Category: 2016 Mediterranean Cruise

Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area, 12 kilometres (7 miles) southwest from its city center (municipality of Athens), and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Athens is well known for the Acropolis, but we decide to take an excursion to the Corinth Canal. “This 19^th-century engineering marvel cuts through sheer rock, dividing the narrow causeway that links the Peloponnesus with the Greek mainland. Carved into a massive rock, the 76-foot wide and 26-foot deep canal dramatically separates the Peloponnese from the rest of mainland Greece. Before the Corinth Canal was constructed, ships had to sail all the way around the Peloponnese, adding 185 nautical miles and several extra days to the journey.” Our journey to the canal was 90 minutes and fortunately, it was a Saturday morning drive with not the usual heavy peak hour traffic of a normal Athens week.

Our highway took us along the rocky coves of the Saronic Gulf to Isthmia where we boarded a motor launch for our journey along history. Interestingly, at each end of the canal is a roadway that crosses the canal but when ships or boats pass the bridge, the bridge actually submerges for the watercraft to pass over. Along the canal, four or five other bridges cross 26-foot above. We could have had a rather boring local tour guide but we were blessed to have someone who ‘should have been my history teacher’. She made history worth having by using stories of the day to explain why the landscape of today is like it is. Her knowledge of greek methology mixed with history helped make what could have been a laborious excursion, one which has been a highlight to us. When you saw her trying to hold all the tips she received from other guests, you knew others appreciated her guiding, experience and information too.

After returning to the ship for lunch, Lyn and I needed faster WiFi than was available in the shipping terminal so took a walk off the port to enjoy some ice-cream at a café looking over the busy port, to meet our internet needs; sorry to everyone that I was four days behind in our posts. They all came through in a short period of time.

Athens was the end of the cruise for over 2600 passengers and so there were over 2600 new passengers to be processed ready for boarding. Lyn and I watched the last few get on board from our Deck 15 suite. Would you believe just as they were about to bring the gangway onto the ship, a taxi raced towards the ship from the entrance gate 500 metres away with two passengers needing to be processed right at the gangway. The ship’s staff must be very patient people, not like myself when the clock is involved, or silly people trying to ‘break’ my rules, hahahaha!

Tomorrow we visit the beautiful island of Santorini; the favourite of many visitors in the past.

If a person has anything in them, travel will bring it out.

Santorini, classically Thera is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast of Greece’s mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km² (28 sq mi) and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km² (34.990 sq mi). Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit.

Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic eruption that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by 7 km (7.5 by 4.3 mi), is surrounded by 300 m (980 ft) high, steep cliffs on three sides. The main island slopes downward to the Aegean Sea. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arriving into Santorini, we prepared for bad weather – again. After a quick breakfast, and a tender transfer to the island, it was a trip up the cliff face in a cable car and to find the car hire company that Lindley had organised for the day’s adventure. The alternative mode of transport up the cliff is by donkey but they have a habit of leaving you with smelly clothes for the day. They are not the gentle kind of beast one would like between their legs either.

Lindley had never driven on the right hand side of the road so I’m sure he was happy for our help, “keep me near the gutter” although, that didn’t help when we passed one rubbish bin and found the right hand rear vision mirror facing a different direction than it was meant to be. Long grass on the side of the road, was often mown down by that same mirror. It is not known if any side walkers suffered the same peril.

You know when you hire a car in most countries, the attendant asks that you bring it back full of fuel? Well, our guy asked us to bring it back almost empty, because “it is almost empty anyway”. Obvious to the educated, we purchased fuel at the first service station; 10 euro worth. Fuel is much more expensive here, up to twice the prices in Australia per litre – why do we complain about fuel prices?

We found a beach area away from the main town and walked along what becomes a very busy resort in the high season. Cafes side-by-side all along the foreshore, each with a perfect Mediterranean view of the ocean and black sandy rock between. No one seems to enjoy lying on the ‘sand’ so beach lounges are provided to make money out of the tourists. We stopped by a café for 60 minutes or so to soak up the atmosphere and rest a little before trying to find some ruins that Lindley had taken note of while doing his research back home. We paid 3.50 euros for the car park and then baulked at the entrance fee of 12.00 euro. Fortunately we did bypass the ruins as it gave us much more time at a village at the other end of the island, the village of Oiu.

Just near the ruins was the “Red Beach”. If you take a look at the photos, you will work out why it is called “Red Beach”. (But then my guess is that more people just look at the photos and don’t worry about the ‘written word’ anyway. Why am I writing this?)

Narrow roadways, with huge coaches to pass and overtake, at times, made driving even more tedious for Lindley but he managed well – we are still around to tell the tale. (He did ask us if our life insurance was paid up before we took over the car – why worry about life insurance if you’re gone any way – such a kind guy. Oiu, like most of the villages on Santorini, is perched on the top of cliff faces. I’m not sure how the rates are calculated or how the council guarantees “you can build your house there but there is no surety the house wont end up in the ocean in the middle of ‘a’ night”.

Quaint shops line each side of the narrow pathways. The buildings are generally painted white with blue window shutters and doors; similar to Mykonos. Of course, the obligatory photo of Santorini includes a church with its blue dome roof – of which, there are many to choose from.

I collect patches to have sewn on my ‘photographers vest’. This town is one of the most difficult to shop in for patches. However, I do manage to find one but not really to my liking. I kept trying and finally in the last laneway we walked for the day, we found a really smart patch at last. Lyn H, I have another 13 patches that need your attention.

After returning the rental car, which Lindley was worried my navigational skills would not lead us to, it was time for a quick look around the main town of Fira and to test out the gelatos before boarding the cable car for the transfer to the ship.

After a later dinner than normal, we thought we would try the “Jazz and Jive” dancing lesson. The facts are now confirmed that Lyn and I are not born to dance and have withdrawn from this year’s edition of ‘Dancing With The Stars’. That, I am sure, you will all be pleased about. Well, we are anyway.

On our way back to our cabin for the night, a “Do not say YES or NO” show was being recorded to be played back in our staterooms for tomorrow. So we stopped by. Many of the contestants were surprised that they used the ‘not allowed’ words so easily when asked not to. It was good entertainment.

Tomorrow, we are at Sea for the day before, arriving at the port of Kotor, Montenegro.

Even the shortest journey expands the world.

Kotor is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of Kotor Municipality.

The old Mediterranean port of Kotor is surrounded by fortifications built during the Venetian period. It is located on the Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), one of the most indented parts of the Adriatic Sea. Some have called it the southern-most fjord in Europe, but it is a ria, a submerged river canyon. Together with the nearly overhanging limestone cliffs of Orjen and Lovcen, Kotor and its surrounding area form an impressive and picturesque Mediterranean landscape. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kotor is a port we knew nothing about. Now, it is definitely on the must-do-list to advise people to include in their Mediterranean Cruise itinerary. I had heard of Montenegro and didn’t quite know where it was, or ‘what’ it was for that matter. Apparently, it is one of the states that broke away from the original Yugoslavia not that many years ago. There is no evidence of a vibrant export economy and so the tourist becomes their bread and butter.

We entered the harbour at around 4:00am – I saw the pilot make 6 attempts to board our vessel – to start the long but very scenic cruise into the fjord. Although, cloud prevented seeing the real beauty of the area, we agreed that we had ‘come the wrong day’ to experience that, but we were not to go home unrewarded; more about that later. Our ship finally became ready for ‘tender transfer’ around 7:30am and there was a 20 minute slow-boat ride up the fjord and into the medieval town of Kotor. Once off the wharf, we were confronted with cab drivers offering ‘the best scenic trip around the fjord’. Our first goal was to get to a café for the obligatory cappuccino or ‘glass of water’ for Lyn, while we ‘serviced’ our internet needs.

One of our fellow travellers has had their Cash Passport compromised (which means emptied out), how, we cannot work out yet, but this is the first occurrence we have experienced this since Cash Passport replaced travellers cheques years ago. So we needed to organise alternative arrangements for them to continue ‘spending tourist euros’ on their holiday. Again, ‘where are you without your travel agent? – On your own’. The count is up to 4 times for this trip and we still have more than a week to go. Thanks Sharon, back at the office, and Princess Cruises, for upgrading Lyn to Platinum status to give her 150 minutes of internet time, for helping with the issues that have come along the way.

Lindley, in his research, had found a ‘walk’ up the side of the mountain behind Kotor, was worth the 1350 steps to climb. So “let’s do it”. The streets of the old town part of Kotor are like many other streets in Europe, narrow alleyways of cobblestones without vehicles, but lots of tourists. We make our way to the starting point of the climb and pay 3 euro to punish our bodies by walking many cobblestones on the side of a steep hill and up the 1350 or so stairs (Lindley counted them, would you believe – must be a maths teacher’s son.) The walk follows the walls of a fortress. The fortress was closed around the 13^th and 14^th centuries. When you have reached the Castle of St John, you have made it to the top; around 260 metres up the side of the escarpment.

When you view the photos, you will realise that, yes, the walk was well worth it. I didn’t count the switchbacks (my dad wasn’t a maths teacher) but each provided a ‘landing point’ from which to take in a magnificent vista of the fjord. The town had European red tiled rooves to keep the view consistent, and the guy at the entrance point made good money without much work involved – not like us Trojans who made the effort with tired feet and calves to show for venture. Going up was easy for me but harder on Lyn but coming down was easier for Lyn with my knees getting to the ‘jelly’ stage half way down the difficult descent.

After a quick look around the old town, we made our way back to the tender pick up point for the 20-minute journey back to Royal Princess. The clouds above seemed to be loaded with rain ready to fall and then the lightening and thunder came along. Prior to boarding, we were drenched with a quick shower while sitting on top of the tender vessel.

After lunch and while finding a good spot to ‘say good bye’ to the lovely village of Kotor and the beauty of the fjord, all the clouds did what they should do and ran away. Now we had a great atmosphere for our departure; warmth, sunshine and blue skies. The scene rivalled that of Scandinavia in its own way. Locals lined the vantage points as we made our way through narrow portions of the fjord and the ship often sounded off its musical horn sequence to show the viewers how ‘powerful’ Royal Princess is. Being considered one of the large ships of the ocean, the Royal Princess certainly would be something to watch sailing past so close to the coastal hugging roadways.

Our legs were screaming from the hill climb and a spa was in order. Fortunately, most of the guests had already left the pool deck for dinner and we were able to secure a spot in a spa for 30 minutes and a quick pizza before the evening shows. Tonight was a comedian from Yorkshire. I had heard many of her jokes in other places but her singing was top class – similar to Cilla Black or Dusty Springfield.

Tomorrow is a sea day and then into Messina on the island of Sicily.

No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.

Messina is the capital of the Italian province of Messina. It is the 3rd largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 252,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the province. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland, and has close ties with Reggio Calabria. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We arrived into Messina around 7:30am with a Sicily band and dance group to welcome us. There were two horses with carts ready to take passengers, one or two at a time, around the town. “Now this is going to take a long time if all the 3,600 passengers decide to do the same excursion.” A guy in the band started playing a piccolo and one of the horses started to get a little agitated and needed a few guys to control it from breaking reins. It was dressed up in a local ‘horse’ costume. The costume was coming off a little. The other horse just stood there looking calm and relaxed and kept doing his thing like a good horse should. After the performers had finished their dancing, we noticed some guys loading one of the horse carts onto a trailer. They then loaded the horse and had the horse’s head hanging over into the cart. Until then, we hadn’t realised that the horse was plastic and could be told what to do, and would obey, for long periods, without being confused as to what it “should” be doing. Both of us got a bit of a giggle from that. Could it be called a Senior’s Moment?

Today, Denise and Brian, Tony and Lynore, arrived in beautiful Messina, Sicily. “We were surprised how close to mainland Italy we were. Soon after arrival, we departed on an excursion to Taormina, Green Theatre, and Corso Umberto to do some shopping.

“We spent the next 40 minutes climbing through tunnel after tunnel (ed. They were in a coach). As we exited every tunnel, a new and spectacular view of a gorge or the Ionian Sea was before us to enjoy. On arrival, we then had to use an elevator instead of climbing the 7 levels to enter the town. Taormina is a classical medieval style village (aren’t all of them?) with a main narrow street that winds through arcades in walls and transverses 3 very different squares leading off from the main corso. There are even narrower streets heading up and down including the ‘narrowest street in Europe”. It was about 600mm wide; just wide enough for a man to pass through between the buildings.

“There are also many interesting churches and an ancient palace now used as a municipal office.

“At the end of the corso is an ancient Greek theatre from 200BC. It is in better condition than the Colosseum in Rome but much smaller. Still in use today, there are many concerts held here from classical to rock. The views are even more spectacular from up there.” Thanks Brian. It sounds like an excursion with a difference.

Jennifer and Kath had a ‘wonderful’ experience standing at the lip of the ‘living’ volcano of Mount Etna. “We were at 6,000 feet above sea level and learnt about the lava flows that last occurred in 1992. Mount Etna was very “vocal”, talking away to us, while we walked around the lip. It even gave us a parting shot as we returned down the mountain, by blowing even more smoke and ash into the sky. We were so glad to be able to be part of this experience.” Climbing into a volcano is an interesting addition to your adventures on this trip, Jennifer and Kath. I remember climbing into the volcano in Rabaul PNG before it blew up and changed the whole region of that beautiful town and harbour. Smoke and a pungent smell were billowing up out of the centre of the crater as we climbed right down into the centre of it.

A few notes on a tour Kevin, Jan and Lorraine had today.

“After negotiating the chaos of the Messina traffic, the coach headed south west on a motorway towards the base of Mt Etna. The motorway ran through many tunnels and whatever the speed limit was, our driver added at least 10km on.

“Mt Etna came into view about two thirds along the way but was covered in cloud and smoke, taking photos was fairly useless.

“We stopped at a hotel in the village of Zafferana where we were offered cake, coffee and local wine tasting.

“Leaving from here the tour took us to the edge of the most recent lava flow back in 1992 which was about 7 km away from the crater.

“You could not see the actual mountain but you could see smoke and hear it rumbling, a bit scary!

“The local story is that Mother Mary stopped the lava flow, if she had not, the town of Zafferana could have been destroyed.

“After a few more rumbles from the mountain and some samples of local honey we set off back to the ship.”

Lindley’s day.

“My tour today took me to Mt Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in Europe. And today, it was certainly putting on a show, with smoke billowing from the top. There was no risk to life and limb though as they say the volcanologists can tell a month ahead of time when it is going to “go off”. The last major episode was back in 2002.

We had a wander around some older craters – from an 1892 episode – which was all very interesting, but it was blowing a gale, and staying upright with both the wind, and “slippery” lava-based footing was a challenge.

On the way home we called at the little town of Taormina, which was a typical older European town, with its narrow streets and laneways. One of its claims to fame is a Greek theatre, although as with many of these things, it is difficult to know what is original and what has been supplemented.

A good time was had.”

Thanks guys – much appreciated.

Tomorrow, our day takes us to Naples again where we plan to take a quick ferry to Capri – the place of the rich and famous with the ‘others’ there to look.

No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.