Our Greek Adventures

All,

What a time warp Greece is!  We had a fabulous time and will try to capture the essence of our trip - in other words, we'll try to be brief!  We joined our travel group in Kusadasi, Turkey and boarded Artemis, our ship. 

 Very nice cabin.

First island was Mykonos.  The village is a maze of alleys with homes and shops all mingled together.  Good thing we had a guide!  After a few turns, we were completely lost within the village.  The alleys are not straight; they twist and turn then dead end! 

 After our short visit on Mykonos, our ship headed to Naxos.  

The captain wanted to get to a deep harbor to wait out a storm.  The wind had picked up considerably.  When we dropped anchor in Naxos, we went ashore for a short walk in the town of Hora.  

In Greece, all the shops have an interesting custom. They close from 2 to 6 pm and then re-open from 6 to 8 or 9 pm. 

           Visited the citadel.

The author of "Zorba The Greek" attended school on this island.  The weather had calmed, so the captain let us go ashore for the morning.  We took a hike of maybe 2 miles.  The wildflowers were just beginning to bloom, saw goats and the landscape was just breath taking.  It started raining, then hailed, and then the heavens turned on the firehoses! 

 The wind picked up by the time we returned to the ship. 

Next morning, the captain decided that no one was leaving the ship.  During the captain's talk, we learned that the wind measure (buford scale, maybe) goes from 1 to 12 and the morning's measurement was at 10!  Also, the ship lost 5 huge mooring cables during the night - they snapped! 

 After 3 days, the weather calmed down enough for us to visit Naxos one more time.  We visited the village of Iria; it is the ancient site of the temple of Dionysus.  We quickly learned that "old" has a different meaning in Greece.  Our guide, Maria, explained that "this is new, it was built by the Romans."  Took the brain several minutes to comprehend her statement!

Celebrated Easter (again) on the island of Santorini.  This is the most photographed island as the village is actually way up high on the cliffs.  One of the tourist things to do is to ride a donkey up the stairs.  We took the stairs up - needed the exercise! 

Tinos Island was our next stop.  This island has a population of 8, 500 people and about 1,000 churches!  One of the more interesting buildings on this island was the bus stop - it was all marble!  Even the window screens were marble!  

Bus Stop

Syros Island has the fabulous church of the Virgin Mary.  People come here on pilgrimage and crawl on their hands and knees from the harbor up to the church.  The street has a thin carpet and is roped off so cars keep clear of the lane. 

We say farewell to Artemis and climb aboard our bus for the land portion of our Greek tour.  Stopped at Thermopolie battlefield - experienced a sense of awe that this is where the Spartans and Thesbians managed to stop the Persians.

Learned that Greek warriors carried about 80 pounds of gear and would run about 200 meters in full gear!  In Meteora, there are about 60 towering rocks that used to house 64 monasteries.  Today only 6 are still in use.  Took a photo of Holy Trinity; the exterior was used for a James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only.  The monasteries were first built in the 14th Century; some have fallen into disrepair and some are being modernized.

  In Itea, we dipped our toes in the Corinthian Gulf! 

 At Delphi, we were overwhelmed with the rich history and the remains of the Greek and Roman culture.  Those pesky Romans - they built over the Greek buildings!  We walked up to the stadium and it was well worth the huffing and puffing!  It is very large and mostly intact! 

 Had our minds blown again by looking at the Corinthian Canal.  What an engineering feat!  Learned that the Ancient Greeks believed that theater was for healing the soul.  Maria stood in the center of the theater and we sat about 50 yards away from her.  We could hear her breathe in and out!  This theater is still used today!  

Took an evening stroll in Nafplion, along the ocean and wildflowers.  From Nafplion, we went to Olympia.  We learned more Greek mythology while admiring the statues in the Museum of Olympia.  The games started here in about 776 BC and were held consecutively for 1,004 years.  Steve and Rick decided they needed to do the 200 meter run.  They're both running so fast; Rick lost his hat!

On the grounds of Olympia, we saw a crew working on a new excavation.  They are searching for the theater - they know its approximate location from the records of ancient travelers.  

Back to Athens and modern Greece!  Overloaded our brains at the National Archaeological Museum.  Not only our brains were full but Rick's camera decided to stop functioning!  Had to take pictures of the Acropolis with the cell phone - what a tragedy!  However, the Acropolis was on the last day of our Greek adventure.  Maria suggested we pick up another camera at the Duty Free shop before landing in Prague.  Excellent suggestion for the next part of our journey in Europe.  Also, our group has made a date to meet in the year 2055 on St. George's Day and see the Acropolis without scaffolding!  Some of us may be viewing it from the Pearly Gates! 

Turkey Wrap Up

All,

Time is just zipping by!  Here's a re-cap of our trip to Turkey.  Learned that Cappadocia means "Land of the Thoroughbred Horses."  Stopped where the Dervishes were established and visited the Runi Museum.  What an interesting place and philosophy.  Runi thought that everything turns in harmony and in order to find harmony with God, one must be in harmony with everything by turning or spinning.  Discovered that Borek in Turkish means pastry shop.  

Visited Perge which has been inhabited since the 3rd Century BC!  Perge is still being excavated.  Two Greek towers are still standing!  As we walked, we saw a grinding stone used to fill in a section of a wall - the ultimate in recycling!  Don't waste any good material!  

The ancient site of Aspendos is mind blowing!  The theater is pretty intact but the rest of the city has not been excavated yet.  Surround sound was done mathematically with bronze jars filled with water for the re-verb and amplification. Alexander the Great was here in 333 BC.  This theater is still being used today for many concerts.

  

On the way to Fetiyah, we stopped in Myrna (Lycia). The tombs here are hewn into rock walls and look like Greco-Roman architecture.  At the church of St. Nicholas, we saw an interesting fresco.  Usually, Mary is depicted on the left side of Jesus, however, the painting here has her on the right hand side, which is considered to be unusual. During one of the many crusades, the bones of St Nicholas were "taken" to Italy as "holy" relics.  One quick story about St Nicholas; he overheard a father and daughter discussing her lack of a dowry.  Without a dowry, she could not marry.  So, one evening, St Nicholas climbed up on the roof of their house and dropped a small bag of coins down the chimney.  The young girl found the small bag of coins when she cleaned the hearth the next morning. Took a short walk in the town of Fetiyah, which is named for a pilot, who crashed while attempting a flight record.

We boarded the Pinar III for our Turquoise Coast Cruise.  One place we visited was Kayakoy, which is the inspiration for the novel, Birds Without Wings.  The village is now deserted due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.  Such a sad story; families were uprooted and had to learn a new language and culture.  

Spent some time at Cleopatra's Sunken Bath.  Cleopatra was never here but the name draws boaters and other visitors.  It's an old building half submerged.  Makes for an interesting story though.  All too soon we departed our ship.  

While visiting St. John's Basilica, we saw storks flying and nesting!  Spring is here!  

Easter Sunday we visited Ephesus - what an experience!  Thought we had seen some pretty amazing things but this takes the cake thus far!  The site has been excavated but only 15 percent of it.  Celsus' Library is probably our favorite building there.  It appears to have 2 stories/floors; however, it has only one ground floor.  It was built for pure show.  What a way to end our travels in Turkey!  Next up is Greece!

Cappadocia

March 25th, 2015

Up at 3 am for our flight to Kersari - nothing like a cup of Turkish coffee to clear a bad case of bleary eyes!  Our hotel is partially dug into the hills that are everywhere here.  Hotel Alfina rooms are huge and are dug into the hillside.  Wonderful cavern feeling with really weak wi-fi signal!  Visited Goreme (UNESCO World Heritage Site) where churches and dwellings were dug into the tufa.  No photographs inside in order to preserve the paintings inside.  Went into the Dark Church which contains amazing paintings that look like they were just completed.  There are no windows in the church, hence the name.

Had lunch at Han Ciragan, where they cook a traditional meat stew in pottery.  When the stew is done, they break the neck of the pot and pour the stew into a serving dish.  Fabulous flavors!

Next stop was at the Fairy Chimneys.  Think of the hoo-doos of the southwest, these are very similar.
Such whimsical shapes of Mother Nature.

March 26th, 2015

One of the highlights of today was visiting a school for girls in Ilijk.  The school started in 1964.  It offers free boarding and meals to girls of low income families.  There are 4 different areas of studies; children's education, computing, graphic arts and elder care.  This is a vocational school in which the girls receive a certificate and are ready to enter the job market.  We visited the children's education, elder care and computing classes.  The girls were all charming!

After the school visit, we had lunch with a village farming family.  What great hosts!  We ate like kings and queens! It was a bit challenging trying to communicate but we managed.  After our feast, we all gathered on the porch where our guide, Ridvan, played the saz and the farmer sang a couple of folk songs.  On our return trip, we stopped at the village community hall and talked with the elected head of the village.  Interesting that this small village has the same concerns that we have!

Just a great day to experience life in a village!

Days 3 and 4 in Instanbul

March 22, 2015

After breakfast, we walked across the street to the Istanbul Mosaic Museum.  Beautiful mosaic tile is being preserved for the future.  The tiles were recovered from the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors.  The palace had hundreds of rooms, many with gold mosaics.  What they have recovered is about 2,000 square feet, which makes it one of the larges preserved mosaics in Europe.  The craftsmanship is just mind boggling!  Each tile is about 5 mm and the effect is very similar to oil painting.  There is still a lot of color in the tiles so they must have been very vibrant when first laid.

We wandered through the shopping area.  We decided that if it remains warm and sunny this afternoon, we'll have lunch at one of the side walk cafes.  The only remains of the Hippodrome are some of the columns.  Most of the Hippodrome is underground, buried by today's buildings.  However, the columns are reminders of the biggest sporting complex of that time.  The Obelisk of Theodosius (Egyptian Column) was erected in 390 AD and the Serpentine Column is from Delphi.  Our wanderings took us to the Fountain of Kaiser Wilhelm II erected in 1898.  It looks rather out of place among all the "older" ruins.  The fountain is still being used today.

Our next stop was at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art.  The building used to be the palace of Ibrahim Pasa.  One of the ministers to the King/Emperor of the Ottoman Empire.  He was executed because he thought himself equal to the King.  One of the many treasures in the museum is a boat shaped Beggar's Bowl.  It is from the Safaved Period, early 17th century.  There was a room dedicated to the Relics of the Prophet, whiskers of his beard, footprint, plus the keys to Kaaba.

There is also an impressive collection of carpets/rugs from the 13th Century Seljuk to the Ottoman Empire.  Some are fragments while others are whole and only slightly worn.

Lunch at a sidewalk cafe!  Had a lentil soup and rocket (AKA arugula) salad - yummy!

March 23, 2015

Met up with our small group of intrepid travelers.  Visited the Blue Mosque and learned about the history of the mosque.  There are thousands of tiles inside that were made by master craftsmen.  The patterns are unique to the mosque and cannot be replaced as no one today knows how the tiles were originally made.

The entry fountain to the Topkapi Palace is representative of Turkish Rococo/Baroque art.  It is a combination of Islamic, European, and Turkish art.  Very interesting blend and pleasing to the eye.  Started raining by mid-afternoon.  Saw the Baghdad Pavilion - beautiful wood doors with inlay of mother of pearl.

Brain is on over-load!  More to come.