Greek Islands 2

After Steph left to return home, I flew to Rome to catch cruise #2. Nothing to report on Rome, because if you go directly from the airport to the port (which is some distance away), you bypass the city of Rome altogether. The first stop on this cruise was the city of Messina, on the Italian island of Sicily. It's just off the toe of Italy's boot shape.

I walked in to the city just a ways, savoring the feel of an Italian city.

I didn't really get what this sculpture was about, but it was pretty interesting ...

... as were these gigantic horses and riders. Strange, but maybe there's a good story behind it.

After a day at sea, our next stop was the ruins of Ephesus, on the coast of Turkey. Ephesus was first an ancient Greek city, and later the 2nd largest city in the Roman empire (well, actually the world, in the first century AD). Our first stop before going to the ruins was to a house where Mary is believed to have lived at one point.

There is a spring next to the house, and so it is believed that Mary would have drank out of it; therefore, it is now considered holy water. We were given small clay pots in order to be able to take a small amount of this holy water home with us.

The ruins of Ephesus

The large building on the left is the Library of Celcus.

Sorry to be adolescent, but I thought these public "toilets" were amusing. Glad I didn't live in those times!

I love love love funny signs, and I thought this one was pretty amusing.

The following day we arrived in Athens. The last time I was here (2002), I thought it was just a big, dirty city with a few amazing ruins. I guess because of the Olympic games held in the meantime, they put a lot of effort into cleaning up the city. It looked a lot better. Here I am at the Olympic stadium. This is basically a rebuild of the original structure, using the same location, size and materials. The whole thing was barricaded so you couldn't actually go into it.

Going to the Acropolis ... what can I say except that there were an amazing number of people with the same plan, and the site isn't exactly set up to accommodate the crowds. It's not bad once you get to the top, but getting there is a bit of a trial.

It's amazing that it has withstood so much ... time, earthquakes, war.

The ruins are surrounded on all sides by the modern city of Athens.

We also stopped at Crete on this cruise, but I didn't bother taking pictures since we had just been there a few days before. :-)

A special treat that I had on this cruise was an invitation to dine with the Captain of the ship ...

... and to have a tour of the bridge. It's amazing what goes into driving a big boat!

Greek Islands 1

Three days after my return from Maui, I headed out the door again ... not to return until September 1! First up, a Greek Islands Cruise on the Norwegian Gem. I was blessed to be able to have Stephanie go along (and believe me, she had to do some work to get all the child-care arrangements made!). We sailed out of Venice, Italy. Due to a missed connection in Paris (dang Paris airport!), we barely made it onto the boat. Venice would have to wait.

Our first stop was in the lovely seaside town of Split, Croatia.

An interesting part of our visit was to the palace of Emperor Diocletian. This section was where they would let enemies in, but then trap them there and pour boiling oil on them (yikes!).

I can't believe my camera didn't mess up this shot!

The next day, our stop was the beautiful Greek island of Corfu. One of the main attractions here is the beautiful palace of Achilles, set in the foothills of Corfu.

Amazing views, all around!

Steph has a special relationship with this guy, seeing as how she ruptured her Achilles tendon!

Taking a break in the air-conditioned-challenged palace.

Had to get a shot of these cute little sub-basement shops (half basement, half street level).

On to Santorini ... one of my most favorite places in the world (so far). When the ship first comes within site of Santorini, it looks like the cliffs are capped with snow ...

Yes, it really looks just like this.

... and this.

Narrow cobblestone lanes, white-washed buildings ... it is nothing short of heavenly. We had one of the best meals I have ever had in Oia, overlooking a gorgeous sunset. Adieu, Santorini, until I return again (and I WILL).

The next day's stop was in the island of Mykonos.

Final stop - Iraklion, on the island of Crete. We ended up hiring a taxi to take us around, which ended up being a great idea as we could stop where/when we wanted to. Thanks, Yannis!

These are the ruins of Kosovos, which is in a beautiful mountain setting. When you pull into port, the rather ugly port area gives no clue as to Crete's actual beauty.

Far too soon, the ship returned to Venice. However, we stayed overnight there and so had a little time to go exploring. This is our somewhat strange hotel room. Thirty foot high ceilings, a HUGE chandallier, ugly wallpaper and floors. But, it was in the heart of Venice, and had a lovely garden in which they served breakfast.

Is this the Venice equivalent of your car breaking down?

I found this interesting ... so many different layers on the facade of this building. I wonder how many centuries it represents?

Our gorgeous girl in the St. Mark's Square area.

On the Rialto Bridge.

You know, sometimes you just have to have that familiar comfort food ... and you can always find a Hard Rock Cafe.

Beautiful Venice. What a charming city.

I have been blessed to be able to go with both of my daughters to the Greek Islands. But this time it would not have been possible if not for my amazing son-in-law Mickel and my co-grandparents Linda and Jaime. You guys absolutely rock! Thanks so much for letting me steal Steph away from you.