Athens Extra Day

Nice buffet breakfast at the hotel then we took taxi to the National Archeological Museum, which was interesting particularly for the progression of Ancient Greek sculpture.  We wound up at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier around noon, which gave us the opportunity to watch the changing of the guard. Then we wound our way through The National Gardens and the Temple of Zeus. We entered the Acropolis Museum hungry, so by the time we made it to the cafeteria on the second floor we were ready for lunch. Then some shopping and a long walk back to the Intercontinental Hotel.

Some observations on Athens: lots of smokers; streets are confusing; pedestrian signs are merely suggestions; impressive amount of graffiti; we have not improved the sandal in 2400 years. 

Tired Lisa

Athens

Our last tour was "Best of Athens."  We started out with a drive along the Aegean coast to the Temple of Poseidon. Despite the fact that it wasn't the best site of the day, it probably had the best views. 

We had a nice Greek buffet lunch, but I'm convinced several of our fellow passengers were not familiar with the germ theory of disease...I skipped dessert.

Then we had a nice city tour which proved to be a good preview of what we would see on Sunday.

Then the Acropolis.  Lisa was disappointed when she heard that part of it was covered with scaffolding.  She should not have been concerned; it makes more than enough of an impression anyway.

At the recommendation of our hotel Princess Cruises rep we had our final group dinner at Vassili's. Traditional Greek food, al fresco, and local wine by the pitcher.  We had a great time, but we were probably too loud.

We have an extra day. The rest of the group heads back in the morning. 

I wasn't worried.

Santorini

Santorini.

Tenders to the old port, and from there to Oia. Oia did live up to it's reputation for postcard views.  I had some espresso and Lisa had cappuccino with a phyllo-feta-sesame-honey sauce. Great!  Another chapel (small), then a black sand beach.

The winery was mainly exceptional for the views. The white was a nice, simple, dry wine; the red was medium-bodied, a little unbalanced; Lisa didn't care for it but she doesn't like tannic wines. I found it quite drinkable. The desert wine was more sherry-like; we agreed it would make a nice after dinner drink.  I was disappointed not to learn about the way they make the vines into baskets to protect them from the wind.

Nice buffet lunch at the Pyrgos Restaurant. 

Turkey

Turkey.  How interesting that the pagan Temple of Artemis yielded stones for the Christian Temple of St John which later yielded stones for the mosque.

The Temple of St John has a lot to see. More than any site so far, it looks like it is under construction...a bit like a Roman lumberyard.

Then we saw the ruins of Ephesus, an active archeological site. Ephesus is quite impressive. The lunch within the ruins was memorable, not so much for the local wine as for the local food.

After lunch, we went to see the rug making demonstration, after which we got the Turkish hard-sell. It did provide a chance to sample Raki in Turkey. We resisted the hard-sell and returned to the ship.

Korsan was a great guide

Rhodes

Rhodes. Home of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the harbor Helios statue. Our impression that this was one of the nicest stops might have been influenced by the fact that we spent 3 hours at the beautiful Tsampika beach. We rode there with an open middle door for air conditioning. The water was clear and cool, the sand hot. The local cantina was hosted by some very nice folks who served tasty gyros and taziki.  After returning to the boat we went to town, shopped, ate Lebanese yeros, and shopped some more.

Crab Shack for dinner.

Great day. 

Crete

Heraklion in Crete was our port on day 9.  The Boutari winery tour was great. The winery movie was odd. 

We picked up a couple of bottles of Greek wine to drink on the ship. Then we were on to the Palace of Knossos, which we decided Allison would like. It turns out that the Minoans were ahead of the curve in terms of gender equity. Evans did a nice job promoting the site (and the island) and at the same time making somewhat of a mess of the excavation and reconstruction.  

Stupid tourists don't help.

Once back to the ship we enjoyed the Boutari rose ("Poze").  A little dizzy, yet very nice, dry, and quite aromatic. 

Rome

Pics only.

Sicily

This trip is surprisingly tiring!  We were up again today at 6:30 for excursion to Cefalu. We first stopped at the Cathedral, which was mostly remarkable for appearing unfinished. We then split from the group and made our way down to the sea where we dipped out toes in the water. Gelato. The bus ride back was remarkable for the views of the monument to victims of the mafia, designed in a stark, modern style unlike anything so far on the trip.  

Malta

Malta.

Home of Knights of St John.

Hagar Qim temple.

Mdina Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Cathedral of St John in Valetta with Beheading of John by Caravaggio.

Discovered Pano setting on the iPhone.

Florence

We docked in Livorno and travelled to Florence on day 3. Florence. Lisa's favorite city. Church of Santa Croce with the Tombs of Michalangelo, Dante, Machiavelli.  Palazzo Vecchio. Uffizi Gallery.  Caprese salad and cannoli for lunch. Then Cathedral of Santa Maria fel Fiore (Duomo).  The Baptistry of San Giovanni.

We climbed the 414 steps of the Bell Tower for some amazing views. Then we ate mango and passion fruit gelato.  

Genoa

On day 2 we disembarked in Genoa and headed to Rapallo where Andrea gave us a guided tour.  We saw the last of the five gates of the original city, the Gate of Salina. Then we went to Santa Margherita where we boarded a ferry to Portofino. There we climbed to Castle Brown and toured the gardens. We finally sampled some local wine, a Chardonnay, back in Santa Margherita at a local pizzeria.

Cold beer?  No...

Marseilles

I'm preserving a few thoughts and pics from our Mediterranean cruise.  I will strive to keep it on topic.

First stop, Marseilles, where we trekked to Lourmarin. There, short of Euros, we met a very kind Frenchman who was there for the Porsche gathering.  He helped us find an ATM. We toured the village and ate some fresh pastries. We found our way to a wine shop and bought a 500 of the dry rose for which the area is known.  The store owner generously gave us a corkscrew and little plastic wine glasses. While sampling the wine, we watched the parade of Porsches, and waved at our ATM friend as he went by.

From there we went to Aix en Provence, had lunch, and made a quick walking trip around town, where the highlight was Cathedrale St. Sauveur.
We had dinner at the steak and seafood restaurant where we were careful to avoid leaving uncomfortably full.  It was however at the expense of a lot of wasted food.