Life Aboard Ship

We have had many requests (at least a couple) for a glimpse of life aboard a cruise ship. Having never done anything like this before we did not really know what to expect. This was a ten day cruise so it was longer than most standard cruises of around seven days. The first two days were at sea while we travelled down the Adriatic with Italy on the Starboard side and Croatia on our Port side-not that we saw much of either. The Mediterranean is a very big sea. The Sapphire blue water was remarkable and for nine of the ten days very calm. It was hard to tell we were afloat. 

Everything is luxuriously appointed, as you will see from some of Betty's photos and my video clip. We had an inside cabin with its own bathroom resources which was quite adequate. Most of the time is spent in the lounges or restaurants. In one of the restaurants food was served almost continuously for anyone who wanted it. There were also two restaurants where tables were served by very efficient waiters. We usually chose one of these options for dinner because it gave us an opportunity to meet other people. One evening we had a German couple on one side and French-speaking Canadian couple on the other.

The top deck of the ship had a decent  swimming pool and hot tubs which we used on a couple of occasions when we were not ashore.

There was always plenty of entertainment in the bars and lounges. We usually took in one of the show in the starlight theatre which was a full scale theatre which would seat nearly 1000 people and performances ranged from a Broadway musical, singers and acrobats, to a brilliant classical guitarist and magician's show-all top class acts.

We tended to eat too much at the start of the cruise but even food gets monotonous after a while and we burned off lots during on shore exploration.

You can get a conducted video tour at the following link:A guided tour of our cruise ship

Athens, Greece

From the Acropolis, towards the temple of Athena

Piraeus, which is the cruise port is the gateway to Athens. From the ship it was about a 30 minute walk to the railway station and, in order to get there.Local taxi drivers wanted to sell us tours of Athens for 40 Euros which is hardly a bargain considering it is possible to purchase a day trip on the public transport for around a tenth of the price.  In the centre of Athens antiquities are to be discovered within a few paces of the station.

The Roman Forum (Gk. Agora) or marketplace

The library of Hadrian lies at the base of the Acropolis, beside the remains of the  Agora, or Greek market place. We could enter these sites on the same ticket that admitted us to the Acropolis but the ruins are no more interesting close up. You can get the general idea from a distance. We entered the Acropolis on which sits the Parthenon and Temple of Athena from the Western Gate. Entry cost us around 20 Euros ($32) each. A gradual climb brought us to the main gate and the endless, winding stream of hundreds of tourists wending their way up to the top of the Acropolis on potentially slippery marble steps.  You don't really need a personal guide because there are so many leading tour groups that it is possible to catch snippets as you go. I picked up quite a few interesting points from a well informed American who was showing a friend around the ruins on the summit. 

Two stray tourists

The Parthenon is slowly being restored. It is a large,  rectangular, empty space with Corinthian columns and ornate friezes which celebrate various military triumphs and was built around 500 BC. The big contention in Greece (as well as in Turkey) is between those who want to rebuild these ancient ruins for tourism purposes and the archeologists who want everything to remain "authentic" ruins. The compromise is that when 50 percent of the original structure has been recovered, reconstruction is begun. The restored sections are slightly creamier in colour which I suppose is intentional but looks a bit "plastic." One expert guide explained that in ancient times the beautiful white marble was painted in bright, gaudy colours but I don't think that modern tourists would accept that sort of radical change! There are remains of other temples on the Acropolis of which the smaller Temple of Athena is the more interesting. Apparently it once contained a 13m high statue of Athena constructed  of gold plates which could be dismantled and hidden in times of war but someone, obviously, forgot to return it after the last war! 

The Areopagus where Paul preached (Acts 17)

From the Acropolis you look down towards the North West on a small, rocky knoll which the Greeks called the Areopagus and the Romans called the "Hill of Mars." On this rock met the Areopagus Council which in Classical times, amongst other duties, investigated religious disputes in the city and arbitrated in homicide cases. It was on this very spot that the Christian apostle, Paul, first presented the message of Christ and "Anastasia" (Resurrection) to the Stoic and Epicurian philosophers, around 50 AD. 

The Evzone guards on parade

We had two unexpected bonuses during our brief time in Athens. As we took a bus down from the Acropolis to Constitution Square, the site of the Greek Parliament, just in time to catch the ceremonial changing of the Guard. The extraordinary costumes which these soldiers, called the Evzones, wear include kilts which have 400 pleats commemorating 400years of Turkish domination. The video shows some of the ceremony from our viewing position.

Old Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Athens

At the conclusion of this ceremony we took a stroll down one of the shopping streets in central Athens past a group of young anarchists protesting Greek economic issues and, at the bottom of the street we came across an ancient Greek Orthodox Church where the priest was conducting a family baptism. Although we did not want to intrude, I did manage to sneak a couple of camera shots.After a short wander through the Sunday Flea market it was time to catch the train back to Piraeus and the ship: the end of an exhausting but extraordinary day.

For a video clip of our Athens you can click on this link :A day in Athens

Reaching Venice

Days 2 & 3 

How can I describe our first impressions of Venice? As a city it is unbelievable! Venice is the largest of several islands and is connected  to the mainland by a long causeway. As the train approaches the final station, Santa Lucia, the old city seems to grow out of the sea. Nothing can prepare a, visitor exiting the station, for the impact of this place. We have all seen pictures of canals and boats and gondolas and are aware of the unique architecture of Venice but the smell of the sea the incessant energy of the boat traffic moving up and down the Grand Canal, all this set against a backdrop of seventeenth century buildings and churches is quite incredible. The second impression that meets the new arrival is the surging crowds of tourists, groups of school children and the street sellers with their “genuine,” fake Gucci bags, hats and hundreds of sellers of Venetian masks.

Apart from taking a boat, the only way of getting from one side of the canal to another is over steep, marble bridges and they are certainly not designed for transporting suitcases. Our hotel was very conveniently positioned a few hundred metres down the other side of the Grand Canal. It was an older style hotel with brocaded walls and external wooden shutters but still full of character. Our room overlooked the back yard of a neighbouring convent and the sense of tranquility was in stark contrast to the business of the canals. Once we had sorted out our room we went exploring. One travel guide which I had read  suggested that every visitor should get lost in Venice in order to appreciate the many paths and canals. I don’t think the writer could have anticipated the degree to which we were able to get totally lost as we followed groups of people down the labyrinth of alley-ways and canals. We wandered a long way off the regular tourist trail and it took us so long to find our way back to our hotel that we were too tired to eat.

Japanese couple doing photos in St Marks at 7:30 am

Our second day in Venice was another glorious summer day. We decided to get up at 6 am and wander the streets before other tourists cramped our movements. Initially, we had the place almost to ourselves with a few locals walking their dogs and the street sweepers cleaning up from the previous day’s crowds. By the time we got to St Mark’s Square more people were on the move but we still enjoyed the vast space of St Mark’s Square and the extraordinary marbles and frescos on the basilica. It was too early to get into the cathedral but we were quite content to soak up the atmosphere and return to the hotel on one of the vaporettos which serve as transport on the Grand Canal. Gondolas are part of the traditional fabric of Venice but are generally far too expensive for the average tourist.

One of the many extraordinary marble churches in Venice

Most of the afternoon was occupied moving ourselves down to the Marittima, or port, to get ourselves on board for the next big step in our European adventure: cruising the Med!

Here is a short video clip which shows some of our Venice experience.(Sorry if you had trouble accessing the Milan video but it  should all work OK )
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVyNC-mJB5w&feature=youtu.be




On my next blog I will introduce you to life on the cruise ship.