The end of our cruise.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
2006 Greek Island Cruise – Crete & Corfu
By now our shipboard routine was fairly predictable. Sleep, eat, shore excursion, lounge around, read, eat, rest, eat, etc. You can see a pattern developing here.
We chose not to take an organized shore excursion in Crete. We got off the ship and ventured forth on our own. That meant we walked & walked never quite sure where we were. We followed people who “walked with purpose” or looked like they might know where they were going. Eventually we figured out where we were. We were actually content to be taking it easy. We found a side-walk café and ordered a Coke Light and looked around at what we could see from our chairs. We did walk up a side street to get a closer look at our surroundings but that was all. We headed back to the pier after a bit and ended our visit to Crete. The ship was only in port during the morning. After lunch our ship sailed and headed to Corfu.
I should mention that both Crete & Corfu are part of Greece.
It was now Friday and we had docked in Corfu. This was to be our last shore excursion so I was looking forward to it. After boarding our bus we drove out to a place called Achilleion Palace. It was a villa that was built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1891 and was now open to the public. I wasn’t thrilled by the building. That’s not why I chose this excursion. The gardens and the view were said to be worth the trip. They were. I’ll post a few pictures.
After that visit we got on the bus so that we could be driven to another site – Paleokastritsa – where there was a monastery to see. After driving along narrow winding roads for what seemed a very long time our tour guide addressed us and said that the monastery was closing in 15 minutes so make the most of your visit. The resident Greek Orthodox monks take a siesta from 1-3 p.m. Well the monastery was again interesting but our time there was too short to really get a feel for it. It was the view that was to die for. I’ll post a few pictures.
We had to go down the same narrow winding roads again until we finally made it back into Corfu. Our bus stopped in the shopping district close to the pier. We had one hour to recover from the bus ride until we would go back to the ship. It was a nice break.
Cindy & I walked over to McDonalds where they featured the “Greek Mac” (think pita bread) where we each got our Diet Coke and sat outside and people watched. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that everywhere we went people rode scooters. I was envious. It made me think of my bike back home and I wanted to take a spin.
When Laura & BJ were here in Corfu a month earlier BJ left me a message at this same McDonalds. I couldn’t find it. It was only after getting back and talking to Laura that we discovered they had never actually told what I would be looking for and where I maybe would find it. If any of you are going to Corfu soon and are in the McDonalds next to a park close to the waterfront look under a planter stand and see if you find a message for me. I thought it would be cool to make this kind of contact with them. I took a picture of Cindy with her soda out in front of that McDonalds. I’ll send it to Laura & BJ.
We walked around Corfu for a bit. It reminded us of Venice surprisingly. It was full of narrow pedestrian filled side streets with little shops.
It was back to the bus.
The rest of our cruise was spend steaming back to Venice where we arrived on Sunday morning.
The trip back to Las Cruces was just like leaving there – long. We are still recovering and we haven’t put everything away yet.
So, where to next time? That is the question. Cindy can no longer say that she hasn’t used her passport.
We chose not to take an organized shore excursion in Crete. We got off the ship and ventured forth on our own. That meant we walked & walked never quite sure where we were. We followed people who “walked with purpose” or looked like they might know where they were going. Eventually we figured out where we were. We were actually content to be taking it easy. We found a side-walk café and ordered a Coke Light and looked around at what we could see from our chairs. We did walk up a side street to get a closer look at our surroundings but that was all. We headed back to the pier after a bit and ended our visit to Crete. The ship was only in port during the morning. After lunch our ship sailed and headed to Corfu.
I should mention that both Crete & Corfu are part of Greece.
It was now Friday and we had docked in Corfu. This was to be our last shore excursion so I was looking forward to it. After boarding our bus we drove out to a place called Achilleion Palace. It was a villa that was built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1891 and was now open to the public. I wasn’t thrilled by the building. That’s not why I chose this excursion. The gardens and the view were said to be worth the trip. They were. I’ll post a few pictures.
After that visit we got on the bus so that we could be driven to another site – Paleokastritsa – where there was a monastery to see. After driving along narrow winding roads for what seemed a very long time our tour guide addressed us and said that the monastery was closing in 15 minutes so make the most of your visit. The resident Greek Orthodox monks take a siesta from 1-3 p.m. Well the monastery was again interesting but our time there was too short to really get a feel for it. It was the view that was to die for. I’ll post a few pictures.
We had to go down the same narrow winding roads again until we finally made it back into Corfu. Our bus stopped in the shopping district close to the pier. We had one hour to recover from the bus ride until we would go back to the ship. It was a nice break.
Cindy & I walked over to McDonalds where they featured the “Greek Mac” (think pita bread) where we each got our Diet Coke and sat outside and people watched. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that everywhere we went people rode scooters. I was envious. It made me think of my bike back home and I wanted to take a spin.
When Laura & BJ were here in Corfu a month earlier BJ left me a message at this same McDonalds. I couldn’t find it. It was only after getting back and talking to Laura that we discovered they had never actually told what I would be looking for and where I maybe would find it. If any of you are going to Corfu soon and are in the McDonalds next to a park close to the waterfront look under a planter stand and see if you find a message for me. I thought it would be cool to make this kind of contact with them. I took a picture of Cindy with her soda out in front of that McDonalds. I’ll send it to Laura & BJ.
We walked around Corfu for a bit. It reminded us of Venice surprisingly. It was full of narrow pedestrian filled side streets with little shops.
It was back to the bus.
The rest of our cruise was spend steaming back to Venice where we arrived on Sunday morning.
The trip back to Las Cruces was just like leaving there – long. We are still recovering and we haven’t put everything away yet.
So, where to next time? That is the question. Cindy can no longer say that she hasn’t used her passport.
2006 Greek Island Cruise – Ephesus
Once back on board we whiled away the time sunning ourselves by the pool while reading and people watching. I should tell you about the people.
Peter, our cruise director said that 49 countries were represented among the almost 2000 guests on our ship the “Spendour of the Seas”. This was not really a singles cruise for 20 something's. It consisted of mostly middle aged or older folks. There certainly were young couples (like ourselves), even young singles and families along but they were in the minority.
Probably the longest and nicest conversation Cindy & I had with our fellow cruisers was in the hot tub. This older couple (60’s) were from Gibraltar as in Rock of… I didn’t know people lived there. I thought it was a big rock used a symbol to represent an insurance company. Actually 30,000 people call this slice of Britain home. Charlie and Pauline said people either love it or hate it because of what life is like there. There are not a great many things to do there and everyone knows everyone else’s business. People watch out for each others kids, etc. I told Pauline it sounded like the states in the 1950’s. The only runway on Gibraltar cuts across the main road so when planes take off or land the road is closed down with gates like at railroad crossings. We chatted for quite some time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cindy & I always tried to be there on deck when our ship arrived or left port so when it was time to leave Athens and head for Turkey we watched it happen. Our next port was Kudakasis, Turkey.
Kudakasis is a pretty port town. Our bus drove through the countryside and arrived at Ephesus only after 30 minutes or so. While approaching the site our tour leader directed our attention to a small adobe-looking structure on a small hill on the edge of the site saying that this is where the Apostle Paul was imprisoned for a short time after his problems in Ephesus. I don’t know if this is one of those “pick an old building and tell the tourists it’s a jail” or not. I read through the accounts of Paul in Ephesus and some commentaries and discovered that there is no real agreement among Biblical scholars that Paul was ever imprisoned in Ephesus. It may simply be a local tradition. Read Acts 19 to get the full text of Paul’s sojourn in Ephesus.
We were told that probably only 1/8 of the site has been uncovered. What we saw was impressive. The façade of the library and the great theater are the most prominent structures. We did come across one unusual carving though. It is a footprint carved in stone. It is located across the street from the local brothel. Apparently the footprint was used as advertising to say “this way to the brothel boys.” On another sign carved in ancient Greek was a message from the mayor of ancient Ephesus informing one and all that everyone needed to keep Ephesus picked up and clean. If someone was caught littering they had to deal with him. His message is – “Don’t mess with me.”
The great theater which can hold 24,000 is still performed at today and the acoustics are considered superb. In front of the library a live-action costumed production was being performed for our benefit.
This shore excursion took place in the relative coolness of the morning. After Ephesus we were bused to a rug warehouse where we could see and of course buy Persian rugs. We looked but didn’t buy.
So it was back to the ship where we had lunch, read our books, walked the deck and probably watched a few minutes of “King Kong” on the TV in our stateroom. We could catch it in I believe 5 languages – French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. We never did see the whole thing. I have to rent now because I want to see how it gets to the ending. If you don’t want to know how it ends stop reading now. The monkey dies!
I really enjoyed Ephesus. Once again we walked where Paul the apostle and Gaius and Aristarchus ministered and witnessed to the gospel of Jesus. We were there.
Peter, our cruise director said that 49 countries were represented among the almost 2000 guests on our ship the “Spendour of the Seas”. This was not really a singles cruise for 20 something's. It consisted of mostly middle aged or older folks. There certainly were young couples (like ourselves), even young singles and families along but they were in the minority.
Probably the longest and nicest conversation Cindy & I had with our fellow cruisers was in the hot tub. This older couple (60’s) were from Gibraltar as in Rock of… I didn’t know people lived there. I thought it was a big rock used a symbol to represent an insurance company. Actually 30,000 people call this slice of Britain home. Charlie and Pauline said people either love it or hate it because of what life is like there. There are not a great many things to do there and everyone knows everyone else’s business. People watch out for each others kids, etc. I told Pauline it sounded like the states in the 1950’s. The only runway on Gibraltar cuts across the main road so when planes take off or land the road is closed down with gates like at railroad crossings. We chatted for quite some time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cindy & I always tried to be there on deck when our ship arrived or left port so when it was time to leave Athens and head for Turkey we watched it happen. Our next port was Kudakasis, Turkey.
Kudakasis is a pretty port town. Our bus drove through the countryside and arrived at Ephesus only after 30 minutes or so. While approaching the site our tour leader directed our attention to a small adobe-looking structure on a small hill on the edge of the site saying that this is where the Apostle Paul was imprisoned for a short time after his problems in Ephesus. I don’t know if this is one of those “pick an old building and tell the tourists it’s a jail” or not. I read through the accounts of Paul in Ephesus and some commentaries and discovered that there is no real agreement among Biblical scholars that Paul was ever imprisoned in Ephesus. It may simply be a local tradition. Read Acts 19 to get the full text of Paul’s sojourn in Ephesus.
We were told that probably only 1/8 of the site has been uncovered. What we saw was impressive. The façade of the library and the great theater are the most prominent structures. We did come across one unusual carving though. It is a footprint carved in stone. It is located across the street from the local brothel. Apparently the footprint was used as advertising to say “this way to the brothel boys.” On another sign carved in ancient Greek was a message from the mayor of ancient Ephesus informing one and all that everyone needed to keep Ephesus picked up and clean. If someone was caught littering they had to deal with him. His message is – “Don’t mess with me.”
The great theater which can hold 24,000 is still performed at today and the acoustics are considered superb. In front of the library a live-action costumed production was being performed for our benefit.
This shore excursion took place in the relative coolness of the morning. After Ephesus we were bused to a rug warehouse where we could see and of course buy Persian rugs. We looked but didn’t buy.
So it was back to the ship where we had lunch, read our books, walked the deck and probably watched a few minutes of “King Kong” on the TV in our stateroom. We could catch it in I believe 5 languages – French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and English. We never did see the whole thing. I have to rent now because I want to see how it gets to the ending. If you don’t want to know how it ends stop reading now. The monkey dies!
I really enjoyed Ephesus. Once again we walked where Paul the apostle and Gaius and Aristarchus ministered and witnessed to the gospel of Jesus. We were there.
2006 Greek Island Cruise - Athens
Taking a cruise was really not our original plan. A group from Marquette University in Milwaukee (where our son Matt goes) had extra room on their tour of Italy so we talked about doing that. It would have been 3 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice traveling between these towns on the train. Before we could get “all our ducks in a row” the tour filled up. Well by then we figured we could do the same tour but on our own. While checking this out Cindy came upon the idea of this cruise. I was a bit shocked since she has always been a bit worried about motion sickness so wasn’t so sure we could do a cruise. Well the price was right (although expensive), the destinations sounded intriguing and we knew we would be taken care of so we signed up.
After boarding the ship in Venice I was awestruck. This was a huge palace and all those smiling people working for Royal Caribbean truly wanted to make our vacation cruise a memorable experience. This was going to be good. You know how when you were thinking about buying a certain model of car you suddenly saw all sorts of them on the road when you could have sworn there were none there before? Well once we committed to a cruise we began to see more and more stories about cruises. Remember the couple on their honeymoon where the groom disappeared? That was on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Maybe all those smiles on the faces of the crew were being reassuring.
I found myself saying to Cindy – today (Tuesday) our ship would be coming into port around 1:00 p.m. and we would be heading into Athens. Can you hear a bit of longing in that statement? On Saturday evening the ships crew was busy washing the decks, arranging the chairs, etc getting ready for our replacements. So now some other couple has our stateroom and is sampling all the delicious foods and sunning themselves by the pool. I bet they are just enthralled. Ahhh!
Our ship docked in the port of Piraeus, Greece for our first shore excursion. We were told to meet in the theater on board at 1:15 p.m. When we got there everyone who was taking the same shore excursion (there were usually about 6 choices) was given a bus number and was led off of the ship by our guide. We boarded our bus and began the journey. Piraeus has melded into Athens so it was hard to know when we had left one city and entered another.
Athens is a huge, congested city that is bustling with buses, scooters, pedestrians, taxis, carts all trying to be in the same place at the same time. We made our way by the National Palace (Greece used to be a monarchy with a King and all) and saw soldiers in their traditional costume on guard out front. We took a short break at a big stadium that was used in the recent Olympic Games. Finally after a few other turns and sudden stops we arrived at the Acropolis.
It was hot! Armed with water bottles we emptied the bus and streamed up the steps into the site. To some we were simply looking at ruins of a bygone era. For me it was a bit different. We were walking not only among the ruins of great buildings from long ago but also where great philosophers, teachers, presidents, and countless others had already walked over the centuries. Who knows what kind of conversations transpired there. I stood on Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians about their “Unknown God”. I was there. It was very moving. I offered a prayer while standing on that hill. You can read Paul’s words in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament (Acts 17:16-34).
After getting tired listening to our guide I flitted about taking pictures. I didn’t want to miss a stone, inscription, statue, view of the surrounding city, anything. I wanted to soak it all in since this probably would be my only visit.
We rejoined our tour group to board our bus and head back to our ship.
The routine for going on a shore excursion arranged by the cruise company was always the same. Meet, get on the bus, tour and come home. My only problem with that was it never seemed like enough time. Soaking up everything takes time. I just started “soaking” and it was time to leave. I probably took 60 pictures or more in Athens at the Acropolis. That was a lot of flitting around. Don’t you just love digital cameras!
After boarding the ship in Venice I was awestruck. This was a huge palace and all those smiling people working for Royal Caribbean truly wanted to make our vacation cruise a memorable experience. This was going to be good. You know how when you were thinking about buying a certain model of car you suddenly saw all sorts of them on the road when you could have sworn there were none there before? Well once we committed to a cruise we began to see more and more stories about cruises. Remember the couple on their honeymoon where the groom disappeared? That was on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Maybe all those smiles on the faces of the crew were being reassuring.
I found myself saying to Cindy – today (Tuesday) our ship would be coming into port around 1:00 p.m. and we would be heading into Athens. Can you hear a bit of longing in that statement? On Saturday evening the ships crew was busy washing the decks, arranging the chairs, etc getting ready for our replacements. So now some other couple has our stateroom and is sampling all the delicious foods and sunning themselves by the pool. I bet they are just enthralled. Ahhh!
Our ship docked in the port of Piraeus, Greece for our first shore excursion. We were told to meet in the theater on board at 1:15 p.m. When we got there everyone who was taking the same shore excursion (there were usually about 6 choices) was given a bus number and was led off of the ship by our guide. We boarded our bus and began the journey. Piraeus has melded into Athens so it was hard to know when we had left one city and entered another.
Athens is a huge, congested city that is bustling with buses, scooters, pedestrians, taxis, carts all trying to be in the same place at the same time. We made our way by the National Palace (Greece used to be a monarchy with a King and all) and saw soldiers in their traditional costume on guard out front. We took a short break at a big stadium that was used in the recent Olympic Games. Finally after a few other turns and sudden stops we arrived at the Acropolis.
It was hot! Armed with water bottles we emptied the bus and streamed up the steps into the site. To some we were simply looking at ruins of a bygone era. For me it was a bit different. We were walking not only among the ruins of great buildings from long ago but also where great philosophers, teachers, presidents, and countless others had already walked over the centuries. Who knows what kind of conversations transpired there. I stood on Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians about their “Unknown God”. I was there. It was very moving. I offered a prayer while standing on that hill. You can read Paul’s words in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament (Acts 17:16-34).
After getting tired listening to our guide I flitted about taking pictures. I didn’t want to miss a stone, inscription, statue, view of the surrounding city, anything. I wanted to soak it all in since this probably would be my only visit.
We rejoined our tour group to board our bus and head back to our ship.
The routine for going on a shore excursion arranged by the cruise company was always the same. Meet, get on the bus, tour and come home. My only problem with that was it never seemed like enough time. Soaking up everything takes time. I just started “soaking” and it was time to leave. I probably took 60 pictures or more in Athens at the Acropolis. That was a lot of flitting around. Don’t you just love digital cameras!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)