This is the end of the road. We had travelled down to the bottom of mainland Greece to see Poseidon’s temple. Right here there is 196' drop right to the Aegean Sea!!! It was so beautiful and I never imagined that the water would actually be as blue as it looked in all of the pictures that you see.We started our trip in Athens...if you have read the last few posts some of this might be a repeat, but I want to see if I can get an update out there of the entire trip. We were only in Athens long enough to go to the Archeological Museum and then head off to the pier to catch the cruise ship. I don't think that we had any idea of how far we were going to be pulling our luggage that day or we would have just taken taxis to begin with. But by the end of the day I had dead arm for sure!! When we got there to board the ship the passport people were on strike so it took so long to get on the boat. In fact we missed the welcome buffet and the next time food was available was dinner in a couple of hours...so we were grateful to have protein bars that we had packed.
At dinner we met Doug and Jean. They were seated at our table with us…had we only known then the good times that lay ahead for us with them. I laughed so hard at times the both of my sides hurt!!! Jean liked to tell the people in the shops that "J" and I were her daughters and that she would buy things for us but that she was on a fixed income and couldn’t they just come down a little on the price for us? It actually worked a few times!!! Doug would just look at the sales people and tell them that he was Uncle Doug…then he would tell us if it was a good deal or not. Doug and Jean are neighbors in Ferndale, just outside of Detroit and they have been travelling together for several years. We found it funny that we related so well to them (we decided that we were about 30-40 years younger than most of the people on the cruise).
The next day we were at sea all day…we read and slept the day away on deck in the sun. It was so nice not to have to worry about getting anything done. Of course that was after we tried the gym out…have you ever tried to ride the elliptical on a boat?!? It is harder than it sounds…especially when the bolts are all coming loose on the machine and it is about to fall apart anyway…then add in the rocking of the ship. I think I worked twice as hard as normal on it! We tried to spend as much time on deck as possible since I cabin was so cozy! They actually brought in a ladder for me so that I could climb up to bed. If I wasn’t careful I would hit my head on the ceiling.
The next morning we got off the boat in Egypt. I think that Egypt is by far the scariest place that I have been! Imagine this…you get off of the boat and on to a tour bus. Then they introduce you to the bus security guard who has a sawed of shot gun tucked in for safe keeping. Then as you are getting ready to leave there is a jeep with army personnel between the buses with automatic weapons pointed out in every direction. They stayed with us all day. Also the police had all of the streets blocked off so that the traffic had to wait for us to pass. It really gave us the sense of questioning our safety!! We really did look like a moving target and the question that I kept repeating in my head was…And what are they going to do to prevent us from being shot at? It appears that they were more prepared to attack someone after they shot at us…BUT no worries, I didn’t even hear a gun shot that day (or the whole trip for that matter). On our travels to Cairo you could see trash all over…we thought that since there is so much poverty that they really should pay someone to pick up the garbage and it would help give someone a job and beautify the place at the same time. Our first stop was the Museum where we saw the display on Kung Tut. AMAZING! They had such talent so many years ago to work with gold, wood, any material really. The only complaint that I have is that there was no air conditioning. They had a small occasional (and I mean small) fan that moved the hot air around. We asked if the museum was always so crowded (since you couldn’t stand still without someone else touching you), and our tour guide said that it was actually a pretty slow day compared to most! Just to give you an idea I would say that it was at least 95 degrees if not hotter and 50% humidity (aka, dripping wet, or should I say dripping sweat he he he….).
We ate lunch at a beautiful castle that was turned into a hotel. It was a bit strange to think that only a few blocks before that we had been surrounded by slum like conditions!
I found many things on this trip to not be as I had imagined them. The first one is that I thought of the pyramids as being in the middle of nothing but the dessert…naturally one would think that since the photo’s always project it as such. Actually they are right on the edge of town and if you look at them from one side you see the city and they other side you see the desert.
The next day we were in Israel. There were 12 tour buses today so our bus first went to Bethlehem. Our tour guide had the driver take a side road on the way instead of the main highway so that he could show us the field where David and Goliath met.
Upon entering Bethlehem we first went shopping. Because the church we were going to go and visit (aka the stables) still operates as a church today and visitors are not allowed until after services that morning. I was able to purchase a nativity set here that was hand carved out of olive wood. I love it! I wished that I was independently wealthy (as I often do) so that I could have purchased a set for everyone!
When we got to the church of the Nativity it was interesting to see that you had to crouch down to enter. Then at the back of the church as you are going down to where the stable was located you go down a stair case…I took a picture of the ceiling which was all rock (so you know you are entering a cave like dwelling). I had a few doubts when we arrived at the bottom of the steps. But believe what you will…they told us that this was exactly where birth of the Savior took place and that this is exactly where the manger was. I have doubts since the only thing I can figure is that Mary and Joseph where the only ones present…and I don’t think that they left a note to tell anyone where either of those places were…exactly. But like I said, believe what you will.
We spent the rest of the day in the old city of Jerusalem. Here is where I was again I found things not how I would have imagined them. There was a church built on top of every significant site that we went to. Upon entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher we climbed a staircase and were told that we were on the top of Calvary’s hill. Then they show you the actual rock that held the cross. However since people had been taking pieces of it as a souvenir it is now encased and in order to touch it you have to get down on your knee’s and reach in a small opening. After going back down the steps the anointing stone is there. This is where they laid Jesus and prepared his body for burial, which, at the time would have been at the base of the hill (not downstairs). Then about 10-15 yards away they have the tomb of Christ. Crazy that it is all encased in one church…again just something that I saw on this trip that I wasn’t imagining. I would have loved to have gone to the Garden Tomb, but it wasn’t a site that our tour was scheduled to go…I guess that just means that I will have to return one of these days. After leaving this church we walked the path that Christ would have walked to Calvary’s hill with the cross. I never before had imagined that I would be walking these streets and can’t imagine now that I will soon forget the memory. We ended up at the Wailing Wall for a short time and then went to the Mount of Olives.
Again…not what I imagined, apparently one day long ago someone decided that they wanted to be buried here…now it is like a cemetery with an occasional Olive Tree. From the Mount of Olives you can see all of the old city of Jerusalem. Our final stop in Israel was the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the one place that still looked like it may have during the time of Christ…I think I took about 65 pictures of the garden, which was smaller than a basketball court (at least the area that we saw). However, to no ones surprise there is a church built on top of the rock where Christ was just before being betrayed by Judas.
The next day we were in Cyprus. We saw the ancient agora, which was the center of town or market place. I was again blown away by the talent of those people as we were able to see plumbing that was built out of the rock. They used the hot water to heat the public baths and then used the steam from the hot water to heat the buildings! After a short tour here we went back to the center of town to tour an old Castle that is now a Museum. It seemed to be a catch all of sorts with many random items that seemed to me as filler to make it worthwhile. Again, there was no air conditioning however; I would say that it was much worse than Egypt. I say that it was for sure 110 with at least 80% humidity! (Not really dripping wet, more like soaking wet!) So we didn’t last too long, I mean I am used to the heat, but the humidity was killing me! "J" and I have started going to the wet sauna after we work out and we are lucky if we can last 5 minutes in there. This was like being there all day and having no escape. So we kindly told our tour guide that she had done a wonderful job and left. We did a little shopping before finding our way to the beach where we spent the balance of the day.
Our next stop was Turkey. We arrived in the morning before too many of the shops had opened. It was one of the cleanest places. They had small push brooms that they scrubbed the sidewalks with and they were trimming all of the bushes and everything looked very tidy. One thing that we heard about the Turks was that they would rather have a new pair of shoes, or new clothes than eat! I love my food…so I haven’t yet reached their level…he he he. Our cabin steward was from Turkey and told us that while we were here that we had to try the baklava…!!! Delicious! (See, I love food!)
We didn’t get much time in Turkey because we had to make it to Santorini the next morning. So again we spent a half of day at Sea. We enjoyed our time on deck in the sun. This time we went to the pool though…it was maybe 12’ x 12’ and maybe 5’ deep (both of them were about the same size). But it was full of Salt Water and you just floated. We enjoyed tea time…or at least all of the pastries that came with tea time, and just lounged around for most of the day.
In the morning I got up and went to the deck to see the sunrise…we were in the bottom of the deck or like Doug and Jean liked to call “Steerage”. We were so low that we didn’t have a window and we were below water. However, we were in the center of the boat near the engine which literally rocked us to sleep every night. Anyway that morning the sights were breath taking as we came up on Santorini. We were able to spend the morning here and if I were able to do it again I would rent a moped and drive the entire island!
That evening we were in Mykonos and as we were walking around I told "J" that I didn’t want to leave! It was one of the most beautiful places I have been. However, we had both forgotten that we weren’t high rollers and I think that it was probably best that I didn’t have too much more time here. Everything was beautiful!!!
Sadly the next morning our cruise was over and we arrived back in Athens. A few things that I didn’t tell you about the cruise…There were 300 Greeks on the boat with us and I think that I am still trying to get my ears to adjust back to normal. All these years I thought that the French and the Italians were loud…boy was I wrong. We had a disembarkment meeting for the English speaking on the boat (maybe 150 people) in the main lounge. There were 5 maybe 6 Greeks sitting in there on the other side and the cruise director was using a microphone and we still couldn’t hear him! He literally had to yell into the microphone and finally someone went over and had to ask them to leave so that we could hear the instructions. We actually found out that the cruise went on for another week and went up to Istanbul, Turkey! I wished we would have known that and stayed for another week. For 2 reasons…Istanbul is on my places to see and all 300 of the Greeks were getting off the same day we were. There were only 65 that were going to board for the next week…they crew actually had a party! We did meet some really fun people though and it was so much fun!
Back in Athens we planned the entire day for shopping, but we tried not to shop since we had already purchased so many wonderful things…it didn’t really work. But we tried. The next day it was raining and we had planned to go to the Acropolis, we didn’t really want to go slipping and sliding around while carrying a camera and trying to take pictures so we first went to the Funicular railway that was like the cog railway I took in Switzerland.
It took us to the top of Mount Lycabetus and we were able to look out and see all of Athens…pretty much high rise buildings as far as they eye can see. We ate lunch while we were up there then headed back to our hotel. We couldn’t find any form of entertainment so we took a taxi to the movie theater and watched Kung Fu Panda. We were the only two people in the English showing…not too surprising huh.
The last full day in Athens we had to go to the Acropolis…rain or shine! It was for us just cloud cover which was nice. We wandered around all morning and then the tour to Cape Sounion picked us up at our Hotel.
Cape Sounion is where the temple of Poseidon is located. Such a beautiful drive along the coast!
I am home now…and finally over the bouts of motion sickness that have been ailing me the last week. All in all I would totally recommend this little vacation to everyone!!
