The start of our Greek driving adventure. We drove first to Knossos and viewed the remains of the ancient city. Part of it was restored by the excavator in the early 1900’s based upon his best ideas. The ruins are very impressive. The reproductions of the wall frescos are great. After leaving the ruins and the large volumes of cruise ship tourists, we started driving to Archanes to see 3 different sites. The first site was called Fourni. We saw a small sign and followed it up the mountain to a dirt road that went on forever with no other signs for the site. We gave up and headed into town. In town, we saw different signs for the site and followed to an old stone road heading up a hillside and walked up. We found the site surrounded by a fence with no opening. We also asked in town and were told to walk up a street that never ended at a site. After rereading our tourist book, we learned that the three sites that are written up in great detail along with photos are not open to the public as they are still under excavation. Great!

We then drove following signs for other sites and we learned that they never show distances to the site, unlike normal town signs, and are not very close to the site. We did find a monastery, but never found the old Roman Aquaduct or the Ancient city mentioned on the signs. We finally gave up and just drove the switchbacks back toward Heracklion. We also went to the museum of Niko Kazantzakh, the author who wrote Zorba The Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ, Christ Recrucified and many other plays and books. He was quite a man being an author and also holding a law degree. While he was a native of Crete, he lived most of his adult life outside of Crete and even outside of Greece. Today was really a Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Hopefully, tomorrow will be easier driving directions. We even got lost trying to get back to our hotel.

Happy Birthday Norm! We spent the day lounging and walking around the area. We walked to the Historical museum which had many archaeological items including columns, wall paintings, grave markers and original El Greco paintings. We spent time at the Venetian Fortress along the Cretan Sea. We saw the art exhibit of Alexi K. Alexandrides at Saint Marcus church near the Lions Fountain. It is from the A very easy day was had by all. We really enjoyed a special banana crepe and saw the worlds smallest accordian player.

Waiting we were in the lobby of the hotel for our transfer to the airport. After 10 minutes we called and were told the transfer was on its way. The local tour company called the hotel back after 5 minutes to inform us that he was late due to traffic. As it turned out, they had a miscommunication with the man doing our transfer, as he thought the time for pick-up was 1-1/2 hours later than our itinerary stated. All was fine, as there was no traffic and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight to Crete. We arrived in Herakleion, got settled at our hotel in the old downtown area, had lunch in the Eleftheriou Venizelou Square, or more commonly called the Square of the Lions, derived from the lions on the Morosini fountain, built in 1628 upon the Venetian governor’s order. The eight bases are decorated with Nymphs and Tritons in relief, riding dolphins, bulls and sea monsters. The four lions at the highest basin are believed to be from and earlier 14th century fountain.

Upon talking with the hotel reception we learned that there are no tours yet as it is not “season”. We went to find the tourism office, to learn that it is not where it is supposed to be as internal construction is going on in the building, but no one we talked to new anything about it. As we passed the various shops we noticed a book on Crete which had many driving excursions out of the larger cities. So, after talking with the wonderful man at reception, with him notating all the different routes we would want to take in a rental car over a 4 day period, we went back and purchased the book. After a couple hours of reading, we planned the days between his map and the book.

Since it was after 3pm and the museums were closed we walked around the largest town in Crete, over 100,000 people. While much of the city was destroyed during WWII, it was quickly rebuilt and has many sites from the medieval times. The Venetian harbor is surrounded by preserved wall with a wide moat and many renovated buildings of the time.

Dinner was at La Grande Trattoria, yes Italian in Greece. After we split a salad, a group of 12 women arrived and were having difficulty finding an area where enough tables could be joined to accommodate them. While Norm was off primping in the bathroom, I offered our table to them and said we could move. They were so grateful, that when we had finished dinner, a plate of three deserts arrived, their compliments. When we were done, we walked over to thank them. Only one of the women spoke English, and we learned they were part of a Lion’s group and had just had a lecture on the Olive Tree. Then they offered us a booklet, “In Praise of the Olive Tree”. Everyone smiled and we said our goodbyes.

Mar 28- Exhausted from the recent touring, we slept in and barely made it to breakfast by the 10:30am closing. Then we spent the day walking around Athens. We stopped in the Numismatic museum which had been the 1834 home of German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and designed by architect Ernst Ziller. The museum has assembled a collection of over 450,000 coins, lead seals, medallions and precious stones from ancient Greece, Rome, Byzntium, medieval and modern Europe, and modern Greece. The walls and ceilings were painted by Slovenian artist Yuri Subic and the mosaic floors by Italian craftsmen. The building is considered one of Ziller’s most splendid works.

We then strolled through the Botanic Gardens, then off to The Temple of Olympian Zeus and the surrounding ruins. Then it was time to eat yet again, so we walked to the Plaka area again and had a very late lunch/early dinner at the Plaka Taverna restaurant for more local Greek cuisine. Then we called it quits for the day!

Mar 27- In the afternoon we took a bus trip to Poseidon’s temple at Cape Sounio. It was a lovely drive along the coastline. The present temple was built by Pericles upon the remains of the original 6th century BC ruins (destroyed beginning of 5th century by the Persians). Writings from the Renaissance period indicate that at the time in the 14-15th centuries AD, only 3 of the Doric Columns were standing. Most of the reconstructed pillars today are the original marble.

Dinner upon return was at the Thespis Restaurant in the Plaka area. We had traditional Greek Tzatziki, Greek salad, Moussaka, and Souvlaki. Our server brought us complimentary Tsipouro as an after dinner drink. This is the local version of Grapa made from grapes. We saw a beautiful view of the Acropolis at night.

Mar 26- On Patmos, we first visited the Monastery of the Apocalypse along with St. John’s cave called the Sacred Grotto where he lived during his two year exile on Patmos. This is where he received the voice telling him to write down the Apocalypse (the book of Revelation) and his teachings to be sent to the 7 churches that existed at that time. We saw the hollow places in the wall where he slept and where he rested his hand/arm. John had a pupil who wrote down what he dictated.

We next went up the mountain to the Monastery of St. John built by Hosios Christodoulos. Hosios had been a hermit on Kos island and wanted to build a monastery/shrine to St John on Patmos. He asked the King of Constantinople for land and had to trade his land on the island of Kos for all of the island of Patmos. He built the Monastery in 1088 AD. He brought workers to build the monastery and after a few years allowed their families to join them but the families had to live in another town and the men were only allowed to go home for 2 days a week. We visited the museum inside the monastery which contained the original declaration of the King granting the land to Christodoulos, along with many other interesting ancient artifacts. Also, there is a painting of Jesus. Legend states that the painting was to be sold to support the family. The children cried when they heard this, and at that time, the painting of Jesus had tears too. When this happened, the parents did not sell the painting.

After a short sail, we entered Turkish waters and landed at the town of Kusadasi. From here we traveled to the house claimed to be where the Virgin Mary spent her last years. It was a very small home that was seen in a vision by a woman in Germany in the 18th century. The Vatican claims that this is the actual home of Mary. It is a simple home with only 2 rooms. The view around is very nice. We even met Charlie Chaplin the Cat. He had a moustache of black on his white body.

Then we traveled to Ephesus. This city has been built 3 times throughout history in different areas. The first time was several centuries BC when it was built by Amazon women who controlled that area. It later fell in disrepair and was abandoned. A second city was built nearby by local Turks. During the Roman occupation, a general came to the area and decided that the city was not defensible and told the people to move away and build a safe city. When the people would not move, the general found a way to flood the city and force the issue so a third city was built. The third city, the one we visited, is only partially excavated but the excavated portion covers 2 miles. This is the largest excavated site in this part of the world. We saw temple ruins, stadiums, theatres, a library, and an ancient advertisement in the marble sidewalk telling where to find the house of love (brothel) and how many girls worked there. We saw the ruins of a banquet hall and the ruins of a Vomitoreum. That was the place people would go to tickle their throat so they could purge and then be able to eat more food at the food orgy. The early start of Bulimia. 250,000 people lived here and once a year 1 million people came for the festival of Artemis in April. The great temple of Artemis is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, but only 1 pillar stands today. The auditorium at Ephesus is where Paul gave his sermon that got him condemned to prison. We later drove by the prison where St. Paul and St. John were imprisoned. John was sent to Rome for sentencing and he was banished to the island of Patmos for two years.

The ancient Turkish people normally lived as nomads but also built a few towns such as this. From writings, it is said that people normally had only 2 children. More than that and the child was supposed to be aborted or if born, should be killed within two weeks of birth. They found ancient abortion tools. The society favored boys and they attended the Gymnasium which was a place of learning for the mind and they also practiced Olympic type games (in the nude of course). This started at age 15 and lasted until age 20. Then they must join the army for another 10 years. The people today believe that this 15 years separated from women was the cause of much homosexuality in Turkish men during these ancient times. After the army, most men, then age 30 would marry a 13 year old girl and have a family.

Turkey today is a country of 70 million people. 15 million live in Istanbul. Kusadasi has only 50,000 people. The average monthly wage is less than $300 per month. They claim that everything is very cheap except gasoline and electricity. Fruit and vegetables for a week only costs about $10. Housing is still cheap in terms of Europe and the US and many foreigners come to buy homes or condos.

Back to town for a tour of a hand made carpet factory. Beautiful things but since there were no flying carpets, we did not buy any. We were given tasty apple tea (kind of like hot apple cider). Back on the ship we learned coin and card tricks from the ship’s magician. Several children had very wide eyes! Dinner was a much smaller crowd tonight as many people left the ship to continue their trip in Turkey. Back to Athens in the morning.

Mar 25- Welcome to the island of Rhodes! We hired a taxi driver for a guided 3 hour tour of Rhodes and Lindos for 85 Euro’s. The individual trip was worth it and was the same price as the large guided tour. We spent most of the time at the Acropolis complex on Lindos (35 miles away). This is where the movie The Guns of Navarrone was filmed. We saw the Temple of Athena, the Castle ruins, the reconstructions being done and quite amazing buildings. We had a long walk up the mountain just to get to the Acropolis. Well worth the trip. We also stopped for pictures at the Temple of Apollo on Mount Smith. Not much left except 3 columns. We saw the ruins of the Diagoras Stadium and several Crusader walls and churches.

After the guided tour, we walked around the old city which in inside of a Crusader fort from the 1300’s. The main Knights Building (Palace of the Grandmaster) was closed as today is Greek Independence day commemorating the start of the rebellion of Turkish occupation in 1821, lasting until 1829. About 2/3 of the shops and all public buildings were closed today. We have noticed that the islands are very windy, both Mykonos and Rhodes. Almost blew our clothes off! We sail tonight to Patmos Island and then on to a stop in Turkey tomorrow. 2 stops in one day will be a busy day by our work standards. The other thing no one warned us about, along with the national holiday, was that we lose an hour for Greek Spring Forward and have to get up for a 7am disembarkation. Bad timing!

Mar 24- The start of our Greek Islands cruise. We sailed to Mykonos today and arrived at sunset. The main town is covered with white buildings with blue window frames and doors. We did see a few other colors for windows but not many. It is a picturesque Greek town. We wandered around the narrow streets and eventually up to an area of large windmills. They all sat there like sleeping giants not moving even though the town was buffeted by high winds. We found lots of little shops of all kinds (of course). This was a successful shopping trip as we found some post cards. Our ship is a large one with 1000 passengers on this cruise. We saw a fun international global song and dance show after dinner.

Mar 23- We took the day off and walked to the National Archaeology Museum for the morning. We spent several hours looking at the vases, statues, pots, swords, burial masks, bronze statues and much more. The place went on forever. Later, we found a small café for lunch and just ate light. We found and internet café, and checked email for an hour and then took the Metro to find a place to do our laundry. The place advertised “self service” but it turned out that they did the laundry and we had to come back in 2 hours to get it. Worked out well. We were able to kill time at the hotel and at a taverna. Tonight we go on the Athens by Night tour. The tour turned out to be driving to Piraeus to see Athens skyline from Piraeus harbor, driving past the new soccer stadium and then having dinner back in Plaka for an authentic Greek dinner and dancing show at Tavern Kalokerinos. We observed a group of Asian diners where the men looked bored to tears for the whole show. This changed when the belly dancer started. All of a sudden, the men woke up, got there cameras and started smiling and filming. After she left they returned to being bored and left. We totally enjoyed the evening.

Mar 22- We took a day trip to Delphi today. This is an area with a temple dedicated to Apollo high in the mountains about 3 hours from Athens. We saw ruins of the Treasury buildings where they kept the offerings to the gods, we saw the Temple for Apollo and the Oracle, an amphitheatre, and an Olympic Games stadium. This was a long day starting at 7:30 (actual pickup at 8am) and getting back around 7:30 pm. The area was beautiful and spectacular to view. We also saw ruins of a temple to Athena along with a gymnasium where the athletes stayed and practiced for the athletic games competitions. This evening, we decided to be adventurous and took the Metro to Piraeus and had a sea bass dinner along the waterfront at Zorbas. The trip was quite an adventure with no specific directions after the metro stop, just to ask people how to get to the restaurant. We finally made it after asking three people where the place was. Going back was better and not such a big adventure.

Mar 21- We took a city tour of Athens today. We saw the original Olympic Stadium from 1899 which is all white marble. We passed the Parliament House which has 300 members with the national guards in front. There is a statue of Harry Truman as he was responsible for aiding in the reconstruction of Greece after WWII. The Botanic Gardens were established in 1888. The Plaka (flat) area is a tourist area with many shops and restaurants.

Next we visited the Acropolis (top of city) and saw the Parthenon which is dedicated to the goddess Athena. The legend is that Poseidon and Athena were given a contest to see who the city would be named after. Poseidon gave war horses and water while Athena gave the Olive tree of knowledge. The citizens liked the tree and named the city after her. We saw also the smaller temple dedicated to Poseidon. We then strolled through the small museum on site with findings from the excavations. We could see the ruins of the Temple of Zeus from the Acropolis. All that is left are 13 columns now. That afternoon, we waked around Athens and had a relaxing lunch at Piano Ristorante at Palia Vouli area. For dinner, we walked to the Monastiraki area and had dinner at a new restaurant that we found walking around.

Mar 20- Flying to Athens tonight. The weather there has been 50’s and rainy there. At least the forecast for tomorrow is no rain. What a difference a flight makes. Security asked many questions but only once and were very nice to us. Of course there was still time for a glitch. This time they decided to check Cindy’s bag. As we were standing near other passengers, security asked her, “Why is your bag vibrating?” Needless to say we felt uneasy for a second until we realized and showed security that it was only her electrical toothbrush that had gotten bumped and started. The security people really smiled when they saw this. They actually seem to have a sense of humor!

Mar 19- We left for the airport at 10:30 for an 11:55 flight. Prior to checking in, all people must clear inspection and are asked a series of questions. Due to all the recent stamps in our passports, we were questioned for 45 minutes. When they finally asked what time our flight was, we said 11:55 but then looked at the monitor and saw that the flight was 11:15. As the current time was 11:25, we had missed our flight. The local tour operator must have had a typo on our information. Had we spent less time answering the same questions 5 times we probably would have made the flight. Oh well, we were able to get onto a flight an hour later to the other Tel Aviv airport and the ticket counter person personally called our local travel operator and arranged for transport from the other airport to our hotel in Jerusalem. What an experience. Answering the questions was worse than answering a deposition. The words are turned around and you have to constantly correct or re-answer the question to say what had been said the first time.

We again rested by the pool, did a little shopping and read books. Finally, we took a vacation from the vacation and had a very nice time.

Happy Ides of March! Today we crossed the border into Jordan and traveled to Petra. This is the place where they filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. We saw the Treasury building which is the central picture in the Indiana Jones film. We saw the Nefesh Tomb (also called obelisk tomb) which was a family tomb for a rich family. It was built in 100 B.C. We walked past the tomb and into the deep canyon that is the entrance to the city. It was built by the Nabatean people, Bedouin nomads who decided to settle down in 100 B.C. They built a hidden city in this deep deserted stream bed that used to be completely submerged in Antiquity. We snaked around a long downward trail past wild fig trees growing on the side and an Aqueduct that was the source of water for the people in the city. The city flourished from 100 B.C. until it was captured by the Romans in about 70A.D. After that, most of the people fled or were assimilated. By the third century, the city was lost to the desert and no outsiders knew where it was. The Byzantine Muslims who remained after they had been conquered again still knew where the city was as they would hold a twice a year pilgrimage to a tomb believed to be that of Moses’ brother Aaron, at the temple on top of the mountain near the city. Petra was discovered in the late 1800’s by a French/Englishman who moved to the area, colored his skin, converted to Muslim and learned Arabic. After talking to the locals for a few years, he learned about the city and the pilgrimage. He started walking to the site, was stopped because he had blue eyes but was allowed to pass when he told them he was going to the holy site for a pilgrimage. After he found the city, he announced it to the world and we can thank this man for allowing us to view the city remains.

Petra is called the Rose Red City because the rocks surrounding it are rich in Iron, thus giving it a red color and beautiful streaks with the other colored minerals. The city used to be a main crossroad on the ancient camel/Frankincense trail through Arabia. The city has been influenced by the Greeks as well. Greek language used to be the universal language so some inscriptions are in Greek on the walls. There is even reference to some Greek gods on the building entryways such as Medusa. There is also Egyptian influence as the God Isis is also seen. We saw many burial sites, homes, and temples carved out of the rock. We saw a theater that held 3000 people. Not only did we see Roman influence and additions at the theatre, but also on the buildings, along with marks in the stone roads where the metal wheels of the chariots had made permanent grooves. A newer finding, the Lion Temple found in 1981, has winged Griffins carved on it. We also walked past an Atlantic Pistachio tree that is believed to be 450 years old next to the central fountain.

At the most inner part of the city, we found a site where a hotel was built in the 1930’s. This hotel is where Agatha Christie lived for 4 years and wrote novels while her archaeologist husband worked in the sites. It is amazing to see all of the cultures that have influenced the area. The walk into the site was not bad, even though 4 km as it was all slightly downhill and we took about 2 hours with our guide’s explanations. Unfortunately, the reverse trip was a lot harder going up the slope especially since we were told to go back and meet at the bus in 1 hour, 10 minutes. Time for the power walk! Then, of course, we had to go to a local shop where authentic Bedouin and Jordanian products could be purchased. We also stopped at the local market in Aqaba and saw huge fish for sale along with skinned goats that still had the heads attached. COOL!

We drove to the coast of the Mediterranean today to the town of Akko which has remains from the Crusaders. We also went to the ancient city of Ceasarea which was built by King Herod as a Roman Port city. We saw ruins of a temple, a Hippodrome, and the one tablet (replica as original in a museum) indicating that Pontius Pilate was there.

The site has been destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt. It not only was a Roman city, it was a Crusader town with a church and a Byzantine village with a Mosque.

The town had its water supplied by an aqueduct from many miles away. Part of it is still standing and it is a very impressive bit of engineering along the beach.

We drove into Haifa which is one of the largest port cities in Israel. It houses the Bahai temple built on the hillside of Mount Caramel along with its magnificent gardens. It is a religion based on the theory that all people are equally important and we learned that they propose a universal language to connect everyone called Esperanto. We also drove by Mount Hertz. This is named after Theodore Hertz who died in Vienna in 1904. He was the founder of the movement for a separate Jewish state who said “If you want it, it’s not a dream”. In 1948 after the establishment of Israel, his remains were moved from burial in Vienna to Israel.

At the end of the day, we toured the old city of Jaffa, which is just below Tel Aviv. It was the ancient port where King Solomon imported cedar trees from Lebanon. We saw the home of Simon the Tanner where Peter stayed when he visited Jaffa. The city has been occupied by Egypt, Rome, and Napoleon. We saw a statue of the Whale of Jonah since he started his voyage from Jaffa.

There is also a monument of the gate to enter Jaffa since the original one is gone. We ended our day back in Tel Aviv.

The day started off cold and drizzly up in the mountains. We drove along the Syrian border in the Golan Heights. The area is hilly, lush, and green. There was a long stretch of patrol roads and fences and many “danger” signs due to the bunkers and land mines in the area. We passed areas inhabited by the Druze people, formerly of Syria, but now this land is under Israeli control. Since 1967, it has been possible for them to obtain Israeli citizenship. The Druze men cover their shaved heads, wear baggy trousers and have bushy mustaches. We were told that they have their own religion based upon elements of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and mysticism. They speak Arabic and Hebrew. There were monuments everywhere to honor the lives lost in the 6 day war and the 1973 war on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays.

Off to Capernaum, meaning pleasant, this was considered the town of Jesus as he would stay with Peter’s mother-in-law. There were 3 churches built over the site of Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. The site contained ruins of a second temple built in the 4th century. It was built by one of Herod’s descendents. It was determined from sculptures that the arc which contained the Torah was on wheels, as the temple did not have a permanent arc. The architecture was Greek/Roman style, and a column had the inscription of the Jewish person who donated the money to build the temple out of white stone from Jerusalem.

In the Church of the Heptagon we observed the rock where Jesus took 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and fed the multitudes.

This area has the sea, land and mountains described in the Bible. We passed by the town of Magdela where Mary Magdelan was from. We had lunch at a café on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. We ate Saint Peters fish. The story is that Peter told Jesus that he was worried that they did not have the money to pay the Temple taxes. Jesus told Peter to have faith and just look inside the mouth of the fish he had. The money was found inside its mouth and now that fish is called St. Peters Fish. It tasted good but was a lot of work to eat around all the bones.