Category: TRAVEL (Page 41 of 45)

The flights back from Athens were fortunately uneventful. Four movies later, we were home, including Just Getting Started, The Shape of Water, Suburbicon, and Loving Vincent. Vincent Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, although we simply didn’t have time to visit the museum in Amsterdam last week. Van Gogh is an inspiration because he created 800 works of art and only sold one during the course of his short life. Perhaps a self-proclaimed word artist like myself will someday achieve notoriety if I just keep doing what I love to do. The Starry Night painting is at the MOMA in NYC, but for some reason I never made the connection between it and the 1971 Don McLean song, “Starry, Starry, Night, or Vincent.” Guess I wasn’t a sophisticated art aficionado at that time in my life. A version by vocalist Lianne La Havas is featured in the movie Loving Vincent, so it was an ah-ha moment for me on the way back. I also finished Diary of a Young Girl, as we landed in Amsterdam, after touring the Anne Frank historical site at the beginning of our cruise.

Today is all about “home work,” a once hated activity that is now much anticipated, especially after a long road trip. A welcome day at home means that I once again have routine back in my life. I took the dogs out this morning at 6 a.m., did my 3-mile run on my regular course, and situated myself behind my desk to write. I do have a “leadership meeting” in a few hours and that will give me an opportunity to recap the two-week trip with my retired friends. It also means the end of my wife’s work week and the beginning of her weekend, extended a couple of hours because of the Easter holiday. All days to me are the same now, but they are much more special when she can be involved. We just had two enjoyable weeks together but the dogs were missing. We’ll now get to put the whole family together for a few days.

We’ll do a long walk/run with the dogs tomorrow and go out to eat on Easter Sunday. After all the mass quantities of rich food, gallons of fine wine, martinis, and lemon-cello consumed over the past two weeks, I was surprised that I gained very little weight. I thought I would come back at 205 pounds, as is the case with most trips, but instead I was under 200. We did do the stairs rather than use the elevator, but running was difficult, and two walking excursions were cancelled. I’m honestly surprised that I was able to maintain my weight, and not have to feel guilty about wings today and an Easter brunch. Despite my age, the metabolism is still youthful!

I have a couple of weeks of “home work” ahead of me before we head to Santa Monica for a long weekend to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. The home of “Muscle Beach” is also the ending point of Route 66 as I muscle my way to the beginning of my 67th year in a few months. It continues to be a great “66” for me with over 66,000 and travel miles booked, along with at least 1,000 miles of running. 

It’s the full Acropolis Experience today, concluding with a trip to the airport at 2 a.m. We docked this morning in Piraeus, the port of Athens, although I saw it spelled entirely too many different ways. I ran the promenade deck of the Viking Star as the sun came up and avoided a near collision with a member of the deck cleaning crew. We were both surprised to see each other. I was also fighting a bad head cold, so my nose was running faster than I was. 

It will be another 16,000+ step day, despite the fact that I jogged only 6 laps for a distance of a little more than a mile-and-a- half, plus the clumsy hurdle over the cleaning equipment.  Today’s tour was a lot of stop-and-go bus riding slowed by the heavy morning commute. I sometimes have to remember that not everyone is retired like I am. In fact, my wife goes back to work tomorrow after we return. We saw the new Olympic stadium, but it far from made up for missing the original ancient site. The weather was at least cooperative today and despite the traffic the crowds were relatively easy to deal with. This was the first day of the tourist season that will pick up considerably next week once the Easter holiday has passed.

The Parthenon is indeed an awesome sight and was in much better condition than I expected. There is of course modern construction equipment and scaffolding that form a sharp contrast between old and new. Pieces are scattered everywhere…a head here an arm there… like the Gods dumped them from a giant puzzle box. The museum tour put everything in perspective, and I was surprised to find out that about half of the original sculptural decorations were moved from Greece between 1801 and 1805  by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and were eventually housed at the British Museum. It’s created a lot of controversy between the two countries. The intent was supposedly preservation rather than theft, but the Greeks don’t see it that way.

The Parthenon was built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, and for a thousand years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians. It then became a mosque and remains an architectural ruin. Its history of explosion, fire, earthquake damage, and reconstruction is far too complex for me to discuss. I was just satisfied to marvel at its history and selfishly cross it off my bucket list. Besides, I’m not feeling that great today. Its presence made me very curious, and I will be interested in watching some documentaries and doing some reading about Greek Mythology in the next few weeks. It was a fascinating day, and the beginning of a learning experience! I’m just not sure whether it’s better to see something first and read about it later, or have it be the culmination of study? I can only say that curiosity is the key to learning and I now have the motivation. 

Today it’s travel to the Greek island of Corfu, but our morning started in a frantic scramble. We lost another hour last night entering the Greek time zone. Also, in the middle of the night, the country switched to Daylight Savings, so another hour vanished as the clocks sprung forward, except mine. I was prepared for this change, but my Apple Watch did not cooperate. As I calmly stepped out on the promenade deck for my morning run, the time suddenly jumped ahead an hour, and I was instantly rushed.

Corfu in the rain was not as beautiful as I had anticipated. Positano, Italy still holds my personal top spot. With the tour bus leaving in 45 minutes, I had to cut back to the one-mile minimum run distance. Also, as I rounded the bow of the boat, my music stopped playing, another malfunction of my watch, adding more frustration. Somehow, I got in my required mile, other exercises, a quick shower, a few bites of my wife’s left-over room-service breakfast, dressed, and barely made the bus. While I was out running, she was awakened from the delivery, also an hour off from what she expected. It was not the leisurely early morning that either of us had planned, and the Corfu tour was underwhelming. The streets were closed for a Holiday parade that eventually got canceled because of the weather, most of the stores were closed, and church services prevented exploration of their unique architecture and frescoes. The museums were not open, the gray skies masked the famous turquoise waters, and only ghosts filled the Old Town pumice-tile streets. We sat for a cup of hot cocoa, but the waitress misunderstood and delivered Coke instead – and not Diet. To make matters worse, our difficult-to-understand tour guide kept emphasizing how atypical the cold, rainy weather was at this time of year. More sea-salt in the wound!

We took cover from the rain on the 7th story indoor deck of our boat, lounging on cushy chairs overlooking the ancient city that many tout as their favorite resort destination. Not today! We were both stuffed after another buffet lunch, so a nap was in order. Those around us quietly solved crossword puzzles, read novels, and sipped on cocktails. It was Retirement 101!

A few days ago, we had a rare dining experience off the boat. The location was a Croatian swine farm and restaurant in the small village of Velin called Roca kuca prsuta – can I buy a vowel, Pat? To give you an idea of how cold it was during that excursion, the pigs had to be transported to a warmer spot. Despite their absense, our hosts proudly showed us how they had to climb up three stairs each time they wanted to eat – their daily exercise regiment. Similarly, my wife and I made a pact to use only the stairs on the cruise ship. We climb two flights for the buffets and up and down three more levels to get to the more exclusive dining rooms. We’ve been just like pigs on this cruise!

Tomorrow we visit Ancient Greece, still dreaming of a warm, dry day, while the ship’s windows are covered in a drizzle. We’re in the same area where the Viking Band and the FABBA Four predictably preformed Beatle’s and ABBA tunes the other night, while we gray-hairs tried to sing-along. Greek dancing will start soon and the peaceful solitude will quickly be disrupted. We’ll head back to our stateroom soon, using the stairs like good little piggies!

I’ve counted up my states and countries, so waterways are today’s retirement project. The Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico are regular large bodies of water that are frequent travel destinations for us. New York City, the Oregon coast cities, Chicago, and Sarasota are traditional annual excursions. Not to mention, Lake Manitou in Rochester, Indiana on a much smaller scale. We live in Portland, the “city of bridges,” and being near water is a key lifestyle consideration wherever we go. Today, we’re about to enter into the Aegean Sea from the Adriatic and into the Ionian, each “an elongated embayment” of the larger Mediterranean Sea. On the other side of Italy is the Tyrrhenian Sea and the island of Capri’s Blue Grotto that was a memorable water experience. I’ve also been fortunate to travel in the South China Sea as part of a trip to Hong Kong and China. In the near future, we aspire to settle at a warm place on the water.

I’ve owned a lake home and a beach condo and several houses with pools. My wife loves being on the water, so this cruise is an ideal environment for her. Since the planet is approximately 71% water none of us is really very far from good old H2O. A majority of this water is contained in our (5) five oceans, including the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern. I’ve really only put a toe in two, but it will still be easier to get to all five long before accomplishing my recently contemplated goal of visiting one-hundred countries. (See Post #467) There are also plenty of Gulfs, Seas, Bays, Lakes, Basins, Rivers, Streams, Tide Pools, Inlets, Coves, Wetlands, Bayous, Harbors, Lochs, Canals, Swamps, Reservoirs, Deltas, Lagoons, Creeks, Shoals, Streams, Straits, Tributaries, Rapids, Waterfalls, and even Glaciers to see. Plus, I’ll need to get to Walden’s Pond to do some “pondering.” Obviously, I’ve got a lot of wet places to see and three more Oceans to do! 

We got off the cruise ship this morning to visit the city of Kotor, Montenegro, yet another country to cross off the list. It was also appropriately named Cattaro when it was part of the Venetian Republic back in 1420 and is the home of a cat museum in addition to hundreds of furry strays.  The love of cats seems to be the norm in this area after visiting Cavtat yesterday (See Post #472).

Kotor is situated on the Gulf of Kotar, another large body of salt water to add to my growing collection of liquid natural wonders. The fortress was built on the mountainside in 535, while the town itself was established in 168 BC and part of the Roman province of Dalmatia (translates to land of sheep herders). I wonder if there are more cats or sheep? It is known as one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic, and a cool experience for both of us. We elected not to climb the one-thousand-plus stairs to get the best vantage point of the red-roofed village, but staying on shop-level enabled us to once again stimulate the local economy through the purchase of several souvenirs and gifts.  

As we head towards much-anticipated Greecian island of Corfu tonight, we navigated around the quaint little island church, Our Lady of the Rocks, that sits in the center of the 17-mile inlet. It’s surrounded by towering cliffs that are dusted with snow. Kotor was our favorite stop so far on this cruise, despite the chilly temperatures and marginal sunshine. We look forward to another great dinner and our fifth night at sea. Look out Zorba here we come!

As our cruise continues, we’re looking for any signs of good weather, and like what we see out our Viking Star stateroom balcony this evening.  “Red Sky at night a sailor’s delight,” could indicate a welcome change from the past few cold, windy days at sea. Today we finally docked in Split, Croatia on the Dalmatian Coast and got to step foot back on land. We paid homage to Saint Michael, whose Iron Age fortress guards the city and his saintly pal James, whose Catholic basilica sits behind the ancient stone walls. We had to pay to pee before getting back on the tour bus to a Croatian pig farm. Then, over a traditional lunch spread of ham and beans, a trio of musicians played Eagles and Beatles songs, with a Slavic twist. My wife and I both napped on the bus, so I can’t say it was worth the $139 each price of admission.

We had to get up early and tolerate a tour guide that moved at the speed of molasses while providing entirely too many details. It’s the only drawback of these cruises, a little too structured for our tastes. The advantage is not having the hassle of packing and unpacking each night to explore the sights. I’m sure that with more experience we’ll get better at picking our excursions. Today was probably not a good choice, but with the overcast skies, nothing would have compensated for dismal weather. From a distance, we did get to see Diocletian’s Palace where Game of Thrones was filmed. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the walled city of Dubrovnik where The History Channel’s Knightfall was produced. I thought the city of Split was named for the fact that the former country of Yugoslavia was “dissected” into Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Slovenia. Instead, it was apparently named after a weed called the broom plant.

I’m hoping that red skies at sunset mean blue skies tomorrow. Tonight’s magic show on the ship’s main stage was a disappointment, but that did not deter from the magic that we’re about to experience in Dubrovnik, Kotor, Korfu, Santorini, and Athens. We’ve had one extra day at sea at the expense of Slovenia, as well as snow in Amsterdam and Venice, but we remain confident that this will all end on a positive note. Red sky equals delight!