Postcards from Venice

We had a wonderful few days in Venice and have found stray wifi to update with pictures from James.

Next up is Paris. Will post our adventures when we settle in for a few days..

Cheers,

P&J

Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

Salerno was the last stop on our Mediterranean cruise and the gateway to the Amalfi coast. We spent the morning touring Amalfi by water in a motorboat. 

Motoring along the Amalfi coast

Towns and vineyards cling to the side of the mountains above the sea

Coming into Amalfi

Never goes out of style

Climb through the town into the mountains

We then drove to Pompeii for the afternoon. It truly is a city that is frozen in time. Mount Vesuvius in the background was a constant reminder of the tragedy of 79 AD.

Ancient Lego building block

Salerno is at 40.70N, 14.72E. The weather was overcast and 64 degrees.

We leave the ship tomorrow and start our train journey with a stop in Venice. Sorry for the short post but we need to pack.

Cheers,
P&J

Santorini

The island of Santorini was our next stop. It was formed from a volcanic eruption and we passed several smaller islands as we sailed into the caldera.  The center of the volcano is still visible above the water and it sits in the center of the caldera like a giant black bulls eye.  Down at sea level is a small settlement that supports the landing of visitors to the island.

The boat landing at the bottom of the cliff.

To gain access to the town above, you can either hike up a stairway, ride a donkey or take the gondola.  Since James gave up his career as a donkey rodeo rider, he refused to take that route.  Walking was never even a consideration so we paid our 10 euros and spent 3 lovely minutes looking at the view.

Cable car to the top

We visited the city of Fira located on a steep cliff, over 1000 feet above sea level. The alleys wind up and down in every direction making it easy to lose yourself among the narrow streets.

Post card views

The island in the middle of the caldera and the ship

The houses take full advantage of the space by creating patios and decks to enjoy the view.

Patio with a view.

No stair steppers needed.

Fun to get lost

Boat ride back to the ship

The high cliffs are a geologist dream come true with layers of different types of rock and lava formations that have been worn by the wind and rain into fascinating shapes and textures.  James could not quit taking picture after picture when we returned to the ship at the end of the day.  

Our final view as we sailed past the islands at sunset

Santorini is located at 36.40N, 25.48E. The weather was sunny and 70 degrees.

Next stop is Salerno, Italy and the Amalfi coast.

Cheers,
P&J

A Greek History Lesson

We arrived in Piraeus, the main port of Athens for an overnight stay. For our first tour we headed two hours out of town to visit Delphi and the Temple of Apollo. Located in the foothills of Mount Parnassos, the area is also the ski center of Greece. For many centuries starting in the 11th c. BC., Delphi was the must visit location in the ancient world. The myth was that Zeus had released two eagles from the ends of the universe to find the center or navel of the world and they met at a specific spot in Delphi. The temple of Apollo was established at this sacred point and a visit to seek advice from the God and an oracle was a must for most leaders before they made a significant decision. Ordinary citizens also tried to make at least one visit. There was even a school, theater and sports stadium to entertain and teach.

An excellent museum at the site has artifacts from periods as early as the 14th c BC. It seems that if there was an earthquake or fire all the previous creations were buried and a new temple was built on the old. This has allowed many decorations and sculptures to survive.

The mountains surrounding Delphi

Decoration from the archaic period (about 525 BC)

Sphinx of the Naxians (about 560 BC)

Charioteer in bronze (about 574 BC)

Socrates or is that James (about 2016 AD)

We transitioned outdoors to walk the site.  On the lowest level was the Roman Agora. You can still see the market stalls where they sold souvenirs, fruits, vegetables and gifts to be presented to the Pythia or Priestess of the Temple to receive your oracle. A little language trivia, the Agora was usually very crowded with people, so if you were scared of being around large crowds you were agoraphobic.  Walking up the hill from the Agora there were a series of Treasuries for the different city states of Greece. You wanted to show the God and your neighbors how pious and prosperous you were, so these building housed riches or treasures. The next level up was the Temple of Apollo. Once you were purified and had your offerings, you would enter the temple to hear a response from the Pythia to your question. Now the Pythia was in a trance from smoking bay leaves and the priests of the temple would translate her oracle from the God. There were travelers from all over the known world and the priests would spend time with each of the groups waiting for their turn in the temple. In this way the priests were in a perfect position to know more of what was happening and therefore had a great track record of advising a wise course of action. So was it words from the God or just good intel?

Agora or shopping area

The treasury of the Athenians

Temple of Apollo

Navel of the World

The next day was definitely one from the bucket list. The Acropolis is in the middle of the Athens, and by definition sits high on a hill.  It was the place of worship for Athena, the city's patron goddess.  In the 5th century BC, Pericles built most of the monuments that we know today to include the Parthenon. You can see it from miles around. It was spectacular. 

The monuments are dedicated to how Athena became the patron of Athens. The story goes like this, King Cecrops (part human and part snake), the first king of Athens wanted a patron god for his city state. Since Athena and Poseidon were already fighting over the city, it was decided to hold a contest to see who would present the city with the finest gift. The grand prize would be the city itself. All the citizens turned out to see the gifts and judge the winner. Poseidon went first, stuck the earth with his trident and a spring appeared. Unfortunately it was a salt water spring so of little use to the citizens of the city. Athena was up next and produced the first olive tree. This was very useful in not only providing sustenance, but also oil for lamps and for trade. Her gift was declared the winner by Cecrops and Athena became the protector of the city. Not wanting to anger either god, both Poseidon's spring and Athena's olive tree are represented at the Acropolis.

The Temple of Nike

Erechtheion Temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon

Olive tree representing the gift of Athena to the city of Athens

Caryatids

James at the Parthenon

Below are two views of the Acropolis.  One looking up from the New Acropolis Museum and another was a gift from Australia, done entirely in Legos.  The legos were not that far off as a building block used at the real site.  The bottom picture shows us the secret of ancient building.

Quite the climb from the street level

Proof that the temples are really built with ancient Legos

Piraeus is located at 37.96N, 23.58E. The weather was partly cloudy and 74 degrees.

Next stop is the Island of Santorini.

Cheers,
P&J

The Summer Wind

Mykonos, nicknamed the "island of the winds" was living up to it's reputation when we arrived. The winds were gusting to 30 knots. With our stateroom being at the very front of the ship, we could feel the bow thrusters right underneath of us.  It took the ship a solid hour to push itself against the wind and get tied up.  I thought someone had dropped a quarter into the "magic fingers" machine in our cabin. 

Cool day for the beach. Needed that warm fleece ;)

The island is about 33 square miles around and a little over 1100 feet at the highest point.  The landscape is rocky with boulders thrown about to create the feeling of texture. Mykonos is a party island, known for non-stop nightlife and plenty of beaches. No ruins to visit, but great shopping. On our walk around the island we stopped at one of the iconic landmarks, 'the Windmills'. They were built by the Venetians in the 16th century to mill flour and now grace most of the postcards and paintings on the island. We were sensing a theme for the day.

The Windmills of Mykonos

The houses are painted in lovely colors as long as that color is white with blue or red trim.  The paint wheel at the Mykonos hardware store must be very limited. 

The Church or our Lady (all in white)

Our favorite door on this visit included the less usual red trim

Look, a white boat with blue trim.

Flowers and plants are striking next to the white background

While the nightlife is said to be wild, the daytime proved to be a little sleepy and suspiciously like being hungover.  Not surprisingly activity started on the island around one in the afternoon. After a final walk through town we headed back to the ship. Next up is a two-day stopover in Athens.

Mykonos is at 37.44N, 25.35E. Weather was sunny and a cool 65 degrees with 30 mile/hour winds.

Cheers,
P&J

The Island of the Knights

Our first stop in Greece was the island of Rhodes. Famous in ancient times for the Colossus, Rhodes has been a crossroads and battleground since the 16th century BC for the Minoans, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Western Europeans and Turks. In 1306 the Knights of Saint John arrived after the fall of Jerusalem. Yes, the same Order of Knights Hospitaller seen in Malta. They built their ideal of a medieval walled city to include a moat and castle that can been seen today. Additional changes were made by the Ottoman Empire who arrived in the 14th century and stayed for the next four hundred years.

Capture the island, build your own house of worship.

We explored on foot and found our way into the center of town. If we had been in need of a trinket, a tee shirt, or maybe a nice full suit of armor, we would have been in the right place. Every part of the city has ruins built on ruins of a previous era. The difference now is that most of the historic  structures were being used for everything from restaurants to gift shops and even your local Ben and Jerrys'.

Chunky Monkey Anyone?

A meal with a view

Try fitting that in you carry on bag

Sponge fishermen have no time for play

Wandering around the older parts of town brought us to cobblestone streets with beautiful heavy wooden and iron doors. Some were open to show courtyard gardens and fountains. Any minute, we expected a mounted knight to come galloping down the lane on his way to the fight.

Best door in Rhodes

With a little help from tripadvisor and google maps, we located a terrific restaurant just off the beaten path. It really was up two alleys, down a dark street, under a bridge and through a square before we came to Nireas. The owner, Theo, was a cheerful, out-going gentleman who clearly loved his place and his life. He greeted us like family. We dined well on fish roe, spicy cheese, octopus salad, grilled fish and of course two carafes of the house wine. 

Nireas, Sofokleous 22, Old Town Rhodes

After lunch we went through the main city gate and walked the waterfront back to the ship. Next up on our Greek Islands tour is Mykonos.

Rhodes is at 36.41N, 28.09E. The weather was sunny and 81 degrees.

Cheers,
P&J