Med Cruise: Olympia

Our final stop on the cruise was a small resort town in Greece called Katakolon (or Katakolo, as I've since seen it spelled. I still can't pronounce it). Once again we signed up for an official excursion, this time to see the ruins at Olympia.

We boarded our bus for the 30 minute drive to the archaeological site and museum. The scenery along the drive proved more depressing than anything. Thanks to the depression in Greece there were more closed store-fronts than open ones (on a Thursday morning). Most of what we drove past looked abandoned. And then there was the garbage. Our tour guide told us that the garbage collectors had been on strike for four months. The result of which was piles of garbage everywhere you looked.

The museum, being a museum, was better maintained. It was a lot of fun walking around the site and looking at all the ruins. Even if I couldn't understand most of what our guide was saying. The whole place was a bit like a college campus, with dorms, the restaurant, and the gym. It was fun to learn about the early history of the Olympics, and to at least see the site where one of the seven wonders used to be. The statue of Zeus has long-since been destroyed.

We also got to go to a museum that housed most of the statues and artifacts that had been dug up on site. I essentially abandoned our group at this point in favor of looking at things on my own. And also because the echoy feedback on my radio was giving me a headache.

After the museum we were given a whopping 30 minutes in the city of Olympia which was almost enough time to order and drink a beer. I had to abandon the food I'd ordered, though. Then it was back to the ship, where we arrived not too long before departure. Kevin had wanted to check out the beach in Katakolon, but there wasn't enough time. The excursion filled our window entirely.

As cool as Olympia was, this was easily my least favorite port. Between a sub-par tour guide, a lack of free time, and the depressing background of Greece, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Med Cruise: Santorini

Santorini is a gorgeous island off the coast of Greece. It's a volcano, and I believe that it's still active. But it's clearly past it's prime. In fact, it's the volcano that some people believe is responsible for the sinking of Atlantis. So it's old.

The island that people live on is essentially a large crescent, with high cliffs. The cruise ships stop between these cliffs and the crater. We had to get on a smaller boat that took us to the docks. Then it was up the cable car to the actual town of Fira, which has lots of hotels and restaurants and shops. The shops are open whenever there's a cruise ship around and closed whenever there isn't, which tells you all you need to know about the economy.

We didn't have a ton of time in Santorini because we slept late on the day we visited. We had opted not to do an excursion for this one, and that may have been a mistake. It would have been fun to visit the volcano or see the other towns. As it was, we spent some time wandering around, shopped a bit, and got drinks and calamari at a cafe before heading back to the ship. Hardly a bad day.

The main excitement came from ascending and descending the cliffs. We decided to take the cable car up because it was easier. Though waiting on the stairs for it to arrive left me feeling dizzy. The steps were steep and I was accustomed to being on the boat, so I spent most of the wait half-convinced that I was gonna topple down the stairs. Kevin didn't help. But once we got in the gondola I was fine.

We had enough time at the end of the day that we decided to walk down. There are also donkeys that you can ride up or down the paths, but everyone told us not to do that. It seems that there was some sort of incident recently, possibly involving a death. Avoiding the donkeys was fine by me. Or it would have been, had it been possible.

The path down was a series of gently descending switchbacks. And every so often a train of donkeys would pass you either coming or going. The trail was wide enough for everyone, but the donkeys wandered all over the place. Twice I ended up pressed against a wall with a donkey coming straight at me and the guide telling me not to move. Both times the donkey swerved away from me at the last second, but it was still terrifying. I can only imagine how much scarier it would be to actually ride one. No one looked like they had good grips or proper seats.

Still the day was fun, and Santorini is gorgeous. Extremely picturesque. It's like something out of a fantasy novel with all the bright white buildings clinging to the cliff sides. I didn't get any pictures, because I was too busy admiring the view, but you should definitely google some.

Med Cruise: Ephesus

The Ephesus tour was one of the official excursions we signed up for on the cruise. Ephesus is about a 30-minute drive from the town we docked in (Kusadasi, which is basically a resort town dependent entirely on tourism), and it was easier to go through Royal Caribbean than try to figure out how to get there on our own. The paid excursion ended up being a pretty great deal.

Royal Caribbean is amazingly efficient at breaking up these huge excursion groups. They assign everyone a number on check-in and that becomes your bus/group for the day. Groups leave almost as soon as they fill up, so everything ends up nicely staggered. The tour included some maps and brochures, a little trinket, and a bottle of water. And we had a great tour guide.

Ephesus itself was amazing. And while part of me wishes we'd had a bit more freedom to explore and read the signs on our own, our guide had a lot of good information. We got to see the library and an old public restroom (all the toilet seats carved along a u-shaped bench, so you were probably bumping knees with your neighbor). We weren't able to go up in the theater or a few other places that we saw people exploring. But we saw the major stuff, and made good time getting through the ruins.

After the ruins we bused over to a museum-type-thing. There was a gift store and a food court and a space where we watched a brief (staged) gladiator fight. The whole thing was possibly the silliest part of the entire trip. But there were bathrooms and I got some kabob, so it was all good.

Then we got to see a rug-making demonstration. They showed us how silk gets harvested from silkworms, then gathered and dyed. Then we got to see a woman working on a silk rug, the kind that takes 2-3 years to make. After that we were given refreshments (raki, which tastes like licorice and is not that different from Greek ouzo) and the sales pitch began. We saw about 100 carpets rolled out on the floor in front of us, demonstrating different materials, dyes, patterns, and techniques. Kevin and I escaped before the sales pitch began in earnest, but it was amazing to see all the different carpets. I'd love to buy one someday (and after seeing the process of making them, I'd gladly pay thousands of dollars), but we have nowhere to put one in our current house. Maybe the next one.

We spent some time wandering through the bazaar, and I bought a really cool serving bowl. But I hate how pushy all of the sales people are. As soon as you stop to look at something, they're on top of you, offering to cut the price and trying to convince you to buy from them. It made me walk away more often than not. I liked having a few minutes to make up my mind.

All in all we had a fantastic fay in Turkey. The excursion was well worth it, and I'm glad we had such a great tour guide. We probably could have stayed out longer, but between the heat and the pushy sales-people, I was eager to get back on the boat.

Med Cruise: Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was the city I was most excited to visit on this trip. It's the whole reason we chose the itinerary we did. My dad's been talking about this city (and Croatia in general) for years, so I knew I needed to visit eventually. We weren't able to get a ton of time in the city, but the time we did have was very nice.

There was a $12 shuttle from the boat to the old city. It ran continuously throughout the day, so we could have gone back and forth if we wanted to. But that's ultimately a little silly when you only have a handful of hours to explore. The ride over was pretty, through a very hilly community that reminded me of Pittsburgh. Though that comparison was at the top of my mind thank to my grandmother, who told me that the family settled in Pittsburgh because it reminded them so strongly of the home land.

Dubrovnik itself (well, the walled part) is surprisingly small. I suppose I shouldn't expect more from a medieval city. But it does look a lot bigger when it's pretending to be Kings Landing on Game of Thrones. There were basically three main streets running from the gate in the direction of the harbor. There were crossed by a wealth of alleys filled with cafes. There were also souvenir shops and cats everywhere.

We wandered down to the harbor, stopping in a few stores along the way. In one corner of the city we found the stairs up to the tower wall, and paid for tickets to go up and walk around. We walked all the way around, stopping to admire the view all the way. It was cool to see the city from up above it, there were lots of forgotten and/or private courtyards and gardens. And lots of cats running all over the place and playing with each other.

After our walk we went to one of the cafes on the water. I got a glass of wine (sold as 0.15 liter) and a plate of smoked ham (the kind you can't get in America). Kevin got a beer and some fish soup. Then it was time for souvenir shopping. And just as it began to rain we hopped back on the bus for the ship.

The visit was short but sweet. It'd be nice to go back some day and spend more time in Dubrovnik (and Croatia in general). But we made the most of the time we did have. I feel like we saw what we most wanted to.

Med Cruise: On the Boat

At noon on Saturday we picked up our bags from our hotel and walked over to the boat. The walk was a bit longer than we'd anticipated, and the check-in process was pretty lengthy. But we got on the boat just before 1, right when the staterooms opened up. So we were able to drop our stuff in the room before going up to the buffet to get lunch. Then we explored a bit before falling asleep. We napped almost until the safety drill they do before the boat leaves, the first of many naps to come.

Cruising involves a lot of sleeping and drinking. At least it does the way Kevin and I do it. We got fancy cocktails on the first day and drank a bottle of champagne we'd bought in Venice. Then we paid for the beer-and-wine package. $42/day for unlimited wine and beer. It's pricey but ultimately worth it.

We had two whole days on the boat, plus all of our evenings. We spent most of that time either sitting by the pool, drinks and books in hand, or down in the bar playing trivia. We one won round of trivia, and had varying degrees of success with the others. The worst was a name that Abba song game, that I was sure my Mamma Mia pandora station would have prepared me for admirably. But we only got 3 answers right. Oh well.

We also played min golf, and Kevin attempted to teach me both ping pong and shuffleboard. We played in two Texas-Hold 'Em tournaments. I got knocked out first in the first tournament, but it was free so I didn't feel too bad. I did a little better the second time around, and Kevin got pretty far, too. But there was one guy who won every single tournament as far as I know. He was just too skilled for us to beat.

The boat screened movies every night, but the only one we watched all the way through was Batkid Begins, which was perfectly heartwarming and made me cry a lot. We also saw bits and pieces of Ant Man (again), Inside Out, and The Sixth Sense which we were wandering around the boat in the evenings. I was hoping for some good star-gazing opportunities, too, since we were in the middle of the ocean. But the boat itself was so bright we could barely see more stars than we see from our house.

We also spent a lot of time eating. There's nearly always food available on a cruise ship. And on the last night we sprung for the fancy steakhouse, which cost an extra $30 each. It was very much worth it, though. Especially since I usually expect to pay closer to $50 for a good steak. (Though Kevin points out that we were already, theoretically paying $20/day for dinner, wrapped up in the overall cost.)

Overall, the cruise was an excellent mix of relaxation and sight-seeing (more about that in future posts). It was nice to see stuff, but it was also nice to have hours at a time with nothing planned. We slept a lot, and I came home from vacation thoroughly rested, which never seems to happen. One night I even slept for twelve hours, which I haven't done in years. It helped that we had a perfectly dark interior state-room. Although the lack of a clock was disorienting. All we had was my Fitbit, and I could never remember whether we were 6 or 7 hours ahead (we switched time zones on the ship), especially in the middle of the night. It all worked out for the best, though.

We're already talking about going on more cruises in the future. I loved this vacation so much. The boat was maybe a bit crowded at times (especially on the rainy days) and I had a hard time staying hydrated (which happens every time I go on vacation), but I had such a perfectly relaxing time that I'm eager to repeat it soon. Though next time we'll probably look for a cruise that departs from Baltimore or NYC, to save on travel time and hassle.

Med Cruise: Venice

We got off to a rocky start in Venice. The airport is about a thirty minute drive from the city. And even though we landed late, we decided to get a hotel in the city to make the next day easier. There was one bus that ran a bit after midnight that we figured we had a 50/50 chance of catching. We did make it to the stop about 15 minutes before the bus arrived, but there was only one kiosk selling tickets. A couple of befuddled men spent a solid ten minutes attempting to buy tickets while the rest of us waited impatiently in line. Consequently, they were the only ones who were able to take the bus when it arrived. We ended up splitting a taxi with another couple, which wasn't too much more expensive, when all was said and done.

There aren't many roads in Venice, so the taxi dropped us off in the Piazzale Roma, the main bus depot. Luckily (well more because we planned this halfway decently) this was only a ten minute walk to our hotel, which in turn was a ten-minute walk to the port where we'd get on the boat the next day. We found it pretty easily, only to discover that they had given away our hotel room to someone else. I half thought that this was simply because we arrived so late, at nearly one in the morning. I could understand assuming that we weren't coming. But it had more to do with a befuddled desk clerk who spent twenty minutes trying to figure out what had happened before offering us another room at a deep discount. The room itself was tiny, but it had a bed and a shower. By the time we got there, that was all I cared about.

The next morning the plan was to wander round Venice until it was time to get on the boat. We woke up early, long before anything was actually open. But it gave us a chance to see the city while it was still pretty quiet. It was fun to wander along the nearly empty streets and squares. When the city started waking up, we got some cash and found some tea and water. Then we decided to walk until we found the ocean. All in all we probably explored half of the city that morning. I got in 20,000 steps before we even got on the boat at noon.

After the cruise, we had another full day in Venice. We were smarter this time and purchased a day pass for the water-bus, Venice's public transit system. We took it down to St. Mark's Square, where we saw the sights and went inside the Basillica. All of the mosaics inside use this glittery gold tile that's really cool. It would have been amazing if the church was really lit up, but even in the low light it was fun to see the sparkles.

We decided to use our pass to ride around the city and get a sense of it. But I ended up doing more sleeping that sight-seeing. We eventually found ourselves in the northern part of the city and caught a boat over to Murano, a small island famous for its glass. We got to see a glass-blowing demonstration, which was amazing. In about five minutes the artisan we were watching made a vase and a statue of a horse. The horses were ubiquitous in the gift shops - probably because the artisan made them so quickly and so often - so we picked one up along with a couple of other souvenirs.

Then it was time for an early dinner. We found a cafe on the water, which isn't hard to do in Venice. There's a lot of water. We split a jug of wine and a plate of cured meats. Then I had a delicious spinach ravioli in gorgonzola sauce. I love a good gorgonzola sauce, and you don't see them that often, so I jumped at the chance. Our meal was somewhat plagued by pigeons and seagulls who were bold enough to peck for scraps around our table.

I'm glad we had the second day in Venice once we'd oriented ourselves and figured it out a bit. It was nice to wander around and see the sights. Although, to be honest, Venice resembles nothing so much as a massive outdoor mall. Every street we went down was packed with cafes and gift shops. The city clearly relies on tourism for much of its economy, and parts of it look very run-down. Then again, this is probably true of many cities.

Let's Do the Time Warp

There comes a point, when you are traveling a quarter of the way around the world, that you just give up trying to figure out what time it is. Your Fitbit says 10, that clock says 5. You just woke up, but now the sun is setting. A beer seems like the most reasonable solution, although you quickly discover that you are no longer as adept at combining alcohol with sleep deprivation as you were in college. When's the next flight? Do we even have a gate yet?

Kevin and I flew to Venice via Istanbul. The first leg of the journey was a red-eye with two free meals, unlimited free alcohol, and a staggering amount of free television and movies. I watched Book of Life during dinner and Mad Max during breakfast. Between the two I watched a few episodes of the ill-fated A to Z because the mother was in it and a sitcom seemed like an appropriate thing to drift off to. I think I slept for two or three hours. Kevin slept for less. We arrived in Istanbul for our five-hour layover bedraggled and scrambled.

The Istanbul airport is enormous, although it did not seem that way at first. Off the plane we were ushered into a fairly small, overly bright, incredibly dingy waiting area with only one bathroom. Half the stalls were backed up, there was a distinct lack of toilet paper, and even the line for the men's room snaked out into the lobby. We made the best of it then decided to go in search of a better bathroom, which we thankfully found.

Once there I managed to make myself feel somewhat more human. I'd had enough foresight to pack some dry shampoo, deodorant, exfoliant, a toothbrush, and toothpaste in my carry on. It was actually a decent substitute for a full shower, especially since I was just going to get on another plane soon. Then we wandered around the enormous mall inside the international terminal in the Istanbul airport and found a place to get a beer.

We went in search of our gate much too early. Five hours is an incredibly long layover time. But we did eventually make it on to the next plane. They served us dinner again, which I ate even though I couldn't decide whether or not I was hungry. The second flight was just long enough for them to screen Ant Man, which I watched while listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on my tablet. They didn't really mesh, but I can tell you that the movie looks pretty ridiculous.

Flying home was the same thing in reverse, with a shorter layover, and day and night reversed. On the way to Venice the sun was up about 4 hours that I knew of. On the way home it rose as we were boarding the first flight and didn't set after we'd gotten our bags in Dulles. My point is that trans-continental travel is not so different from time-travel. Everything all goes to hell, and you just have to hope you can readjust to the new clock quickly enough to get back to life.

By the time I fell into my bed, I'd been awake for a solid 22 hours (not quite the 24 I'd initially calculated, but you try doing math on no sleep). The good news is that my jet lag affected me only enough that I was an hour early for work the next morning. And then I was right back on my normal schedule. Turns out my dad was right: flying west is much easier.

I'll talk catalog the rest of our vacation in the coming entries. You know, the parts you probably actually care about. But the actual act of traveling is just so surreal, I had to write about it. It's so cool to think about how small the world has gotten, that we can make the trip from DC to Venice in less than a day, even when you account for time changes (we took off at 11:30 pm DC time and landed at 11:20 pm Venice time). And it's astounding the things we put up with to do this. The searches and tiny seats and smelly bathrooms and complete lack of personal space. There have been some new horrendous plans put forward recently for mashing more people on an airbus. Perhaps you've seen the honeycomb seating and the two-level ones. Personally, I'm hoping that they just start stacking us in cubbies that we'd at least be able to lie down in, a la The Fifth Element.