The Acropolis and More

Hello All:
Today we are in Corfu, Greece, but let me begin at the beginning.  We got to Athens right on schedule, with perfect weather, about 65 degrees and sunny off and on.  We had a private tour organized through Cruise Critic, and were very pleased again with all that we got for our money.  We were met at the dock and went immediately to the Acropolis.  That was a challange and a thrill.   The Acropolis sits on a very high hill, and you must climb to get up to it.  Sometimes there are steps, but mostly it is a winding path made of stones and marble, with a step every now and then.  At the top, there are real wooden steps, climbing steeply to the interior.  At that height, I was getting vertigo and didn't look down at the city, but it was spread out all over for everyone to see.  This is the highest hill in Athens!  The ruins are massive, and there is more than one area up there, so we were up for quite a while.  After seeing all there was, and believe me we took lots of pics, we went back down those stairs to the bus for a ride to the ancient Athens cemetery.  By then my knees were really sore, so I took every opportunity to sit down.  It seems those Greeks liked to build elaborately beautiful markers for the cemetery until the gov't said, no more,and they had to resort to small round pilings with only a name.  That only lasted about 5-10 years and then they were back to the gigantic monuments, all very beautiful.  We also saw a museum along the way with amazingly fine pottery from the 6th Century AD.  After the cemetery, we went to the old market, the Plaka, (the spelling is varied, but close to that).  The old market had a wealth of stalls, people sitting around, lots of dogs, and junk for sale.
[Our guide told us the 18-25 year olds are 50% out of work, so they are lazing around all over and covering everything, and I mean everything, with graffiti.  It was amazing to see every buuilding in Athens, including public buildings like banks and offices covered in mostly protest graffiti.  There was also art graffiti that matched lots of NY and LA art.  The 25-40 year olds are 27% unemployed which leaves lots of old guys hanging out,too, yelling at each other and getting ready for the next protest. The guide said she had held off on the next protest so we wouldn't have any problems while we are in Greece.  And, she said the peacefull demonstrations are co-opted by militants who just want to make trouble for everyone.  In reply to a question about the Greek national economy, she said the economy was based on tourism and shipping.  Also, some cotton and vegetables in the European market.  In some places we've been there are often 4-5 cruise ships anchored or ashore, so that makes lots of tourist dollars.  We are the last ship in most of the ports and everything has slowed down for the season.]
Next on our day in Athens we went to the National Archeological Museum to see the facade from the Acropolis and other parts that have been removed for preservation.  Lots of the bits on the Acropolis and Parthenon, etc. are remade to look like the originals.  The most interesting thing in the museum was the construction setting it at the same height and same orientation as the Acropolis.  And, then they had the facade that runs around the Acropolis in its entirity....minus the chunks Elgin took to the
British Museum!  After we were about 1/3 way around, I asked the guide if one of the pieces was in the BM and that loosened the flood gates about the Elgin marbles.  It is horrifying to see how much of the facade of the Acropolis the BM has in their display.  The missing parts are displayed in Athens in stark white so that you can tell the originals from the patina on the old ones. Almost all of it is in Britain.  I suggested we start a petition to return the marbles to Greece!  Our guide said when Melina Mercouri was the President of Greece, and because she was so well known as an actress and so popular in the world, they hoped she could put pressure on the Brits to return them, but nothing happened.  It was a wonderful display and well worth the whole trip to Athens to see how the Acropolis was supposed to look.
[I should take a short pause here to discuss food.  I am walking like crazy, but I can't really believe I am losing weight.  I may not be gaining any, however.  OK, to my main point.  We finally figured out why we couldn't get a good gyro here in Greece.  When we were in Santorini we did get one for 2.5 Euros at a small corner cafe, but then in Mykonos and Athens we went into restaurants and they gave us a huge plate with all the fixings, (beef, pork or lamb, tomatoes, red onions, tzsiki and french fries)but with the pita cut up (9 Euros).  When we were in Athens I asked the guide what we were doing wrong, and she explained we were sitting down.  Gyros are take out food!  Today in Corfu we found a MicMac and had a great gyro with all the fixins for 2-5 Euros.  We picked it up and sat outside at a table, but they did not wait on us.  MicMac is McDonalds on Corfu.]
Yesterday we should have gone into Olympia, but we have been in the line of a storm, with rain and 65 knot winds last night.  The captain decided we could not go to the dock, and he would not take us off on tenders at that Olympia port of Katakolon, so off we went, running before the wind, to Corfu which has a nice protected harbor.  We anchored out last night and then came into town this morning on the dock.  Everybody went out and about for a little look see, got rained on, and then came back to the boat for a lazy afternoon.  That was good for my knees.  The squalls are supposed to keep coming   tonight, but we hope everything is clear for Dubrovnik tomorrow, and then Venice.We heard Venice was underwater again, but Jim assures me we will not have flooding because the tides will have gone down and the moon won't be high.  We have a boat tour planned for Venice and then the second day we'll get out and about to see St Marks' Square and other sights. 
We continue to stay well, and have had a great time so far.  Stay tuned for more.  The Whidbey Wagners

Kusadasi-Turkey-Ephesus & Mykonos-Greece

Hello Everyone, yesterday was a very busy day, and I collapsed for a short rest before dinner, and then we saw the show in the theater and hit the sack!  We docked at Kusadasi for our tour into the hills to see Ephesus, and the final resting place for the Virgin Mary.  That was all part of the tour with the cruiseship, and had little walking involved, which was good since Janice and I both have sore knees.  The overview of Ephesus, a barely exposed archeological site was interesting.  It was a huge city at one time and a big seaport.  After many earthquakes it was damaged, the sea receded, rivers flooded and a malaria outbreak caused it to collapse as a city, several times over many centuries.  It had the largest library outside Alexandria at one time, all removed by Alexander and taken to Egypt.  Anyway, the Turks are very nice people and seem squeezed between many more seriously Muslim countries when they have a secular gov't.  The guide says that creates some tensions when their borders are invaded by refugees from other neighbors.  Also, they are continuously ravaged by earthquakes.  After she told us how many and how serious they are, I was glad to leave there.  Our last stop on the day tour was at the carpet factory where they showed us how they gather the silk to make rugs.  They also grow their own cotton in
turkey for rugs and other products.  The carpets were amazing, amazing, and Jim bought a runner for the hallway and a small rug for his den.  Of course, he did it at my prompting. It was quite an experience to get the full on sales pitch of the men at the carpet place.  Deals and more deals were offered.  We had an audience! Hope our kids want to inherit real rugs because they are real rugs!  We'll wait and see if they get delivered in six weeks or so.  The Princess Cruise lines guarantees the company, so I felt pretty good about it.

Today we did Mykonos.  Wow!  It lives up to all the hype.  There are winding lanes, going up and around, all white washed buildings and blue doors.  There are small chapels on every other corner.  There is blue, blue water on sand beaches and boats painted bright orange and bright blue.  We saw the windmills, no longer used but so interesting. The weather has been perfect, 60-65 degrees and sun.  The winds are blowing about 25 today, so it is breezy.  We have had gyros twice now and enjoyed them very much.  Today we had them and they came in separate peices so we had to put them together.  The french fries inside the roll is unique.  Best of all, and a surprise for my children, we rented an ATV, and Jim and I went charging around the island up steep hills and down to find the out of the way places we wanted to see.  (Charging may be an exaggeration since sometimes were were chugging!) I consider it a red letter day that Jim got me on an ATV.  I had doubts it would carry us, but the nice Greek man told me it would carry him and he was much bigger than me!! 
This is really the bucket list trip.  Tomorrow is Athens, and another tour.  Wish you could all be here with us.  The Whidbey Wagners

Sailing Along!

Hello All!  Our Thanksgiving day was great.  We got a little extra sleep, and then got to know our ship.  It is huge; however; we are able to manage finding our way around.  Just like a giant hotel.  We are meeting some nice people.  Our Meet and Greet with the Cruise Critic group was fun, and the Captain showed up to talk to us.  We got to meet some people from our next tour and saw some faces we recognized from our first tour. That helps when the ship is full of 3000 people.
 Points of interest on the Crown Princess:
1. The buffet is huge and twice now I have missed over 1/2 of the offerings because I thought I had seen it all. Yesterday they had a complete Asian buffet as well as other American offerings.  Today I plan to make sure I walk around the entire area for all the choices.  Last night at a formal dinner for Thanksgiving we had the traditional turkey dinner and all the sides, but they started with a seafood cocktail steeped in Vodka.  Gotta' watch the chef because almost every meal has some special dish with alcohol.  I tried the Pina Colada soup our first night; couldn't figure out whether I should drink it or spoon it since they served it in a glass!  The Creme Brulee is great, and Jim has figured out how to order two scoops of ice cream with chocolate sauce; I had great lamb shanks one night, and Jim had a wonderful prime rib the first night.  We are not starving.
2. The showroom had a good show last night, and the seats are very comfortable in the theater.  On Holland America, the theater seats are mixed in with small cocktail tables to allow drink service, cutting down on the number of people in the theater.  Not on Princess.  We had lots of room, comfy seats, and none of that drink business.  We were there to see the show!  It was the usual semi-Vegas production, but not too long and good voices.  Each night there is a show, and we can eat dinner, see the show and get to bed by 9:30, which is great for old people.  Tonight there is a violinist. 
3.  This ship has movies under the stars, so last night Jim and Mike went down(out) to the deck to watch a football game.  Jim wore his new lightweight down parka and said he was not cold at all.  Good buy, Janet!  Mike and Janice watched a movie yesterday afternoon, so it must not be too cool out on the deck.  BTW, the weather has been amazing so far, 65 degrees or so and sunny off and on.  People were in the pool yesterday. 
We are in Santorini, Greece tomorrow and are going out on our own to see the sights.  To get to the top of the hill from the port you have to walk 535 steps or take the tram or ride a donkey.  Janice is taking a donkey, Mike plans to walk and Jim and I are going on the gondola tram; I will have my eyes closed.  My knees are recovering from the long Pompeii day, so I think I can manage a trek around Santorini.  We'll see. That's all for today.  I'll check in again tomorrow.  The Whidbey Wagners in the Ionian Sea.

Naples is gone!

Hello All, Happy Thanksgiving , and here is a quick update.
Day 1 and 2.We left Oak Harbor at 2:45AM for a quick trip to SeaTac.  We didn't get much sleep, so it was a tired group that took off at 7:15AM on an American flight to JFK.  Jim and I had a window with another man on the aisle; it was tight but we managed.  We had almost 3 hrs in NYC but we had to travel a long way and go through another set of security screenings, including an xray and some consternation with the rivets on Jim's jeans and the bone in my bra!  We failed to go through the passport check so we were paged for a special screening for that, but eventually got our seats on the plane to London.  We sat 4 abreast on that leg, and Mike's tv and lights didn't work.  He got unhappy with British Air then. That flight seemed short until we reached London, and we were held on the taxiway for 45 mionutes while they figured out how to unlock the stairs we had to debark onto since the jet way was broken??  Another security check! We missed our flight to Rome, arriving on a later flight to be met by the Princess people who had been looking for us.  Lots of people were arriving late, so no worries, and our luggage all arrived; that would have been the last straw for four people who will never again take such a long trip without a few sleep breaks;  I was hung over drunk for lack of it.  Every time we got still we all fell asleep.  To end it all, we got on the ship and managed to be on time for the longest and most thorough Muster Drill we have ever had.  I guess the Costa ship wreck has everyone paying attention to things, and we are not making any little jaunts around islands either!  Dinner was good, but I didn't care, and we were in bed by 9 and exhausted sleep followed.
Day 3. Naples: Breakfast was at 6AM for a tour meeting at 7AM.  The night went too fast. The tour, however, was wonderful.  We had a beautiful Italian woman guide, Josepina, who spoke great English and gave us lots of information as we toured the Amalfi coast, Pompeii and Sorrento and Positano.  The sights were amazing, the sea was flat, the sun was shining, the temp was around 65 degrees, the lunch was the greatest, and the sight of Pompeii which has been uncovered from 60 ft of ash! was exciting and informative.  I returned to the ship with sore legs, knees, and butt (yes,even my butt was sore), and rushed to have dinner, after which we fell into the bed again.  BTW, our tour was planned with the Cruise Critic group, and it was well worth every Euro.  We had 13 people, a great sized group to manage with friendly and interesting people along for the ride.
Day 4-At Sea.  OMG, I am so relieved to be at sea, resting finally from the long trip and able to recover from my athletic excess.  I have had some pain relievers, slept in, had coffeee delivered in our cabin, a reasonable breakfast, and now I have two whole days to rest and recupe before we reach our next destination. A few differences in Princess and Holland America:  The robes in the cabins are not as nice or as big! The dress in the dining room is much more casual.  The food seems the same except the fruit soups seem sweeter.  The shops are fancier. The people are younger.  Not all bad! 
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Day and dinner.  Until later, The Whidbey Wagners

It is 2:30 AM and we are leaving for the Airport Shuttle.  I'll post again as soon as we are in Rome.  This is the hard part!  The Wagners

The Big Cruise

We are leaving on Nov 19th for Rome!  We begin our 32 day cruise on that day very early in the morning.  Our air port shuttle leaves at 3:30AM for a &:15 flight out of SeaTac.  We will fly to New York, then London, and then into Rome at !0:20AM, on Nov 20.  From there we will take a bus to the port of Civitavecchia, 90 minutes away.  Then, I collapse onto a bed for a much needed rest.

 We are sailing on the Crown Princess: Year Built: 2006 Last Refurbished: 2011 Gross Tonnage: 113,000 tons Passenger Capacity: 3,080 Crew Size: 1,142.Crown Princess is a Grand Class ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises. Her maiden voyage took place on June 14, 2006

Our cruise begins in Rome and then our list of ports includes: Naples(Pompeii), Santorini, Greece, Kusadasi, Turkey(Ephesus),Mykonos, Athens, Olympia,  Dubrovnik, Croatia, Venice, Rome, Florence, Canne, France, Barcelona, Spain, Lisbon, Portugal and the Azores.  Then we have 6 days at sea before we reach Ft Lauderdale and then finally to Galveston.  There are a few sea days here and there to give us a rest between ports.  As you can see, this is a real Bucket List.  I plan to post at least every other day, I hope more often, but it depends on availability of internet access.

The Crown Princess is 951 ft (290 m) long, and our cabin is the second cabin from the front on Deck C.  All the dining rooms are far aft.  If I work this right, I can include my daily walks as I go to meals!!