Day 10 - Return to Athens & Kimball's 18th Birthday!

We said our goodbye's to the M/v Cristal thing this morning and were taken by bus to our last hotel in Athens, the Hotel Austria. It's location was a short walking distance from the Acropolis & Agora.


Our room had a fantastic view of the Acropolis from its balcony.

After we got settled in, Iris took us on a walking tour down by the Acropolis (10 minute walk) to an area where there were lots of outdoor cafe's & coffee shops. Next, we walked over to the Plaka where she turned us loose for the next couple of hours to eat & shop.

The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Most of the streets have been closed to traffic, and it is now an area of restaurants, jewelry stores tourist shops, and cafes. Debbie, Rebecca, Kimball and I all decided to go to the same little outdoor cafe to get some lunch.

My lunch was very yummy, I had a sampler plate of sorts. It came on an oblong plate and was full of greek salad, potato salad, cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves, and came with a basket sliced French bread. I also ordered lemon sorbet and it came in a huge tall glass. It was tart & refreshing. The others had to help me eat it, because I was so full.


Kimball, Debbie & Rebecca - waiting for lunch in Athens.

After lunch we wandered up & down some of the streets with shops. Rebecca & Kimball found some of the others in our group & left with them. Debbie was tired & walking, and I was tired of shopping so we went back to the central area where we were to meet up with the rest of the group. On the way we passed a gelato shop. Debbie wanted to get some. I was still full from lunch, but had some euro's that needed to be spent, so I decided to get a cone also. I am SO glad I did. It was amazing! I picked the black forest flavor.



I'd never seen gelato displayed like this before. It was so beautifully decorated.
They would scoop the gelato from the back of the mound, so as to not ruin it's artistic beauty.

This guy was playing some sort of instrument. I put some coins in his hat as I walked by and snapped a photo of him.



At 3:30 we re-grouped and walked over to the Agora, ancient Athens' political, economic and commercial center. This is also where the remains of the Temple of Hephaistos (greek god of metalworking) is located.


Kimball at the Agora, with the Temple of Hephaistos in the back ground.


Looking up at the Temple of Hephaistos. The best preserved ancient Greek temple. It is the only Greek temple that still has the roof on it.


The 'Utah' students. Front (L-R): Valerie & Marlyse. Back (L-R): Rebecca, Cameron, Marin, Thomas, Kimball, Megan & Jonathan.

Iris gave us all a bus ticket, so we didn't have to walk back to the hotel. We walked up a hill to the bus stop. Across the street, was the Parliament building where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. Iris asked if we wanted to go across and watch the changing of the guard since it was nearing the top of the hour.


That night at the motel, we were served a simple meal of chicken, cole slaw , rice & corn, rolls & orange slices. After the meal, Jonathan Crampton stood and made an announcement that it was Kimball's birthday. We all sang to him and presented him with a gift (journal w/evil eye on front & an evil eye key chain) that we had all chipped in to buy for him.


After dinner we went out on a roof top terrace and enjoyed the view of Athens. At 8:45 p.m. a group of us walked back down by the Acropolis where all the cafe's are located to see the Acropolis lit up at night. We had 45 minutes to walk around. Some of the group went to get ice cream, but since there were some that didn't have any money left, we just found a place to sit & watched the locals as they wandered around. The place was a-buzz with all the thousands of conversations going on. It was a fun end to a great trip.

Day 9 - Crete & Santorini

Before I start with Crete & Santorini, I need to back up to last night's dinner. One of the selections for dessert was Baked Alaska. I ordered it, remembering that the last time I had Baked Alaska was on our criuse to..... ALASKA! Anyway, when it was time for dessert to be served, the song "Hot, Hot, Hot" started playing, and I noticed people at other tables starting to wave their napkins in the air.


The lights then dimmed and all the waiters paraded through the dining room with flaming Baked Alaska on trays. It was really festive with the music, and everyone waving napkins.



Thursday:
We arrived at Agios Nicolaos (Crete) at 6:45 a.m. Because of the strike, our tour excursion to the Palace of Knossos was cancelled. After breakfast, we met our tour guide Iris, just off the boat. She talked to us about Agios Nicolaos and Agios Nicolaos Lake. Then she walked us over to the lake and turned us loose for next couple hours while we just walked around the town.


According to mythology, Athena and Armetis once bathed in the water of this magnificent lake. The deep dark water of the lake is mesmerizing, and food joints and shops surround the lake itself, colorful boats are moored along it, adding to its beauty.



The beach.


SANTORINI!
They told us to be out on deck to enjoy the magnificent view as we approached Santorini, which is considered to be one of the greatest phenomena of Greece. Iris told us that as Santorini comes into view, it looks like the island is frosted with icing, or capped with snow. She was right! It was an awesome view!


The formation of the island is the result of many volcanic eruptions in prehistoric times. In approx. 1628 B.C., a massive volcanic eruption occured causing half of the island to sink below sea level. The geographical phenomenon, which formed a bay that our ship entered, is called a 'Caldera' and is where the center of the island was located before it sank.

By the way: the volcano is still active, and the last eruption was in 1950, causing an earthquake that destroyed many villages on the island. The island's official name is Thira and its main town, Fira, is also the capital of the Cyclades islands.

As we entered the lagoon, we were met by tender boats that ferried us up to the island. There are three way you can get to the top of the island.
1. Take the cable car up the mountain (4 euro each way)
2. Take a donkey (5 euro each way)
3. Walk (almost 900 steps each way)

Here's the mode of transportation most of us picked to get up:



It was a riot riding the donkeys! I was laughing the entire time, and probably took about 50 pictures - lots of them are just a blur. Donkeys don't hold very still. I learned that there are about 300 donkeys that haul people up & down the road.

When we arrived at the top, we were in Fira. It was fun to just walk around and see the shops & little eateries. Kimball and I walked around together and explored the town in the short amount of time that we were able to spend there. We tried some gelato from a eatery that we saw, I would rate it just 'ok'. (comparing it to the gelato we had the next day back in Athens)
Here are some pictures we took as we explored Fira:





Because there isn't much of a port, the ships had to keep sailing in a circle while we were on the island.







Kimball and I walked down the road (steps) to get back to the tender boats which took us back to the ship. It was getting to be the end of the day, and they were herding the donkeys to the top to take them home for the night.

It was pretty interesting at first, trying to steer ourselves thru the donkey masses. There was also this that we had to watch for and avoid:

It took us about 20 minutes to walk down. My legs felt like jello by the time I got to the bottom. I was glad to have Kimball with me, so I could hold onto him. It really was a workout for the muscles in my thighs. I could hardly walk up & down stairs for the next few days.

Day 8 - Shopping in Rhodes

The whole trip we heard Kori say: "Don't buy it here... wait for Rhodes (or Rodos in Greek). It will be cheaper there." So I was pretty excited to get to Rhodes and have a full day of shopping in all the colorful stores.

That morning we were invited to meet our tour guide, Iris, out on the upper deck and she pointed out sights in the city and told us a little about it's history. Rhodes is called "The Island of Roses."


The older part of the city is encircled about by a medieval wall and it is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe.


The deer is the symbol of Rhodes, and is found on all manhole covers.


Here I am, entering the city through one of the arch ways in the wall.


Kimball, Thomas & Cameron standing in a courtyard.


I shopped all morning with two of the girls, Marlyse & Rebecca.


Marlyse wanted to find a dress, so we went into this little shop. She didn't find a dress she liked, but I did find one that I bought to bring home to Cailyn.

After shopping all morning, we walked back to the ship for lunch. Afterwords, most of the group went to the beach. Marylse, Rebecca and I wanted to shop a little longer, so we went back into the town. After we finished our shopping, we walked down to the beach and found the rest of the group.

Looking back, I think it was amazing that we found them at all, The beach curved around, and it was thick with people as far as the eye could see.


This was cool, a diving platform out in the ocean.

Next, back on the ship & ready to leave. This is the little tug boat that pulled our ship around and got us headed in the right direction.


We found out later that evening that all the tour guides in Greece were going on strike beginning the next day (Friday, June 11th) Our next stop was to be the island of Crete, and we had an excursion scheduled to go the town (and palace) of Knossos which was once the capital city of the prehistoric Minoan civiliation. Because of the strike, our excursion was cancelled.

There was a wind tonight, and the water was quite choppy. As a result, there were a few of us that felt a little motion sick. I had some motion sickness pills that I picked up at the health food store before the trip, and I handed out quite a few of them. They did the trick and we all felt better the next morning.

Day 7 - Afternoon: Kusadasi & Ephesus

This afternoon's disembark time was 2:30 p.m., with our arrival at Kusadasi. After disembarking, buses were waiting to take us on a short 40 minute ride to Ephesus. Before I start with the pictures, here are some facts about amazing Ephesus:

Ephesus was rebuilt 3 times.
It is the largest open air museum in the world.
Only 20% of Ephesus has been excavated.
John came to Ephesus and preached to the Ephesians after the death of Jesus. It is said that John brought Mary here, where she lived the remainder of her days.


There were some shops before the entrance to Ephesus. I thought the sign on this shop was funny - "Genuine Fake Watches"


The entrance to Ephusus


Another olive tree. The olives on this tree were larger than what I saw on trees in Athens.


Ruins of Ephesus


The Marble Street. The main street of Ephesus that led from the theater to the main part of the city, and was built between the time of Paul and John.

It was HOT here. I didn't take an umbrella with me, thinking if it rained, I would just deal with it. But it would have been nice to have an umbrella to deal with the SUN. That large 2 story ruin with the pillars you can see at the end of the marble street is the library of Celsus.


Closeup of the marble street. They told us the groove in this piece of marble is from chariot wheels.


We saw several amazing mosiac's. This is just one of them.


A relief representing Nike, the goddess of victory, with a wreath in her left hand and a spike in the right.


My friend Debbie was smart & brought her umbrella to Ephesus. There's Kimball (foreground) in the brown shirt.


I'm sure you can all guess what this is. I'll spare you the picture of me sitting here!


Library of Celsus. Built in A.D. 135 by Julius Aguila in memory of his father, Celsus, who was a Roman senator and governor-general of the province of Asia. Here thousands of parchments and papyri were stored, protected from dampness and worms by a double wall, but not from earthquake or war. Estimates of the number of rolls that could be stored in the library vary
from 9,500 to 12,000. Celsus was a lover of books and was given the honor of being buried, not only within the city, but in the vault of his own library among his books.


The library was huge!


Ok, so I thought I'd do something different for my photo. Here I am licking the pillar. It tasted salty. I was kinda grossed out afterwords.


The Theater. This gives you some impression of the elegance of ancient Ephesus in the time of Paul and other early Christians. Originally built during the Hellenistic Age, it was expanded during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41–54) and was completed during the reign of Trajan (A.D. 98–117). This massive structure measured 495 feet in diameter and seated an estimated 25,000 people. It was cut into Mount Pion between A.D. 41 and 98. The great uproar over Diana of the Ephesians took place here (Acts 19).


I didn't take this picture (I found it on the internet). I think it is an amazing picture that shows what it looks like looking down from the top of the theater. The wide street you can see is the Arcadian Way (Harbor Street)
This was the main street of the city and led from the harbor to the theater. The street was over 100 feet wide and paved with marble slabs. The street was often used for parades and ceremonies, and was flanked on either side by rows of columns 50 feet deep. The street was named in honor of the emperor Arcadius (A.D. 383–408) who enlarged and restored it. Galleries and rows of small shops lined each side of the street. At night the street was lit by lanterns.



After we exited Ephesus, there were more shops before the bus parking lot. Thomas, Kimball and Cameron all bought a camel rider hat. Here they are modeling for me.

Back on the buses for our ride back to Kusadasi. We had several hours to shop before going back to the ship.


This rug shop was next door to a store where we were all shopping and laying down a bunch of Euro's. I was interested in watching the lady weave the rug. As soon as the man noticed that I was interested, he was up & trying to get me into his store to look at rugs.


This is the store that we were all in. Looking back now, I realize how "Turkish" it was. But at the time I guess I had seen so much of the same, it was just another store.



That night back on the ship at the Stars Lounge for Karaoke. The Utah & Tennessee groups singing together.