17 April
Happy Easter to one and all. Today we celebrate by first waking up and getting yet another COVID test. Negative again I'm pleased to say.
Today we were in Lesbos Greece. Famous for … not that! The writings of the great poet Sappho.
Before going ashore, as usual I looked around on the internet to see what we could do as we didn’t have a tour for the day. I saw three things I’d like to do if we had the time. The first was to see the castle on the hill. We were at tender today, so we got our scooters ready and around 10 am we took off for the island.
I had looked at the map before we left and it looked as though we could scoot around the back of the castle and get in that way. Off we went. I must say, Lesbos has a great walking/bicycle track around the right side of the tender docking area. We took off on a lovely light gravel and sand path.
As we went, we came across a large statue of a woman that overlooks the sea. The next thing we saw was a small shrine with a rather large cross above it. This was overlooking a smaller shrine below on the mountain side. At the corner, there was a church.
We dropped our scooters next to a wall and took a hike up towards the castle we saw. Sadly, we ran into barbed wire and were unable to continue. We returned to our scooters and carried on. Again, we ran into a wire fence and had to turn around. But not before a few photos that we wouldn’t otherwise see.
We turned around, and eventually found a sign that directed the way to main gate. We started off pushing the scooters up the hill, but quickly abandoned them alongside a wall and walked the rest of the way up. We paid the 3 euro entrance fee and went for a wander around the area.
The castle of Mytilene was inhabited since antiquity. This is assumed because of a sanctuary to Demeter; goddess of agriculture. The first Byzantine fortress was built in the 6th century AD. The castle that still stands was built by a number of different rulers of the area from the 1300’s through the early 1900’s. In total, it covers over 20 hectares of land. This is one massive castle.
Even more impressive than the above ground area is the below ground areas. There is a cistern, and a very large underground storage area.
The outer walls of the castle are mostly intact, and one can climb the steps to the top for a perfectly stunning view of the surrounding countryside. Be careful of the wet steps though. When we were there, we are rained upon and I had to walk the steps backwards to prevent myself from falling.
We wandered around the castle for quite a while, but there came a point where the rain was too much. We decided to head back to the ship. On the way, we scooted around the town for a bit and bumped into Rod and Merry. Rod took off on a scooter ride. Our next stop was a church I saw from the ship. Sadly, it was closed and all we did was take a few photos. George did find a puzzle though.
George and I had had enough so we headed out to find a place to grab a bite to eat. I had a "halloumi pita pie" which simply meant a sandwich with way too much pita. George had a pork chop pita pocket and got a lot of meat. Both meals were served with 1000 French fries. We didn’t go hungry.
The graffiti in this place was very interesting.
As we were going back to the ship, we stopped by the duty free and bought a bottle of Metaxa. We were told it was quite good so why not.
18 April
Athens Greece.
Today we took a ships tour that took us first to the Corinthian canal, then to ancient Corinth and ancient Mycenae with a lunch thrown in for good measure.
As we got off the bus, we walked forward a few hundred meters to a bridge with an adjacent walkway. We stepped out on it and I let out an expletive. I’ve seen canals before, but this one is phenomenal. I can’t imagine the work that went into this place. This is one massive trench. Someone just took a big gouge out of the earth here. I can think of no other words to describe it.
A little history: it connects the Ionian Sea to the Agean sea. It effectively makes Peloponnese an island. It is at sea level and has no locks. It is 4 miles long and 70 feet wide at the base. When it was first build, it had great commercial value. Today, it is of little economic importance. So much so, that when one goes to the website on the brochure handed out at the information center you will find a domain for sale at the low low price of $2550.
The canal was first attempted in the first century AD, but failed. It was started again in 1881 but did not succeed due to poor understanding of the surrounding rocks and lack of finances. Finally in 1893 it was completed. The canal had gone through many false starts during Roman times all ending due to the death or murder of the current ruler. The French took a hand at building it shortly after the completion of the Suez Canal, but that too failed due to financial incompetence.
Today the canal is used mainly for pleasure boat traffic. No matter the history, or its current usage, it is one impressive trench that has been dug through the area. When standing on the bridge overlooking the depth of this monster, I was thankful my sphincter clenched as it did. I would have had a very messy and uncomfortable afternoon ahead of me. I’m also very grateful the bungee jump attraction was closed for the day. I’d have had a heart attack just watching George jump.
Our next stop was the ancient city of Corinth. I have been looking forward to these next two stops since I was a young child reading the works of Homer. When I enter places like these, they come alive. I see the buildings in all their glory, I imagine life as it once was. I am able to pull myself back in time and live a life that no longer exists.
Corinth was an important mercantile city in ancient times. It was said to have had a spring given by Zeus. Pegasus was said to have drunk from the spring and was subsequently captured by the hero Bellerophon.
The leaders of the city flipped back and forth with alliances during the 3rd and 4th centuries BC. It all had to do with who had the biggest land grab. The Peloponnesian war and the Corinthian war that followed, simply weakened the city state and allowed for the Macedonians to walk right in and take over. (History in a nut shell Roxanne Style.)
The ruins that are still standing are quite impressive, as was the museum attached to the site. Sadly we had a tour guide who thought she was a linguist and translated every Greek prefix, suffix, and root for us. She kept testing us on our knowledge of these parts of speech. Add to that the rain and it was not a good tour.
The guide walked slowly through parts of the museum dedicated to medicine and gave a brief talk about a few statues, then rushed us through the best part of the museum. From here we stood outside in the rain under an acacia tree that had no leaves to keep the rain away. Both George and I had had enough and went off wandering around. I took a few photos of things I was able to recognize, and a few nicely carved columns while George found a drier tree to stand under.
I walked back to the guide and told her in no uncertain terms we had had enough and did NOT want to stand out in the freezing cold rain listening to her talk and not SEE the sights any more. We were going back to the bus. We spent an hour there and saw…nothing if I hadn’t walked away. WORST TOUR GUIDE EVER.
From here we went on to Mycenae. Now this place I wanted to see! This is where it all began! King Agamemnon walked these streets and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I had dreams of the lions gate. I wanted to walk under it and go back to a time when the gods walked among men. When heroes roamed the earth. I wanted to stand gaze out the windows towards freedom as I can only imagine Helen did before being swept away to Troy by Paris.
And I said as much in no uncertain terms on the bus. Our guide started off telling us a bit of the area and then uttered the dreaded words: "We are going to the museum first". I asked how much time we had here and she begrudgingly told us 1 hour. YES! Divide and conquer. George opted for the museum and the billy goat in me headed for the hills. Literally. This place is built on the top of a mountain. During it’s hay day, Mycenae had a population of over 30,000 people and was 32 hectares in size.
I walked with another intrepid guest from the ship up to the lions gate. I paused as my heart momentarily stopped. I was about to enter the place of my dreams. This is what I devoured books on over again and again for more than 20 years. I looked up and saw time slip away. I went backwards in time, but not to the 13th or 14th century BC as I had expected, but to the noise and dust and mud of the late 1800s when Schliemann began his excavation of the area.
Enough of my dreams. When we entered, the first thing we came to was a granary. Next to that is grave circle A.
We trudged further up the hill until we came to the very top. Here we were able to see remains of the poets hall and a temple dedicated to Hera. We stood and overlooked the magnificent views of the mountains below and were easily able to tell why what must have been a magnificent palace was built there. I stood for a while and sent my wishes to the heavens. A wild flower I had picked along the way found itself on the stones that remained of what once must have been the steps of a tremendous temple.
We carried on along the back of the hillside to the north gate. Here we overlooked the remains of a private home. We also saw the artist quarter. How convenient a location for them.
As we checked the time we scurried along the path and returned to the Grave circle to snap a few more photos. The outer walls reminded me of upright dominoes.
Our next stop was the first of 3 grave sites we would see on this day. They are conical inside, completely covered by earth with the exception of the outer passageway. The first one had the top removed at some time in antiquity. Perhaps it was raided by bandits. Doesn’t that sound right?
The next grave site was the same but with a conical roof. The final one was an outdoor circle grave much like the first we saw upon entering the city.
This are also held the houses of the oil merchants. My partner in adventure and I gave a high five to each other as we just finished the old city and had 10 minutes to spare. We opted for a loo stop and from there we returned to the bus.
Once on the bus, we made yet another stop to see one more tomb like the 2 we had just gone through. Inside there was another burial chamber off to the side. This place was interesting in that the acoustics inside followed you around the room. If you stood in the center, you could hear all conversations on the outside of the room.
Back on the bus and we headed off for a typical Greek lunch. It was one of potatoes and lamb. The salad and appetizers were nicely done as well, but sadly because of allergies, I could not eat them. The baklava for desert was rich in the extreme. We rounded off the meal with 2 pitchers of red wine and boarded the bus again for Athens.
Somewhere along the way we passed the Acropolis but this had no interest to me as I’d been there before. Back to the ship for a hot shower and a well deserved nap. Sadly, we had no hot water. Something is up with that and we’ve been trying to get it fixed for a while. Oh well, the bed covers were warm and soon we drifted off with Morpheus.
19 April
Santorini
We awoke today at dawn. I opened the curtains and saw the tallest seaside cliffs I have ever seen. Perched on top is a quaint little town all done up in white with a splash of blue every now and again. I’ve wanted to go to this island ever since seeing the honeymoon photos of my brother and sister-in-law over 20 years ago. It seemed no more than a distant dream never to come true. And this morning I woke up and found myself here. It seems that many dreams have come true since I left behind a life of misery.
Today we chose to go on a volcanic hike. Hike is the key word here. We chose to go up to the top of Nea Kameni Island. We had a guide with us and we took off in one of the coolest water taxi’s I have ever seen.
This island is uninhabited and was formed by volcanic eruption in around 47 AD. It is only around 2km in diameter and has a peak of 130 meters. So it’s not a very hard climb for most people. When we got to the top, we saw a live area with a bit of sulfur on the side, and some smoke coming out. This area is called the crater of King George.
After we reached the top
Upon our return to the main island, George and I decided to brave the rain and go up to the top of Thira, the main island for a look around. As we were still cold, we decided to hike up the 600 steps of the Karavolades Stairs to the top. The switchbacks cover just over 1.2 miles. We made it about 1/2 way when my knee really started to throb. It was telling me it had enough. I don’t mind admitting I began to cry in frustration. We headed back down the hill, and when we got to the Donkeys George decided we should take them up instead.
We paid our 9 Euro fee each and waited for a driver to take us to the donkeys. While waiting a blind woman, two children and their mother came up to ride the donkeys. The driver said no to the blind woman and the children. After a few more minutes we are off. The ride was one not to be missed. I loved every 12 minutes and 12 seconds of it. The first part of the adventure was waiting for my donkey to finish urinating. By the time it did, George was ahead of us and my donkey didn’t like that. It took off at a run to pass him. This never happened, but the entire ride up the hill he tried.
When the day ended, I was told that I shouldn’t have done that. There is a video on the ship telling us that the donkey rides are cruelty to animals. Sigh. When did the world change so much. But then, the people who said this to us realized I am terrified of heights and agreed that this was the best way for us. The cable car looked fun, but it’s a steep climb and I wasn’t prepared for that.
Once we reached the top, we wandered around looking for a nice place to eat. The area is so touristy and filled with the usual souvenir shops and gold stores.
We passed by one and in the window I saw a chess board unlike any other I’ve ever seen. This one is round. The salesman told us it was a Byzantine version of chess and was the original board. Sounds good. George didn’t bat an eye and bought the board right away. I was surprised because it is usually me who makes the impulse buys.
From here we carried on and I found a pair of sandals and some warm gloves for myself. The gloves have come in handy with all this rain.
We managed to find a nice little out of the way restaurant and had a lovely meal. George had a salad and I had olives and cheese. It was simply divine. Much better than the lunch on the ship would be.
After our lunch we decided to return to the ship early. We had seen enough of the white buildings and narrow walkways. Add the rain and the other other large ship that was in the harbor and I was ready to return. We decided that the best way to go back would be to walk down the stairs. Oh what fun. It was much easier going down than going up, but I know our legs will feel it tomorrow.
When we got back to the ship we attempted another hot shower, but luck was still not on our side. I can’t wait for this to get fixed. We desperately needed showers as we both smelled like donkey. So much so, that I sent our clothes out to wash that evening.
I am glad I had a chance to go to Santorini. I'm sure it is more beautiful on a sunny day, but with that will come the throngs of tourists. If I'm on a cruise that stops here again, I'll return, but I wouldn't come back again just to come back. The events of the day before, I would love to do again and again. I just can't get enough of those broken down old buildings.
20 April
Sea day
We had a long overdue lie in. As it was a sea day, I told George the only thing we needed to do was go eat at some point during the day. We went to the Polo Grill around 3 pm to play some social bridge and George got a round of applause when he entered. I guess they thought he would be playing. Not today folks. Sadly, we didn’t either. There was no one there in need of another pair. No matter. We returned to the room and played some tile rummy until the captains party.
Tonight was a captain’s drinks party and at around 6:30 we headed to the Insignia lounge to grab one glass of wine and chat with some friends. While there, three of us ladies struck up a conversation about the food. As it turns out, I’m not the only one who has had problems with foods that were once safe. Back to the drawing board for all of us. At 7 we met friends for dinner and had a wonderful evening of laughter. Tomorrow is Dubrovnik. We have a bicycle ride planned. I sure hope it doesn’t rain.
Until next time, Happy Puzzling and Smooth Sailing.
Love everything
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