Santorini–the most beautiful place so far….

On September 18, 2014 By Traveling FullersLeave a comment

We tendered into to the most beautiful island yet, Santorini. Truly, with its white washed houses clinging to the cliff and the bright blue church domes and the amazing Bouganvilla that grows everywhere, you would think you had stepped into a little piece of Heaven!

There are three ways to get to the top of Santorini’s capital, Fira. You may climb 598 steps to the top take one of the six cars of the funicular or ride a donkey..

We took the funicular! There was no problem going up this morning. However, later in the day, it was a problem! There were four large cruise ships in port all departing at about the same time. We waited 1 1/2 hours in a line to get down on the funicular. Bill and I had stayed to do a little shopping and fortunately, we sent Duffy and Trey ahead with the guide. The line was long, but the guide with them talked to the funicular people and managed to get them to the front of the line! Yea! We got caught in a line of 100’s of people….we were a little worried because the last tender to our ship was 6:30 pm. Ship sailed at 7:00 pm. We finally got in the funicular at 6:00 pm! When Bill and I finally boarded the ship, we were 12 & 13 on board so there were only 11 people yet to get back! Cutting it close! Whew!

But back to,the glorious part of the day! Santorini is a result of probably the largest ever volcanic explosion in recorded history. The volcanoes here is still “active” but the last explosion here was in 1956. In the first eruption in 1620 BC, there was no loss of life. They had warnings from the volcanoe and everyone evacuated leaving their homes in perfect condition because they planned on returning. They returned about 100 years later. Originally, Santorini was a pirate base. The homes here were brightly painted different colors so the sea farers could tell which home was theirs! The domes of all the churches are painted the bright blue. This was done so invaders/pirates would know they were holy places and leave them alone…

We loved walking through the amazing labyrinthe of narrow pedestrian streets with charming restaurants and shops on either side..It is all just amazingly beautiful— even with the hordes of visitors! There were amazing views of white washed houses on hillsides leading down to a topaz blue sea.

After our walk through Fira, we got in our trusty bus and proceeded to do a drive around the whole island—beautiful…we even drove to the highest point on the island (near a Greek Military Base) for some amazing photo opportunities!

After lunch in a wonderful cafe, we did a little shopping before sending Duffy and Trey back to the ship.

One of the photos I’m publishing is a gentleman who had a drone camera! I snapped a photo just after he launched his drone!

The scenery is the story of today. One other note, this is a big wine producing area. But, due to the volcanic foundation it is difficult for the grape vines. The vines here are not trained upward (too windy and the sun is too harsh). So, in the spring when the new shoots come out, they braid the twigs to form a basket so the fruit will hang down inside the “basket” and the leaves protect the fruit from the hot sun! In October, after the grapes have been harvested in August, they cut the vines way back. I had a glass of the local wine at lunch and it was quite good..

Even after the funicular, there was quite a bit of climbing!

One of the blue domed churches.

Gentleman who launched his drone camera.

The braided twig “basket” of the grape vine…

Photos of the 1956 eruption….

We drove to the lighthouse on the island. This was one of the views!

Donkeys and humans transgressing the 598 steps. One aside story.. We had two ladies in front of us in the funicular line. They got scared they were going to miss the last tender and decided to walk down. One of the ladies was quite large.. As Bill and I sat down on the tender back to the ship, who should board right behind us but the two ladies! Turns out the donkey pathway down was very slippery. Seems there is precious little “cleaning” on those steps! The one lady’s knee gave out and they begged a donkey guide to walk her down. She then had a disagreement about what to pay the donkey guide. She allowed that it was the best 10 Euro she ever spent !

Coming up in the funicular!

Trey assisted his new friend, Matthew McGuirk, for the show last night! Matthew is the Magician of the year in the UK! Amazing magic tricks! Be sure to see him if you ever get the chance!

That’s all for tonight! Tomorrow it’s Mykanos!

Picturesque Patmos Island

On September 17, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

Well, I know it’s getting monotonous, but we’ve had another spectacular day on the small Greek Island of Patmos. This is first time we have anchored out and had to take a tinder in to shore…a perfectly beautiful calm day for this!

We met our newest, excellent guide, Thanasis (Sakis) Vasilakis! His English is EXCELLENT with a hint of a South African accent, but he is very easy to understand! I would highly recommend this gentleman if you ever make it to this island! He lives in the port town of Skala, but the whole island is so small, you can drive from one side to the other in 40 minutes… This tiny island has a population of 3,000 people and 400 churches. The island is quite religious and is 98% Greek Orthodox. There are 1% catholic and 1% Muslim ( from the centuries ago when the Ottomans occupied the island.).

This Island has one of the holiest sites for Christians next to Jerusalem. It is the Cave where St. John the Theologian ( the desciple. — NOT to be confused with John The Baptist) had a revelation from God while in a cave. It is where he wrote the last book of the New Testament, Revelation. He dictated to a scribe while living in the cave. There are no photos allowed inside the Cave, but the guide showed us a photo of the inside and what we would see. St. John the Theologian had been exiled because he was Christian, from Ephesus, to this small island of Patmos. He remained here, living in the cave for 18 months, until a new ruler came into power who was more charitable and released the Christians who had been exiled to Patmos..

Approximately 1,000 years later, Christodoulos, a Christian, built the Monastery of St John in 1088. It is still used as a monastery today but only about 20 monks are currently in residence.. The Monastery has 8 chapels inside and a part of the Monastery has been turned into an excellent small museum with some amazing antiquities inside. Including a painting of Jesus showing the agony in his face, that was done by El Greco. El Greco is from This small island of Patmos, but most of his paintings are in Spain where he eventually settled. His painting of Icons that showed emotion were not well received in this region and so he relocated to Spain where he lived out his life. The Spaniards could not pronounce his Greek name, so they simply called him El Greco, The Greek!

The museum has three different hand written and painted on parchment ( which is not paper, but leather skin) books, one of which took 2 generations to complete. The works are quite amazing! Again, no photos! Sorry! It is a bit of a climb to reach the Monastery, but Mary made it all the way to the top! Big hero medal to her grandson, Trey, who was her constant “walking stick” up the old and uneven steps! The views from the top were great. After the Monastery, we left Mary and Bill and Trey and I walked to a “typical house” in this village of Chora. The lady who owns the house is one amazing 90 year old lady! She was sitting upstairs in her quite large home which has been in her family 10 generations! The original ancestor who built the house was a wealthy businessman from Europe. His wife had been infertile and came to pray at the Chapel of St John. Shortly thereafter, she became pregnant and had her husband build this large home so she could be near the Chapel. The home is “stuffed” with treasures from all over Europe (many things from Russia) because the husband continued to travel the world. There are some amazing paintings and other antiques in the home! There is one photo of me holding an antique dentist drill. The woman does not allow photos in her home, but after I purchased some of her hand made lace coasters, she said Trey could take one photo. A relative of hers had been a dentist in Boston and came to visit and brought the antique, foot powered dental drill you see me holding!

After a bit of “quick” shopping, we proceeded to drive around this lovely island. Truly the word picturesque could have been invented for this island with its sun drenched beaches and sun bleached white houses. We drove to a lovely “colored pebble” beach on the other side of the island, the Bay of Lambi. When the pebbles are wet, they are quite beautiful. (And yes, I’m bringing just a few of them home!”)

Tomorrow the adventure will start in Santorini!

Sunset last night in Rhodes.

Patmos from the area of the Cave of St John..

Our guide showing us a photo of what we will see in the cave. On the far right where the orange cloth is, was the location of the scribe whom wrote down St. john’s revelations..Just to the left of that is where St John slept and where he put his hand when he knelt. He was quite elderly when he had been exiled to the cave– believed to have been about 70.

A “resting moment!”

Entrance to the Holy Cave.

These are the ladies of the church polishing the silver for an upcoming festival.

The Priest checking on the silver polishing!

At the top of the Monastery.

Narrow streets! No elevators!!! 🙂

Entrance to the 90 year old ladie’s home…

The antique dental drill! Lol!

Riviera anchored out…

Walking on the “colorfully pebbled” beach.

Colorful pebbles.

Outside the monastery..

On the beach..

On the beach at the Bay Of Lambi on Patmos…

Checking out the amazing panorama!

Fabulous day in Rhodes

On September 16, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We met our lovely, knowledgeable young guide, Crystal Dachretzi, who proceeded to take us to our first stop, the beautiful village of Lindos where there is an amazing Acropolis that was dedicated to the Goddess Athena. On the way to this amazing village ( now declared an historical site ) we learned a

Little history about Rhodes. Actually, we learned a lot about the history but there is no way I will remember it all.. Lindos , though, because it is an historical archeological site, allows NO new buildings. You are not allowed to change ANYTHING, ( inside or out) of these archeological homes and stores. You may maintain but not add to any of the current structures.. Lindos is a prized place to live! Once people acquire a residence, they do not usually sell. Pink Floyd was was of the first outsiders to purchase a vacation home there..

The villages on the island are hidden from view from the sea. This is because when pirates were common, they would loot and burn the villages, so the people learned to hide their villages so they were invisible from the sea! Rhodes has a long and storied history. It was the perfect stopping place for the ancients whether traveling from the east or the west. It has three natural harbors which made it a very strategic area. Somehow, for many centuries, Rhodes was like the “Switzerland” of the ancient world because it was neutral to the politics of the time. It was simply an amazing trading port for people of all regions and the different people appreciated this. One side of the island is quite arid while the northern side is much more lush and receives more rain. One of the secrets of success in early days is that Rhodes had a great supply of fresh water! The island is mostly sandstone so when it rains, the water is naturally filtered through a couple of layers of sandstone and then captured in naturally occurring clay “cisterns” below the ground. It became an amazing stop for travelers to replenish food and water supplies..

Rhodes did have its period of occupations from the Turks (about 300 years ), the Phoenicians, the Italians in modern times (Mussolini was constructing a summer villa here when WWll broke out), the Germans (think about the movie Guns of Navarone which was filmed here) and of course, the British as well.

The island has thousands of olive trees. Some are owned and maintained while many others grow wild. This more arid side of the island adapts well to the growth of the olive tree. During the 6 months of no rain, the olive tree leaves curl inward to help them preserve moisture!

The island is currently 96% Greek Othrthodox .

Also, most of you will have heard of the Colossos of Rhodes. There are two stories about the Colossus. The unreal story is from an artist who came to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World and was disappointed when he couldn’t see it. So he invented a whole image of the Colossus of Rhodes and drew what he thought it should look like — a statue straddling the harbor. He even said it was erected in an area where it never existed..this was the invented story in 1395.

The original Colossus was made of bronze and iron as a symbol of freedom and liberty and was dedicated to the sun god, Helios. It was located in a different harbor then the one the artist in the 1300’s had ascribed to it.. The real Colossus was created with his legs together (for stability). The Colossus was constructed to be 110 feet high. They made a clay mold, and would then pour the melted metals into the mold, (bronze and iron) and then mound earth around it. They would then climb to the next level on the mound of earth to pour the next level. The construction began in 292 BC. They used metal weapons melted down from the previous war they had won. The Colossus fell down due to an earthquake which destroyed most of Rhodes. Because the area was such an important port, the surrounding kingdoms actually donated money to Rhodes for it to be rebuilt. However, even though monies were collected, the statue was never rebuilt. The leaders of the time decided to use the money to further fortify the island against invading pirates. The statue lay on the ground for many years until the Ottoman Empire took the remnants of the statue and sold it to the Far East where it was melted down and once again used for weapons! Quite ironic….

There are 298 steps to the top of the Acropolis in Lindos. You can walk up (Trey and the guide walked up) while Bill kept me company on a donkey ride up. Duffy we “parked” in a nice cafe with a bottle of water and a glass of orange juice! The donkey ride up was a lot of fun. We all walked down (good thing because there were a lot of cute shops on the way down!). From the charming village of Lindos, we drove about 45 minutes back to the Medieval section of Rhodes. Our driver dropped us off on one side of the “old city” and we walked through to meet our car on the other side before returning g to the ship.. On the ride back, we noticed two deer on pedestals by the city harbor. The deer are a symbol of Rhodes. It turns out the dear were revered because hundreds of years ago they were responsible for killing all the poisonous snakes on the island with their hooves! (Bill was delighted to hear about the deer!). There are still deer on the island today up in the mountains, but they are protected..

Our walk through the medieval city was lovely. We walked down the Street of the Knights… The knights of St. John came to Rhodes from Jerusalem where they had originally settled to care for pilgrims during the crusades. The Knights of St John of Jerusalem originally went to the Holy Lands as non political beings in order to provide care for the Pilgrims making the long journey to the Holy Lands. They are the founders of the first Hospitals. When the Ottoman Empire expelled them from Jeruaalem, they eventually settled in Rhodes. They built the first hospital here which we walked by today. We saw the palace which housed the Grand Master ( think Head of the Knights). When Italy, in the modern era, invaded Rhodes, Mussolini began building an enormous summer villa in the Castle of the Knights. He was never able to move in, however, due to the outbreak of WWII.

Next stop is Patmos, Greece! Stay tuned!

Pulling in to Rhodes where the medieval part of the city may be seen.

The village of Lindos…

Arriving at the beginning of the Acropolis ( after 298 steps)!

This is what the Acroplois looked like– built at the highest point of Rhodes…

Winged Victory was taken from this Acopolis and is on display today in the Lourve..

The donkey ride up was fun!

My sure footed donkey!!!

This is the Acropolis… More steps to ascend to the top!

At the top!

On the way down from the Acropolis…

Feeling like I’m on top of the world!

The cafe where we “parked” Duffy while we went to the top of the Acropolis.

Behind me was an area where people presented precious gifts to the Goddess Athena. The pedestals behind me were placed there by the archeologists of today, but this room was originally for the precious gifts presented to the Goddess…

Walking the the Medieval city where the Knights built the first hospital and where Mussolina began the renovation of what he hoped would be his summer villa..

Dinner last night on the ship in Jacques restaurant! Yum!!!!!

Dinner at Jacques.

Limassol, Cyprus, Kourion and Omodos Village

On September 15, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

This morning we met our wonderful guide, Elisa Pastidi, who took us to our first tour stop in Cyprus of the Greco-Roman city kingdom of Kourion. We went to see the excavated house of a wealthy Roman individual, Eustolios. Here we saw excellently preserved mosaic floors of the wealthy Roman’s private villa. We saw the private bath house with its mosaic floors in the changing room. We also were able to visit the Greco-Roman Amphitheater built in the 2nd century BC. It has been completely restored and they hold performances there today. The bottom rows of the theater are original stones, while the top has been restored.

We the drove through a countryside that is clearly in need of rain! It has been a VERY dry season and it is fairly arid looking. We arrived at the very quaint village of Omodos. Yesterday was the annual festival in Omodos of the celebration of The Holy Cross. The Holy Cross resides in what used to be a Monastery. The cross comes out once a year from the Monastery. There is a small door in the silver cross that when open shows pieces of the rope that purportedly bound Jesus to the cross.. There are no photos permitted inside the Monastery, but we did see beautiful old icons and gorgeous woodcarvings…

In the same village, we also saw the medieval wine press! The jars were too heavy to transport by donkey, so the huge jars were filled with wine while citizens came with their own containers to purchase wine..

Cyprus declared it’s independence from Greece in 1960. There has always been a minority population of Muslim Turks on the northern part of Cyprus. For many years, Christianity co-existed quite well with their Muslim neighbors. In 1964, however, Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus to “protect” the Muslim Turkish minority. They have been occupying the northern part of Cyprus since that time. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 and adopted the Euro in 2008. There are still hard feelings between the Muslim Turks in the northern part of the island and the Greek Orthodox Christains on the rest of the island.

We also had time to visit a small medieval castle in the city of Limassol– by far the largest center of population on the island..It is thought that Richard the Lionhearted married Berengaria of Navarre at this castle and then crowned her Queen of England in 1191.

It was another lovely day. We have now set sail for Rhodes. Tonight we had dinner in one of the specialty restaurants on board, Jacques. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. If you do this ship sometime, try Jacques and go for the Dover Sole or the Duck a la Orange! The dessert Crepes Suzette were also wonderful.

We have eaten twice now, at another specialty restaurant, Polo. We are going back there once more. The menu is excellent and we all have something we want to try at the next meal!

The mosaic tile floor in the private villa of the Roman Eustolios. This was th floor in the private bath changing room..

Sitting on th benches in the amphitheater ..

Pod from a Carob tree. The pod produces a sweet sugary substance used by the Cypriots in desserts.

Medieval wine press…

Our guide is showing where the pressed juice would flow into the urn…

Entering the Medieval Castle where Richard the Lionhearted was married…

The restored amphitheater.

Sample of a mosque near the village of Omodos from the days when the two religions co-existed…

Inside the Medieval Castle..

Molds used to make part of the edifice of a building..

Good night to all from somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea headed to Rhodes and another new adventure!

Alayna Castle, Damlatas Cave, Dim River

On September 14, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We docked in Alanya, Turkey this morning and made our way ashore to meet our terrific guide and driver who had driven about an hour from Antalya, Turkey ( where we were yesterday). It took them an hour by car to get to us. Our ship, meanwhile, left at midnight and docked at 8 am this morning!

Another hot day, but at least a few degrees cooler then yesterday! As the ship pulled in , you could see the beautiful walls of the fortified Castle Alanya. After we met our guide, Cengiz Aykota, we proceeded to make our way up to the Castle.. There are beautiful views from the top, but they are still renovating and excavating the castle so we are not allowed inside..most of the Castle was built in the 13th century. Once the area was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, the castle ceased to be purely defensive and numerous villas were built inside..It is supposed to be one of the best preserved Medieval Castles in this region of Anatolia.

Speaking of this region, I think it is interesting to note that this part of Turkey is quite secular. While you do see the occasional Mosque, the women are dressed in mostly western style with only some women even having their hair covered. There are NO Burkas to be seen.

The beaches in Alanya are long and beautiful. The one you will see in photos from the top of the castle is called Cleopatra Beach, and since it is Sunday, it is quite crowded with sun bathers! Both cities we have seen in Turkey so far are quite modern and quite clean. The city of Alanya seems to be favored as a vacation spot by a great many German visitors. The Russians seem to prefer yesterday’s port of Atalya!

Making our way down from the scenic views of the Castle, we headed for Damlatas Cave which was accidentally discovered in 1948 when they were blasting for stone to build the harbor. It is believed the cave was formed around 15,000 years ago…

By now, we’re ready for lunch! (This crowd is always ready to eat!:)). Cengiz took us to a fantastic restaurant on the freshwater Dim River. The source of the water is mountains to the north

so snow melt contributes to a VERY chilly temperature. (The only people we saw brave enough to test the waters were a few very young men who were jumping in and quickly swimming to get out!) We climbed down a few flights of stairs (Duffy did fine) to reach the lovely restaurant by the River. It couldn’t have been more relaxing or charming.. Thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!

Then back to the ship after lunch. We should be sailing in the next couple of hours. Duffy is napping, Trey is swimming, Bill is off to Tea and I’m blogging! Next port of call is Limassol, Greece.

Taken from our ship as we pill into Alanya..

Taking a rest at the top of Alanya Castle..

Cleopatra Beach viewed from the Castle.

Bill and our terrific guide, Cengiz!

Inside the cave…

There must be 30 of these “modern day” pirate tourist boats. This area was once a pirate Haven.

We sat at a table for lunch, but most of the Turks are lounging on pads on the floor with a small table in the middle.. You have to lay down or sit cross legged.

Trey is testing the balmy waters of the Mediterranean!

The Red Tower was built in 1225 to protect the dockyard…

Antalya, Turkey

On September 13, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We spent a long, hot, amazing day touring with a new wonderful guide, Cengiz. We drove about an Hour to reach the amazing ruins of Perge. These are the ancient remains of a Roman city that has been being excavated since the beginning of 1946. Historians believe Perge was founded at the end of the Trojan Wars in 1275 B.C. . However,there has recently been a Hittite Tablet discovered that leads some historians to believe Perge was founded before the Trojan Wars. The city has many magnificent sculptures that have survived. Some are on loan to other museums, but we were able to see a great many of the Perge sculptures in the Antalya Museum.. The ancient ruins of Perge are extensive and impressive. They had aqueducts for transporting water, and they even had Roman Baths set up with steam and hot water delivered through a series of pipes.. The city’s development spanned several hundred years. Alexander the Great was a conqueror in 333 BC. Perge went through three distinct periods– Helleniistic, the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD and the last being a Christian period during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.. We were also treated to the amazing Roman Age Theater— amazingly well preserved. In fact, it is so well preserved that they frequently hold plays and operas there today.. Our guide actually went to an Opera here for his birthday a few years ago. The acoustics are absolutely amazing! You hear extremely well from the top most seats!

It was very hot today and humid… Around 92 degrees! Big time water day! Duffy did well, though we did not have her walk the ruins of Perge…she did see the theater and the aqueduct and the museum…i

It seems a very short blog for all the walking we did today, but I think I will let the photos tell the rest of the story…

The aqueduct…

The amazingly well preserved, still operational, theater…

Pieces of the sculpture were removed. This was in the theater.

Sort of looks like a guy wearing a top hat!

Chariot races held in this arena…earthquakes have taken their toll.

An old man and an old woman looking at each other?! Lol!

The vast size of Perge cannot be captured in a single photo..

Three differnt periods of architecture influenced the construction of these columns in Perge..

A yummy Turkish lunch with kebabs!!!

Examples of the sculptures removed from Perge to the Museum..

Finely sculptured sarcophagus for a wealthy man…

Top of sarcophagus…

This is the front side of a sarcophagus. The next two photos show the side and back of the same sarcophagus. It was clearly not completed, whether the man who commissioned it ran out of money? No one knows.

Not nearly as refined and polished. The hole wa made by looters.

The backside …..

Money found around a “banking sight” in Perge.

Talk about uncomfortable shoes!!!

Aghios Nikolaos, Greece and the Minoan Palace of Knossos

On September 12, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We had a bit of a rushed start this morning because I looked at a sheet of paper that had an incorrect departure time. So, it turned out we only had 30 minutes to get ready to meet the guide. Bill was the only one who got up early enough to eat breakfast. Duffy and I did a “banana on the fly”! Our ship docked at Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece — St. Nicholas …. We met our guide and set off on an hour drive to the other side of Crete to see the Palace of Knossos. Actually, it is an amazing archeological site of ruins that were once the Palace of the Minoan King. The Palace was rediscovered in 1924 by an Englishman , Sir Arthur Evans, right after the expulsion of the Turks by resistance fighters. The Turks arrived in the mid 1600’s and conquered the Phoenicians who had been here for 500 years. The Turkish occupation was devastating for the Cretins. Their churches were converted to Mosques. Many were killed and children were not allowed to learn their native language in schools. It was a very unhappy time for the citizens of Crete…. The Turks were not expelled until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Ruins of the Palace of Knossos was discovered by Evans in 1924. He spent his life in Crete and used concrete (a new material for his time) to help reconstruct the ruins. Today you see a mixture of the old original stone work and the “new” concrete additions of Sir Arthur Evans.. The Palace of Knossos is part of the Minataur legend (half man, half bull) who was imprisoned in a labyrinth (the Palace) by the Minoan King.. This palace is the most spectacular and largest of the Minoan civilization. The Palace dates back 3,000 years.

The guest lecturer aboard our ship had just finished attending a conference that is claiming amazing new information on Crete. He has not yet published the papers, but they will be forth coming. They now have proof that there is evidence of human life on Crete 100,000 BC. Wow…..they have found tools that they can date to that time period….

We concluded a lovely day with a little shopping in the markets of Heraklion and returned to the ship at 3:35. (All aboard was 3:30 pm). We went directly to tea (fantastic scones and jam!) and enjoyed every morsel since we had skipped breakfast (timing issue) and had a very light lunch at the coffee shop at the Palace ruins.

Tonight we went to the magic show of Matthew McGurk, the British Magical Champion, and a new friend of Trey’s! We were front and center for tonight’s amazing close up magic and Bill was chosen to go on stage and help with one of the magic tricks! He had to remember a card he chose, AND he did remember! ( he was so nervous he was going to forget:)). Great fun!

Tomorrow we are in Turkey for the first time –Antalya…

Arriving at Aghios Nikolaos this morning….

The Kings throne room at the Knossos Palace…

The theater– steps seen behind are the ancient seats…

Ancient Urns that held olive oil or wine…

Note the Bouganvilla arch behind us…

Roots of the Bouganvilla.

The Queens bedroom at Knossos…

Note the figure leaping over the bull. They think this was one of the first “sports”!

Though hard to see in this photo, the reproduced columns are smaller at the bottom then the top. This is because it is thought that the columns were made from Cypress Tree trunks. They turned the tree upside down to prevent further growth…

The 2nd largest Greek Orthodox Church on Crete. During the Turkish occupation, the dome was added and the church converted to a Mosque. It was once again a church after the Turks were kicked out in the early 1900’s..

Inside the Greek Orthodox Church..

Bill with Magician Matthew McGurk for an up close amazing card trick…

Magnificent Malta

On September 10, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

Just off the southern coast of Sicily lies the ancient island of Malta. Malta was originally part of Siciily, but at the end of the ice age, the seas rose and cut off Malta from Sicily and created this island. The island of Malta is famous for many things — having played an important defensive role for the allies in WWII, the Famous Maltese Falcon, and the Knights of St John. The original knights were a hospital group providing aid to the crusaders. This morphed into becoming an escort service for the crusaders and then they became militarized. After the crusades were lost, the knights were made to leave Jerusalem and went to Rhodes. They were then forced out of Rhodes when Sulliman the Great of the Ottoman Empire told them they could leave Rhodes and he would not behead them as long as they agreed not to attack his ships. The Knights became homeless for 8 years after they were made to leave the island of Rhodes. At the end of that time ( after dispersing all over Europe), they settled in Malta by the grace of Charles the V who agreed to let the Knights stay in Malta if they paid “rent” of one Maltese Falcon per year. However, the Knights had made the deal with Sulliman to not attack his ships. They reneged on that deal and after a few years , they began to attack the Ottoman Empire’s ships again. This made Sulliman so angry he sent a force of 38,000 men to kill the Knights in Malta. The Knights were able to hold off the siege and Sulliman’s army had to turn back as winter approached. But the siege had devastated part of the island. The Knights asked the Pope to “fill their coffers with money” and the Pope obliged knowing that if the Ottamans (Islamists ) came back to attack again, they would continue their march to Rome. Had this happened it would have dealt a huge blow to Christianity and enhanced the spread of Islam throughout Europe…

There were 27 Grand Masters of Malta. As each of them succeeded , they became more and more “impressed” with themselves and felt they were becoming closer to God. This is displayed particularly well in the Grand Cathedral on Malta constructed by the Knights. It is an example of “Baroque gone wild!” The walls in the church are covered with 24k gold. The 404 Knights that are buried in the church lie beneath magnificent marble inlaid slabs with decorative scenes that are so meticulously done, you would think they were painted, not inlaid marble. You can see no seams.

The master painter Caravaggio has two marvelous paintings on display in the church.. Caravaggio was a new style of painter for his time — a realist who painted the grim realities rather then cherubs floating in a blue sky.. While Carravagio was in Rome to paint for the Pope, he killed a nobleman and had to flee Italy. He contacted a friend in Malta who was a Knight and asked if he could join. He was told no, because it required 200 Years of ancestry to be allowed to become a knight. Not to be deterred, Caravaggio painted a beautiful piece (on display today in the church) and gave it to,the Knight as a “gift”! The Knight then went forward on Carvaggios behalf and got the head of the order to agree to look the other way on the aristocracy requirement if he would do a painting for him of the beheading of John The Baptist. It was not the painting the Grand Master was expecting, because it was not done in the style of the times, but rather in the very dark/light realism that shows John’s severed head on the floor and the executioner going for his knife to finish severing the head from the body. This is the large painting displayed today in the cathedral. But, as I mentioned, the Knights began to believe they were better then mere mortals and that they were closer to God. The Church reflects this in the grand baroque style and their self important sculpted mausoleums. There is no image anywhere of the Holy family– no Mary or Jesus or Joseph..

When Napolean invaded Malta, he stripped the church (though you would never know) of 1100 kilos of gold and silver. There are amazing silver candelabras that Napolean took. He was asked to return them since he had taken so much.. They weighed the silver candelabras and he agreed to return them if they paid him twice their weight in silver from other churches. They took the deal and paid him with other silver and he returned the candelabras which are on display today.

The island today depends mainly on tourism. The soil is unbelievably rocky and takes a very long time to break down because there is not much rain. Agriculture is very limited because space is precious and good soil rare. We were told that when an American military ship docks in Malta, everyone in the crew gives up one day of shore leave to make a charitable contribution for the day whether it’s helping an orphanage or helping rebuild a water line, they do a day of community service. Americans are well thought of on the island.

We also visited an ancient Temple unearthed in the 1920’s called the Haar Qim Prehistoric Temple. This temple was built 2000 years before the pyramids were built. There are theories, but no one is sure what the purpose of these temples were, fertility? Of land and/or people? Sacrifices? Perhaps..We do not know what caused the people to leave suddenly and disappear. It appears that one day they dropped their tools and fled and the Temples were deserted and time slowly began to cover them up with soil and sand until they were discovered in the 1920’s. They are an amazing example of construction — a round structure with stones that fit beautifully together. One of the stones is enormous– a 20 ton rock– put carefully in place. There are figures of very fat people– asexual statues… Were these the Gods they worshipped? No one knows for sure….

We had a WONDERFUL guide who is a “Malta original”! His name is Nick Ripard and he owns Foundinmalta Guided Tours. He can inundate you with names and years if that is what you want, or he can just tell you the basic history in a delightful, easy to remember fashion. I highly recommend Nick if you want to come away with a good basic understanding of the Island’s history. We all voted him one of the best guides we’ve ever had!

Once we returned to our ship, we filled the outdoor Jacuzzi and Trey spent a while relaxing and watching TV as he “soaked”!

Trey enjoying our outdoor Jacuzzi!

Arriving in Malta!

A relic in the Temple of Haar Qim. Note the honeycomb of holes literally drilled into the limestone..

The Temple…

The interior of the Knights Cathedral — note the 24k gold leaf everywhere.

Note beautiful marble inlay work on the Knights burial slab..this is one of the 404 Knights buried inside the church.

A Maltese street performer…

Farewell Malta!

Set Sail on Oceania Riveria from Barcelona

On September 9, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We left Boca to begin our newest amazing adventure – sailing from Barcelona to Istanbul aboard Oceania’s Riveria. Our flight was uneventful and landed in Barcelona right on time. We were very fortunate that our rooms were ready fairly quickly once we arrived at the Mandarin Oriental. The location is great and the hotel and service were excellent, but the city is doing major road work in front of the hotel. You have to be dropped off at the corner and walk a short distance to the entrance. I’m sure the hotel will be super glad when the construction is finished. But, as our taxi driver put it, “the orange construction netting has become an ornament!”

Bill and Trey did a walk around the area and enjoyed the mild temperatures and the sights! (Also little shopping for forgotten items– Bill bought new binoculars.). Duffy and I took short naps to help conquer our jet lag! Dinner was a lovely restaurant, Barcelonita, down on the water. It had wonderful fresh seafood ( as in caught that day) or even good beef dishes. I tried batter fried anchovies. YUM! They were delicious but not nearly as salty as the anchovies from a can. They were much milder but still very flavorful. Trey had land snails (not sea snails) in a wonderful red sauce prepared in a local style. Bill and Duffy played it safe with salmon! Also good…

We boarded our new home for the next two weeks, Oceania’s Riveria. We had a very easy time getting checked in. It was swift and efficient! Our suite is ridiculously nice! We have a jacuzzi on our deck with an outside TV! Our deck is HUGE because our room is a starboard bow suite. We have a wonderfully big living room/ dining room, walk in closet, HUGE bathroom, lovely bedroom and even a small exercise room with two bikes in it! Dinner in the grand dining room was very good. We stayed up rather late last night (6 hour time difference) in order to do FaceTime with Annette and Gaby, so we slept in this morning! Tomorrow is our first stop as we will tour Malta! More information tomorrow evening. We are all loving everything so far! We even got to,watch the end of the Miami Dolphins game because Trey has his iPad hooked up to his home TV via Slingbox! OUTSTANDING!

Relaxing in our ships suite living room .

The great seafood restaurant in Barcelona!

The jacuzzi with TV outside our stateroom!

Duffy outside on our balcony.

I’d like to have this size closet at home!

Our suite living room.

Our small exercise room!

First lunch on ado was yummy hamburgers!

Bill checking out stuff with his new binoculars on our private deck! And yes, that is our jacuzzi with outdoor TV !

Swimming with the Dolphins in Nassau – Our Last Day…

On July 12, 2014March 13, 2019 By Traveling FullersLeave a comment

Well, first of all, I’d like to sum up our feelings about NCL’s Getaway ship, and specifically, The Haven section we stayed in. One word will do it — WONDERFUL! I was a little concerned about the impersonalization of such a large (4000 passengers) cruise ship as well as the quality. But, this was a great experience. I would only add one caution, the Getaway appears to have replaced Cancun as the highschool senior graduation trip and the Getaway was over run with teens. The final night’s going away party by the pool was rained out and so they moved the party to a lounge on board. When my young adults went to the lounge they all left because it was over run with teens…Probably better not to go in June or July if you don’t want lots of teens!

That aside, we had the best of all worlds by staying in the Haven ( an area accessed by key card by only guests who were staying in that section). The staff everywhere on board was well trained and friendly — with greetings from every staff person you met from the plumber to the butler. We had two minor issues, one requiring a plumber and one requiring a carpenter. In both instances, someone was there within 10 minutes — impressive! The concierge on the Haven deck made everything work seamlessly, from helping us make reservations to excorting Gaby one time to Kid’s Camp when we were running late for an excursion. The Haven has its own access to the Spa, it’s own intimate dining room with a very friendly wait staff and it’s own pool and hot tub! The food in the Haven restaurant is significantly better then the “cafeteria” food in other venues. All the speciality restaurants we ate in were excellent, but we liked the Italian one the best, followed by Cagney’s steak house. We ate the last night in Le Bistro (hardest to get in) and while the food was excellent it took almost two hours for dinner….They were the only restaurant that didn’t provide timely service, BUT the food was good and they had escargot so we sort of forgave them! 🙂

Staying on deck 16 forward was key because we were so close to the pools and water slides and obstacle course. It was not a hike for us like it was for others. We could easily scoot back to the quiet of our rooms! Our bow suite was magnificent — the nicest we’ve ever had on any ship. That’s probably because it was so well thought out and is brand new, having made it’s maiden voyage in January of this year. It came with a great butler who kept everything perfectly! It was also key that our room connected directly to Duffy’s room and Trey and Annette were right next door!

Yesterday we all went different directions for excursions in Nassau. Bill went scuba diving (down to 40′) and had a great time. His underwater photos are a little cloudy, but he saw everything quite well while he was down. Trey, Annette, Duffy, Gaby and I went to Dolphin Cay for a shallow water dolphin experience. Grant, in the meantime, also went for a dolphin experience, but one where he swam with the Dolphins. (Gaby was not old enough to do that one.) It turns out, the original dolphins at Dolphin Cay (17 of them) floated out to sea from an aquarium during Hurricane Katrina. About 8 of the dolphins got out of the floating container, while 9 did not. The 8 that were free, hung close by to the other captive dolphins and eventually, all were rescued. They were kept safe while Atlantis began building a HUGE new ocean home for them! (Dolphin Cay) The group has since mushroomed to 44 dolphins! We swam with the oldest Dolphin, Gill. Grant, on the other hand, swam with the youngest dolphin they have. I think it’s pretty easy to determine from the photos what a GREAT time we all had!! Highly recommend this experience!

When we got back to the ship around 5:00pm, Grant had the energy to go do the obstacle course on board, so I felt obligated to film it! He did very well, I must say!

Departure this morning was seamless for Haven guests. They escort you down a back non-stop service elevator and straight to the front of the line at the gangway to get off. Then we whisked through customs, grabbed our bags and looked for our car to take us home. As of lunchtime, everyone is unpacked and laundry started! No big trips now until Trey, Mary, Bill and I do Barcelona to Istanbul cruise in September!

Must have watched Titantic last night! 🙂

So, farewell until our next trip in September!

Sea Day before Nassau

On July 11, 2014 By Traveling FullersLeave a comment

Today was a lovely,lazy day spent mostly by the pool and Waterslides.

However, this afternoon, Gaby was at Splash Academy and ended up performing as a lion on stage in the Getaway main theater. It was a circus theme that Kids of all ages participated in! Age was a great lion with. GREAT roar!

Tonight saw us eating at Moderno, the Brazillian Steak House. This is one of the specialty restaurants on board. The food was good, but not great… It is certainly plentiful with 10 differnt types of meats and a huge salad bar! We ate early in order to make our last show, Legally Blonde. The show started at 7:30 pm. It was very good. We all really enjoyed it. It starts off a little slowly, but picks up after the first 15 minutes. All in all, it was very good!

Tomorrow we dock in Nassau. Bill is scuba diving. Grant is going by himself to a dolphin experience that Gaby was too young to do. The rest of us are doing a different dolphin experience that Gaby was old enough to do. Photos tomorrow night. We dock Saturday and this wonderful adventure will end…

Lion Gaby!

ROAR!!!!!!!

Talking with the ringmaster!

We took a lion to dinner!

Grant and Duffy waiting for Legally Blonde to begin!

Hello St Thomas!

On July 10, 2014 By Traveling Fullers1 Comment

We docked early this morning in St. Thomas . It seems, to an inexperienced eye, that Charlotte Amalie has not changed in 50 years! It is still awash with hundreds of jewelry and watch shops — all offerring 60% off! The question you may ask, 60% off of what, a 100% mark up? Probably….

Still there are good deals to be had, if you are a good shopper.

But the piece de resistance of the day was our BOSS underwater tour. BOSS stands for “Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter”! It was a truly wonderful experience! (Think underwater motor scooter!). While the machines have been around for about 14 years, they have been in St. Thomas for 12 years. There are only 5 places in the world where they operate these machines and we were luckly enough to be at one of them! The crew is super professional and very organized. The instructions are clear and concise.. They even had one family of 3 that said they could not swim that went on the excursion. It was a great snorkeling area so while you were waiting to do your BOSS adventure, you could snorkel. We saw a baracuda ( crew called him Fluffy), lots of parrot fish, tons of electric blue fish,spiny sea urchins, lovely corals and a group of 11 squid swimming in a line from largest to smallest. Trey and Annette saw a GIANT Puffer Fish– the largest they have ever seen. Unfortunately, we do not have a good photo. :(.

The BOSS adventure, however, was so cool. You swim out to the submersible scooter. You have on a flotation vest. At a prearranged signal from one of the escort divers, you dive down and duck into the “helmet” on the scooter. Once inside, and seated, you are breathing air with no problem. You simply press a button that starts your propeller and off you go. You steer ( not easily, it requires some strength) by pushing handles up and down to maneuver left or right. You are following a diver who feeds the fish so there is abundant marine life viewing! The escort divers will gather your group together for an underwater photo of you if you have an underwater camera! ( and thanks to our travel agent, Arlene Feen, we have a GO PRO)! We have several neat underwater photos! Ther are no underwater photos by the excursion so if you want photos, bring your underwater camera!

On the return trip, Grant was hand feeding the sea gulls! Amazing! He would hold a piece of cookie in the air and the birds would swoop in and take it from his fingers!

Gaby and Duffy stayed aboard this morning. Gaby was supposed to go to Kids Camp but ended up staying with Diffy the whole time. We left the ship at 7:30 am but were back by 11:00 am — in time for lunch aboard and then off to Charlotte Amalie for a nostalgic trip of shopping. We all (Grant, Trey, Bill and I spent many hours in Charlotte Amalie shopping when we would come down and stay with my parents for 2 weeks every January at Caneel Bay.) Fond memories….and little has changed….

Tonight was dinner at the Italian Restaurant and it was delicious! (How could anyone not love Italian?! ). We have custody of a sleeping Gaby while the kids are off for “Latin Night”! Tomorrow they can all sleep in for a sea day!