The Corinthians Canal, Wisdoms Father & A Spa Theatre

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Our second Day is Athens and we toured for 14 hours again. Tired? Well, yeah. but happy, happy, happy. We have to check out of th hotel at 3 A.M. and begin our 20 hour journey to Vancouver. I will post journal entries for the last few stops once I organize my notes, in Vancouver.

Poseidon's Point, Fantastic Fish Lunch & Temple to Wisdom

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We toured for 14 hours our first day in Athens, story to follow.

Apple Tea Seduction, Rug Purchase & A Funeral

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Turkey was much different than either Jan or I imagined, story to follow.

Books, Bathrooms & A Brothel

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Ephesus, 2000 years ago provided all the comforts of modern life, story to follow

Snow Village Jewels & Grateful Donkeys

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Monday, October 25, 2004
Santorini, Greece
24 degrees Celsius, clear skies, light breeze

Snow Village Jewels & Grateful Donkeys

The announcement from Bruce, our cruise director, over the PA system that the Prinsendam had been cleared by customs woke me. I stumbled out of bed and onto the verandah of our stateroom. A short distance across blue water I saw a sheer rock face. I looked up, way up, and was shocked to see snow on top of the cliff. After my eyes adjusted to the light I realized the snow was actually a village of white villas perched on the top of the cliff.

There are three ways to get to Santorini from the port. You can walk. That mean you must walk up a sheer cliff following the cobblestone walkway that goes back and forth across the cliff face. For the fit and insane this is a good option as long as you watch for donkey droppings. I am told this option takes about half an hour or so for those who survive.

This brings me to the second way you can get to the top. You can ride a donkey. For only three and a half Euros this noble beast of burden will carry you to the top prodded by his handler along with a group of about four or five other riders and donkeys. This is the traditional Greek option, the adventure option an opportunity for a lifetime memory. In my case it would also involve cruelty to animals carrying my bulk. Despite the protests of the Donkey handlers that they had a larger Donkey that could carry me, I opted, out of kindness, to select the third option.

The third option is a cable car ride that also costs three and half Euros, each way, no return tickets available. It is the sensible and humane choice and only takes about five minutes. Being sensible and humane Jan and I climbed aboard. “Oh my God! This sure swings a lot. What is that bumping sound?” We arrived safely without incident.

We had been warned that Santorini had many jewel shops with some innovative and very expensive items. Still, Jan and I were surprised by what we saw in the shop windows (see photographs). In a shop we stopped at so Jan could look at some Turquoise earrings, the Australian sales lady showed us a multi-colored bracelet of sapphires in every color avaipakt en langs de kant van de weg gaat zitten heb je hier gewoon een top dag, zoveel gebeurd hier.
We lopen verder naar Rockafeller Center. In dit gebouwen complex zit onderander NBC, de tegenhanger van CNN zeg maar. Op de Rockafeller Plaza wordt een programma opgenomen over de Democratische Confentie. Overal camera's en lampen. Er is zelfs buiten een hele studio set gebouwd waar twee presentatrices de boel aan elkaar praten. We stonden nog geen twee meter van de dames, die op dat moment live in heel Amerika en delen van de rest van de wereld te zien waren af. Erg leuk om te zien.
Via 5th en 42th East naar het Chrysler Building gelopen. Helaas mochten we niet naar boven. Morgen dan maar naar het Empire State Building om een fototje van bovenaf te schieten.
So far for now... Morgen dan maar naar het Empire State Building om een fototje van bovenaf te schieten.
So far for now...

Nude Athlete Ban & One Hundred Olive Trees

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Katakolon, Island of Peloponnese, Greece
Home of Mount Olympia
25 degrees Celsius, light cloud, light breeze
Sunday, October 24, 2004

Nude Athlete Ban & One Hundred Olive Trees

In the ancient Olympics the athletes competed in the nude. In the ancient Olympic stadium today, I competed in a footrace but Jan thought it better that I not disrobe as it may cause a stampede at the exits. So, I competed with my backpack and easily defeated all those in the wheelchair and walker category. See my triumphant photograph in the slideshow. Don’t look for a medal ceremony photo, though, this was not about fame and fortune, the motivation was all about the love of sport and the sheer joy of participation.

Maxine and Aldo, from Washington State who sit with us at our dinner table each evening joined us for our independent taxi tour today. The rate for our taxi was double yesterdays rate of 20 Euros per hour at 40 Euros per hour. Still, it was a bargain compared to the ship tour to Olympia at 79 Euros each. Our taxi driver today, 24-year-old Dimitrios, is a recent graduate of business school from University if Kalamata, who is sharing the taxi with his father, while he decides what to do with the rest of his life.

Dimitrios told us he and his father had planted one hundred olive trees on his aunts land when he was about fourteen. It takes about five years before an olive tree bears fruit and in the early years especially you must fertilize and prune them. The purpose of these trees was to provide Dimitrios and his family with all the olive oil they would need for their lifetime. There was no commercial objective involved.

When Jennifer and Stephen were younger they watched a cartoon program called Hercules. The announcer began each show in a deep voice…”from high atop Mount Olympus…” Well, I been there and done that. We walked through the remains of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, The Temple of Zeus at Olympia. (See photos)

As previously mentioned we went into the ancient Olympic stadium, which in ancient times had seating for 40,000. The first Olympics were held in 776 BC in honor of Zeus. At the first Olympics a 200-meter footrace was held and it was open to competitors from different city-states of the time.

The museum at the site has a collection of antiquities and sculpture that is amazing and wonderful to see. In the slideshow there are some photos.

For those of you interested in more important things and are following my cappuccino in every port survey, while Jan browses the shops, here is my report. The cappuccino here cost 3 Euros and was a bit bitter, which I am told is a characteristic of Greek coffee. You can see a photo from the table where I drank it overlooking the harbor in the slideshow.

On the trip back from Olympia, Jan and I shared a Sun-Ripe fruit leathers with Maxine, Aldo and Dimitrios, as a product of Canada. When we arrived back in town, Dimitrios took three apples from the trunk of his car and gave them to me. “I picked these yesterday from the tree in my yard.”

That evening Jan and I ate one of the apples, it was similar to a golden delicious apple, yellow and sweet/tart taste but firmer and crisper. We really enjoyed it.

Erasmus and The Underground Light

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Argostolion, Cephalonia, Greece
25 degrees Celsius, clear skies
Saturday, October 23, 2004

Erasmus, our taxi driver in Cephalonia, was born here in Cephalonia, and was named after a local hero. Every Cephalonian family names their first son Erasmus, after the same hero he told us. This makes evenings in the village square interesting. “Hey, Erasmus!” And half the guys turn.

Argostolion is the capital city of Cephalonia, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. Cephalonia is the fifth largest of the Greek islands at 290 square miles. A 1953 earthquake devastated most of the island and many of the residents left. Those that remained started the rebuilding process.

Like everywhere we’ve been, this island too has a history of attack and conquest over the centuries, but what struck Jan and I was the natural beauty. On the middle of the island the mountains are covered with trees, including an evergreen bush that only grows on this island and nowhere else in the world. It has a large lake in the middle of the island and the village of Sami, beautiful beaches on the lake and the sea coast (see pics).

The highlight, for me, was an underground lake inside a huge cave. (see pics)

Incredible Walls & Pigeon Swarm

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Dubrovnik, Croatia
19 degrees Celsius, cloudy, rained late in the afternoon
October 19, 2004

From our stateroom verandah Dubrovnik looked beautiful. Mountains surround the port and are covered with red roofed stone houses. Up the mountain a new suspension bridge crosses a gorge.

Our plan is to visit the ancient walled city of Dubrovnik, established in the 7th Century AD, and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Although, we are told, there have been people living on the Dalmation coast of the Adriatic Sea since Neolithic times, which is a long time ago, I guess.

Dubrovnik has a mild climate year round because the mountains protect it from the bitter winter cold of the mainland and the sea warms it.

The walls of Dubrovnik were stated in the 12th century and construction continued for 500 years. They were built so well, you can still walk the entire circumference today. The walls are 6,350 feet long, 80 feet high and some of the ramparts are 20 feet thick.

The streets of the ancient city are limestone and the main street is very wide and has swales cut into the limestone along the edge of both sides. (See photo)

To thank the people of Dubrovnik for providing sanctuary from a storm in 1192, during the crusades, King Richard, the Lion heart, provided an endowment to build a church. It was later destroyed in an earthquake but rebuilt by the residents. The Cathedral is beautiful, as is the gothic rectors palace.

When we visited the market square where farmers were selling their produce we stopped for a mushroom pizza lunch and a pop. The people were friendly and the crispy, thin-crusted pizza had a simple tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and canned mushrooms. We were surprised the mushrooms were canned but the pizza tasted fine.

When I got up to leave, pigeons in the square swarmed me when they all tried to fly at once. It was both scary and beautiful at the same time. After I took a couple of photos I tripped over an umbrella stand trying to get out of their way. Yeah, yeah, I’m all right.

Jan walked up the 106 steps to the street above the main street, twice, as part of her shopping. She was still only two-thirds of the way to the top of the wall.

We enjoyed our visit to Dubrovnik, but decided to leave because the clouds were threatening and it looked like a real downpour was fast approaching. Later, at dinner our table companions told us how they got drenched.

Dry Stacked Rock & Rockfish

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Malta
29 degrees Celsius, clear skies, no breeze
October 21, 2004

In case you didn’t notice the temperature above, it’s hot. Malta is the only repeat port between our cruise last year and this year. Last year we were enthralled with the ancient walled city of Mdina, and the stories of knights, saints and battles. In the archives on the left, October 2003, you can read about our visit last year, in the posting Golden Outpost of Courage, and view photographs of Mdina and Valletta, the modern fortress city.

This time, we decided to visit the countryside and a fishing village for an authentic local fish lunch. Our travel agent, Addelaide Botticelli, arranged the tour. Out tour guide was a native Maltese woman in her 70’s (see photo) who had never left Malta, except for vacations. She talked quickly and continuously throughout the tour sharing both her enthusiasm for and knowledge about Malta. Malta with a population of 400,000 at has 360 churches, predominantly Roman catholic, the most churches per capita, anywhere.

Malta is an independent island state of 95 square miles and 143 miles of coast, 60 miles from Sicily. There are no lakes or rivers on Malta so water is a precious resource, every home is required to have a flat roof and collect rainwater in a cistern, and every home has a well. To supplement the water supply, Malta has a reverse osmosis desalination plant, which provides Malta about 50% of their drinking water.

Malta has three crops of potatoes a year and exports potatoes and onions to other parts of Europe. Farming is done in tiered gardens created by dry-stacked rock walls that terrace up the mountainside to preserve water and maximize arable land. Soil removed from lots for construction of homes or commercial buildings is brought to the countryside to be used in farming. They grow pumpkin, but don’t eat pumpkin pie they use it as a thickening agent in minestrone soup or fry it as a vegetable.

Few people, even farmers, live in the countryside. Most live in Valletta. In the past, it was against the law for even farmers to live in the countryside because of the risk of attack.

Post-secondary education is free, and the students are paid a stipend by the government while attending. The Maltese, our tour guide told us, believe that the minds of their young people are their most precious resource.


On the southeast coast of Malta we stopped for lunch at a small village. It was a nice restaurant and another tour bus arrived at the same time and I wondered how long this would take. Our fixed menu lunch include 1/4 bottle of wine or a soda pop and 1/2 bottle of mineral water with the lunch. Nearly as soon as we sat down we were served excellent brushetta, Jan thought it was too garlicky, not, is that possible? Next we had salmon soufflé, followed by our entrée of local rockfish over warn salad and French fries. Lunch was excellent and not something I would have ordered on my own. Dessert was a baked apple pie with espresso.

We walked around the fishing village looking at local crafts of lace and embroidery for sale and were amazed at how small and colorful the fishing boats were. All boats had eyes painted on the front to ward off evil spirits. It was very hot, even the locals and our bus driver were complaining. I was glad to get back aboard the air-conditioned bus and return to the ship. Still, we enjoyed our second visit to Malta and got to see another side of this unique place.

Tender Moments & A Peaceful Day

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Town of Rab, Rab Island, Croatia
16 degrees Celsius, partly cloudy, light breeze
October 18, 2004

Aboard the ship we couldn’t feel any motion at all. Yet we were told the reason we had to wait an hour to catch a tender (a completely covered boat that holds about 60 people and also serves as the ships life boats) was because rough water made loading the tenders difficult. No problem, Jan and I played crib in the Queen’s lounge while we waited.

The 15-minute ride to Rab Town from the anchored ship was a little bumpy but wasn’t a problem for either Jan or I. Kind of fun, actually. My friend Tony Botticelli, who gets seasick easily; however, would have passed on the experience, I’m sure.

The first thing we noticed was the silence. Off the main square we turned into the Prince’s Palace Park just inside the walls and were surprised to see palm trees, fruit trees and flowers. The only thing we could hear was the rustling of the leaves and the song of a solo bird. A stark departure from the constant background noise in Venice, yesterday and a welcome relaxed day as we begin the cruise.

We took the narrow road gradually up the hill. Above us through an open window, in an ancient stone wall we heard a couple chatting, over a radio, lace curtains dancing in the light breeze and the aroma of frying potatoes, onions and garlic filling the air. Inscribed on the stone frame of one door the date 1869.

When we reached to top we found the remains of the ancient town and a spectacular view of the harbor and air ship anchored off shore. Around the next corner the road ended at the top of a stairway. Looking down we realized how high we’d climbed. At the bottom of the stairs was the town’s second square.

We walked along the port, charter boat fishermen rested and waited on their boats for clients, locals drank coffee or beer at tables in the square, and we caught a tender back to the ship.

A Tossed Blanket, Surprising Tide & Linen Covered Plastic Table

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Venice, Italy
16 degrees Celsius, partly cloudy, light breeze
October 16/17, 2004

A Tossed Blanket, Wet Feet & A Linen Covered Plastic Table

After crossing four bridges from where our water taxi dropped us off from our ship, the Prinsendam, Jan and I were approaching Saint Mark’s Square walking in front of the Doge’s Palace when Jan said, “Why does that girl have a blanket wrapped around herself?

“What girl? Oh that girl,” I said, as I noticed her and her entourage of two cameramen, one with a still camera and one with a video camera and a doting assistant. They spoke quickly in Italian, I think, but I couldn’t understand a word.

Then with a flourish, she tore the blanket off handing it to the assistant. Wow. Underneath she wore a bikini and was obviously a model. She immediately began striking poses while both cameramen began shooting film, calling directions. Not to miss an opportunity I started shooting with my digital camera as well. You can see one of the photos by clicking the headline of this journal entry and watching the slide show.

Venice is a city of 117 islands that is perched along Italy’s northeastern Adriatic coast. The city is laced with 150 canals and has more than 400 bridges that cross the canals. There are two main canals, the Guidecca Canal, which is the widest and deepest and is the only canal that has no bridges across it. This is where the big ships, including our cruise ship enter Venice. The other major canal is the famous Grand Canal, lined with palaces, many now expensive hotels. All of the other canal are much narrower and only about 6 feet deep and connect directly or indirectly to the Grand Canal. This network of canals are the streets of Venice and most buildings have their own docks. Waterbuses, with bus numbers and routes, travel the main canals. Along the Grand Canal the waterbus has many stops, alternating the side of the canal with each stop.

We’d got an early start with much to see and arrived at St Mark’s square just after 9 AM; pleased to find it was dry, although the raised walkways were still in place from recent flooding. People were lined up, waiting for the church service to end so they could visit the cathedral.

After looking around St. Mark’s Square and watching people feeding bread to the pigeons that swarm them for the food, we set off down one of the side streets. After crossing about ten bridges, stopping at several shops I was ready for a rest so we came back to St. Mark’s Square where a small group was playing music. Jan parked me in a cappuccino bar to listen to the music, journal and sip a cappuccino while she set out for black-belt shopping for which I am not qualified. After two cappuccinos and several pages in my journal it was time to leave.

The first shock was the bill. Cappuccinos in Barcelona were routinely 2.50 Euros, which is what I was expecting. This little spot charged 7.70 Euros per cappuccino, or 15.40 for the two! I guess the balance was a cover charge for the music in the St. Mark’s Square. It was beautiful, but not free.

When I stepped out the door I had my second shock. My feet suddenly felt cold and wet. I looked down to see my shoes covered in water. It didn’t make sense; the square had been dry when I came in, just two cappuccinos ago. I looked next door to the shop I’d looked in before and saw the same lady I’d seen a short while ago still dressed beautifully in a lovely dress but instead of her high heels, she now wore rubber boots! Looking to the square again I noticed that the waiters serving in the square had also replaced their shoes with rubber boots.

Finally processing, at least in part, what was happening I next wondered about how clean this water was and what diseases I could catch. Then, I noticed water bubbling up from grates in the square and the water spreading and rising and heard someone say, “the tide is rising.” Being a quick study I knew it was time to act, time to move. Nimbly, oh yeah, right, I walked on my toes along the edge of the buildings in a vain attempt to stay drier, until I got to the raised platforms that crossed the square. The platforms that had been empty and an oddity when we arrived were now jammed with tourists staying dry.

When Jan returned from the side streets, which are higher, her mouth dropped open when she saw the water in the square and she stood immobile for a moment. Very attractive, I thought, forgetting my own reaction so recently. “Jan!” I called and she turned and saw me on the platform, still looking surprised. When Jan got to me she suggested we go up the side streets and over the bridges back to the wide boulevard along the Grand Canal instead of struggling across the square on the platforms with the crowds.

We walked along very narrow streets where I could touch the buildings on both sides with my arms extended. We crossed small bridges over narrow canals seeing a water taxi drop guests off at a hotel, a water delivery van deliver flowers to a restaurant and gondola struggle under a bridge because of the high tide. The passengers leaned to the left and the gondolier squatted to get under the bridge, I’m sure it just added to the experience.

After stopping for a while in an artist studio and shop on a small square admiring his work we continued across another bridge to the boulevard. We arrived near the Vaparetto (water bus) stop we wanted for our trip down the Grand Canal. When we arrived this morning we came down the Guidecca Canal from the ship on a chartered Vaparetto that went directly from the ship to a dock four bridges from St Mark’s Square and we wanted to return on the regular water bus down the Grand Canal from San Zuccaria to Plaza Roma, a 15 minute walk to our ship.

First, we wanted lunch along the canal. We found a nice restaurant along the canal and stopped. I checked the menu and the prices and it was reasonable. Their patio had plastic chairs and tables with linen tablecloths, I chose a wooden table and chair inside but open to the outside. Jan fidgeted for a moment and then suggested she’d rather shop for another hour than eat, so off she went.
I ordered spaghetti pomodoro (spaghetti with tomato sauce) and insalata mista (mixed salad) and acqua minerali frizznate (sparkling mineral water). The hum of idling boat motors from the waiting ferries and vaporettas across the boulevard in the canal mixed with the romantic lament of an Italian love song, and the quick staccato orders of the waiters to the attractive young female barrista (espresso maker).

Locals, a young man who strutted and joked with the barrista, two young ladies wearing very tight jeans, cut to fit their tiny rear ends precisely, and high heels, and an elderly couple, arrived in a steady stream and followed the same ritual. They spoke as they arrived at the bar, “Ciao! Espresso, por favore.”

“Si,” responded the barrista, already making it. The smell of coffee filled the air. The local stood at the bar, waiting. In a minute or two the barrista placed the tiny espresso cup before them.

“Gratia,” the local would say, adding sugar, or not, and they’d take the first or two sips. Then, the second sip and the espresso was gone, they placed coins on the bar and turned walked away, saying, “Ciao, gratia.”

“Ciao!” Responded the barrista, continuing whatever she was doing. The entire ritual had taken less than five minutes.

The lunch was wonderful, nice crisp salad, fruity olive oil, mild flavorful red wine vinegar for my dressing and a small serving of pasta perfectly al dente. I was just finishing up when Jan returned and we left to catch our Vaporetta.

On the trip down the Grand Canal we traveled with local school kids returning home, travelers pulling their suitcases, going to the train station a few stops away and other tourists. It seemed like a dream. Too soon we arrived at Plaza Roma and started our walk back to the ship.

Shortly after we boarded the ship sailed and we left Venice behind.

A Sacred Vision and Inky Eats

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Barcelona, Spain
October 14/15, 2004
20 degrees Celcius, partly cloudy, light breeze

“Finish what you start,” is a maxim often quoted by parents and mentors. It is generally sound advice; however, I must admit to starting too many projects and sometimes being overwhelmed by what remains undone and incomplete.

Spanish architect, Antonio Gaudi, had no such misgivings. He created the vision for a sacred project that consumed the last thirty-three years of his life, and as he expected, it was incomplete when he died in 1926, The Sagrada Familia is still incomplete and under construction today. Architects, engineers and sculptors continue the project today by using the drawings and plaster models left by Gaudi.

Another architect started the Sagrada Familia, or Church of the Sacred Family, in 1895, but Antonio Gaudi was soon asked to take over the project. He researched the architectural design, inspired both by nature and biblical stories, and tested his innovative structural engineering designs. When the Sagrada Familia will be completed is unknown, because construction is funded entirely by donations and the plans call for much more work.

Gaudi's characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture draws admiration from other avant-garde artists. And his sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style made him the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order. Although categorized with the Art Nouveau, Gaudi created an entirely original style. There are a number of photographs in the slideshow. (simply click on the headline to see them)

His architecture is not to my taste and some say he and his architecture inspired the English word “gaudy,” which means tastelessly showy, flashy or garish. Still, I have to admire his genius and found the visit to the Sagrada Familia both interesting and surprising. The English audio-tour is the best one I have experienced at any tourist attraction. A morning well spent.

Our hotel, The Hotel Royal, is on The Ramblas, Barcelona’s main tourist street that rise from the Port and the statue of Columbus to Place de Catalunya, a large square surrounded by restaurants and shops and is the main stop for all the tour buses.

The Ramblas is a wide paved boulevard with large trees down the centre that separates two lane roads, one going in each direction. On the boulevard you find a series of sales kiosks, several selling birds, many selling flowers and a number of caricature artists. In between the kiosks are performance artists. My favorites were the living sculptures. If you try to take a photograph of them without putting money in their pot they’ll turn away or cover their face. A few coins means total cooperation. There are photographs of some of my favorites in the slide show (click the headline to see them)

Narrow streets go out in all directions from the Ramblas, lined with boutiques and restaurants of all kinds, with apartments or offices above and opening onto small neighborhood squares, every few blocks. This is shopper’s paradise. Jan’s been gone for hours.

Last night we decided to be adventurous and have a taste of Barcelona. I was excited Jan was reluctant, but agreeable. We began with a selection of tappas, or Spanish appetizers. These included some local grilled sausage and meats on bread, spicy rice mixtures on bread, Spanish cold cuts and cheeses on bread, and some gigantic white asparagus and salad greens. We wouldn’t re-order these in the future, aside from the salad.

For the main course we ordered two paella’s. The seafood paella and the negro paella. Paella is an all in one pan dish made with rice, meat and vegetables. They can be made with chicken, beef, seafood or vegetarian. The local specialty is seafood and negro, or black rice. When they arrived I was a little shocked. The negro paella was really black, almost fluorescent black and very shiny. I asked the waiter how they made it black. He told me with the ink of the squid. “Oh good,” I thought. Jan looked a little green.

Surprise, I liked the negro paella best, but they were both good. Both had squid, clams, muscles, and scallops. The seafood paella also had shrimp and a lagostini, like a tiny lobster.

To see what these dishes look like see the slide show by clicking the headline.

There are other photo's from our city tour and the visit to the farmers market (sheeps stomach, pigs feet, something with eyes, etc.) in the slide show. (click the headline to see them)

Next stop, Venice. Next posting in two days.

Dancing in the Desert Sun

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Tony and Angela Botticelli and my wife Janet and I spent a few days in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace. We golfed, gambled, ate and saw celine Dion live.