Santorini - I'm In Love

Warning, this is a picture heavy post...

It's other name was also Strongili (Round One). Around that time a colossal volcano erupted which caused the centre of the island to sink. What was left was a caldera with high cliffs on one of which sits the capital Fira. The caldera is now the port area. Among archaeologists there is speculation that this catastrophe destroyed not only the island but also the eventually the Minoan civilization. The myth abounds that the island was part of the mythical lost city of Atlantis. There is also an archaeological site in Akrotiri but it was not possible with our time constraints to go there.

This is the first thing you see as you approach Santorini by sea.



The Lava



One of the first things that is noticeable everywhere are black sand beaches, lava layered cliffs and earthquake damaged homes that look like they are stuck in the stone cliffs.

That's Fira at the very top.




There have been many other erruptions over time but the most recent large earthquake occured in 1956 killing many residents and destroying most of the houses in Fira and Oia. The residents are remarkably resilient have rebuilt their homes and lives. The volcano, although dormant is not dead and minor tremors are not uncommon.

The Harbour



It is by far the most spectacular of all islands I saw on this trip, although I am certain there are many others I have yet to see. But I truly lost my heart here and could easily see myself living here. For more information on Santorini's Caldera check out this link.

The Cable Car goes up over 1000 feet above sea level!



There are a number of ways to the top from the ports. There is bus service that goes around the back of the island to the top but it is not terribly fast from where our ship was anchored. We were tendered to the port in small fishing boats 20 persons at a time. Hiking to the top is another option but was not one for us. We tossed a coin to see if it was going to be the cable car or donkey. Clara (who is three months pregnant) and Glen decided that donkeys were not the way to go. Being the good sports that we are we agreed with them and took the cable car. I must admit to having some trepidation and closed my eyes a few times in horror as the car seemed to swing just inches from the rock face. I was almost sorry I didn't take the donkey.

Glen and Clara



Once up top the view was simply spectacular and we meandered through the town which is very touristy and a shoppers haven. It is a pedestrian only zone one but nobody told the donkeys.



At one point Steve and I got out of the tourist area to the main town and as I was waiting to cross the road (highly dangerous) a little jeep came flying down the hill and just missed me. I will swear on my life that the driver was Richard Gere. Sorry, no photo, I wasn't quick enough. I found out later from our ships entertainers that indeed, he was on the island. The island is a favourite with the stars and Madonna also has a house there. I can only say, good for her...it is a beautiful place to be.



The Blue Monarch in the background.



He's really way cuter in person, I think Steve was very tired indeed.




For more pictures as always click on my Flickr badge in the sidebar. It is impossible to post them all...

Happy Halloween

Hope you all have lots of fun tonight, don't eat too much chocolate...

My Favourite Island So Far - Rhodes

So Tuesday morning we docked in Rhodes after a long night of rockin and rollin...boy were the seas rough. Steve went for breakfast while I having awakened with a migraine took a calculated risk and took one Maxalt pill. That's the pill the cardiologist said could cause a stroke or heart attack by closing the blood vessels to the brain too much. In my mind the migraine had opened those same blood vessels just a touch too much and I had stuff to do that day.

Two hours later, somewhat groggy but headache free Glenn, Clara, Steve and disembarked in Rhodes Town. So far Rhodes is my favourite island, I could easily spend a month here on the lovely beaches and exploring more of the Old City. One day just isn't enough.

Rhodes is the larges of the Dodecanese islands and was fortified by the Knights of the Order of St. John in the 14th century. It has a very rich history and culture. The roughly 6,000 residents are surrounded by medieval walls with 7 gates. It is truly a tourist have with shops, restaurants, cafes and museums. This is the place were a handful of knights were the last Christian holdouts in a world that had become completely dominated by Muslims.

The Walls surrounding the Old City





Steve negotiated a taxi for us and we were on our way to Lindos and its famous Acropolis, which is about a 45 minute drive from the port. The driver, who spoke English was a way better guide than we had in Istanbul. He was really proud of his home and didn't hesitate to show us the nicest views on the way to Lindos. He dropped us at the entrance with a time set for our pickup. It gave us plenty of time to explore.

That's Lindos in the background and that's were we are headed.



I got my first look at the stairs I needed to climb to get to the top, 350 or so I was told. With the encouragement of Glen, Clara and Steve I decided to try. It was either that or donkey and the drop down the sides made me a little nervous of that.



Getting to the top was no easy feat and required much assistance from my cohorts. The stairs are uneven and slippery even when dry but I did make it and the view from the top was worth every moment of agony. At the top you find the Temple of Athena considered one of the most worshipped temples of the Ancient Greek world.

The Acropolis of Lindos sits on a precipice 400 feet above sea level.



Me with Clara



The castle walls...



After a long but wonderful day we headed back to the ship for another night of entertainment. It was a special night with a special midnight buffet. Sure hope my tummy can handle it...

Tomorrow Heraklion (Crete) and Santorini.

Rhodes Town and Acropolis of Lindos

We left Kusadasi around 9PM at night headed towards Rhodes our first Greek island stop. The evening on board was spent in the lounge watching the amazing entertainers. We had a four piece band out of Bulgaria, a female singer calling herself the White Rose of Bulgaria whose real name was Yuliana, Nick Radev an amazing violinist, Kosta the incredible Bouzouki player, James the very talented singer from the U.K. and four wonderful dancers whose names I never did catch.

Not only did they entertain us night after night, they were very personable individuals who never hesitated to stop and chat or have a drink with you at the end of the night. One young member of the crew was Andy from the U.K., whose job it was to get people together, keep single women company at times, get people up dancing and just generally be everywhere at once. During the afternoon he tried to get everyone to dress up for the "Toga Party", but seems he was the only one to do so as this picture shows...



Andy loved his job and it showed. He'd spent seven months on board and since this was the last cruise of the season he was heading back to London and back to University. He was just one week shy of 21 years old. What a great way to spend a few months at that age. When he wasn't working he was sitting at our table entertaining us with tales of his time on board.

During the evening we met a young couple from New Jersey and became fast friends. It was decided that since we hadn't booked any more excursions after Istanbul and they weren't happy with theirs either we would team up the next day and hire a cab to take us to Lindos, about a 45 minute drive from Rhodes. We were to arrive in port around 7 AM and had until 5 PM to explore the island. We were to meet at 10 to start our exploration, little did I know I would wake up with migraine and seasickness.

Tomorrow I will write about Rhodes, but I will say this, I fell in love...

Runaway Critters!

I have to interrupt my travel posts for a moment to bring you a couple of gems out of Germany. Runaway lobsters in Stuttgard, I kid you not. Last seen heading down the street from the Asian supermarket where they were waiting to go on the dinner table.

These guys had a little help though, they didn't get out of their cages alone. There are 7,500 mink missing and the army has been sent out to capture them. Fun stuff...

Kusadasi and Ephesus

Ephesus is known as one of the most magnificent excavated cities in the world. Having not seen many myself I'm not a good judge but I found it pretty spectacular. Just comparing it to Trier in Germany, it was much bigger. It could be an unfair comparison since Trier is smaller but I found Ephesus awesome.

Instead of going on the excursion that the cruise line provided (for an astronomical cost), we decided to hire a taxi and go ourselves. We got a really nice taxi driver who for a flat fee dropped us at the entrance to Ephesus and picked us up at the exit a few hours later.

I have so many photos of Ephesus that I don't know which ones to post but as always if you click on the Flickr badge on my sidebar you can see the rest. Here is a link to a virtual tour which is really good. (right click on link to open in a new window)





This is the Arcadian Way where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra rode in a procession as newlyweds.



This is my favourite photo. The archaeologists did an amazing job of reconstructing this.



Yours truly... Considering that I woke up that morning with a migraine and was also seasick most of the night, I think I held up pretty good. Good thing it's not a close up shot though or you'd see the bags under my eyes.




Next up are my favourite Greek Islands, stay tuned...

Istanbul - Sofia Hagia

I know the trip is over and I'm back home, but I do have to post the photos of the cruise, Turkey and the Greek Islands we visited so I'm going to try to do one a day. I hope you enjoy them.

This is really a poor picture but it was pouring rain. For a better idea of what it looks like check out this link.



This church is also know as The Church of Divine Wisdom and was the biggest church in the Christian world for over 1000 years. The marble decorations and mosaics were very beautiful.

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Incredible stained glass and mosaic work.




The exterior of the Blue Mosque. Again, very poor pictures because of the rain but follow this link for a better look.



The interior of the Blue Mosque, flash was not permitted which was too bad because it really was awesome.



Topkapi Palace the residence of the Ottoman Sultans were also visited. I viewed the worlds 7th biggest diamond, the "Spoonmaker's Diamond" and lots of other beautiful treasures. Photos were not permitted on the inside.



The kitchen building of the palace displayed one of the world's largest collections of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Very beautiful, again no photos allowed which was too bad, it was really beautiful.





Goodbye Istanbul, I will be back. This one day excursion was just too short for me. Next stop the town of Kusadasi, Turkey and the ancient city of Ephesus.

Olympic Airlines - Never Again!

First the good news, we are home. Exhausted and both suffering from a bad cold that started two days before leaving Athens, we are really glad to be back in Canada.

Now I have to trash Olympic Airlines. If we in Canada thought Air Canada was bad, Olympic has them beat by a country mile. On the flight out on September 2nd, our departure time was 2 Pm. We actually left Toronto at 7:30 PM with no excuse, no apology given.

For the return flight, our departure time was 8:55 AM and we left Athens at 1:20PM.

Now our tickets did say confirm international departures 72 hours prior to leaving and I did try. For three days I phoned and phoned and was put on hold, wiped out my prepay cell phone card, used up a pay phone card and finally did talk to a human being on Monday afternoon. She took our names and then hung up on me. Nothing about a time change was mentioned.

The cabin crew was reasonably apologetic, all except for the Purser. He was actually rude and condescending when I asked for an upgrade to business class (which was empty) and told me that wasn't done in flight. When I mentioned to him that the woman in the seat next to me got up and went into business class never to return he became rude and asked me if he needed to explain company policy. He finally told me that the woman in question was the wife of a tour operator and therefore VIP.

Question for Olympic? Was my money not good enough for the upgrade? Did I not look blond enough, young enough, important enough? I wasn't especially asking for a freebie, I just asked if an upgrade was possible only to be rudely turned away. Olympic Airlines is a money loosing public company. Privatization has been kicked around but I hear the unions are so strong in Greece it might never happen. I guess when your that protected by your government customer service is a word that you don't really have to learn. Too bad the Greeks will always fly it just out of sentimentality.

Me personally will never fly Olympic again. There are other ways to get to Greece.

The Last Day

In less than 24 hours we will be on the plane on the way home to Canada. We leave behind a very sad Mom. This is the three siblings with their Mother and she has been crying for the last two days. Steve is her eldest son and I think her favourite.



I think that she senses it might be the last time she sees him and she could just be right. The signs that her congestive heart failure is not under control are very similar to what I saw in my Mother the last few months of her life. I hope I am wrong of course but I am not optimistic.

This family has lived apart most of their lives with Steve going to the United States at age 22. Mom,who was widowed very young, then followed her eldest son and also lived in the U.S. while Voula moved to Canada. Stavros never left Greece and thinks it's the best country in the world. Steve then came to Canada and Mom went back to Greece. A few years later Voula also returned to Greece and now only Steve lives far away. The guilt is always there and I know he is bothered by it. Not much can be done about it though since neither of us really want to live in Greece nor are we able to. The system of this country is just too different from what we are accustomed to and life is too difficult. Just one example, we have been trying to phone Olympic Airlines since Friday to confirm our flight home without success. We have been put on hold for up to an hour and then disconnected. We finally gave up trying and hope all works out tomorrow morning.

Personally I would find it difficult to live in a country where the rule of law is ignored at every turn and it is a national sport to see what can be gotten away with. To me that just shows a total disrespect for humanity, whereas the Greek blame the government for all ills. They really don't understand personal responsibility nor are they willing to accept any. I don't mean to generalize here, I am certain that there are fair number of law abiding citizens in this land, it's just not visible on the surface on a daily basis.

I am going to be glad to get back to a country where law and order rules and generally people abide by it. I may get some hate mail here, but that's life. I had 7 weeks to see things from all aspects and if I were not coming here to visit family I would not come as a tourist again.

One of many highlights of my trip was meeting up with two women bloggers that I had been communicating with. Both were incredibly intelligent, warm, kind and funny and I look forward to maintaining a friendship with both and seeing them again on my trip next year.

Everyone who comes to Greece to visit always says forget Athens and go to the islands. Well I visited some really beautiful islands and will start showing you the pictures when I return to Canada, until then...ciao

Back On Dry Land

I don't think I've been away from blogging this long since I started but what the heck, there was really no choice. The Blue Monarch did have a computer room with four machines for four hundred passengers it was a bit difficult. My laptop didn't work anywhere, not on the ship nor on any of the islands. I did go one line briefly midweek and it took half an hour to check emails and do a quickie post. This is the last three days in Greece so time is at a premium now.

The Blue Monarch


The cruise was a lot of fun and would have been better had I not had a migraine on the Monday plus a bout of seasickness. The migraine sorted itself out but the seasickness lasted most of the week. I wasn't the only one, they were handing out pills en mass at the reception desk of the ship. The seas were rough, no question.

Welcome Cocktails


It was not a large ship, in fact it was probably the smallest cruise line but the service, the staff and the entertainment were top notch but I think the ships stabilizers took a walk and only returned at the end of the trip.



Twenty four hours later we were in Istanbul.



We visited the Blue Mosque, Topkapi (the treasury) and San Sofia on a whirlwind tour. I will write more about these places in my next post. It rained the entire 12 hours we were in port so very few pictures. Also photos were not allowed at the Blue Mosque or Topkapi. More tomorrow...ciao

Help |'m Seasick!!

Oh man, this is what I was afraid of, this ship is rockin and rollin and I'm sick. In spite of it I did manage to get off and do some sightseeing in Rhodes today. I also climbed three hundred steps to a castle in the town of Lindos. Not able to do photo's from this computer and my laptop doesn't work on board this ship. But I do have some lovely stories and photo's to share when I return to dry land, which really can't be soon enough for me.

Tomorrow we stop at Crete and Santorini and Thursday it Mykonos. After that back to Athens and a few days later home to Canada.

The Penny Story

Some of my readers will know that my Mom passed away May 12th of this year and that will make it five months on the very same day that I go on the cruise.

A few years ago, when I read Ann Landers occasionally, someone wrote in telling a story about a penny. It appears that someone close to her had recently died and she was having difficulty coping. This lady felt that she needed some sign from God that it was okay to go on with her life and not be sad all the time. She related how one day she found a shiny penny and took this as a sign that her life should go on, and be positive. I took this story as with others I read, with a grain of salt, the pessimist in me said, "yeh right, give me a break"...

Ann Landers received a lot of follow up letters to that story from other people who had exactly the same experience with a penny. I haven't thought of this story in years, it was buried in the recesses of my memory.

When I went on my road trip in Germany with my friend, we were sitting in a cafe and talking about my Mom. Petra had been in Canada four years previously and we had taken Mom on a trip to Nova Scotia together and we were reminiscing. I told her how very sad I was that my Mom couldn't be on this trip with us and how much she would enjoy it. I also told her that I felt incredibly sad and guilty that I was having fun without her.

We finished our coffee and got ready to leave. As I bend down to retrieve my handbag, at my feet lay a penny.

The Cruise

This will be our home away from home for 7 days starting Friday. I have my seasick patches all ready to go.

Our Ports of Call are Istanbul, Turkey; Mykonos, Greece; Kusadasi, Turkey; Patmos, Greece; Rhodes, Greece; Heraklion, Crete; and Santorini, Greece.

Sea travel is not my thing, it is something my husband wanted to do and I'm compromising. I would have much preferred flying to Istanbul and spending a few days exploring. Sometimes compromise is necessary.

My experiences on ships is not great. The first time was when we emigrated to Canada in 1956. Of course the ships used in those days were pretty basic and much smaller in size than todays ships. Both my mother and I were sick most of the 10 day voyage from Bremer Haven, Germany to Halifax. Since then I have tried different smaller ships like a whale watching ship in Halifax and the ferry from Digby, Nova Scotia to St. John's, New Brunswick and both times I was deathly ill.

We once spent two weeks on a 10 meter sail boat in the Florida Keys and that wasn't too horrible as long as I could stay up top. The minute I went below I was ill and it's the same on my Brother-in-laws boat here. I sure hope I won't have to spend my week sleeping on the deck, especially since we have a really nice cabin with a real double bed instead of the cots we have been sleeping on. I guess I will find out...

Contrasts

The Rich




The Not So Rich




From Glyfada...

A Little Excursion to Aegina

Aegina is one of three islands in the Saronic Gulf, which are considered the "stepping stones" to the rest of the Mediterranean. The other two islands are Poros and Hydra.

Since these islands are quite close to Athens they are often crowded and it's almost not worth the trip. We made the two hour crossing from Glyfada in Stavros small fishing boat last weekend and it took us close to two hours. It seemed like forever though with winey nephew on board I must say. This little boy, although incredibly cute knows how to get his way and it is crazy making.

The Cute Spyros



The Not so Cute Spyros



This was taken just before a major meltdown where he threw himself down on the floor and really howled. The reason, Dad went out without him to get something from the basement!!!

I got a little sidetracked here, I was telling you about Aegina. The boat trip over was a bit strenuous for me since this is really a fishing boat. There are no seats, just boxes which hold fishing gear and coolers. We sat either on top of the box or on the bow of the boat and both places were equally bumpy. I had my head over the side most of the trip, just in case. I get very seasick at times but this time I was lucky. I don't think Stavros would have been impressed if I'd barfed all over his boat.





We spent the night at a hotel and the next morning headed for the Peloponnese mainland to a small fishing village called St. George. On the way there Stavros had his line in and caught a number of fish. These fish were then presented to the restaurant owner in St. George who cleaned and cooked them for our lunch.



This restaurant feels like their home, the hospitality was amazing and the fish cooked to perfection. If I look a little green it's because I'm still feeling kind of queezy after the boat trip. They also have rooms to rent and we may go back again. It was very quiet and more to my liking than Aegina. I'm really not into very noisy and busy places.

After a lovely afternoon swimming and relaxing we headed back to Glyfada. The seas were quite rough and the last view of the Peloponnese hauntingly beautiful.





Altogether a very beautiful weekend.

Domestic Violence - Oxi (No)

The other night while visiting Brother-In-Law and family we were happily sitting out on their huge balcony enjoying the warm Mediterranean breeze when suddenly the unusual peace (except for whiney nephew) was shattered by a screaming woman from an apartment somewhere behind us.

I mean not some little scream, as in help I saw a mouse, but some serious screaming as in, help I'm in trouble here. They were so loud that even the Greeks in attendance, who are used to noise, sat up and took notice. I didn't hear a mans voice but distinctly heard the sound of someone being slapped numerous times.

In Canada where there is a near zero tolerance for domestic violence the police would have been called. Most of us are very aware that not to do so could end in tragedy, usually for the woman. When I suggested that we might do so the adults present thought I was nuts. No one wanted to get involved. When I heard a child cry out "oxi babbas (no papa) just before another loud smacking sound I got visibly upset.

Having once experienced domestic violence (no, not with husband number two) I could almost put myself in this womans place, and I was impotent to do anything about it. The entire episode lasted about half an hour before things quieted down but it left me feeling incredibly sad.

Since very little is private in this city where you can hear your neighbours pass gas, I wonder how this womans neighbours could face her the next day knowing that they couldn't, wouldn't and didn't do anything to help this woman and child.

Different Lands - Different Customs

Today I have been giving some thought to the differences between Germany, and Greece. One is green, clean, quiet and appears spacious. The other dirty, brown,incredibly noisy and residents live cheek to jowl. There appears to be, from my view no "lebensraum" or space to live. Some things are environmental such as the brown landscape, Greece has very little rainfall and as a result people don't waste water on flowers and such. Other things of course are bad planning such as buildings side by each other with hardly any space between.

All you see from street to street are large five story (maximum height) buildings that all look the same. The subtle differences in the shade of white or pink or yellow of the facade and the shape of the balconies make it difficult to tell them apart at night. Street signs if they exist, are covered in graffiti and many times we have gotten lost because we can't find or read a sign.

Graffiti is an International problem. We certainly have our share in Toronto, I've seen it in Los Angeles, Cuba, Germany, Luxembourg and Greece. Seems even the shapes and images are the same.

Germany



Greece



This is the "cradle of civilization" and yet they can't run things efficiently. Last week my BIL needed to go to his insurance company in Piraeus to receive a small refund on a pair of eye glasses he bought for his son. Back home in Canada I would simply send the receipt in the mail and in due course receive a check, which I could then deposit to my bank account using an ATM machine. Here he had to drive an hour, search for non existent parking and stand in line. After an hour in line he was informed that "gee whiz, sorry the receipt is not detailed enough" (my words), and you have to come back! My MIL went to pay her electric bill last week and it took half a day.

The thing that bothers me the most is the noise, the never relenting noise. If it's not the cars honking, the buses screeching by the house or the dogs barking incessantly, it's the kids. I have never heard so many screaming, screeching kids like have here and no one seems to mind. This is not just once in a while, but every night around six it starts. They are out on the streets till eleven and just seem to create havoc. Meanwhile I'm loosing my mind and walk around with either earplugs or Ipod stuck firmly in ears. Maybe it's just me but I think all this noise can't be good for the mental health of the citizens.

In Germany there are similar irritations with bill paying and such but when it comes to children there is a huge difference. I was in a restaurant in Wiesbaden and there was a family with two young children at the next table. Both kids sat quietly enjoying their meal when one of the started to get a little rambunctious. The parent immediately had the situation under control. Not a harsh word was spoken, no hand raised, just a word was spoken and a look, that I remember from my childhood as "the look" passed between them. Immediate silence followed. Are German children repressed? Does this turn them into better adults or just more anal adults? Beats me, but I enjoyed

In Greece on the other hand, children especially boy children rule the roost and they appear to have free reign to terrorize anyone they choose. My little nephew, although incredibly cute, looses the cute factor after about five minutes of this behaviour and I'd cheerfully lock him in his room. Unfortunately it's not my place so I shut up and put up...

In spite of all this, people seem incredibly cheerful and good natured. My one sister-in-law appears to be happy and is always smiling. She has never been outside of Greece and has no idea of how the rest of the world lives. My other sister-in-law used to live in Canada and repatriated here about six years ago. Mind you, she was smart enough to get her Canadian citizenship first, you know, in case the shit hits the fan, like Lebanon, or her health needs more attention than the Greek system can provide. When I ask her "why?", it's always the weather. Sure, the weather is great but not great enough to make me want to live here. Fortunately for me, neither does my husband. Then again, I couldn't live in Germany either. I feel hemmed in in both countries, like there isn't room to breathe. Maybe we are just too spoiled in North America?