Day 15: The Last Day is in Venice

The ship docked today in Venice for 24 hours.  We had arranged a tour to several of the out islands from Venice.  Everything close to Venice is an island.

 The first stop was on the island of Murano, world famous for glass blowing.  We had a glass blowing demo and then lots of browsing through the finish product.  Next we went to the island of Burano known for its brightly colored fisherman’s houses and for handmade lace.  The fishermen painted their homes in bright colors because they fished at night and the colors helped them find their homes in the dark.  (It was frowned upon to walk into the wrong house in the middle of the night.)  The third island was Torcello where we toured the Basilica of St. Maria built in the 11^th century.

Tomorrow we head for home.  This is my last blog.  If you followed us on our adventure, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Blessings, Mike Hall

Glass blowing demo.

Glass blowing finish product.

Multi colored fishermen houses on Burano.

Day 14 B: Reflection on Water Closets ("WC")

When you get older, toilets(WC as they call them in Europe and Asia) get a little more important in your life.  The countries we visited seem to place little emphasis on public restrooms.  Some of the interesting issues:

1.      Many public toilets are pay toilets at .50 Euros (or .65 USD).

2.      Many public toilets have no toilet seats (Men’s or Women’s).

3.      Tour buses stop at public restrooms and at many locations there are only one or at the most two toilets for women.  Women have to be willing to use men’s toilets at some stops.  (We almost lost Ann at one of the stops…Ann will not let me tell any more.)

4.      Twice on this trip I looked up in the men’s room and there was a female mopping the floor.

5.      On a recent trip to Amsterdam, the urinals were right out on the sidewalk…at least you did not have to pay…you would have to pay me to use one.

That is all I know on this issue.

The WC in ancient Ephesus.

At the bus station in Santorini, Greece.

On the street in Amsterdam.

Day 14:A: At Sea

This is a sailing day.  Whenever you are at sea for the whole day there are tons of free activities you can choose to participate in.  Starting at 7 AM and ending at midnight…I counted 54 activities you could get involved in.  Plus, you can always go to the gym, casino or get something to eat and those activities never shut down. 

Last night was a fun evening as the Indonesian crew put on a show for the passengers.  They took the stage to present traditional music, song and dance from their homeland.  Our waiter (Yudi”) and assistant waiter (“Sudi”) were in the show.  We sat in the front row and took lots of pictures.  At the end of the performance, they had people from the audience come on stage and play one of the traditional Indonesian music instruments.  Sudi got Barb to come up on the stage and participate.

We are on our way back to Venice.  We will arrive in Venice at noon tomorrow and spend 24 hours in port.

Barb and Sudi at Indonesian Night.

Sudi was the star of the show.

The Nieum Amsterdam in Argostoli, Greece.

Day 13: Argostoli, Greece

The island of Argostoli is a really interesting area in that it was destroyed twice.  The Germans in WW II bombed the island (for some reason) to almost total destruction.  10 years later, an earthquake took the whole town down.  After reconstruction, the town now looks fairly new.

We decided on our last day in Greece that we wanted to get a better handle on Greek culture.  We walked throughout the town and got a recommendation for the most authentic restaurant in town.  The meal was pure Greek culture: fried cheese, fried vegetables, Greek salad, smoked mackerel, grilled large sardines, Tzatziki (yogurt dip) and mullet which was the one fish caught today.  I don’t think it covered everything Greek, but as we said to the waiter, “If we missed anything, bring it.” The Greek local wine and beer helped..  

Part of the Greek lunch.

Tourists

Waiting for us in our room.

You figure: lunch.

Day 12: Santorini, Greece

When you first pull into Santorini it grabs your attention and it doesn’t let go.  It is very dynamic landscape.  It is a volcano created island with homes on the edge of sheer cliffs.  The precariousness of the place is what gives it the charm.  All of the homes are white with blue shutters and some blue roofs. 

We went from one end of the island to the other.  We wanted to swim in the Mediterranean Sea so we rode one of the island buses to one of the beaches that had volcanic ash sand (black).  Great lunch and afternoon spent on the beach.  Santorini is stunning and should not be missed if you happen to be anywhere near this area.

Santorini, built on the edge.

Mediterranean is colder than you might think.

Day 11: Ephesus, Turkey

The ancient city of Ephesus was famous for its Temple to Artemis (or Diana) which at one time was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  Today there is only one column standing out of the original 106.  The Apostle Paul lived in Ephesus for three years but they put him in prison when he was critical of the Goddess Diana.  Paul also spoke to crowds of people in the Grand Theater.  Ephesus over the years, has been knocked down and covered by earthquakes, mud and hill slides.  The government is in the process of digging out and reconstructing the city.

The Apostle John also spent time in Ephesus.  After Jesus was crucified, John brought Jesus’ mother Mary to live in Ephesus.  The Virgin Mary’s house now has a church built on the original foundation.  There is a very interesting wall outside the church where many thousands of people have attached notes to God and to Mary.  After reading some of the notes, one gets the feeling that your issues are very small compared to many others.

We went to a carpet shop and viewed the process and the finished product. Turkish carpets are some of the best in the world…we bought one.  I won’t tell how much we paid but I will just say that we made an investment.

I had some Turkish coffee today.  When I got to the end it was similar to syrup on the bottom.  I asked if people drink the stuff on the bottom of the cup.  They told me I could drink it but I probably would not get my eyes closed for three days.

Grand theater where the Apostles Paul and John spoke.

Church on top of the Virgin Mary's house.

Wall outside of the Virgin Mary's house.

Godess Nike: "Check" the Nike logo to the right of her right hand.

Day 10: Mykonos, Greece

As expected, we are beginning to eat our way out of our clothes.  Food on board is more than plentiful.  The food line never shuts down.

We arrived in Mykonos, Greece at 1PM.  This was a change in our itinerary as we were scheduled for Mytilene, Turkey but they were having serious issues with boat people from Syria.

The captain was planning to anchor the boat in the harbor and ferry the passengers to shore by “Tenders”.  Just as we arrived in Mykonos, the wind started blowing at 40 knots or approximately          45 MPH with gusts up to 50 MPH:

·        The Captain came on the P.A. and said it was too dangerous to ferry passengers by “Tender” and he cancelled the port-of-call.

·        We walked out on the pool deck just as the deck chairs started flying, the water came out of the swim pool and the pool boys ran for cover…with that going on, we headed for our cabin.

Tonight they are planning to up our food intake by scheduling a “Taste of Greece”.  There should be tons of Greek food.  I will break out my TUMS and have them ready for the morning.

Passing Mykonos with 45 MPH winds.

Check the white caps.