Pireaus, Greece: 22 July 2012

Our 4^th port of call was Piraeus, Greece. This is the port of Athens, just as Civitaveccia is the port of Rome. However, unlike Rome, you can actually “get there from here”. As part of hosting the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Greece made a massive investment in infrastructure and there is a metro line which can take you from the port all the way into the center of Athens. However, we were exhausted from our excursion to Olympia and looking forward to a busy day to follow, so we opted not to go to Athens. It would seem a shame to be so close and not get to see the Acropolis and other ancient sites of Athens, but our school is tentatively planning a trip to Greece and Turkey for our long trip next spring and we feel hopeful we will be back. If that doesn’t work out, then it is a short trip from Rome and we will spend a weekend here at some point this fall. It was a good choice as the temperature for the day topped out at 105 with a heat index of around 112 F. We did get off the ship and took one of those silly little tourist trains around the port. Along the way we saw this really beautiful and imposing Greek Orthodox Church. Amy is in the foreground, lower right, of the picture which gives you a sense of scale.

Katakolo, Greece (Olympia): 21 July 2012

Our third port of call was Katakolo, Greece. This is the cruise ship port used as a jumping off point for passengers who want to visit Ancient Olympia. One of the reasons we were able to get such a good deal on our cabin is that the cruise companies realize that, at a bare minimum, they only have to cover the direct costs of your room and board. So, as the departure date approaches they will put all of their remaining cabins on sale at a steep discount. The reason for this is that they can make an extraordinary amount of money off of extras such as drinks, booze, shipboard purchases and, of course, excursions.

Now, who doesn’t want to go to the home of the ancient Olympics? And, how can you get there since, for a change, no public busses make the half hour plus trip? Well, Amy went online and found us a private tour guide for the day. In reality, he was simply a very knowledgeable taxi driver, but we spent the day going wherever we wanted in air conditioned luxury for slightly less than the cost of the canned excursion which didn’t do nearly as much. We were essentially the first passengers off the ship, he met us at the gate and whisked us away. This can become relatively important once you realize that hitting a port of call on a cruise ship empties you and your closest 2100 friends simultaneously into the surrounding region. And it wasn’t just one ship. There were 7 monsters docked the day we were in Katakolo with a combined population of almost 20,000 people, most of whom headed for the ancient site of Olympia.

We arrived in our private car about 10 minutes before the official opening, purchased our tickets and were inside the deserted site with a handful of other early tourists. I have more pictures than I could possibly post, so here are just a handful. First we have the Philippeion, a circular building completed by Alexander the Great near the end of the 4^th century BCE.

Nearby is the Temple of Hera, the oldest temple in the area, dating from the end of the 7^th century BCE.

I couldn’t resist including a picture  of Hera’s Alter where the Olympic Flame has been kindled to open the Olympic Games since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In fact, the little village near the entrance to the site was festooned with flags from Greece and the UK to celebrate the most recent lighting of the torch.

Finally, there is the stadium where athletics took place, notably the sprints. As a former sprinter who would never realize any Olympic-sized dreams, it was the chance of a lifetime to shuffle the 100 meters or so. However, I refuse to post the tiny movie clip that Amy took of my trip.

Amy’s enjoyment is plain to see.

We were exiting the site just as the hoard entered, and I do mean hoard. There was a traffic jam of tour busses and thousands of people lined up to shuffle through the ruins. While they were doing that we headed across the street, alone, to visit the museum which houses most of the artifacts found onsite. Here we have the Nike of Paeonios, offered as a votive offering to Zeus.

They also have what remains of the pediments of the Temple of Zeus, a series of figures which would have fit in the triangular space formed by the roof line and the top of the building.

That would have been all you saw on a canned excursion, but our trip was just beginning. We headed out for a wine tasting at a small, family owned winery called Olympia Land.

Then we stopped at a rebuilt Greek Theater.

Finally, we went to a convent perched on a hillside.

During our trip we were given free bottled water by our guide, he provided us with a tasty treat of baklava, he presented us with ½ a liter of olive oil from his own trees and when we arrived back at the ship he left us with the CD of traditional Greek music which had been playing on the car stereo during our journey. All in all, it was a magnificent experience and well worth the price.

Corfu, Greece: 20 July 2012

Our second port of call was Corfu, my first visit to Greece. Amy traveled to Greece with her parents as a young child, but she remembers none of it. Thus, it was effectively her first visit too and certainly her first visit since she took up classical studies in college. Our ship docked at the new port at the end of a long pier.

The port authority provided busses to shuttle us to the customs building and then we took a public bus into the heart of the old town. We were joined on the trip by Ariela from Los Angeles who was traveling with her daughter who remained on the ship. We spent a very pleasant morning wandering the narrow streets, looking in shops and trying our best to avoid the 90+ degree heat.

We stopped for a peek at the Palace of Sts. George and Michael, former residence of the British governors of the island.

We walked by the Old Citadel, but did not want to pay the entrance fee to go in.

We next wandered through the public gardens and then into the small streets which make up the older part of the city. Along the way we wandered into many small churches and even a synagogue. The current Jewish population of Corfu is only 60, a small remnant of a once thriving quarter which saw 2000 of its residents sent to be killed in Birkenau and Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation of WWII. Below is a picture of Amy and Ariela.

Along the way we managed to pick up a few bars of inexpensive olive oil soap and a tiny bottle of kumquat liquor. Amy also paused to drool over several brightly colored Vespas including this orange one. Note the complete color coordination, right down to the wheels and helmet.

Dubrovnik, Croatia: 19 July 2012

Amy and I have often talked about taking a cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean, but by the time airfare was included and needing to book early enough to even be able to get there, it always seemed WAY too expensive. That brings us to this year, living a short 45 minute drive to Civitavecchia, the “Port of Rome”. I put that in quotes since it isn’t like Amsterdam where the cruise terminal is a 5 minute walk from the central railway station. Rome is a good hour plus away by public transportation no matter how you slice it. Civitavecchia has taken over as a major cruise port from Naples, and there are often half a dozen or more big ships in port on any given day. So, Amy stalked the web looking for steals and deals on cruises leaving from Rome until she stumbled across a 10-day trip leaving on July 17 on Holland America Lines, appropriately titled “The Roman Empire”. She booked the smallest possible inside cabin for $600 apiece plus port taxes. Less than a week later they had upgraded us to the largest verandah cabin for an extra $150 each. The brochure price for our accommodations was $4500 each, not a bad bargain.

Our first port of call after a day at sea was Dubrovnik, Croatia. The ship’s berth was approximately 5 km from the historic centro. For $15 per person you could get on a ship-provided transfer bus and be whisked into town. However, when you disembarked there was also a row of taxis willing to take a carload in for 10 euros or $12.50. Undeterred by the climbing mercury, Amy and I eschewed the transport and set off to make our way in. We made it as far as the port gates where a fortuitous stop at a tourist information center provided information that a local bus ran the route every 15 minutes or so and cost the equivalent of $2 per person. Now we were talking something realistic, so we purchased our tickets and squished in amongst the sweating press of humanity.

The ancient city of Dubrovnik is a classic, European, fortified city.

You can walk the entire perimeter of the defensive walls if you are so inclined. We chose to rent an audio-guided walking tour. We wound our way past fountains and narrow alleys through the white marble streets of town.

Dubrovnik is on the water, and there is a classic waterfront complete with daily fishmarket which had already closed up shop by the time we got there. The heat was but a small taste of what we would experience the rest of the trip.

Here we have Amy looking “drunk, dazed and hot” and me filling up a water bottle at the local fountain for the umpteenth time.

One amazing piece of Croatian history is the recent war. It is hard to believe that people were bombing each other and fighting street to street in a major European city just 20 years ago. You can still find the bullet holes and still hear the hatred of the two sides for each other echoing in the plaques and signs.

Ahoy Matey

As you read this post, Amy and I are at sea on our second cruise of the season headed to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We left yesterday from Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, which is only 45 minutes from our home. We got a great last-minute deal on a cruise to Croatia, Greece and Turkey and decided to take advantage of it. Being able to do such spur of the moment things is one of the reasons we came to Italy. So, this is it for roughly 10 days. We will be back on the 27th of July and you can count on lots of posts and pictures at that point.

Madonna del Carmelo

Last night we were treated to yet another procession through the streets. I’ve lost track of how many we had. These lesser processions are far smaller than Santa Rosa. Once again, no parking signs were posted, police whistles were blown, the parade route was prepared and on they came. This time they started at San Lorenzo, a small church in our neighborhood. They came down the next street up towards Porta Romana and then turned onto Via Garibaldi headed past Fontana Grande and down to Piazza del Plebescito. Since we didn’t have to face throngs of people, we simply stood on the corner near our apartment and watched the procession go by.

This time it was a procession for Madonna del Carmelo. All of the information I can find by Goggling is in Italian and I can’t decipher most of it, so I will leave it to the interested reader to figure out. Above are a few shots as the parade went by. There was a tempo group, representatives from a dozen or so churches, banner images of the sacred event and ultimately some sort of float-type image carried by bearers. This has become almost the standard parade ensemble here in Viterbo.

Via Carletti

For those of you who are keeping track, we have moved into a new apartment for our second year in Viterbo. The school rents three apartments for use by the US-based faculty. Last year we lived at Via Vetulonia 16, the newest of the rentals. It was nicely located, although the little street could be surprisingly noisy for what it was. The best feature by far was the garden visible out the back windows. The English teacher last year brought his family with him and, since he needed the space, he lived in the largest apartment which is typically reserved for just that situation, a family. However, the new English teacher comes as just half of a couple and so Amy and I requested to move to the bigger apartment which was being vacated. Seniority has its perks.

We now live at Via Carletti 13, about 150 meters away from our old digs and somewhat closer to the school. Via Carletti intersects Via Garibaldi just before the Fontana Grande as you walk down from Porta Romana. To one side of our front door is a bread shop and next to that is the Break Bar. On the other side are a couple of shops including one which is being remodeled as a gelataria! We are on the secondo piano, what we in the US would call the third floor, with a walk up consisting of 42 stairs. When you enter the apartment you are in the center of the apartment with a large open area to your left and a hallway to your right. The ceilings are at least 10 feet tall giving a light, airy feeling to the apartment.

The open area to the left is made up of a large dining room on one side

separated by a part wall from a living/TV room. 

There are two sofas, one of which is a pull out, and a day bed. As you can see from the photos, this apartment is much better equipped as people have been living in it, buying stuff and leaving it behind for more than a decade. There is art on the walls and dishes in the cabinets. Directly across from the entry door is one of the two bathrooms.

Next to that is the eat-in kitchen. Yes, that is a fireplace you see in the corner and we have a small supply of wood in the storage unit on the ground floor.

There is tons of storage space and we actually have more pots, pans, baking stuff and utensils than we need!

Branching off of the hallway to the right of the entry door are the three bedrooms. One has a pair of twin beds, the second has a double bed and is where the washer/dryer are closeted and the master bedroom also has a double bed. There is a small bathroom off of the master bedroom. Another feature is a small balcony which looks into a relatively open space so that we get reasonable air circulation at night with the door open. Every window has a screen so that we don't have to chose between air and bugs. There is a clothes line for outdoor drying as well.

If you were keeping count you might realize that we can sleep at least 10 in the apartment, including ourselves. So, what are you all waiting for?

Caffeina

Apparently, when the school opened a decade ago, Viterbo was a cultural wasteland. There was little in the way of entertainment and virtually no night life. All that has changed. There is an amazing amount going on for a city of 60,000 people. There are bars, dance halls and regular concerts all year round. There is more going on in a single month here than all year in our hometown of Springfield, despite it being approximately half the size. There has been something going on every day since we returned from our Norway cruise almost a month ago. First there was the medieval festival, with parades, activities and people in costume dress wandering around every night. The day that ended, Caffeina began and ran through last night. This coincided with the Tuscia Film Festival. The day before that had the chance to end, the Tuscia Opera Festival began, which is slated to run until mid-August. Then we take a couple of weeks off (at least I think they do) before the month long Santa Rosa Festival which begins on September 1. Contrast that with a pancake breakfast and 6 weeks of repetitiously driving through the Bright Nights of Forest Park coupled with an entertainment district in Springfield where little seems to happen except knifings and shooting and you can see the contrast.

Caffeina (pronounced cah-fey-een-ah, amazing how the Italians can turn 2 syllables into 4) was a 16 day festival comprised of dozens of readings, tastings, concerts and activities.

The daily schedule began between 6and 7 PM and usually included 30-40 events scattered across 23 venues predominantly in San Pellegrino, the medieval quarter.

Below is a shot of a typical stage set up in an out of the way piazza. Essentially every palce which could have a stage had one.

Roads into the area were closed, parking was restricted and the entire area was turned into a pedestrian way. Unfortunately, in spite of the wealth of opportunities, Amy and I didn’t participate in much. There is only some much rapid fire Italian we can deal with as authors read from their work and presenters expound on the finer points of some obscure topic.

Towel Animals

I resisted the urge to take a bunch of pictures of our room and the ship, just as I haven’t blogged about some of our ports of call. It was a nice room and it was a fine ship, but unless you are ever going to be on the Brilliance of the Seas it doesn’t matter. Even then, you can see everything with a quick walk around.

However, one thing we found amusing was that toward the end of the trip, little towel animals began appearing in our room after turn down and we would find them upon returning from dinner. So, without further ado, I give you …

The Monkey

The swan

The puppy

The rabbit

and the elephant.

Hills

If you are thinking at all, then you realize that Norway isn’t flat. In fact, once you get away from the pier and the part of the city or town directly adjacent to it, you come to hills. These can be VERY substantial! Since Amy and I refused to be taken in by the expensive excursions offered by the cruise company, our typical stop was to get off the boat, wander around town a bit and then head for the highest available point. I have intentionally held back some of the best pictures for last as I take you for a panoramic view around the hills of Norway.

First we have Geiranger. It was probably the least strenuous climb we did, but it offered some nice views including the one from the previous post of all the cruise ships at their moorings.

Next was Honningsvag where we climbed up to an old cemetery and monument and looked down to the harbor. Again, it wasn’t a huge climb, but it was well worth it. It was during that climb that Amy spotted her herd of reindeer.

Alesund provided us with Mount Aksla. A more demanding climb, but still doable in an hour or so for the round trip. The literature we had mentioned a coffee and sandwich stop at the top, but I wasn’t able to conjure up the desire for a $7 coffee which wasn’t in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.

Our final hill was actually in Bergen. There is a huge park with many kilometers of hiking trails. After a few minutes of indecision, we bypassed the funicular and headed for the trails to climb Floyen. An hour and a half later we were at the top. An hour after that we were back at the ship and a nice hot shower. The view from the top was quite spectacular. The climb was almost 400 vertical meters. The Norwegians seem to be a super fit people. We saw at least a dozen people running up the hill and several others resolutely pushing baby strollers up.