Croatia was nice, Dubrovnik wasn’t so stellar that I’d recommend going there, but if your ship happens to pass through, it’s worth paying the $10 for a round-trip bus ride to the old town. You won’t be able to walk it—it’s something like 10km from the dock. We checked things out and sent off some postcards, had some ice cream, that’s about it. I thought the gelatto in Venice was better than the ice cream in Dubrovnik, but others disagree.
Old Town Dubrovnik
The old town of Dubrovnik has some crazy alleys and stairs:
Katakolon was nice, although we got there about an hour late (they adjusted the departure time appropriately). The best part about this port is the 30 minute trip to Olympia, the site of the original Olympics. We got to walk around the ruins (there were a lot of them, the place was buried for some 1300 years). There was one picture I really wanted but just couldn’t get because there were so many people just wandering around (I prefer my shots to not have people in them). But anyway, most of them will be okay, I’m importing them now, I’ll try to have some ready for when I post this online. We picked up some sand from the running track for Lorien’s mom, she asked us to bring her back sand from places we go. Typically that means beaches, but I think she won’t mind this exception.
Olympian Columns
Alexander the Great’s monument to his father Philip of Macedon for his winning the Olympics in the chariot racing games:
Lorien bought me a cake for my birthday, and the wait-staff at the restaurant (on the ship) sang happy birthday with the rest of our table. It was an excellent chocolate cake.
Athens was fun, but a very crowded city. We didn’t have time to do much, just hop on the bus, drive to the sites, get out and take pictures, get back on the bus and head back to the cruise ship. Seeing the Parthenon was impressive, those columns are big, and the temples around the area are a joy to see, but a couple of hours just doesn’t do this city justice. We probably spent more time in traffic than we did sightseeing.
Parthenon
Blacksmith Temple (the only one with a surviving roof)
Next was Izmir, Turkey. This place was a definite surprise. I was pretty wishy-washy about going to Turkey. I figured there was enough other stuff in the area to see, why bother with a stop in Turkey? Well boy was I wrong. Turkey, and more specifically Ephesus was one of the highlights of this cruise! I certainly enjoyed seeing Ephesus more than I did seeing the Parthenon. We got to walk in the same places that the apostle Paul did. We saw the amphitheatre he spoke to the Roman citizens in. It was stunning. And the library was the best of the best. We also got to see a carpet cooperative, where young women weave Turkish carpets to sell to rich tourists. I say rich because I couldn’t afford them. There were some extremely beautiful carpets, but well out of my price range. Even small ones were several hundred dollars. The larger 10 foot ones were $8k US. And that was for the wool carpets. I didn’t bother to ask about the silk carpets. They were truly amazing. Some of the carpets (especially the silk ones) take two girls two years to make. The cooperative also made their own threads from wool and silk, and we got to see the silk thread-making process, it was really interesting. The only bad thing about Turkey was the pushy guys that sold tourist crap, and the store owners, they were very confrontational, to the point of coming up to you and putting things in your hands to get you to buy them.
The Great Library at Ephesus
Another shot, with columns in the foreground
Then we visited Rhodes (or Rodos), and drove to Lindos to see an ancient castle and the ruins of an older Roman temple. The Colossus, one of the original seven wonders of the world, was located at Rhodes. Unfortunately, nothing remains of it now. The castle and temple we saw at Lindos was neat, but it was a long drive from the port of Rhodes, and quite a climb up steep steps and through a lot of shops. The views were spectactacular, though, and I got some great scenery shots.
Today was a full day at sea, it’s late in the evening and I’ve been getting something of a nasty cold. We’re about to pass through a strait, between the Italian mainland and Sicily. We should also be passing by Stromboli, where an active volcano is currently erupting. It will be late when we pass by (well after midnight), but I’ll be staying up for some good pictures (hopefully). I’ve taken so many pictures and video that I’ve quite nearly filled up my hard drive, and can’t archive everything off to the small pack of DVDs that I brought with me. Yeah, I have that much data.