CRUISING THE GREEK ISLES

Monday, November 5^th, 2007 Greek Isle Cruise….first stop: Mykonos

Woke before the wake up call and dressed for breakfast. Checked for our cruise tickets as I was repacking and could not find them! After a frantic five minutes I found them on the floor between the wall and the luggage rack; I was sure they’d disappeared at the airport. About 8 am we walked across the street and waited for the Pharmacy to open and purchased cold medicine. No Dayquil, but I did get a bottle of homeopathy Organic Syrup with Echinacea and Propolis? Have my doubts on the effectiveness but will continue with the Sudafed and this new stuff. Also found some ointment with Eucalyptus and Echinacea that I’ll put on my chest tonight, similar to Vicks Vapor Rub. Sure do hate getting a cold on a trip.

Taxi arrived right on time and took us to the port city of Piraeus and the Cristal Cruise Ship; part of the Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines. Lots of tour buses expelling volumes of tourists for the four day cruise. Many of the guests are American so English is probably the most common language spoken on the ship. We have a nice inside cabin on the third deck; gives us the opportunity to climb more steps throughout the day.

The life boat drill was held at 11 am and then we departed for our first destination: the island of Mykonos. After looking at the different tours available we’ve decided to only pay for the shuttle bus into town and explore on our own. We arrive at Mykonos about 5:30 pm and will be in port until 9:30 pm.

We have decided to take the time to eat our meals in the dining room instead of the causal food on the pool deck cafeteria style. We walked to the dining room early and introduced ourselves to Spiro, the manager in charge of the La Scala Restaurant on Deck 8. He has promised to attempt to find us seating during the early dinner; especially since Miss Julie’s name was mentioned in our conversation. For today since it was noon we stayed for the wonderful lunch. We were at a mixed table of Americans: mother/daughter from Texas, two young single girls who met on the tour they are a part of and a husband/wife on a Grand Circle Tour from North Carolina. It was a very pleasant lunch with lively conversations about travel. Two of us at the table were suffering from colds. After lunch we submitted our credit card at registration and also registered for the tours that we are doing. Right now we only selected three tours but may also do the one in Crete.

The only access to the Internet on board ship is on the three computers in the main lobby. You purchase an hour’s worth of time for ten euros and wait till one becomes free. Surprisingly, the wait is rarely very long, and we’ve been able to connect to aol.netmail.com through the web fairly easily. Not quite as good as wireless and using our own computer but we’re able to read emails and send a few.

Arrived in Mykonos at dusk and by the time we departed the ship it was already dark. The famous windmills on the hills could barely be seen and definitely not photographed. We took an hour and walked through the town and back to the bus for the return trip to the ship that was parked in the new port. We plan to return during the day next week from our next home away from home on Paros. At that time we will also go see the nearby island of Delos, an archeological site. Mykonos is full of shops and many restaurants. We were surprised at how many of the people stopped and ate instead of returning to the ship for the dinner provided as part of the cruise.

Dinner was at 7 pm, open seating and casual. Since we’d eaten on the upper deck for lunch we enjoyed our dinner on the lower deck at the Caruso Restaurant. Then off to bed early as the alarm is set for 5:40 am so that we can finish breakfast before our 7 am departure in the morning in Kusadasi; we will sail there through the night.

My new medicine seems to be working well; I definitely am feeling better.

CROSSING THE BOSPHORUS STRAITS

Sunday, November 4^th, 2007 Finding Mass is not easy in Turkey!

Woke about 5:30 am and took more Sudafed for my cold. By seven Jim was up and we went to breakfast about eight; not nearly as crowded as yesterday morning. Sun is shining and it looks like a great day for seeing more of Istanbul. The air is still cold.

By nine o’clock we were checked out, luggage stored at the hotel and off to the tram stop located a block from the hotel; headed across the Bosphorus Straits to Kabatas, like a suburb to Istanbul. Along the way we crossed over the Galata Bridge and watched the shoulder to shoulder fisherman with ocean type fishing poles all across the bridge. We also had a great view of the new Unkapani Bridge that reminded me of the golden gate bridge in San Francisco except it was steel colored.

Kabatas was the end of the line and then we paid another token to ride the Funicular up the hill to reach Taksim Park. Kodak moment with the War Memorial and then after reading our map we starting walking in the direction of the Catholic Church; when we arrived it was Greek Orthodox and we decided to stay for the rest of the Mass that was in progress. There were less than a dozen people plus the priests that were officiating.

fter Mass we got our map back out and continued to look for the Roman Catholic Church. Up and down and around we went. People were wonderful and seeing our map would stop us to give directions. Met one fellow who was catching a bus to the French Catholic Church; he was originally from Philadelphia and also had lived in Los Angeles and San Diego. Now retired he lives here in Istanbul. He gave us directions also. Most of the foreigners who live in Istanbul live on this side of the bridge we’ve discovered.

After many more dead ends and directions we finally found St. Anthony du Padua, a beautiful Roman Catholic Church in the heart of the newer part of the city, one of the few that is not hidden in back streets. But, the ten o’clock mass was just ending and there wasn’t another one until noon. We paid a visit and then found our way back out to the pedestrian mall and walked back towards the funicular. Saw the McDonalds next to the Turkish fastfood place named Pud. There were also Pizza Hut, Burger King, etc. etc. etc. Saw a 1958 (I think) Chevrolet car, turquoise and white, fins and all in a restaurant. They were using it to attract customers and several young men were having their photos taken by friends as we passed by. Arrived back in the area of our hotel by noon but we stayed on the train until we reached the Beyazit stop.

Jumped off the tram and walked through the University area and over to the Suleymaniye Mosque. One of the most beautiful in the city; not quite as large as the Blue Mosque but very beautiful and the complex also housed the Tomb of a Sultan. There are so many that I have no ideal which one! Just know we had to take our shoes off to go inside the tomb; and again we had to take the shoes off to go inside the Mosque.

Back to the map and the tiny streets that wound their way down towards the Bosphorus. In some areas the shops were closed and the next street the shops were crowded with customers. Like many European cities, the names of the streets are rarely the same for more than two blocks. A detailed map is essential. Our destination was the old spice market or better known as the Misir Carsisi, a marketplace since 1664. We knew when we’d arrived as it was chaotic; the Grand (covered) Bazaar was a breeze compared to this one. I immediately took my backpack off and hung on for dear life! Everything imaginable was for sale in this area; and probably at a good price but all we wanted was the experience of walking through the Istanbul Spice Market!

Out of the market, we stopped many times with our map to find the directions to our hotel. Our last person was a young policeman and an old man; between the two of them they got us on the correct street and before we knew it we were back at our hotel again. Had some lunch across the street as it was now nearly 3 pm and we’ve still got a few hours to kill before going to the airport.

I decided to stay at the hotel to work on my journals and use the free wireless Internet while Jim went to find the Archeological Museum. Two hours later he returned after walking the entire time! The entrance to the Archeological Museum was not where we’d thought but a much further distance from the hotel; by the time he’d arrived it was due to close within minutes. The winter schedule was in effect and so he spent the rest of his walk returning back to the hotel; alas without having enjoyed any of the artifacts that are so special to this particular museum.

By 5 pm we were ready to go to the airport; a bit early but you can only sit in a hotel lobby just so long. Jim took some time to negotiate with a shuttle service and had them down to a fantastic price until he realized they thought he was talking about 6 am the next morning. They didn’t want to reduce their price for 6 pm this evening. So back to square one and we had the hotel call a taxi cab for our journey to the International Airport. He really wanted to try taking the tram all the way to the airport but I just wasn’t up to the challenge.

Don’t remember if I’ve mentioned it or not but two of the novels that I brought to read on the trip were unusually timely in their subject matter. Both were common romance novels but the first one that I was reading in Athens had the characters exploring archeological sites and the one I finished last night was set mostly in and around Istanbul. Who would guess when I picked these books up at the church rummage sale last August to read and leave or exchange with another tourist along the way that they would dovetail so nicely with our trip.

Arrived at the airport and had to wait for the counter to open for check in; when it did we soon realized the flight was full. They spotted our mini backpacks and required us to check the larger backpacks as luggage. Hadn’t planned on this and as soon as they were gone we realized our tickets for the cruise tomorrow as well as my packet of important information including extra credit cards were both in the backpack. A nervous two hours while we waited for the flight and then the hour plus of flying. A good flight and when we picked up the luggage everything appeared to be unopened. A bigger problem were my ears because of the cold; don’t remember when they’ve hurt so much from the pressure of going up and down. It was so nice to find our driver waiting for us outside of customs for the ride into Athens.

By the time we’d checked back into the hotel, picked up our extra luggage and arrived in the room it was midnight before we’d showered and hit the bed. Our wake up call in the morning was set for 7 am as we had scheduled a taxi to pick us up at 9 am to take us to the port to board the Cruise ship for our four day cruise of the Greek Isles.

HAGIA SOPHIA & BLUE MOSQUE

Saturday, November 3^rd, 2007 Exploring Istanbul Museums and Mosques…

Woke with the start of a head cold so I took some Sudafed that I had fortunately stuck in the backpack for the weekend; do hope it’s mild and Jim doesn’t catch it from me. Breakfast at 8:30 was in the roof top restaurant that is enclosed in glass so there was a view in every direction. The best one was of the Hagia Sophia that rises above the other buildings in all of its grandeur.

By 9 am we were out on the street and walking to our first destination. The weather is dry but very overcast and cold. With our trusty new map we located the Hagia Sophia easily and entered one of Istanbul’s oldest surviving monuments. The site has been a church over the centuries; the current building was erected in 1065 after an earthquake destroyed the previous one. This building set the standard for Mosques in the Muslim world. The remains of many mosaic floors and frescos on the walls, especially one of Christ, the Virgin and John the Baptist were very impressive.

From the Hagia Sophia Mosque Museum we walked across gardens to the second most impressive site in Istanbul; the Blue Mosque also known as Sultanahmet’s Mosque. This Mosque is still used as a place of worship and so we had to take off our shoes but they did not make me cover my head. We were each given a plastic bag to put our shoes into as we entered. The name reflects the mainly blue Iznik tilework decorating its interior. It was built around 1600 and has six minarets and its architecture rivaled the architecture of Mecca.

Our next venture was to the state run carpet store in the former Baths of Lady Hurrem across the street from the first two sites. Amazingly preserved and every room is now used to display carpets for sale. I wonder how many they actually sell as everyone we saw in there appeared to be viewing the site and not the carpets; but no one asked any questions of us or attempted to persuade us to purchase a carpet.

On to our next quest: The Basilica Cistern. Built near the Hagia Sophia, this huge cistern founded in 527 is called a sinking palace because of the great number of marble columns arising out of the water. It is 140 meters by 70 meters and you descend 52 marble steps to view the vast underground cistern that has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water. We walked over platforms built over the water to view the 336 marble columns and watched the fish in the water. At times we found ourselves under water dripping down from the ceiling into the cistern. Two special columns have the head of Medusa on the base for the column: but the face is on its side on one and upside down on the other. According to legend the blocks are oriented sideways and inverted in order to negate the power of the Gorgons’ gaze. For more information on what a Gorgon is check the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon

Our final quest for today was the Topkapi Palace. A huge place, we entered from the lower entrance and didn’t realize we needed a ticket until we’d passed through security. Jim went back out and purchased the tickets. Walk, walk, walk; couldn’t believe how huge this place is. In the Treasury we saw jewel encrusted helmets, swords, and jewelry; one was the Kasikci Diamond that is 86 carets, drop shaped, faceted and surrounded by 49 large diamonds.

By this time it was nearly two o’clock and we headed back to our hotel; only a short walk but did find a small souvenir of our visit to Turkey on the way home. It will easily tuck into the luggage so Jim is very happy that I passed on the leather hassock that can be stuffed after you get home. Just couldn’t think of a place to put it.

As we walked along the street we purchased a large pretzel to share, only fifty cents so we really did get ripped off yesterday; and some water and cokes. We enjoyed a couple of hours of rest in the hotel before heading out for dinner.

Our dinner tonight was down the street at a place called Ozler Restaurant. We stuck with water and I had vegetable spaghetti: peas, carrots, mushroom base covered with spaghetti and cheese….delicious. Jim had peppery kebab on pita bread, roasted lamb meat and vegetables, plus a side dish of green beans. I went straight back to the hotel as it was cold, but Jim walked for half an hour…without the map…and managed to find his way to the hotel again!

Internet followed by making plans for our last day in Istanbul filled the evening. Of course the television has many English stations so Jim has been enjoying that also.

ISTANBUL/CONSTANTINOPLE

Friday, November 2^nd, 2007 flight to Istanbul, Turkey….

Awake before the alarm and wakeup call; we were downstairs and waiting for the driver by 5 am. He arrived at 5:15 as scheduled and we were whisked to the Athens Airport in a beautiful new Mercedes. A big difference from our bus that we took in from the airport several weeks ago; the tour company set the transportation up as part of our package for the cruise. It’s nice to be spoiled at times.

Easy flight that lasted just over an hour; the pilot apologized for taking off a little late due to two passengers arriving late at the gate. Nice surprise to find that we were served a light breakfast on the plane and it was a smooth flight to Istanbul. The pilot referred to our destination as: Constantinople instead of Istanbul. We were on Olympic Airlines and the Greeks may prefer that name; don’t know for sure.

Arrived at the airport about 9:30 pm; paid our $20.00 USD each for our Visa Stamp and proceeded through customs without a hitch. Found a change machine to get some Turkish money…the machine ran out of money as we were using it. We put in a twenty euro bill and received Turkish coins valued at only five euro. A nice tourist, either Greek or Turkish…don’t know…took us over to a booth and explained our problem. He immediately went to the machine and gave us another fifteen Turkish Lira. Then we found an ATM machine. Jim tried first and it didn’t accept his card. We went to another machine and tried mine and this time we received some Turkish Lira. About that time a gentlemen kept asking us if we needed a Shuttle Bus? Jim finally talked to him about price and got him down from twenty-five Lira to twenty Lira for two of us to our hotel. We had to wait about ten minutes while they tried to get a few more but it ended up to be three of us in a van. The third person was a young thirty year old fellow from Southampton England who had a few hours between flights on a business trip so he was going into the city to see some of the sites. We all enjoyed our ride into the city even though it was raining.

Our hotel is the Yasmak Sultan, a four star hotel that is located very near to the Topkapi Museum and is extremely busy we found out. They said that our reservation was made for only for one person and they had no double rooms available. While waiting I had overheard a couple that were switching from another hotel to this one because they liked the rooms better. I said to the manager “how did you have a room for these people without a reservation and you don’t have one for us?” As I suspected they were getting a suite; but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to mention the fact. They wanted to switch us to another “first class” hotel but I wanted this one.

So, I said to the manager that I wanted him to contact the tourist agency who had set up our reservations before I would agree to change hotels. After about five minutes the managers came back and said our agent would not agree to a change of hotels and that they would assign us a room and move some other guests to the other hotel. We didn’t get a view room, but it’s a very nice room and we’re happy campers. My thought is that the agency puts enough business to this hotel that they had some pull in making sure we stayed at this hotel. Best of all; I have free wireless Internet in the lobby.

By 11 am we were checked in and ready to roam the streets. We headed out with umbrellas and headed towards the Grand Bazaar, had to ask directions several times but finally saw it up ahead. Just before entering we passed a mosque where men were washing their feet before entering. We will have to take our shoes off and they may require me to cover my head when we go tomorrow??

So glad we found the bazaar because the rain started to come down in torrents just as we entered; it was body to body most of the time. One could spend days inside and since it was covered it was a perfect place to get out of the rain. We walked the width and breath of the place several times and finally felt we’d done the deed so after spending a fortune for a large pretzel (the kid knew we didn’t understand the money) we headed out into the rain for our trip home. Opps…we were completely lost. We kept asking directions to the hotel and each time they would send us off in a different direction. We had our Turkey Eyewitness book with us but that didn’t help much. We’d asked for a map at the hotel but they were out of the free ones. When we finally returned I had Jim purchase a map for five Liras but at least now we know where we are when we’re outside of the hotel.

After two hours of walking Jim was actually ready to pay for a taxicab to get back to the hotel but we were walking against traffic on a one way street when we finally spotted the hotel two blocks ahead of us. Jim went back out and found several nice restaurants close by for an early dinner. So, by the time we both went to read the menus posted out front the waiters were sure they had a ready diner and worked hard to get us to sit at their place. We chose Pasazade – Ottoman Cuisine. We ordered stuffed chart leaves that were called Pazi Dolmasi in Turkish: rice, pine nuts, currants, parsley and minced lamb rolled into a chart leaf. We had a soft cream cheese or plain yogurt sauce to dip the rolls into before eating, really good. Our second plate was Su Boregi; Turkish cheese and tomatoes baked in filo dough. That along with bread and Turkish Beer (EFES Pilsen) filled us up so much we didn’t even get the ice cream for dessert that we’d talked about.

Walked around the area for a while and then headed back to the hotel for some Internet time before calling it a night. We decided to sit in the bar instead of the busy lobby for our Internet time and Jim made the grand gesture by ordering me a drink: Chives Regal on the rocks. Little did he realize that he’d ordered one of the most expensive drinks offered; it was 22 Turkish Lira…that’s a little more than $25. USD for about a shot and a half….I could have purchased the whole bottle at Costco for less than my one drink cost. I savored every last drop. Later we read in the travel book that alcoholic drinks are very, very expensive in Turkey. The beer at dinner was 5 lire so we should have known something was different as that was twice the price that we paid in Greece.

A grand first day in Istanbul with lots of experiences or as we say when we’re traveling: “That’s a journal entry!”

ATHENS

Thursday, November 1^st, 2007 Another day in Athens….

Last night I finished my journal and photos; went downstairs to purchase time for the Internet and spent the next three hours trying to get on line in my room. It had always worked in the room before so I was sure that I’d screwed up my computer when I had the Internet Café in Corfu put in an ISP address so that I could connect with his DSL line. Very frustrating; went down to the desk clerk once but he didn’t know any more about computers than Jim so I knew that he wouldn’t be any help. He offered to refund my three euros but I said “no” and that I’d continue trying different things.

Finally gave up about 10 pm and read my novel for a bit before calling it a night. My mind was whirling with possible solutions including spending time at a computer shop in the morning to make my wireless work again. I could connect with “limited access” but could not pull up the web page to enter my password for the service. It kept telling me to connect with a DSL line but that wasn’t possible in the hotel. I woke up about 6 am and took my laptop into the bathroom and tried again…no luck. Jim woke up about 7:30 and we headed down for breakfast. I knew that the woman would have arrived by now and she seemed to understand computers so I took my laptop to breakfast with me. I explained the problem and booted up to show her what I was talking about so that she could help me if possible.

And God blessed me with a sign on screen; apparently the room that we have now does not receive a clear signal so during breakfast I sent Journal #5 and everything else! I was a happy camper and ready for a day of touring with Mr. Jim.

We checked out after breakfast, packed the car and headed for the President Hotel across town where our tour had made reservations for us during the cruise portion of our trip. The traffic was heavy but we found our way without too much difficulty; we’re definitely getting to know Athens. Dropped off our luggage at the hotel and returned to the Acropolis area and the Budget Car Rental office; arrive right on time at 10 am. A dirty but accident and ticket free car was returned with an additional 1,905 km, about 1,200 miles.

We then walked across the Plaka, one of the oldest residential areas, all the way to the Stoa of Attalus that was restored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Then we investigated the old Byzantine Church next to it before walking through the Ancient Agora ruins all the way up the hill to the Herakleidon Museum. Found our way around to the Keramikos, the ancient cemetery, over to Hadrian’s Library, the Tower of the Winds and then back through the Plaka to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch. Those were the first two things that we took photos of at 4 am on the morning of our arrival.

Now we can honestly say that we’ve seen all of the Acropolis! Our feet were tired and we were ready to call it a day after non-stop walking from about 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. Four hours and today was one of our hottest days of the trip. We were carrying umbrellas and jackets in our backpacks but what we needed were hats! Found our way back to the Acropolis Metro Station and jumped on the train for one stop, switched lines and then headed out towards our new hotel that is located very near to the American Embassy.

Spent an hour repacking our bags so that we could travel light to Turkey with only our backpacks for the weekend as the hotel will keep our larger suitcases for us as we will be returning for one night before we go on the cruise. By now the weather had changed and it was looking rather threatening outside but we headed out to a restaurant recommended by the hotel for an early dinner.

This was another great Greek dining experience. We were at Douicissa on a small side street, which appeared to be family run. Owner was very involved with guests the whole time we were there. I had another Greek Salad as I do love them. The tomatoes are so firm and delicious; the best description is that they are “meaty”. Michael, a classmate from Indiana who is receiving the journals said that he remembers the tomatoes in Greece were the best he’d ever eaten outside of Indiana. I must say I totally agree with him. Jim had a hamburger with Greek cheese that the owner guaranteed to be the best he’d ever eaten. It was really good, Jim talked to the owner afterwards and he told him the family ingredients that are used…including lemon juice, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, and three drops of Tabasco sauce that Jim didn’t taste. It was delicious! When they served us our bread basket it came with fresh cream sauce with leeks and bell peppers and some other favors that was so good we ate way too much bread just to keep eating the sauce.

Headed back to the hotel with a stop at the phone booth to leave a message for Julie and just then it started to rain. Walked very fast and reached the hotel before the rain really started to come down; we’d left the hotel without jackets or umbrellas.

To bed early after an hour on the Internet, phone call and fax from Julie regarding our cruise and our ten days after the cruise that she has arranged for us. Tomorrow starts at 4:30 am; so we hope to get a good nights sleep. See you in Turkey!

MONASTERY OF OSIOU LOUKAS & PARTHENON

Wednesday, October 31^st, 2007 Heading south to Athens

One would never know its Halloween; I don’t think that they celebrate it here in Greece. We woke about 7 :30 this morning and headed down to breakfast about 8:30…should have gone down earlier as the large tour group that arrived late in the evening last night had depleted most of the food before we arrived. But, we did find plenty to eat. After breakfast we checked out, took the elevator down two floors into underground garage to get the car. Then we worked at finding the shoe repair shop that our desk clerk had mapped out for us. Jim’s sandal strap needs repairs. Around and around we went and finally Jim parked the car and walked. Sure enough the street we were looking for was about six feet wide and looked more like a sidewalk. The fellow was great and now his sandal is just fine. That took about an hour.

Headed out of town with overcast weather and sprinkles every once in a while. We went down the mountain for about half an hour until we found the road to Distomo. We were headed for another monastery with a side stop on the way.

Our first stop was in Distomo, a small town that has a war memorial built by the German government in 1996. The memorial is to honor the 200 people in the village that were killed by the Nazis in June of 1944 in reprisal for a guerrilla attack. Sits at top of a hill above the town and is very stark but beautiful.

Then we headed further out into the mountains to find the Monastery of Osiou Loukas. This was founded around 944 AD by a monk known as Holy Luke. Different from St. Luke I think as he was nearly 1000 years after the death of Christ. But it is now a famous pilgrim site for tourists. The main chapel is under repairs but the inside was beautiful with many religious mosaics on the walls. There were two important things to find and Jim found the mosaic of the washing of the apostles’ feet and I found the crypt. Yes, there in a glass sarcophagus was the body of Holy Luke who died in the 10^th century. They had a veil over his face but you could see his boney hand. Creepy!

Drove back to the main road and continued on our way to Athens, finally arrived in Athens about 3 pm. Went back to our old hotel, the Acropolis View and they had a room for us for tonight. Unloaded and headed for the Acropolis so that we could see it without the rain that appeared eminent. We’d waited to see this with Brian but when he was delayed we decided to wait until our return today.

Walked all around the Parthenon, you can not enter the building itself and they are constantly blowing their whistle every time someone touches a piece of marble. There is also a lot of construction going on at this time.

After the Parthenon and also the Erechtheion with the virgin statues, we saw the Temple of Athena Nike, the Theater of Herodus Atticus that is still used for performances, and the ancient theater of Dionysos.

The sites were closing by that time and we headed over to Vitros for dinner. Tomorrow we will change hotels in the morning and then spend the day seeing the rest of the buildings in the Acropolis complex.

DELPHI & THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO

Tuesday, October 30^th, 2007 Walking the roads of the ancient gods….

Slept fairly well but woke with a headache; realized about 4 pm that it was probably from the wine last night. Dressed and headed out to find some breakfast; no food with this hotel room but at 45 euros for the night, that’s ok. We found a bakery and purchased extra large croissants that were filled with a chocolate pudding. Then over to the coffee house under our hotel for coffee for me, chocolate for Jim and water for both of us; it made a nice breakfast as we sat outside and watched the town waking up.

We then got my computer and walked back to the Internet Café; it was empty except for two employees and they were very happy to let me sign on using my own computer. After nearly half an hour of trying we couldn’t get it to work so I ended up signing on and checking emails on one of the computers. The boys were very apologetic that they couldn’t get mine to work. We talked a bit and he told me he lives in Patra and is here to attend the university. Ah, that explains where all the people came from last night. Also told me that his great, great, great grandfather (maybe even more greats) was a famous general in the War of Independence in 1821; he is named after him and he wrote down his name for me so that I can check it out on the computer website: Makrigionnis, he showed me a photo of him that he had on his computer.

In the meantime; Jim not only video taped the Museum; the Museum Curator closed the Museum and took Jim on the back of his motor scooter to see the site of the house that Lord Bryon died in 1824; only three months after his arrival in Greece. But the fact that he came rallied the world to support the cause of the Greeks in their war against the Ali Pasha, a Turkish Ruler. And, he’d found an English version of Time Magazine with a ten page spread on the California Fires. Told us most everything we needed to know about the fires and our future in California.

The weather today is overcast and windy; but by noon the sun was also shining through the clouds. We headed out of Messolongi about 10:30 in the morning. Headed the wrong way as I was busy reading the Time Magazine instead of the map; but the good news is that’s how we found the salt beds and hills of salt. Turned around and found the correct roads as we continued south and to the east this morning. By noon we were back in the area of Patra and that magnificent bridge that I sent photos of to all of you about a week ago.

Suddenly we realized that we were heading across the bridge! NO…STOP….we don’t want to go there! Also the fee to cross is 10.50 euro each way! Saw a parking area and went in there….I walked over and yelled to the nearest toll booth that we didn’t want to cross the bridge; how do we exit? She told me to go to the phone booth and press “2”. Sure enough, they had a telephone booth with three buttons only. They came on line and after I explained my problem they told us to bring our passports and car papers to the glass building on the other side of the road. We had to climb up the two story bridge, walk across and down the other side. There they completed a form that we had to sign and then back across the bridge to our car. We went through the toll booth, she smiled at us, and then immediately off on a service road that got us back on our route. I can tell from how easy it was; we are definitely not the only ones that have had this problem!

Back on the road to Nafpaktos, we are now on the same road that we drove last Tuesday after leaving Patra where we dropped off our grandson. Again, we could see that a large fire had burned the hillside behind the town. The road follows the coastline all the way to Itea, in and out along the base of the mountains. Mines dot the roads, fish farms are in many coves, long and broad beaches are empty this time of year; and of course: roadside memorial boxes on all the curves. We stopped at a pottery shop along the road and saw new ones for sale; now we know which the newest boxes are.

We finally arrived at our destination for today around 3 pm: Delphi, an ancient site for worship and prophecy. Located high in the mountains on the slopes of Mt. Parnassos and overlooking the Gulf of Corinth, it offers a stunning setting and inspiring ruins. The ancients regarded Delphi as the center of the world. According to mythology Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world and they met here. First the French and then other countries have worked at preserving this site. Now it is a World Heritage-listed site.

First we visited the 4^th century BC Temple of Apollo, then walking up the theatre that is still in very good condition. From there we continued up to the top and the site for the stadium, the best preserved in all of Greece, even to the etched-stone starting blocks where sprinters began a race. We enjoyed walking this path with people from Texas and took turns taking photos for each other.

Back down the paths for a second look at everything and then Jim went into the Museum where he saw many treasures and especially important to him was the Charioteer; a bronze statue of the Charioteer, from the dedication by Polyzalos, the tyrant of Gela in Sicily 478 or 474 BC.

For more information click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi

When he arrived at the car I had cleaned things up, purchased some sandwiches for dinner and was just about ready to start reading my novel. We ate and then headed further down the hill to the Sanctuary of Apollo. Walked down the hill for a close up view of what we’d seen from a distance on the hill. Very impressive and it is the photo used frequently on publicity pieces for Delphi.

It was just about dark as we drove into the mountain city, and ski resort area, of Arahova to find a hotel for the night. Ended up at a nice hotel called Hotel Arahova Inn, they are so busy we found the manager asleep on the couch and had to wake him to get a room. But it’s a nice place and we’ll enjoy spending the night at only 60 euros (because the high winter season has not started yet) including breakfast.

Interestingly enough…only one electrical outlet again, thank goodness we have that extension cord with us.

MESSOLONGI & LORD BYRON

Monday, October 29^th, 2007 Across the pond to Messolongi.....

We’re on the ferry boat right now. Last night we made it to the Internet Café in a blinding rainstorm. It was really raining hard and the wind caught Jim’s umbrella at one point; may have to purchase a new one for him. But we did manage to get the fourth journal off to all of you. (2007 was prior to blogging my journals!) The Internet café was very interesting; it is basically set up for gaming. The place was full of teenagers and young adults; each one had headphones on so since they were doing interactive games they were yelling at each other. There were about thirty of them and the place was full of smoke! Lots of cigarette smokers here. Jim waited in the car while I went in to use the computer. The wind caught his umbrella when he came in to tell me where he had found a parking place. But the good news is that they allowed me to hook into their DSL lines with my computer.

Drove back to the hotel and enjoyed our last dinner on Corfu at the hotel; one of the best that we’ve had here. Had to wait until 7:30 pm but worth the wait and much better than walking in the rain in old town. Even with all the rain; traffic was heavy and parking places were harder to find than during the day!

It rained most of the evening but by this morning the sun was shining again and we’ve got calm seas for our ride back to the mainland. It’s an hour an a half ride so time to finally get some of the postcards written to the grandchildren before we dock at about 11 am. Then we’re headed south for the day.

Saw many more roadside memorial boxes again today. Not taking as many photos of them unless they are really unusual. We stopped at Vonitsa and found a Super Market where we picked up some drinks and snacks. They were also kind enough to allow us to use their employee toilet. There was lots of traffic on two lane roads but no “real” mountain climbing today; only foothills, driving along the base of some high mountains and views of the Ionian Sea as we wound our way south.

Just north of Messolongi, our destination for today, we spotted three Monasteries out in the middle of nowhere along the highway. The largest was right on the road and there was a grave of a Greek Orthodox Priest that had died in 2005; very ornate and beautifully done. Then up on the side of the mountain was a smaller monastery but still good size. Then even higher and tucked into a cavern in the mountain was a brand new miniature monastery. It was all very surreal looking. Stopped for a Kodak moment and then went on our way.

We first checked at a hotel out by the water that overlooked the Lagoons. This area is part of the few remaining wetlands of Greece and famous for migrating birds; it has become somewhat of a pilgrimage sit for photographers and bird-watchers. They also have salt flats and manufacture salt. We then drove into the old center of town where we found a very reasonable hotel; somewhat smoky room and overlooking the town square. There may be a lot of noise in the square tonight but the price was too good to pass up. No Internet…I found a wireless site when I signed on just now but it was a protected site. The only café that has Internet is closed on Monday per everyone we’ve talked to…so I’ll wait another day to sign on.

We do have a TV with all Greek language. That is also the only electrical outlet in the room so I’m charging camera and computer while Jim is off to the town museum across the square. Tomorrow we want to visit the town gardens to see the statute of Lord Byron who died here when he came to help liberate Greece in 1824. His heart lies beneath his statue in the Garden of Heroes, his body is buried in Westminster Abbey in London and he is credited with motivating the Greeks during their War of Independence with the Turks. The only other thing I think we need to see here is the Exodus Gate that we’ve already driving through to get into town. So…hopefully….we’ll head to Delphi tomorrow for more Greek ruins.

There really is a lot of history here because this was an important military spot during all the wars over the centuries; especially the War of Independence in 1820s. Jim is back and says the Museum was so wonderful he gave them four euro even though it was free. The manager gave him a personal tour of the place since he was the only visitor and Jim promised to come back tomorrow with his video camera.

Started out of the hotel to locate a Traverna that was recommended in our guide book and when we asked the manager for directions he also gave us his personal recommendation. We decided to go there and VOLA…just across the street, and open, was the Internet Café. The dinner was reasonable and wonderful. We had our first Greek wine with dinner: I had beef and pork stroganoff with rice; the sauce was to die for; Jim had a lamb shish kabob. We were so full we decided to stroll about town on the way back to the hotel. The Internet Café was full of young people gaming again; decided to wait until morning. The town was becoming alive, couldn’t believe the number of people out in the square, mostly sitting in various coffee shops.

Back to the hotel and found that there was a Tom Cruise movie in English with Greek subtitles. Beds were good and the noise was not too loud; what more could one want.

More tomorrow….

SUNDAY IN CORFU

Sunday, October 28^th, 2007 Sunday in Corfu

Woke about 8 am and had breakfast at 8 am…yes, you read it correctly; we found a notice by the elevator that the Greek time change occurred at 4 am this morning! During breakfast we changed our watches and managed to get on the road by 9 am. Our first stop was at Mon Repos located a couple of miles from our hotel. This is an old estate that has a claim to fame in that Prince Phillip of England was born here in 1921. He only lived here for one year but we did get to see the room where he was born. The estate is now owned by the state and the main house has been restored and houses the Museum of Palaeopolis. Several of the rooms are furnished but most of them contain exhibits. The solarium was particularly beautiful with photos of plants as well as live plants native to the area.

We always ask for “senior rates” when going to a museum…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Today was an exception; it is a national holiday commemorating October 28^th, 1941; the day when the Greek army defeated the Italy army in their attempt to occupy Greece. Later, the Germans did finally occupy Greece during WWII. This particular museum was free today to honor the celebration.

Drove down into town and found parking almost exactly where we parked yesterday. Walked across the square and into the old town to SS. Jacob (James) & Christopher Catholic Church, mass was schedule for 10:30 so we had half an hour to pay our respects and people watch before mass started. Pretty little church and even thought it is very small it is actually their Cathedral. Not too many Roman Catholics live here as most Greeks are Greek Orthodox; the mass was in Greek but they did have the readings printed in English for us at the door. During the sermon the priest became very emotional and actually was crying so hard he had difficulty continuing. Most of the people in the church were also crying. From what we can figure out; a priest from Corfu was killed in or near Athens yesterday. A sidelight was the little girl sitting next to me could have been our grandson Corey’s sister: she looked exactly like him when he was her age. Her mother was speaking both English and Greek during the service.

After mass we headed back to the square to watch the parade that was being held in honor of the October 28^th celebration; we found seats in the McDonalds, ordered a coke and had a great view of everything. There were two bands and they took turns leading the various marching groups. Each of the schools had a marching group in matching uniforms; they swung their arms in unison similar to the changing of the guard in Athens. It was a very festive occasion and I think everyone who lives in the area was out in their Sunday best to watch the parade. The weather is very overcast but so far no rain. It did sprinkle lightly during the night but for now we’re dry; it is much cooler than yesterday since we don’t have the direct sunlight.

Afterwards we headed across the old town to the New Fortress. Along the way we stopped in at the church of Agios Spyridon again. Last night we read in the guide book about the silver casket that holds his body that is kept in the church. They carry it in parades on Easter Sunday, August 11^th and the first Sunday in November. Shucks, we’re going to miss that one! But we did stand in line and touch the casket; the Greeks were all kissing it on several special places but we elected to only touch it.

Continued to wind our way through the narrow street until we found the New Fortress; it took about an hour to walk all the way through and climb to the top of the fortress. Had a great view of the whole town, the old Venetian Fortress, the ports and the surrounding hills. We could see the airport and even our hotel off in the distance.

Back to the car and a return to the Archeological Center where they have an active dig in progress around the ruins of a Byzantine church and on the grounds of the Mon Repos that we’d visited this morning. I read my book in the car and Jim reentered the Mon Repos where he hiked to the Adoric Temple, 5^th century BC, and Heraeum that was 4^th to 7^th century BC where he picked a rock to take home: he’s sure it’s marble!

We’re back at the hotel and plan to drive back into town and to the Internet Café to see if we can send this tonight. Don’t know when we will get our next Internet. Hope you’ve enjoyed our stay on Corfu. Tomorrow we head for the Ferry and back to the mainland where we’re head south and then east for three days before arriving in Athens again.

ACHILLION ROYAL PALACE

Saturday, October 27^th, 2007 Exploring Corfu & surrounding towns….

The hotel room was very quiet last night as the last airplane was at 11 pm and they didn’t start until 7 am this morning. Did have a couple of mosquitoes in the room from having the window open but once I put the “Downey Dryer Sheets” out they left us alone. That trick really does work! Before breakfast Jim talked to the front desk about the air conditioning; apparently something got lost in the translation…there is no air conditioning at this time of the year. Europeans are very practical in that sense when it comes to waste and the air conditioning is turned off this time of the year. The heater works fine and I’m enjoying the warm room; Jim is just too warm blooded. But we’ll leave the sliding glass door open this evening again and enjoy the cool evening on the balcony.

The weather today was predicted as overcast and rain; it’s a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and actually hot. After breakfast and it was definitely a 5-star breakfast buffet, we headed south to the town of Achillion and the Royal Palace built in 1891 for Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria as a summer palace by her Uncle King Otto of Greece . The palace was dedicated to the warrior Achilles and is beautiful with many statues and original furnishings. It definitely has a feminine touch in the home and gardens. At one time it housed the Casino for Corfu; when it became a Museum the Casino was moved to what was the Hilton Hotel and now is named the Corfu Holiday Hotel where we are staying.

After touring the Palace we headed back down the hill toward the old town of Corfu passing Mouse Island and the International Airport on the way. We arrived back in town and found parking along the quay near the old Venetian Fortress and the restaurant where we were scheduled to meet George and Mary who were arriving today on their cruise ship. We checked out our “special parking place” but it was already filled with cars; guess we can mark that one off our list. We had half an hour to kill so walked the narrow shopping streets that were filled with tourists off of the cruise ships that were docked in the harbor. Finally decided to get a scoop of ice cream and wait to see if our friends would arrive. We’d sent an email and heard from them so we were pretty sure they’d meet us.

Within minutes of our scheduled meeting time they sauntered down the street and also had their traveling friends Maria and Emil who live in Pasadena. No one was really very hungry so we left The Rex and headed around the corner to the same place we’d eaten dinner yesterday known as The Liston, a row of tall arcaded houses that are now cafes that were built during the French rule around 1807. Across the street is the Platia Spinada that is a large grass lawn that was used for the famous cricket pitch and is still used today for cricket and also marching bands. When the Germans occupied the island in WWII it was used as the gathering place for Jews that were being deported to concentration camps; some memories are not so pleasant. The waiter suggested two platters of mixed appetizers to go along with our Greek beer and we spent an hour enjoying good food and wonderful company from home. The four of them had walked about forty-five minutes from the cruise ship to meet us in the old section of the city so they definitely needed time to let their feet recover.

We all agreed to tour the old Venetian Fortress since it was in the area, lots of walking and some climbing, especially for those that went all the way to the lighthouse on top. From there we could see their cruise ship in the old port and being Saturday; what seemed like hundreds of sailboats out in the Ionian Sea. After we finished touring the old Fortress we headed back across the Cricket Field and found the Church of Agio Spyridon that houses the mummified body of St. Spyridon aka St. Spiridon. The name Spyros is a favorite name for boys that are born in Corfu after their miracle working patron saint.

From there we headed to the Taxi stand after Maria found a doll for her granddaughter, Jim found a package of Saffron (much more expensive in USA) and Mary gave up trying to find a Christmas decoration. We promised to keep looking for a Christmas ornament from Greece to bring home to her when we return at the end of November. They found a taxi for only ten Euro that would take the four of them back to the cruise ship in time for cocktails before they depart and head for Dubrovnik in the Balkans.

We headed for the Museum of Asian Art that is located just north of the cricket grounds in the Palace of Sts Michael and George. Built in 1819 it looks like a Georgian English country house and was used for the British Lord High Commissioner’s residence. It contains an impressive collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain, bronzes, screens and sculptures as well as several rooms of original furniture including a throne room for the British commissioners.

Afterwards we walked back into the shopping alleys and finally purchased the Greek worry beads that we’ve been inspecting for two days as a souvenir from Corfu. It is the men who use them; you see men of every age holding a set in their hands; sometimes mumbling prayers and at other times just fingering the beads back and forth through their fingers, much like tapping ones toes or jingling the change in your pocket.

We headed over to the Internet Café and signed on for about fifteen minutes to check emails before going back to the car and up the hill towards the hotel; suddenly saw the Mouse Island again and also spotted a Monastery that we recognized from post cards in town; but how to get to it was the mystery. They were located down below the cliff on the water. Finally after much driving we discovered a narrow road that led us down to the water and along the beach. The church was named Vlacherna Monastery of Panayia, built on a tiny island just off the beach and connected by a causeway with boats parked all along it. Many local people were fishing and we watched a fisherman clean an octopus by beating it was a stick and then pulling the black insides out. He said that it has to be white before it would be ready to eat. The beating with the club helps to break down the “black stuff” that has to come out and also helps to tenderize the meaty portion that will be eaten. He said this one would feed at least four people. He turned and smiled and said, “four Greek people”!

By this time it was nearly 7 pm and we headed for home at the hotel. We got out the last of our jam and bread from yesterday’s breakfast and enjoyed an evening supper of jelly sandwiches on our seventh floor balcony. Not too many planes tonight, one or two landing and a few leaving. Will be a quiet evening compared to last night. Weather report really looks like rain tomorrow. Jim is watching a French movie with Greek subtitles. It’s a documentary about WWII; ….it’s TV what can I say.

FERRY TO CORFU

Friday, October 26^th, 2007 Island of Corfu awaits us off the coast….

Our Greek owners came home about 1:30 am, after closing their restaurant; and, I could still hear them talking at 4 am when I got up to answer mother nature’s call during the night. But, you must realize that they don’t start eating their dinner until after 10 pm; we’re considered rather odd for eating between 5 and 6 in the evening!

Up about 8 am we went downstairs to fix our own breakfast. They had instant coffee and we’d picked up bread, jam and cheese at the store last night. Jim also had purchased a tin of chocolate mix for his coffee. While we were eating the owner came in and starting fixing Greek Coffee; very strong and sweet; served in a tiny demitasse cup. He insisted on fixing a cup for Jim. Jim took one sip and made me finish the cup. Not bad but think I’ll stay with the black American style coffee. By 9 am we were on the road and headed for the port city of Igoumenitsa. The weather was foggy as we left, but soon the sun broke through and we were happy to see it. As we drove we climbed the mountain and found that we were looking down over the lake (or so we thought) with fog over it. Even stopped to take some photos when suddenly we realized we were headed in the wrong direction! We’d missed a turn and had driven fifteen miles on the wrong road. We were looking down on fog over a valley; not the lake. Turned around and headed back towards town another fifteen miles to our missed intersection. Headed the right way finally, we drove for several hours over at least two more mountain ranges to reach the coast. A twisting, two lane highway that wound up and down and around the mountains. At one point we suddenly had extremely heavy fog; it was actually clouds and we broke through to sunshine at the top of the mountain. Drove for several miles overlooking the clouds; the view was like flying in an airplane. Lots of roadside memorial boxes today; on one curve I said to myself that because of the placement of the box they must have driven right off of the cliff. Sure enough, as we passed I saw the car at the bottom of the ravine about fifty feet below the road. I decided to pass on that Kodak moment.

We had our goats, sheep and dogs all along the highway again today. The dogs all run loose on the highways and in the towns. Very few of the dogs have collars and it’s unusual to see any dogs in fenced yards. It’s extremely rare to see a dog on a leash. We’ve seen several dogs running along the highway miles from the nearest town; you wonder where they’ve come from and where they’re headed? On Thursday, while walking to dinner in Meteora, we saw a dog grab a fur hat from a basket outside of a store and run away with it down the street. Seemed to know it’d done something wrong because it ran like the wind until it was two blocks away and then started to play with it like a ball.

At 11:30 we arrived at the port and found the Ferry Boat to Corfu. We drove onto the ship and they closed the ramp; we were the last vehicle on the ship. Not very crowded and we paid for our passage after we were loaded. We asked for round trip and they said that no, we could only purchase a one way ticket. We’d been told that we’d save 30-50% on our return ticket if we purchased a round trip. Well, by that time we were on our way so no way to negotiate on the price of 30 euro for the car and 6.50 for each of us. But, it was a quick trip over and by 1 pm we’d docked on Corfu and then tackled the challenge of finding our hotel. We knew it was south of the old town and when we followed the directional signs south we soon figured out we were not headed in the right direction when we started to head inland. So, out with the maps and a new plan; back towards the port and then on to Corfu city center and the forts. We knew if we could find these we could find the road that we needed for our hotel.

Traffic was packed and streets went from two way to one way without rhyme or reason. Double parking on very narrow streets was not uncommon. I was so glad that Jim was driving and I was only trying to find the names of streets. After about an hour we finally arrived at our hotel: Holiday Hotel and Casino in Kanoni. It’s just south of the old fortress on the peninsula right next to the airport. But it’s a 5 star hotel and at a very reasonable price of 80 euros per night; really good for this tourist resort. We have a room on the 7^th floor that overlooks the pool and the beach. We also get to watch the jets landing next door. But as soon as they get the air conditioner working it should be even better.

Unfortunately the Internet service in the hotel is down; something to do with the satellite connection. So, for now, we’re using an Internet Café in town. They were great and allowed me to hook my laptop into their system. Also, we have CNN in English at the hotel and have been receiving really good information on the California fires. Plus, when we were on the Internet we had several good emails from neighbors, friends and family that gave us additional information.

While we were in town we found The Rex restaurant where we are meeting our neighbors from East Lake for lunch tomorrow. George and Mary are on a cruise and their ship is docked at Corfu for the day tomorrow. Before leaving California we set up a meeting place for lunch here in Corfu; should be lots of fun.

This evening we had our dinner overlooking the old fortress and the cricket field from a restaurant in the old Venetian area that is full of building built during the 18^th century. I enjoyed a Greek Salad and Jim tried a Greek dish called Mousakais; a quiche like dish made with green beans, eggplant and ground meat. Also some fried cheese and of course Grande Greek beer. We sat at outside tables and enjoyed people watching as the tourist from the cruise ships hurried back to their departing ships. Then, we walked down the narrow alley shopping streets before checking out some of the sites that we want to tour this weekend. Headed back to the car so that we would arrive back at our hotel before dark; we’ve found a great little side street for parking this afternoon. It reminds us of one that we found, with the help of a friend we met in Florence, next to the Vatican. Always seems to be a space on that street when in Rome, so we’re hoping this one is as good for Corfu tomorrow and Sunday.

We enjoyed watching the airplanes landing from our room this evening while watching CNN and the horrific news on the California fires. We’re hoping for better news tomorrow on the fires as we keep everyone in our prayers as they return to their homes.

Speaking of fires; we really haven’t seen too much damage from the Greek fires of last fall except for last Sunday and Monday. Everything is very lush and green; especially here in Corfu.