This morning we docked at the same place in Istanbul, right below the Topkapi Palace.  I’ve come full circle.  It is a gorgeous Sunday morning. After breakfast, around 10 AM I disembarked.  I felt like the Queen of the Nile getting off. I had three officers, two stewards, and the Destination Manager accompanying me.  One of the officers told me that if I wanted to stay they had a cabin for me. It’s just not that easy though to change one’s plans like that.

There was a car and driver waiting to take me for the hour ride to Istanbul Airport and there I was quickly shocked back to reality.  My flight to Heathrow didn’t leave until 8 PM. (Once in London I would be spending the night at the lovely hotel attached to Terminal 5. ) My plan was to check my luggage and go to the lounge to hang out until boarding time.  You know what they say about the best laid plans…  The Turkish gentlemen had other ideas and were classic examples of giving someone a little authority and having it go to his head.  No, absolutely NOT.  I could not check my luggage.  Checking your luggage is the magic pass for getting through passport control and to the lounge.  You can’t get there with your luggage, only with a carryon.  So I sat and sat and sat…. I spent about 7 hours moving from one uncomfortable spot to another.

Eventually, my turn came to check in and be set free from airport purgatory.  I made my way to the lounge which serves business and first class for every airline known to man. On the board showing the status of flights I saw flights going to Uzbekistan, Tehran,  and Benghazi just to name a few.  The lounge was largely occupied by men from these various Muslim countries.  Now I’ve met some very nice men of the Islamic faith on this very cruise, but these guys were mostly cut from different cloth. They were quite pushy and wouldn’t yield an inch.  I stood in line to get something to drink (everything was self-serve) and was pushed out of the way a couple of times.  There was one very nice, but rather unusual thing.  At some point a small band started playing  kind of incongruous music.  They played things like La Vie en Rose and French chansons as if we were in a café in France.  One of the musicians was an accordion player.  Once long ago I played that instrument, so I’ve decided to brush up on my playing in case I ever want to get a part-time gig playing accordion in the Istanbul lounge.  

Anyway, soon enough it was time to go to my gate.  When I got there instead of boarding people needing assistance or in first class first, they made a general announcement which was, cross my heart exactly these words, “Everybody board now.”  Picture a stampede of people carrying all size and shapes of bags (including one man carrying a 12-pack of toilet paper) and you’ll get the idea.  The toilet paper has had me wondering.  I hadn’t heard of a shortage of it in the UK.

Finally we were off.  The man in the seat next to me was a nice chap from England.  He was very pleasant to talk with but during the flight he had three gin and tonics and seven of those little bottles of wine they serve on planes.  He didn’t seem sloshed, but I did wonder how he would do driving home.

We arrived in Heathrow a little early and I made my way to the Sofitel.  I forgot to mention that they checked my bags all the way through to Dulles.  Fortunately I had a change of clothes in my carryon.  I confess to being worried about whether I’ll see my bags again in Washington, but I didn’t want to argue because of the US rule that you have to have a negative Covid test to return regardless of vaccination status.  The rule says that if you have a test one calendar day before you begin a journey ticketed as one continuos trip you qualify.  My test was done on the ship on Saturday and I was afraid that if I said I wanted to pickup my bags at Heatrhrow, it wouldn’t count for my second flight.  Anyway, I discovered that while I had clothes and a little hotel pack with toothbrush and toothpaste, I didn’t have a brush.  It’s Monday morning and I washed my hair in the hotel and I now look a lot like Medusa.

It's Monday night now and I’m home.  My bags made it to Dulles, a very nice driver picked me up and we had an uneventful drive home. It is good to be home, but I’m sure I’ll miss being pampered by next week. When I’ve had a chance to unpack and recharge, I’ll write my final thoughts. Now it’s time to go to bed.

Bozcaada, Turkey

Our final port stop was Bozcaada, an island 12 miles off the Turkish coast. It was a windy day and we had to tender in quite a distance.  I think a lot of passengers chose not to do that because it was a very rocky ride.  I went ashore briefly so I could say I’d been there but there wasn’t a great deal to see. The small harbor is dominated by a fortress which I think was built by the Venetians. I wrote too soon that every port was clean because this one was not.  The island looked arid and the little town was dusty and there was litter lying around.  The big excitement seemed to be that the car ferry to Istanbul was loading up and there was a line of cars as far as the eye could see waiting to roll on. There was no way that all of them were going to make it on the ferry I saw.  Perhaps they run pretty frequently.

I must warn you to curb your excitement at these exciting (not) photos. The one exciting one that I tried unsuccessfully was a video from inside the tender as we rocked and rolled.  It didn't come out though because my arm was moving around too much.  Take my word for it; it was rough out there!

I guess you can tell by now that this was a pretty boring stop.  There was an excursion that went to Troy that was sold out so I couldn’t do that one.  I heard later that the trip involved a 3 hour ferry ride to someplace, an hour at the excavation site, and then another long ferry ride back.  So maybe I was lucky I didn’t get to go.  The other shore excursion was to a vineyard for a wine tasting but that left at 8:30 AM and that seemed a little early for me.  The upshot was that as far as I was concerned this could have been a nice sea day.  Oh, well.

We played our last round of trivia and the two teams tied.  Hooray.  I had dinner with new friends from San Diego and then went back to pack and put my luggage out.  

Skiathos, Greece

It’s Friday, May 6th and we are anchored off the island of Skiathos. Unlike Mykonos yesterday this island looks lush and green. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Sporades group.  One day I’ll have to try and figure out how many island groups Greece has; it seems nearly every one we’ve been to belongs to a different group.  Someone told me that Skiathos was the island on which they filmed Mamma Mia, but google doesn’t say that.  Regardless, the pine forests I can see remind me of the movie.

Skiathos played a minor role in the Persian wars which interested me since I just finished reading a book about the battle of Thermopylae.  Apparently King Xerxes' fleet ran into a storm and was badly damaged on the rocky coast of Skiathos in 480 BC.  Because of that they were unable to invade behind the Spartans or resupply the Persian army.  Of course, Sparta was defeated at Thermopylae, but the weakened fleet was defeated later at the battle of Artemisium and commandingly destroyed the following year at the Battle of Salamis ending the Persian dreams of occupying all of Greece.

I tendered ashore and found myself in a most charming town.  The waterfront had a broad paved promenade with lots of cafés and restaurants.  There were a number of statues along the way. I headed inland and found myself in a maze of narrow streets (actually they were barely wide enough for a motorbike).  The houses and stores were again whitewashed as on every Greek island we’ve been to. The vacation season must have started here because there were lots of people wandering, eating and drinking.  There were quite a few who sounded like they were from the UK and I think they must have come by ferry.

I do have one observation about this and really all the islands I’ve seen.  They are all spotlessly clean.  There’s no trash lying around and everything looks sparkling.  I noticed that on the tours I took as well.   When I think about the trash I see sometimes lying around at home along the highways and streets, it’s very different here.  Perhaps we could take some lessons from these people.

I got quite lost in the maze of streets and when I asked for directions I found no English speakers.  They were all friendly and would lead me to someone else they thought might speak it.  Finally one did and she pointed me in the right direction.  I wasn’t worried because on an island you inevitably will come to a shore.  I stopped and had a drink at a café before tendering back.  I spent the afternoon talking with some friends from Florida.

At 4 PM it was time for trivia again.  Somehow mysteriously about 8 new people showed up and they joined the two existing teams.  We wondered where they came from because we’re at the end of the cruise and they hadn’t come before.  We came in second again. 

Chora, Mykonos, Greece

Today I’m having a lovely day on Mykonos.  There isn’t a cloud in the sky, the wind has moderated a little, and in the sun it’s nice and warm.  I tendered ashore around 11 AM and wandered the streets for a little while. I remembered more shops the last time I was here. I suspect that a combination of nearly two years of Covid restrictions and the fact that it’s a little early for the vacation season are factors.  But somehow, it does look a little less thriving than on my last visit.  

I wandered up some of the little alleyways.  That’s what they are since there’s no way a car could pass through most of them.  The houses are all typically whitewashed.  As I walked along one street I heard a persistent yipping and I saw this little fellow obviously unhappy that he was confined to the balcony and/or that I and others were walking in his space.  I walked in the direction of the windmills for which Mykonos is known. The windmills were built by the Venetians in the 16th century to mill flour. There are several dotted around the island but the majority are in the main town of Chora which was where we tendered.

I walked back down to the little harbor area.  The waterfront is lined with small cafés and restaurants.  I picked one which looked nice and ordered a Greek salad (remember, no lettuce in a real Greek salad), some Saganaki (fried feta with honey), and a glass of house white wine.  As I ate I kept hoping that the famous pelican of Mykonos would come walking by, but he was elsewhere.  One of my shipmates saw him today but I can’t pinch her little video.

                                                      Entrance to a little church next to my restaurant

                                    It's a little hard to tell, but you're looking at the sea bottom through the crystal clear water  in the harbor.

After people-watching for a while I headed back to the tender dock and ship.  It was a nice day in Mykonos, still just a little chilly when not in the sun.  I spoke with someone later on who went by a beach where people were swimming.  He said the water temperature was about 65° and with the brisk breeze the people had to be cold when they got out of the water. Brrrr!

We played trivia in the late afternoon and came in second.  That sounds impressive until I tell you that we only have two teams playing.  But then, it is only a game.

I’m finishing this Friday morning as I sit looking at the island of Skiathos.  Last night after a nice dinner at the Thomas Keller Grill I was so tired that I fell asleep reading.  I guess the fresh air got to me.  So I’ll post this and tender in to walk around the town to see what’s there.

Kusadasi and Ephesus, a Special Day

How can I describe what a magical day this has been? Today was my birthday and I have to confess that special days are particularly hard when you’ve lost your other half. Today my new friends and the wonderful crew on this ship have given me a day I shall never forget.

It actually began last night when I got back to my cabin.  I found a big vase full of beautiful flowers and my bed and bathroom strewn with rose petals.  This morning when I stepped out of my cabin my two stewardesses were there to sing Happy Birthday.  I think they were waiting for me! I went to the Colonnade for breakfast and the wait staff appeared with pancakes with a candle, strawberries and whipped cream and I was serenaded again.

The middle of the day was lazy.  I went ashore and had some retail therapy, which I probably shouldn’t have, but oh, well, birthdays come but once a year.  I’ve been to Kusadasi  before and the big thing to see here is Ephesus which I visited a couple of times In the past so I didn’t make the trip again.  I was saving myself for the evening’s events.

                                                       Local dancers greeting the ships today

I shall digress for a moment from birthday things to write a little about Ephesus. About a half hour from Kusadasi is the ancient city of Ephesus (think of St. Paul and letters to the Ephesians.).  This area was inhabited since the Neolithic era, 6000 BC. The city grew and gained importance during the Hellenistic period as a Greek city. After Rome conquered this part of the world, Ephesus really became a major city, ranking fourth behind Rome, Alexandria and Antioch.  Some estimates say that it had a population of 250,000.  It was a port city during that time but it’s now inland because the river silted up.  It was sacked by Goths in the 3rd century AD and was destroyed by earthquakes over the millennia.  Today only a very small portion of the city has been excavated, and the buildings that have been are among the most beautiful Roman ruins.  The Terrace Houses which were residences of wealthy people have some of the most incredible mosaics which are being meticulously restored.  

Back to birthdays.  Dinner was served early for those of us going to tonight’s special Seabourn event.  At dinner another cake appeared with another serenade.  Then at 7 PM we, a couple of hundred of us, boarded buses and were driven to Ephesus for a classical concert performed by the Aegean Chamber Orchestra at the Great Theater of Ephesus.  We walked up what was called the Harbor Road in Roman times and at the edge of the theater, tables and chairs were set up with wine and hors d’oeuvres for us to sit and enjoy the concert.  The tables were candlelit and as the sun went down lights came on in the ruins around us as the orchestra played.  It was positively magical!  It was dark and a beautiful starlit night when the concert ended and we boarded the buses to go back to Kusadasi and our ship.  But wait, there’s more.

                                            In front of the theater at Ephesus

                                                         Two of my trivia friends, Sheila and Bill

                                                  Looking down Harbor Road 

                                       I just liked this column juxtaposed against the ruined wall

                                                      The orchestra performing

                                                                 The program

We were dropped off at the cruise terminal and walked down the dock.  There was music playing and as we got closer I could see all the cabin attendants and the waiters, sea crew, cruise staff lining both sides of a red carpet and as I approached they unfurled a big Happy Birthday banner and serenaded me again.  It really did take my breath away!  There cannot be another more wonderful group of people than these hard-working, remarkable Seabourn crew.

But there’s more.  I dropped my things off in my cabin and went down to the pool deck where there was a dance party.  Because dinner had been so early (and heaven forbid we might be famished) there was a buffet. (I didn’t eat anything but they were passing around with trays of some kind of apricot brandy martini and I did try those.)  Once again we women got up and danced while most of the men just sat around. Then Robert, the Cruise Director, took the microphone and came over and sang Pretty Woman to me. What can I say?  It has been the most special day I can remember in a long time.  I guess I’m going to have to spend every future birthday on a Seabourn ship.

                      This towel cake was on my table when I got back to my room

After joining in the conga line to the song “We are family” and a couple more martinis, it was time for me to “conga” on back to my cabin. All the festivities made turning a year older worth it.  It has been such a special day I shall never forget it.  There’s a reason that people love this cruise line.

Anyway, that was my day. I should have gotten more photos, but I was so surprised that I didn’t always remember to do it, but I’ve included a few.

Agios Nikolaos, Crete

Today has been a bittersweet day.  We are anchored off the port of Agios Nikolaos, Crete.  The last time I was here was on this ship with Al. It was our last port before the end of our last cruise together in May 2019.

 Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the location of the palace of Knossos, which was the seat of the Minoan society.  Since I’d been to Knossos on an earlier cruise, today I just tendered ashore and visited some places in Agios Nikolaos we visited three years ago. The town lies beside a small boat harbor and a  freshwater lake.  There’s a pedestrian shopping street whose shops sell the usual tourist trinkets one finds on most Greek islands.  I didn’t buy anything there but I did at a little shop on the waterfront.  Both times we’d stopped here, Al bought me a gold pendant from this place.  The shop was run by a goldsmith who handcrafted pieces with Greek motifs.  When we were here in 2019, the wife of the goldsmith told us her husband had died suddenly a year or two before.  I wanted to see if it was still open and to my surprise it was.  I wore one of the pendants from her shop and the lady (her name is Dena) recognized it immediately.  I sat and we had some coffee and a long chat. We had  a nice conversation about how life must go on despite a great loss. I bought myself a birthday present, a gold ring designed with a Greek meander pattern. In ancient Greece the meander, or Greek key, represented eternity.  Then I came back to the ship. It wasn’t an exciting day, but it was poignant and meant a lot to me.

                                                            The meander pattern

PS -  I could kick myself.  I should have thought to take a picture of Dena and me, but we were too busy talking.  Oh, well, next time.  Here are a couple of photos of the street - boring I know.

Patmos, Greece

Today, May 2, we’re anchored off the island of Patmos, another of the Dodecanese islands.  When I looked out this morning it was drizzling and chilly. It has dripped on and off all day and it’s still cold.

I love the Greek myths about various places in this country.  The story goes that Artemis, the goddess,  hunter of deer and daughter of Leto, used to visit the nearby mainland where she met the moon goddess Selene.  Selene would cast her light on the ocean revealing the sunken island of Patmos. She persuaded Artemis to bring the island to the surface and thus to life. Artemis enlisted her brother Apollo’s help to convince Zeus to raise the island.  He did so, the island dried out and eventually became inhabited and was named Patmos.

The island has a year-round population of about 3,500 which swells to 20,000 in the summertime. The ship’s tours all went to the same places and all involved walking up a lot of steep steps to see the Monastery of St. John.  Steps were not to my liking, especially when wet and slippery, so I took a tender ashore and hired a taxi to take me around the island.  It was delightful!  I sat up front with my driver Katerina, a native of Patmos. We drove up to the cave of St. John, the author of the Book of Revelation.  The story goes that John was on Patmos when he was given a vision from Jesus.  There was an easy walkway to the cave which now is a chapel.  Unfortunately no photos may be taken there.  There are some chairs in the little place and I sat for a few moments.  I have to say that as with some spots in Israel, I do get a feeling of something spiritual in these places.

                  This is as close as I could come to a photo of St. John's cave

                          Looking back from the entrance to the cave

Katerina then drove me to as high and as near as we could get to the monastery.  I could get a little glimpse of the medieval building and that had to suffice.   In the distance on another hill there were some very intact looking windmillsWe then did a drive around the island stopping at a little fishing village and then at a beautiful but deserted beach.  I can imagine that in August, the height of the vacation season in Europe, the beach would be packed.  It was a shame that it wasn’t sunny because even with the clouds and rain the sea was a beautiful blue and I could see that the water is crystal clear.

                     Monastery of St. John - so near and yet so far

                                                               Patmos Town

                                                              The Fishing Village

                                              I liked this brightly colored boat

                                        three of the windmills of Patmos

I spent a couple of hours with Katerina and learned about life on Patmos.  There is no agriculture because it’s too hilly.  The residents fish (they export fish to the mainland) and work in tourism. As we drove around she knew everyone and honked at passing friends and stopped to have a conversation with her father-in-law about something.  Since I like getting to see ordinary people’s lives, I had a marvelous time.

On the tender ride back I met some people who had been on the ship’s tour and I think I saw more than they did; in fact, a couple of them said they wished they had hired a taxi.  Bad news was that the weather forecast is calling for more of the same for the next couple of days.  I’m hoping the weatherman here is as wrong as the one at home often is.  Oh, well.  I’ve lucked out in the weather department so far.

Ancient Corinth

It’s Sunday May 1st and the ship is in Piraeus, the port of Athens, Greece. Before I write about my day today, I must tell about something I saw last night.

We finished dinner around 10:15 PM. During dinner the ship did a lot of vibrating and it was clear that the thrusters were being used but we weren’t in port yet.  Apparently the distance we had to travel from Spetsai was not far so we essentially stopped for a while.  Anyway, I got back to my cabin and went on my balcony.  The drapes were drawn and I didn’t turn on the light so it was very dark with just the distant lights on the shore and the ship’s running lights.  Our thrusters had churned up the sea and I saw this ethereal sight down at sea level.  They were gulls looking for fish but they glowed in the dark and looked magical. As we started  moving again they flew off.

Okay, maybe they don't seem so exciting if you weren't there, but they were like looking at a bunch of fireflies on the sea and they fascinated me.

Since I’ve been to Athens several times, I went on an excursion to the Corinth Canal and the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth.  The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea.  It’s 4 miles long and only about 75 feet wide so modern ships can’t use it.  In fact it has been closed since January 2021 because the walls of the canal were unstable.  The canal cuts across the Peloponnesian peninsula technically making Peloponnese an island.  It was begun in 1881 and first used in 1893 so it’s from the modern era.  The idea was an ancient one though. The first to propose it was a ruler of Corinth in the 7th century BC.  The project was too costly and instead a stone carriageway was built along which ships could be towed or goods carried from one sea to the other, eliminating a long sea voyage around the peninsula. Later rulers, both Greek and Roman, considered a canal but abandoned the idea.  The only one who made a real try at it was the Emperor Nero. He brought 6,000 Israelite prisoners of war to construct it.  Nero himself broke the first ground with a pickaxe. The project was dug about 2300 feet but then was abandoned after Nero’s death.

After a brief stop to take pictures we drove on to the site of ancient Corinth. The area was occupied beginning at least in the 3rd millennium BC. The first historical references of Corinth come from the 8th century BC when it became a commercial center.  Corinth was a city-state as were Sparta and Athens among others.  The city allied itself with Sparta during the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.  In 146 BC Corinth was captured and completely destroyed by the Romans. Around the time of Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC Corinth was rebuilt and became the principal city of the Roman occupation of Greece. Corinth had a population of more than 10,000 and had a theater and  an odeon, a facility for musical performances that was smaller than a theater.  After the fall of the western Roman empire Corinth became part of the eastern, Byzantine empire and was eventually conquered by the Ottomans after the conquest of Constantinople.  The old city was completely destroyed by a large earthquake in the mid- 19th century.  New Corinth was built a few miles away on the Gulf of Corinth.  What remains of ancient Corinth now are just ruins which are still being excavated.

The principal feature still standing is the Temple of Apollo.  Unlike the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, this building was built of limestone not marble and the columns are in the Doric style with much simpler capitals. The ruins of the temple lie next to what was the agora, the open public space found in ancient Greek cities. The agora was the place for markets and around its perimeter there would be shops.  Nearby was a fountain house, a public building where people could come to draw clean drinking water to carry home in jugs and containers.

                  The arched structure would have been a store along the agora

The fountain house where the citizenry would get fresh water

There was a nice little museum at the site with artifacts found so far.  A few displays really caught my attention.  One was a display of clay body parts like arms, hands, legs and feet.  There was a sanctuary in the ancient city which was considered a healing place.  The body parts were offerings from people who came for healing of various physical problems.  Another display was a beautiful collection of miniature jugs, vases and other containers which were intricately painted.  The last was a collection of life size statues which had no heads, just a hollow space where the neck would be.  The Romans were into recycling our guide Sophia told us.  If someone wanted a statue of himself, they would commission a head and neck likeness and it would be placed on one of these pre-made forms.  So, for example, a general would have his head placed on a statue wearing the appropriate garb of a general. Pretty clever and frugal! 

                        Casts of limbs being offered to help with healing

     The largest miniature was perhaps three inches across

                          Headless statue waiting for a head

A whole row of statues waiting for a head

                              Some children's toys

After our visit to Corinth we went to the seaside village of Loutraki and a restaurant called Ihthioessa for a fish and seafood lunch. We had a Greek salad, which I learned never has lettuce.  In fact, if a Greek goes to a restaurant and he’s presented with a salad with lettuce he asks for the price to be reduced because the lettuce is just filler.  Of course we had bread with tzatziki.  Two big pots of perfectly steamed mussels came next along with fried calamari.  Then we were each given a whole pan-fried fish, which was delicious but we had to watch out for the bone.  There was local wine, no ouzo, and then finally a little cheesecake with raspberries.  It was all delicious!  On the drive back to the ship I think we all took a little nap.

                       Some really fresh fish

                                 A view of the restaurant

The weather was perfect.  For anyone coming to this part of the world it seems this is the ideal time. We had a nice breeze, low humidity and temperature around 75.  I was very happy I choose to visit  someplace outside Athens.  Oh, I forgot to mention that St.Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth and wrote his "Letters to the Corinthians."