Greece & Turkey

THURSDAY, APRIL 2

When we awoke Thursday morning, our ship was anchored off the beautiful coast of Greece. Our original itinerary had us scheduled to port in Piraeus, with a tour of Athens. Due to an unexpected transportation strike in the city of Athens (which would essentially shut down the port and all roads leading to the city), our captain opted instead to port in the city of Nafplion, on the Peloponnesus peninsula. Although we had been looking forward to seeing the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and other sites in Athens, Nafplion was a beautiful place to go ashore. The landscape when we walked out on deck that morning was breathtaking. It was like being in a painting. To go ashore in this port we had to tender across from the ship to the pier. From there we met our tour guide/group/bus. Our first stop was a quick look at the four-mile long Canal of Corinth, which cuts across the Isthmus of Corinth. Its sheer rock walls rise 285 feet above the water on both sides. We stood on a little pedestrian bridge over the canal - I managed to stay on for about .5 seconds before I had to get off. Heights and I just don’t get along. From here it was a short drive to ancient Corinth, where we explored the ancient ruins. Most impressive was the Temple of Apollo, located on a hilltop and backdropped by beautiful mountains. After leaving the ruins, we visited a local restaurant for lunch. We were served traditional Greek dishes, including moussaka, greek salad, and a veal/pasta dish (don’t remember the name), and an orange for dessert. It was all very tasty! Tummies full, we headed to Mycenae and more ancient ruins. This site is located on the top of a hill and offered some spectacular views of the Greek countryside and olive tree orchards. The entrance to site is called Lion’s Gate, which is Europe’s oldest monumental sculpture. We hiked to the top of the site, and back down the other side. On the back side of the hill (by the way, I say hill, but it was UP there!) there was an entrance to what appeared to be a tunnel. Believing that this was just a pass-through to the other side, we followed a bunch of teenagers in. We walked down steps carved into the rock, and as we got further in, it became darker, wetter, and colder. A few minutes later it was completely pitch black. The stairs kept going down further, and it became clear to me that this was not going to lead anywhere good anytime soon. The steps soon became less defined and more slippery. Also, did I mention there were absolutely no handrails? If the kids in front of us did not have their cell phones on, it would have been complete darkness. To top it off, the goofball guy behind me kept putting his hands on my shoulders to support himself. Hello? Idiot? Suddenly things came to a standstill when the teenagers (non-English speaking) became unwilling to go any further, and turned around to walk back up. I can’t say I blame them, but it made for quite a traffic jam. After the people behind us were finally convinced that there was nothing to see and they should turn around and go back, we made our way out of the cavern. The goofball idiot guy was standing outside bleeding, he had hit his head on a rock in the dark, I guess. Anyway, we all made it out OK and headed back down the path to our waiting bus, 15 minutes late. We do love an adventure. We then made a quick stop at the largest of the region’s beehive tombs, the Treasury of Atreus, also called Agamemnon’s Tomb. From there it was back to the ship, which left the port about an hour or so late. I am sure it wasn’t totally our fault.
We settled in for a late dinner and the kids and I went to a show in the Stardust Theater, Showdown - an American Idol inspired show with singing and dancing - it was a lot of fun. It is a short overnight ride to our next stop - Izmir, Turkey.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3

Izmir is Turkey’s third largest city, and is thought to be the birthplace of the poet Homer. We decided to tour the ancient city of Ephesus, which was first settled in 1100 BC. The ruins of this city are extensive and well-preserved. The city was originally built as a place of worship to the Greek goddess Artemis - the Temple of Artemis was built here in 550 BC and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, although not much remains today. By the way, anyone know what American company’s name and logo is based on the goddess Artemis? The city changed hands many times over the centuries, and was completed abandoned with the advent of the Ottoman Empire. The ruins were discovered in 1869. The Apostle Paul spent three years in Ephesus urging locals to put aside their idols of Artemis (which sort of annoyed the silversmiths selling Artemis idols, leading to Paul’s incarceration), and legend has it that the Virgin Mary was brought here in 38 AD where she retired and died a few years later. We walked through the ancient city, exploring the Great Theatre, the Temple of Hadrian, the Gate of Hercules, the public toilets, Baths of Scholastica, and the Library of Celsus (beautiful architecture that has survived since it was built in the early second century). Outside the city walls, we stepped back into modern Turkey - rows of shops selling scarves, pottery, fabrics, jewelry, and ancient coins, along with lots of other goods. The shopkeepers were somewhat relentless with their sales pitch, and although I am good at ignoring them, Jack was not - a particularly aggressive “ancient coin” peddler managed to get him to hold a coin, and would not take it back. Jack politely told him, “no thank you” roughly 25 times, but at his point, the man had put both hands behind his back so Jack couldn’t hand it back. Luckily, Jack’s dad doesn’t go for that stuff, so the man ended up taking it back. Note to all: don’t be polite.
We went into a restaurant for a quick, authentic Turkish snack, and settled on pide, It was quite tasty - a large. thin flatbread filled with meat and cheese, and spinach if you want, served hot. I suppose it could be compared to a burrito, but it was a little more unique tasting. Good, though! From there, we toured an authentic Turkish carpet factory. They showed us how they spin the silk and weave the carpets. They served us apple tea, a popular drink in Turkey, and rolled out about 30 beautiful carpets for us to enjoy. And also for us to buy. I collect spoons and bottle openers, not Turkish carpets, so we snuck out of there (after stopping to buy a bottle opener, of course) and headed back to the ship. Lingering jet lag and two back to back ports of call had taken their toll, so we took a short nap before the encore performance of Showdown, getting a late dinner, and settling in for the night. We have been asked to set our clocks back one hour tonight, so we gain an hour for our day at sea!