shipmates read the appropriate passage from the Bible. This certainly added to our understanding of the significance of each of the places we visited. Lynda kept pinching herself as she knew how much her mother would have liked the idea of our visiting these sacred places.

Yesterday, on our drive to Jerusalem, we passed mostly desert land. Today, on our way to the Sea of Galilee and back, we drove through a large, broad valley where much farming is being done. Agriculture is big business in Israel. They grow much fruit and produce that is sold throughout Europe year round.

While it is hard not to be a bit skeptical about the exact locations of these historical events, research shows that we were close enough to take it all very seriously. Both days in Israel there were crowds of people at all of these sites and we could tell that for many of them it was a pilgrimage of a lifetime. We are both also very thankful that we had the chance to visit the Holy Lands.