Oct 2014 Turkey

House of Mary

We first arrived in Turkey via a cruise ship at Kusadasi, which is the port for Ephesus, one of the greatest ruined cities in the western world. The House of Virgin Mary is nearby and the excavation at Ephesus is ongoing. Ephesus was a Greek and later Roman city that became the chief port on the Aegean and important in the spread of Christianity.

Turkish Folk Dancers

At Ephesus

Dolmabahce Mosque

We disembarked from our cruise in Istanbul, and started with a boat cruise up the Bosphorus Straits. I heard the call to prayer over the loud speakers and I expected everyone to stop and pray. Surprisingly, nothing stopped, no one prayed, everything just continued as normal. I was soon to discover that Turkey was about to overturn my perception of Muslims. To put it in terms you can relate to, Turks are the left wing, commies (in other words, Democrats) of the Muslim world. This all started in 1923 with the formation of the Turkish Republic and their new leader Ataturk. He moved the country away from religious laws to establish a secular state. Turks smoke, drink, have nudity on TV - no wonder they revere Ataturk! The call to prayer is considered a reminder that when it is convenient for them, they should consider praying. If you have never heard the call to pray, consider yourself lucky. Imagine someone with a bad cold trying to yodel “La-ilaha-illa-Allah” for five minutes over a hundred loudspeakers.  Lying in bed at 5 in the morning, I found this call to prayer very effective; I prayed it would end so I could get back to sleep.

Hagia Sophia

Palace Band

Blue Mosque

We did visit many mosques and museums. We heard Hagia Sophia was not to be missed, but we like the Blue Mosque better. Of course many of the mosques were once Christian churches, but all pictures and statues were removed, covered or destroyed. This Islamic iconoclasm also affected most of the churches we later visited in Cappadocia. Hagia Sophia was built in 360 AD, and remained the world’s largest Christian church until it was converted into a mosque in the fifteenth century. It has been a museum since 1935. After 5 days in Istanbul we had visited all the major tourist attractions and more than enough mosques. The congestion and bustle of a city with more than 14 million people was wearing us down, so we welcomed our departure to Cappadocia.  

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Spice bazaar

Spice Bazaar

Our Hotel Room 

Cappadocia was a different world. Fairy chimneys dominated the landscape. We stayed at the Cave Suite Hotel, with our room inside a fairy chimney. The fairy chimneys have been used for centuries as free, easy to excavate housing and for churches and monasteries. The chimneys are composed of volcanic ash with a hard cap stone to slow erosion. Persecution of Christians forced the population underground starting in the 6^th century. So far 36 underground cities have been found. We explored two of them, going eight levels down. The most popular activity in Cappadocia is to ride a hot air balloon over the unusual landscape. We had to wait several days for the winds to calm, but we finally got our chance and it was magical.

Selime Monastery

Local Village

Getting Started

Up, Up and Away

Safe Landing

Ataturk Mausoleum

Not so magical was Ankara, the capital of Turkey. I think we were the first tourists to visit the city. We did visit a couple of interesting museums and the Ataturk Mausoleum, but we were ready to leave after two days. We needed three flights to get us to Santorini. It was a hectic day where we nearly missed our connecting flights, but we made it back to Greece.

Where Einstein got his milk

Oct Nov 2014 Greece

The Acropolis

This trip was a five and a half week tour of Greece and Turkey. We started in Athens which we explored for a few days, and then we took a week long cruise to islands and ports on the Aegean Sea, ending at Istanbul. After two weeks in Turkey (to be covered in next blog) we flew to Santorini for 3 days. We then returned to Athens to start a seven day yacht cruise of the Peloponnese. After that cruise we return to Athens for a few more days of touring.

Pat with Caryatids  

You can’t go to Athens without visiting the Acropolis. So we joined our tour group and headed up the second highest hill in Athens. We were surprised at how crowded it was at the entrance. After all, this was October, the shoulder season. Busloads of tourists pushed their way through narrow passageways slowly making progress toward the top. Even the guides were bickering with each other. “You've been there too long, move along. It’s my turn.” All of this was yelled in Greek, but it is such an expressive language, you didn't need a translator. Our guide commented that there were a lot of cruise ships in port. I can’t imagine what this place is like in peak season when it’s 100+ degrees in the shade.  

Meteora Monasteries

Cruisers are getting tired of going to the same old ports. Rich Americans are looking for exotic locations for their next vacation, someplace where none of their friends have been. Fortunately NASA is spending billions of dollars searching for water on the moon and other planets. Maybe you thought this was for scientific purposes. You couldn't be more wrong. Once a suitable site has been found, Sir Richard Branson will deliver the first cruise ship to whatever planet is chosen as the hottest or coolest cruising destination. Justin Bieber has already signed on to be the first interplanetary cruise passenger. Sorry I got off track; I just thought you should know.

Our 40 passenger yacht 

Corinth Canal

I thought we may get tired of looking at ruins after a few days in Greece. This may have happened if we had not had a guide to provide the story behind the ruins. We were fortunate to have some good to excellent guides. For example, when we were in Mykonos, we took a small boat to the island of Delos where temples were built honoring the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. While exploring the ruins, we were shown a room where there were 12 marble toilet seats. This is where rich and powerful Delian men would meet and discuss business, politics, and women. I assume this is where the term “doing your business” came from. Of course marble is cold even at room temperature and who wants to sit on a cold toilet seat? No problem, they would just have their slaves go out and sit on their seats for two hours before they arrived. I am not trying to imply that the Delians were obsessed with sex, but when they wanted to indicate a direction to follow, they didn’t use arrows, they used a penis carved in stone. (It’s true, I couldn't make up stuff this good, and I have pictures). 

Greek Orthodox Church

Form fitted seats

After several days of touring Athens on our own, we started a Holland America cruise. First we went to Nafplio, the first capital of independent Greece. It is a pretty town with historic houses and three castles. We took a bus to Epidavros to see the best preserved ancient theater. It has excellent acoustics and is still used for special presentations. Our next stop was the island of Mykonos, known for its trademark row of five windmills and nearby Delos. On the island of Rhodes we hiked to the top of the Acropolis of Lindos to see the Temple of Athena. We returned to Rhodes Old Town, former home to the Knights of St John, where we explored the Knights’ Quarter and the Palace of the Grand Masters. After a stop in Turkey, we crossed the Aegean to reach Volos. A two hour bus ride got us to the monasteries at Meteora, set at the top of pinnacles. We visited a monastery and a convent. We disembarked from the cruise at Istanbul.

Church in Santorini

Santorini Shuttle Bus

Santorini church

Sunset from Santorini

While in Santorini, we rented a car to better explore the island. This allowed us to eat at the world’s most expensive Mexican Restaurant (46 Euros for lunch). Santorini is a dormant volcano. In 1650 BC it exploded in what may have been the largest eruption in history. It created a massive tidal wave, and eliminated Crete’s Minoan civilization.

 

Santorini at night

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

We were supposed to cruise around the Peloponnese, but weather conditions altered the captain’s route. We still managed to get to most of the key areas (Mycenae, Olympia, Mystras, Ancient Corinth, Corinth Canal and Delphi), it just required more time on buses.

Pat at Parthenon

Running Man

Temple of Poseidon

The worst part of the trip was reserved for the US portion. We landed at Dulles and then walked ½ a mile to get to where the tram was supposed to be. No tram was there. We waited and waited, finally one showed up and we boarded. We crossed the airport and docked, but after letting the air crew depart, the driver held the rest of the passengers on the tram, while several other trams unloaded. When we finally reached Customs and Immigration, there were several hundred passengers ahead of us. In order to entertain us while we waited, Customs installed a new kiosk where it takes your picture and you answer the same questions that you had already answered on their form that we were given on the plane. The kiosk spits out a ticket with your picture on it.  Then you wait in another line to see the Immigration Officer. Here, in addition to all the usual stuff, they take your fingerprints, thumb prints, and your picture (if they don’t already have it). This only takes about 4 minutes per person! You get in another line to go through Customs where you give them your kiosk ticket. Now you are ready to pick up your baggage. The nice thing about all this standing around is that you don’t have to wait for your bags. In fact your bags have been removed from the belt and are just sitting in a pile with all the other bags. Just when you thought you are free to go, you find you have to wait in line again as they check your baggage claim ticket. Now after 110 minutes we were done (except for waiting in line for a rental car).  What a nice welcome back to the USA.