The comment we heard uttered most frequently aboard our ship in the past week was, "If this cruise wasn't prepaid., I wouldn't be here." It has been a bit surreal plying the waters of the Aegean and the Adriatic while the pillars of the global economy were crumbling. You can probably look for cruise ship bargains for the next couple of years while our economic ship is being righted.
Our tour of Greece began in Crete (where we elected to stay on board and rest) and ended in Corfu. I won't bore you with too much travelogue - the Greek isles are in fact among the most beautiful on earth, Oia (pronounced EE-yah, on Santorini) is picture-perfect with its whitewashed buildings and cobalt blue rooftops, the Acropolis is awe-inspiring (made even more so as we clambered around it while being buffeted by 30 mile an hour winds and trying to keep our balance on worn-smooth marble), Navplion (in the Peloponnese, the first capital of independent Greece in the 19th century) and Corfu are perfect Aegean/Ionian towns that we'd return to in an instant.
Some notes along the way:
* Cats are everywhere in Greece and Turkey. Apparently no one "owns" them, and there are no SPCAs in the region, but they all appear to be well cared for.... and widely photographed. Ditto for the dogs on the Acropolis and in the ruins of Ephesus (Turkey).
* On every tour we have heard about each region's unique contributions to the olive oil industry. We heard that southern Greece has about 140 million olive trees, and that the Puglia region of Italy (about which more later) has about 50 million trees, and that other regions on our journey had tens of millions. Doing some rough math to account for Turkey, the rest of Greece and Italy, France, and the rest of the Balkans, we've concluded that there are a bajillion olive trees on earth. And to think that it all began (according to myth) with the Tree of Athena atop the Acropolis.
*On a trip to the beautiful old town of Lyon, France about five years ago, we were stunned by the amount of graffiti on its ancient walls. On this trip, we've continued to be amazed at how much graffiti mars the beautiful towns and villages of Turkey, Greece and southern Italy. For those of you who are Philadelphians, you'll know what I mean when I say "Paging Jane Golden!"
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Notes on the Journey (from a harbor in Crete)
Remembering that we were on this cruise to relax, we decided not to go ashore at Aghios Nikolaos in Crete, which appears to be a nice but unremarkable Mediterranean port city. Most of the attractions here are in museums - not our favorite when there's so much to see outdoors in situ around the Aegean - or involve long bus rides. Prof. Sussman, the guest lecturer onboard, characterized the largely reconstructed Minoan palace of Knossos as "Disneyland," which we took as a license to pass it up. And just sitting in the harbor, almost completely surrounded by Greek isles and trying to finish Ted Sorenson's book "Counselor," is pleasant enough. We'll next go ashore at Mykonos tomorrow.
Odds and ends from the last several days:
*The well-trained Turkish tour guides made certain to inform us that Herodotus (the father of history), Homer, and Santa Claus (St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra in southern Turkey), were among Turkey's famous denizens, and that ancient Troy and Smyrna, as well as Mt. Ararat (where Noah's ark landed) were all on Turkish soil.
*Turkey was also home to two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the afore-mentioned Tomb of Maussollos (mostly reduced to rubble, but the ruins at the site are worth a visit), and the Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Selcuk (of which nothing remains).
*Note to Turkish marketers: if you want your bottled spring water to appeal to Westerners, best not to give it a brand name like "Aroma" - that's not an attribute people look for in their water. (The stuff is actually pretty good.)
*You meet some interesting people on these ships, not the least of whom are the young crewmembers. Some join just to see the world, some are climbing the next rung in the ladder of professional hospitality, and some have fascinating backstories of travail and consider their cruise ship experience to be the best break they've had in their lives. One notable thing that typifies the crews on all three Mediterranean cruises we've taken. - other than entertainers and lecturers, there hasn't been an American in the lot. This is a shame - onboard experience clearly builds character, rewards a serious work ethic, and exposes you to many corners of the globe.
*A "Greek Breakfast" as defined by our guide in Santorini: "coffee, cigarettes and a newspaper."
Odds and ends from the last several days:
*The well-trained Turkish tour guides made certain to inform us that Herodotus (the father of history), Homer, and Santa Claus (St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra in southern Turkey), were among Turkey's famous denizens, and that ancient Troy and Smyrna, as well as Mt. Ararat (where Noah's ark landed) were all on Turkish soil.
*Turkey was also home to two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the afore-mentioned Tomb of Maussollos (mostly reduced to rubble, but the ruins at the site are worth a visit), and the Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Selcuk (of which nothing remains).
*Note to Turkish marketers: if you want your bottled spring water to appeal to Westerners, best not to give it a brand name like "Aroma" - that's not an attribute people look for in their water. (The stuff is actually pretty good.)
*You meet some interesting people on these ships, not the least of whom are the young crewmembers. Some join just to see the world, some are climbing the next rung in the ladder of professional hospitality, and some have fascinating backstories of travail and consider their cruise ship experience to be the best break they've had in their lives. One notable thing that typifies the crews on all three Mediterranean cruises we've taken. - other than entertainers and lecturers, there hasn't been an American in the lot. This is a shame - onboard experience clearly builds character, rewards a serious work ethic, and exposes you to many corners of the globe.
*A "Greek Breakfast" as defined by our guide in Santorini: "coffee, cigarettes and a newspaper."
Goodbye to Turkey, Hello to Greece
This is usually not the best time of year to visit Turkey's southern coast, we're told - it can get very rainy during late September and early October. But we were presented with a perfect day to walk through the primary tourist attractions in the whitewashed city of Bodrum.
The Castle of St. Peter (erected by the peripatetic Knights of St. John in the 13th century before they moved to Malta) and the remnants of the Tomb of Maussollos (the source of our word "mausoleum," it was one of the Seven Wonders, destroyed in an earthquake, with many of its parts later used in other structures - it became kind of a "pre-cut marble quarry" for the town) .
Bodrum has a picture-perfect inner "yacht harbor," but rather than a basin full of floating fiberglass mansions, this harbor features scores of wooden sailing ships, many of them the round-sterned, locally produced craft know as "gulets." And the promenade around the harbor is one of the most pleasant we have seen in our visits to Middle Earth.
Our wrap-up on Turkey: This is a land that has really only opened itself up to tourism over the last two decades, and there is much of historic interest to see - the quality of the antiquities is stunning and not to be missed by any fan of archaeology or ancient civilizations. The towns and cities are well-maintained, and the streets and sidewalks are kept very clean. The food is good and fresh, if not particularly inventive. If you're a bargainer by nature, shopping can be great sport - if you're not, then it's not as much fun. The three Turkish guides we had over the course of three days were warm and interesting people, and they all were emphatic that Turkey is a secular nation and that it should stay that way. It's clear that the current ruling party, which has fundamentalist Islam leanings, is a source of discomfort for the educated class, and they are concerned that the image of these rulers not scare away tourist dollars. Fortunately, if the crowds of tourists we saw during the early autumn season are any indication, that is not an immediate risk.
From Bodrum, we sailed to Santorini, anchoring in the harbor facing the walls of the immense caldera that sits in the middle of what was once the island's core. It's a picture-postcard island, with iconic views of whitewashed buildings, cobalt blue doors, windows and rooftops set against a turquoise Aegean Sea. The villages are set 1000 feet above sea level, and you get there either on a bus making hairpin turns on roads with no safety barriers (as we did, because we were on a tour), on a funicular (much like a skilift), by mule or on foot.
Santorini's primary contribution to history seems to be the fact that it blew up circa 1500 BC, and the volcano created a quake and tsunami that destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete, opening the door to the Mycaenean civilization. Today, the island exists mainly for fun and, relatedly, for winemaking - though I would stick with the vinsanto and some of the whites and avoid the reds. Oia ("EE-ya"), the loveliest of the 13 villages, offers fun walks, awe-inspiring views and a number of fine and creative jewelry shops and art galleries.
Tourist tip: When a guidebook tells you how many steps you must walk to approach a hillside castle or trek through a mosque or a palace, multiply that number by three. Ann called Bodrum Castle "a medieval Thighmaster."
The Castle of St. Peter (erected by the peripatetic Knights of St. John in the 13th century before they moved to Malta) and the remnants of the Tomb of Maussollos (the source of our word "mausoleum," it was one of the Seven Wonders, destroyed in an earthquake, with many of its parts later used in other structures - it became kind of a "pre-cut marble quarry" for the town) .
Bodrum has a picture-perfect inner "yacht harbor," but rather than a basin full of floating fiberglass mansions, this harbor features scores of wooden sailing ships, many of them the round-sterned, locally produced craft know as "gulets." And the promenade around the harbor is one of the most pleasant we have seen in our visits to Middle Earth.
Our wrap-up on Turkey: This is a land that has really only opened itself up to tourism over the last two decades, and there is much of historic interest to see - the quality of the antiquities is stunning and not to be missed by any fan of archaeology or ancient civilizations. The towns and cities are well-maintained, and the streets and sidewalks are kept very clean. The food is good and fresh, if not particularly inventive. If you're a bargainer by nature, shopping can be great sport - if you're not, then it's not as much fun. The three Turkish guides we had over the course of three days were warm and interesting people, and they all were emphatic that Turkey is a secular nation and that it should stay that way. It's clear that the current ruling party, which has fundamentalist Islam leanings, is a source of discomfort for the educated class, and they are concerned that the image of these rulers not scare away tourist dollars. Fortunately, if the crowds of tourists we saw during the early autumn season are any indication, that is not an immediate risk.
From Bodrum, we sailed to Santorini, anchoring in the harbor facing the walls of the immense caldera that sits in the middle of what was once the island's core. It's a picture-postcard island, with iconic views of whitewashed buildings, cobalt blue doors, windows and rooftops set against a turquoise Aegean Sea. The villages are set 1000 feet above sea level, and you get there either on a bus making hairpin turns on roads with no safety barriers (as we did, because we were on a tour), on a funicular (much like a skilift), by mule or on foot.
Santorini's primary contribution to history seems to be the fact that it blew up circa 1500 BC, and the volcano created a quake and tsunami that destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete, opening the door to the Mycaenean civilization. Today, the island exists mainly for fun and, relatedly, for winemaking - though I would stick with the vinsanto and some of the whites and avoid the reds. Oia ("EE-ya"), the loveliest of the 13 villages, offers fun walks, awe-inspiring views and a number of fine and creative jewelry shops and art galleries.
Tourist tip: When a guidebook tells you how many steps you must walk to approach a hillside castle or trek through a mosque or a palace, multiply that number by three. Ann called Bodrum Castle "a medieval Thighmaster."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
