May
1st we docked in Corfu, Greece. It was a tiny little port so Rachel, Erin and I got
off together to walk around and have lunch. We walked up to a fort, than had a
mini photo shoot in a beautiful garden. We had drinks by down by the water,
which was almost turquoise and so clear. We attempted learning some Greek from
our waiter but they definitely have a lot of words just for something simple
like “Thank You!”. It sounded something like “escostose para polle.” I would
still really enjoy learning Greek someday. :)
The
next day was Katakolon, Greece. This was another small town so we mainly walked
the streets looking at the trinkets offered in the shops. I bought 3 gorgeous
paintings and we ate delicious tzatziki by the pier. I really love Greek food,
lots of cheese and dairy products, which are my favorite food group, but WOW is
it salty. That day was so hot and with the sodium intake we had at our meal, we
swelled like puffer fish! I did not enjoy the coffee in Greece as much as I did
in Italy. They add some sort of spice that does not agree with my palette.
Also, the definition of Cappuccino seems to differ everywhere in Europe. Italy
makes one similar to the way we make it in the states so that’s probably
another reason I like Italian coffee more than Greece and even Spain. I enjoyed
everything else I ordered though.
May
3rd was Santorini, Greece; one of my top favorite places in the
world now! Some of my cast members and I got up early to watch the sail into
this beautiful port. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best for letting
the sunshine on the town (according to my Officer friend Mark, who has sailed
in hundreds of times and recommended watching it), but that’s ok, it was still
magical. The white of the buildings in contrast with the hillside is stunning.
And the view only gets better when your in town and see the brilliant blue
rooftops….but I’m getting ahead of myself! Since this was a tender port, we had
to wait a bit to get into a tiny boat and cruise over to the land. Once you’re
in town, the only way up is the cable car, walking the steep hill, or riding
the donkeys. And of course I came to Santorini to ride the donkeys; just like
in the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which we watched the night
before in preparation for the day! Riding the donkeys was hilarious. They must have thought it
was a race and they kept running into each other, or the walls, or people in
order to get ahead. Once we finally reached the top, we took a moment to marvel
at the amazing city all around us. Then we rented to ATVs and drove to Oia, the
other side of the island. Don’t worry, I wore a helmet! Erin drove ours on the
way there, and I drove us back. It was so much fun speeding around the mountain
with the rest of the cast, weaving between people in the towns and watching the
scenery fly by. When we made it to Oia, we stopped for a delicious meal (ie.
more tzatziki and bread for me!) and wandered thru the shops. It was so
peaceful on the mountain, looking out at the blue top buildings and the water
below. I don’t even know the words to explain how happy I was. I felt like I
belonged there, and did not want to leave. We saw the pier where Lena’s pants
get caught and Kostos saves her from drowning (if you’ve seen the Sisterhood of
the Traveling Pants). I would like to return to Santorini to learn how to
paint….and meet Kostos. ;)
The
next day was Kusadasi, Turkey. I had signed up for the crew tour to Ephesus. Erin
and I headed off the ship and hit the Starbucks to get some coffee. The man
labeled my coffee Senin (I guess that’s how they would phonetically spell my
name!) After our delicious coffees we met the rest of the crew and boarded the
bus for the drive to Ephesus. It was really cool to see the old pillars that
once marked the city borders. Our tour guide showed us a stone that had one of
the first backgammon games to ever exist, carved into it. We climbed the stones
into the amphitheater and Buddy and I performed one of our lifts from the shows
for pictures :) The detail they carved into the pillars, statues, and tables
were beautiful. I found a stone with a medical symbol carved into it. The guide also showed us the angel statue that
inspired the Nike symbol. We continued around the city, stopping at a row of
ruins that used to be homes. The tile in front of the houses was well preserved
and I was able to find a heart in one of the patterns. The main road ended at
the library, which was probably one of my favorite buildings I’ve seen in
Europe. After wandering thru and marveling at the ancient carvings, we headed
toward the giant amphitheater. Erin read some chapters from the bible that were
regarding Ephesus. Someday I would love to do a biblical tour of the world, I
hope the Middle East can find peace.
May
5th-6th was our overnight in Piraeus/Athens. I was
actually feeling weirdly sick on the 5th so I slept all day rather
than trying to go out. I think I was very dehydrated from doing 3 Nightlife’s
in a row the night before and the exhaustion caught up with me that next
morning. Sleeping helped me feel back to normal so around 6:30, I went off with
Fraser, Rachel, Erin, and some of our Engineer and Officer friends for dinner.
We stopped at a little Italian restaurant by the water and I enjoyed some
gnocchi, although it was not nearly as good as the gnocchi I had in Italy, but
duh. After dinner we hit the clubs for some dancing with the locals. Since it
was a Sunday, it wasn’t the craziest nightlife but we all had a good time.
The
next day we woke up early to catch the train and head to Athens. Our goal was
the Acropolis, and I played the soundtrack from Hercules to put us in the right
mood. Random memory, Hercules was the first movie I remember seeing in
theaters; I saw it with Aunt Kathleen and I loved it. Anyways, 16 years later, I’m in Athens in the
temples of the Greek Gods and Goddesses I was instantly fascinated by. Athens
was named after Athena, goddess of wisdom. We saw the Parthenon, the white
marble temple dedicated to Athena. It had once been magnificent, with
decorations of the Trojan Wars and the mythological beasts and centaurs. The
pediments had the scenes of Athena’s birth in the presence of the other Gods,
and her contest with Poseidon for Athens. We also saw the Erechtheion, which
was erected in 420BC! We took pictures of us ladies in front of the famous
Caryatids, the six stone figures of maidens used as pillars to support the roof
of the structure. The cella (inner
part of an ancient temple) was divided into two parts, one for those who
worshipped Athena, and the other for Poseidon’s followers. It makes me wonder
if their sharing of the space was a peaceful event.
We
took some time to enjoy the view above the glorious amphitheater. I saw the
remains of Zeus’ temple from a distance. It was unfortunate that there was so
much construction throughout the Acropolis but I tried to understand. I’m very
appreciative that the city is working hard to preserve the phenomenal history
of the Greeks. I can’t imagine a world without the relics of our past
surrounding us, reminding us where we came from and how much we have yet to
grow.
We
docked in Messina, Italy on May 8th. Brit, Erin and I hired a taxi driver to take us to Taormina.
He first drove us around Messina for a city tour. He showed us how the city had
to rebuild itself after an enormous earthquake. The old city was beneath all
the new highways and roads. He explained they now have a building restriction
for structure height because the last earthquake was so destructive, and they
seem to have them quite often.
The
drive to Taormina reminded me a lot of the Pacific Coast Highway, and I
thoroughly enjoyed behaving like a dog with my head sticking out the window and
loving the breeze :) Once we got uphill into the town, our driver dropped us
off with directions on where to go and what to see. We had several hours before
we were to meet back with him so wandered around looking at the shops and the
church. We headed to the amphitheater, which was not nearly as impressive as
the Acropolis, but it was still interesting to see. The structure was made of
red stone brick rather than the white marble and stone used in Greece. There
was a wonderful view of the city and the ocean from the amphitheater.
After
we found some fun crevices and holes to take pictures in, we worked our way
back into the heart of the town for some pizza. We found this fantastic place
that had a balcony so we could eat and look out onto the ocean. I needed to use the restroom before the
long drive back to the ship, so we stopped in a Gelateria. I was too stuffed
for Gelato (WHAT!? I KNOW!) but I forced myself to eat a Canoli. AMAZING. Brit
tried the Granite, frozen coffee they usually have in the morning. I sampled a
bit of the slurpee like coffee and it was pretty good. Our taxi driver stopped
along the way to show us the best view from the hillside. It was absolutely
stunning. I had a wonderful day with my girls.
We
docked in Naples, Italy the next day. I was doing the crew tour to Pompeii but
it wasn’t until a little later so Erin, Ann, Megs, Brit and I headed out into
the city. We were on a mission for pizza. Not just ANY pizza though. We were
headed to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, the world famous pizza place as seen in
Eat, Pray, Love. There were pictures of Julia with the pizza staff, and of her
eating the pizza. The movie was not lying people; this was the best pizza I’ve
ever had. It was perfectly cooked in open fire, brick oven. I’m learning that
if it’s made the traditional way, it’s sooooo much better. I guess I will need
a gigantic red brick oven in my house so my husband can make pizzas for me. :D And
the sauce, cheese and oil just melted in my mouth. I am not ashamed to say that
I ate an entire pizza myself. With
a stuffed tummy and a happy heart, I headed back to meet up with the crew tour.
Pompeii was incredibly sad and eerie to walk thru. Our tour guide showed us the
hot and cold saunas, the whorehouses, and the market. I learned that Mount
Vesuvius, the volcano responsible for the tragedy, has erupted more than 50
times! Over two thousand people died and the city was abandoned. It was
rediscovered in 1748. It was weird how intact Pompeii was, as if nothing
happened. But then you walk around and find people sitting or lying in the same
position when the volcano erupted. There were some skeletons with their bones
poking out from the volcanic ash they were buried in. I was told there was a
hill beneath the city where most of the bodies were, but there was no way I
could handle seeing children and dogs buried. I could feel the emotion from the
postures of the bodies I did see, the absolute terror. It was overwhelming.
After
our tour guide gave us a meeting place, Brit, Sara (our stage manager) Erin and
I looked around at the pottery and artwork that had been preserved. We had a
bit of a mishap because our tour guide told us to go the wrong way to find the
meeting place. I’m starting to see a trend that the Italians don’t quite
understand “left” and “right” so you should just assume to do the opposite of
what they say. Anyways, we ended up having to run to catch the bus but we made
it. Back at the port I had a delicious glass of chocolate Granite before
getting back on the ship.
May
10th was Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy. Since this was my last day in
Rome, I wanted to have a stress free day in the city. Realistically, this is
impossible since we are always on a tight schedule to be back on the ship and
in a foreign country. Rachel, Ann and I took the train but got off at the wrong
stop because the map in the station is not easily labeled for all tourist
attractions. We asked a policewoman and she told us which stop to get off to
see the Pantheon. This stop had us near the Spanish steps so we used that as
our reference point and headed down the street. Again, when people gave us
directions, they seemed to not correctly understand “left” versus “right” we
were about to give up when a nice vendor lady told us we just needed to head
“STRAIGHT” (YES!). We ate a decent lunch on the plaza and found the best gelato
I’ve had in Italy at a random Gelateria. SUCCESS.
May
13th, I had a wonderful day at Cheers Bar and Restaurant in Malaga,
Spain with Rachel, Fraser, Kirsty and their friend from their last ship, but I
can’t remember his name :/ The two boys were Scottish and I was really enjoying
listening to their accents. :D
