May 9 - 11, 2024: Greece Trip - Days 7, 8, and 9

Thursday May 9th - Day 7:

We left Velos heading back to Athens to board a ship for a tour of several Greek islands. On the trip we stopped to visit Thermopylae, a major Greek battle site. Here is a monument of a Spartan soldier at the site. 

This hill is where the major battle took place. We did not climb up it for the view.

This monument to Nike is in the memorial park as well. Nike is the Goddess who personifies Victory.

Due to the long bus ride we stopped at a commercial rest area for a bathroom break, coffee, snack, etc. All rest areas are commercial operations. I took this picture of buses parked.  Ours was the white one. At all the rest stops fresh pomegranate juice is offered. It is an unsweetened drink which is good for your health and quite tasty.  Europeans are not dependent on corn syrup sugar in recipes like Americans so sweet items taste differently.

Next to the rest stop there is a ramp which leads down to a pedestrian tunnel which goes under the highway. Obviously Americans don't have the corner on litter or graffiti. I don't think it is used very often by pedestians or bicycle riders.

Back in Athens at 5:00 p.m. we had a meeting with our guide for the cruise portion of the tour, Korina. After the meeting we all hopped on the bus for a trip to the marina for a nice super at one of the restaurants there. The marina area is the new up and becoming "hip" area of Athens for people to eat, drink, and socialize. Here is a picture as we walked to our restaurant. Lots of restaurants and people sitting by the harbor enjoying a beautiful evening.

Moored at this marina are dozens of multi-million dollar yachts like I had never seen before.  Our tour guide said most are there all year and are only used a couple of weeks each summer. The mooring costs are thousands of dollars per month all year long. 

We walked around the dock to look at a few yachts up close. Annie liked this one because it had two stairwells up the back. The gangplank is raised so that no one can come aboard. Some yachts had garages in the back that housed dinghies, motorbikes, jet skis, bicycles, etc.

It was now time for dinner. Most of the group were seated at a long table but the four of us were lucky to be able sit at a separate table for four. The food and service were both outstanding. We started with a toast with the wine provided.

Here are a couple of pictures of our meal. We had wine, Greek salad, and bread to begin the meal. There was olive oil for the bread and, Tzatziki, a delicious sauce made of yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, olive oil, onions, and garlic. For appetizers we had a plate of mushrooms and a late of shrimp. Sea Bream fish, which are only available in this area, with rice was the main course. Dessert was a lemon cake with ice cream on top. What a meal!

Back on the ship we had an overnight cruise to the island of Mykonos. 

Friday, May 10th - Day 8:

When we reached Mykonos it was too windy to drop anchor so we docked and met up with our local tour guide and bus awaiting us for the trip to town. Mykonos means Island of Wind. The island has a population of 10,000 and is known by the Greeks as the "party island". Before reaching the town we stopped for a few pictures at a sandy beach where the locals hang out. You can see the city across the bay. Notice the houses are all white. We learned that initially they whitewashed the doorways to disinfect the area. As time went on the entire house was painted white. Since 1936 all houses must be painted white.

Upon reaching the city our local guide took us on a walking tour. It was extremely windy making it difficult to walk at times. Like the other cities we visited it has street after street of shops and restaurants. One stop was at the Panagia Tourliani Monastery.

The building was quite impressive and is still being used. In fact we couldn't go in because a service was taking place. An interesting feature of this building is the chute on the side of the building over the door. This was used to pour boiling olive oil on invaders trying to enter. This feature was often used on castles but rarely on monasteries. A tough bunch of monks back then.

 

Drinking water is in short supply on all of the Greek islands. Houses are built with flat roofs to collect rain water. The water is piped to a cistern under the patio. The picture below is of a patio with a raised access point for retrieving water using a hand crank, rope, and a bucket.  

It was so windy that after a while we weren't enjoying the walking tour. We retreated to a seaside Taverna which had wind protection but was still breezy. We each ordered an adult beverage. With the drinks came complementary peanuts in a sealed box. We hadn't seen that before. A nice touch.

A picture of the ship as we walked back to board for the evening.

Once back on the ship we had a late supper at 9:30 p.m. As we got in bed the ship pulled out for an overnight cruise to Kusadasi, Turkey. Once at sea the ship really started rocking with the high winds. A few times my feet were higher than my head. The frappe we had earlier in the evening was a mistake because I had a terrible time getting to sleep. We had to be up at 5:00 a.m. to get breakfast before our early excursion into Turkey. 

Saturday, May 11th - Day 9:

In the morning we woke up moored in the Port of Kusadasi. After breakfast we disembarked and boarded a bus for a trip to visit the excavations at Ephesus, which have exposed Greek, Roman, and Byzantine influences in the city over the centuries.  Ephesus dates back 4000 years and to be there was a mind altering experience. We walked on the same marble roads that the Ephesians walked on 4,000 years ago. This site was definitely a major highlight of the trip.

The city was absolutely palatial in every way. The intricate carvings in marble were almost too much to believe possible so many centuries ago.

 

This tall building was the library. It contained 12,000 scrolls, all of which were burned by the Persians when they invaded. Luckily, the Persians transcribed them before they destroyed them. The Persians tried to destroy all things Greek when they invaded.

The detail carving on the marble columns and ceiling was simply amazing.

The walk down the main thoroughfare had to be quite impressive back then because it certainly is today even though in ruins.  We learned that Anthony and Cleopatra strolled here on their honeymoon!!

The Ephesians had many bath houses such as the one pictured here. A musician sat on a raised platform in the corner and played music while you bathed. Men and women bathed at different times of the day. The water was constantly refreshed.

They had flush toilets and a plumbing system throughout the city using clay pipes  4,000 years ago!

St. Paul came to Ephesus to preach the gospel but they wouldn't let him. So from there he wrote "The Letters to the Ephesians".  St. Paul was also run out of Athens after he spoke on the rock near the Acropolis.  It seems the Greeks were not ready to forego their Gods and Goddesses quite yet. I never imagined that one day I would walk the streets where one of the Apostles walked. The ruins clearly displayed a city that was absolutely magnificent in many ways. Here are a couple of pictures of the huge stadium on the edge of the city and the wide street lined with columns that led to it. I think our guide said it sat 60,000 people.

A number of men were working on its restoration the day we were there.

 

Visiting the ruins at Ephesus was an experience that seeped into my bones. It was awe inspiring in every way. 

Upon leaving we were warned that we would be going through a market area with lots of hawkers and beggars. While they were everywhere in the market area, they weren't as pushy as I had imagined. What a difficult way to earn a living. It is expected in Turkey that you never pay the first price. You negotiate for what you are willing to pay for an item. I'm not good at that so I avoided doing it.

We boarded the bus and headed to see how Turkish rugs were made.  Turkish rugs are unique because of the triple knot method they use. At one time there were 4,800 women making rugs in the country. Now there are only about 1,600. There were a couple of women working on rugs as we entered the building. They can only work for fifteen minutes at a time and then they must give their eyes a rest. They work from a pattern picture, which is located above the loom and below the spools of colored silk thread.

Here are some rugs hanging up as we walked into the building. The colors were impressive.

In the building the proprietor showed us how a highly skilled worker gathers silk from the silk worms. The worms are alive in the bowl. We could see them wiggling. The worker dips a special bristle brush into the worms very lightly and the silk from their shells sticks to it and he slowly unwinds the silk with his delicate touch.

The silk is then threaded on to a drum and the drum is then turned to spin the strings of silk.

After this demonstration we went inside the shop to see hundreds of rugs for sale. The owner provided wine and Ouzo, a Greek anise-flavored liqueur, to loosen you up, hopefully to get you in the buying mood. We were told there would be no pressure to buy but dozens of men were were throwing rugs on the floor for you to view and milling around the room. If you appeared to like something one of them approached you about buying it. Thereafter he followed you around the shop trying to make a deal. The variety of colors and patterns were simply amazing. They invited you take off your shoes and feel the silk fibers. I took off my shoes for the experience. I must say, it felt wonderful under foot.

Here are some rugs hanging on the walls, rolled up, and folded along the walls.

I was a little curious how 1,600 women across the entire country could weave all of these rugs, each of which took months, if not years, to complete. It seemed a little fishy. The cheapest rug I saw was 5,000 Euros.

This rug changed colors from one direction to the other. It took the woman who wove it four years to complete it. You could buy it for a mere 45,000 Euros including free shipping back to the U.S.

From here we continued our bus tour to the town of Patmos, Greece. We had a steep walk up from the bus lot to the town area. The houses again are all white and are separated by narrow "streets" not much wider than a sidewalk. One of the main purposes of these narrow passages is to shade the houses. All over Greece there are cats roaming around freely. Like the dogs I mentioned earlier, no one owns these cats but everyone sees to it that they are fed and kept in good health. A long-standing tradition in Greece and Turkey.

Many houses had this symbol over the doorway. It was said to protect the home. 

The number 39 stenciled on the lintel is the street address. While houses have an address mail is not delivered to the individual houses. The mail is brought to the square and the names of those with mail are called out. This apparently works for a small town with narrow, winding streets.

This building has a sitting area with a large pot on it. It was pointed out by our guide that this was clearly not a home owned by a Greek. A Greek would never sit out in the sun like that. The building was obviously owned by a foreigner, as are many other homes, because the Greeks can no longer afford to buy them.

Most homes could only be reached by climbing many, many steps. We were told that the foreigners brought in the idea of "home delivery" so they did not have to carry groceries, etc. home. Money talks.

The largest building in the town, the monastery, which is still the home to a number of monks, was on the highest point. The large bells are now only rung on special occasions.

When our tour was completed we were treated to a frappe and sweet roll at one of the restaurants on the town square. From there we carefully walked down the steep incline to where the bus was parked. From there we headed back to the ship. 

Another informative and truly awesome day.