Istanbul to Athens

When I saw the itinerary for this cruise on the NCL Jade, I thought it was going to be interesting. I had no idea how interesting it would be. We touched 3 continents in 12 days. What Prince Henry The Navigator of Portugal would have said if he could have sailed that far in such a short time.
Istanbul is the only city that spans 2 continents. Crossing the man-made bridge from Europe to Asia is an everyday event. What's the big deal? It's not a big deal there, but now that I'm 11 time zones and several thousands miles away, it is a huge leap. East and West meet in Instanbul. The spice bazaar has been selling goods for hundreds if not thousands of years! The stories that Bazaar could tell.

Our next stop was Izmir which reminded me of it's ancient Roman past. The Agora (or mall) is there attesting to a thriving market economy.

The Greek Islands in the Cyclades: Mykonos and Santorini, were our next 2 stops. Mykonos, which is said to be most beautiful, was bleak to us. Later we discovered that bleakness is what makes it beautiful. It's all in the eyes of the beholder. Santorini, however is beautiful. As in Mykonos, the houses are whitewashed, but it has the look of prosperity that makes it more inviting. It also has a marvelous bay, the result of a huge volcanic eruption in 1632 BC.

Africa was the third continent we touched by making landfall at Alexandria, Egypt. This was our first time to step on Africa, our seventh continent (a milestone event for me). Alexandria. another ancient city, was founded by Alexander The Great about 2000 years ago. It's old, dirty, a human anthill, with lots and lots of people, cars, donkeys, horses, and noise that makes a city a city. I would not want to get lost on the narrow streets that lead to who knows where. Watching our bus driver maneuver his way through the rabbit-warren of streets was a white knuckle experience. It seems that signals and orderly lanes of traffic are mere suggestions to follow or not, as the driver sees fit. As in Lima or Buenos Aires, the traffic flows at a great pace and we did not see any accidents. I have no idea why.

In Egypt, every tourist bus travels caravan-style, one after the another. Each bus has an armed guard too. At random points along the way, the bus is stopped and the driver talks to an "inspector" and soon the guard leaves the bus and joins the conversation; papers are signed; then the guard comes back in the bus and on we go until we arrive at our destination or we are stopped at another inspection point. Since all commerce is done is Arabic, who knows what is said. Based on what was going on outside the bus, not too many people were willing to venture out on their own.

We took a shore excursion to El Alamein, about 65 miles from Alexandria. It is the site of the pivotal battle in World War 2, where Rommel was defeated by Montgomery. The 10 day battle claimed 45,000 lives! It was horrible. It was quiet now, with 3 separate memorial parks for the British, the Germans and the the Italians. I find it hard to look at peaceful battlefield memorials without imagining the sounds and sights of war from the distant past. Looking at the graves of 22 year olds is sad business. It was interesting to look at the men and the women in our group who visited the memorials. The men were talking about the battle and the war. The women were talking about the loss of sons, husbands and brothers. I think every world leader should make a pilgrimage to several battlefield memorials and learn the lessons of the past. Is war the only way to solve our differences?

After the guards and the inspection stations of Egypt, we sailed back into Greece where we visited Crete and Corfu before touching the European mainland. We were no longer in an arid sandy place as overnight, we sailed into greener lands. Unlike the Cyclades, the Ionian islands are verdant. The hillsides are covered with olive trees and grape vines. In Crete we visited the Palace of Knossos and learned about the Labyrinth and the Minotaur and the Minoan culture.

I fell in love with the beautiful island of Corfu! I could spend a couple of weeks exploring Corfu without blinking an eye. Shear beauty. Need I say more.

The trip was winding down. The port before Athens was Katakalon, a tiny place known because it's where the ancient Olympic Games were played. We visited the first Olympic Stadium. We saw where modern Olympic torches are lit and how they are lit by the sun's rays. We saw the remains of the Temple of Zeus, another wonder of the ancient world. Alas, the famous, gold and ivory statue of Zeus, reported to be 13 meters tall, no longer exists, but we did see a re-creation of it. Seeing the birthplace of the Olympics and seeing how the Olympics have evolved, I could not help but wonder what happened? The purpose of the games have changed over the millenia. Whether for good or bad, I cannot tell, but they have changed.

The last stop was Athens. I truly don't know what I expected to see in Athens, but what I did see and experience was awesome. My first glimpse of the Acropolis took my breath away. (The Parthenon is located in the Acropolis, and Acropolis means edge of town as it's a mountain on the edge of town.)As we walked up the marble steps to the Parthenon, I could not help but think of how many Athenians, made the same journey. Then to see the Parthenon...WOW. When I looked to my left I saw the Caryatids! I had seen them in the British Museum, but here they were, right in front of me! (BTW, the Caryatids in Athens are re-creations based on the originals in the British Museum. The Parthenon was bombed in the 1600s by the Venetians, destroying the temple. When Lord Elgin came to Greece as the British Ambassador in 1800, he thought he would scoop up the marble friezes in the Parthenon and place them on his estate back in England. He "claims" he bought them from the Turks who were ruling Greece at the time. Nowadays there is controversy about the "Elgin Marbles" -- should they stay in England where they have been protected by the British Museum for 200 years; or should they be returned to their country.) No matter, it was wonderful to see these magnificent structures.

Like all adventures, they have to come to an end. After 2 days in Athens, we boarded a plane for the forever-flight home. It was only 17 hours long, but that seems like an eternity when you are sitting in a little seat 34,000 feet above Earth. Setting foot in San Francisco was good! Getting the taxi to our hotel was better. Driving home the next day was the best! It's good to be home.