Mediterranean Part 1

May 1^st 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 3^rd 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 5^th-6^th was our overnight in Piraeus/Athens. I was actually feeling weirdly sick on the 5^th 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 8^th.  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 10^th 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 13^th, 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