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01/04/08 |
      
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OverviewThis was an incredible opportunity! Our flight out from Denver had a 12 hour layover in London before continuing to Athens. We made the most of it! After spending a few days in Athens, we took a cruise ship to Egypt, Israel and Turkey - then spent 4 glorious days in a beautiful resort on the Greek island of Mykonos - fabulous! (Select the hyperlinks below to go directly to the journal entry for that day)
London July 3, 2000 - LONDON:
We arrived at London Gatwick at approximately 11 am on July 3rd, between the 8 hours of flying time and the 8 hour time difference - our body clocks were a little confused! We went through customs with relative ease, got our passes for the Speedlink bus and prepared for the 90 minute ride to the London Heathrow Airport, where we will depart for Athens tonight at 10:45 pm. This was a most convenient opportunity for us to catch The Tube (subway) into London for a whirlwind tour of downtown!! Upon arrival at Heathrow, we purchased a day pass for the Piccadilly Line and headed for the city. We hopped off The Tube at Hyde Park Corner and walked along Green Park and Constitution Hill toward Buckingham Palace. Wow, what a phenomenal sight, we were even lucky enough to witness the changing of the guards! From there, we walked through St. James Park down to Westminster Abbey seeing Big Ben - or should I say HEARING Big Ben - whatta serious sound!! We passed the Houses of the Parliament, the Millennium Wheel, headed north along the Thames River to the Hungerford Bridge and into Charing Cross. What magnificent sights and activities! We walked along Strand Avenue to the beautiful & peaceful destination of Covent Gardens. After spending a few reflective moments, taking it in we moved on to Leicester Square and up to Endell Shorts, where a wonderful English gentleman named Leigh, stopped to chat with us... I guess our map reading had him concerned that we were lost! It's hard to be lost when you don't really know where you're going! Leigh is a very sweet man - 72 years old and has traveled to the United States 52 times! He suggested a fabulous "fish & chips" place called "The Rock and Sole Place" that many locals hang out at! Yumm! After our wonderful dining experience, we continued up to Oxford Street, passed the British Museum and onto the SOHO shopping district. They are quite particular about videotaping the street side window displays - Mary was almost physically removed by a bouncer-looking guy for video-taping a shoe display! We were laughing so hard, we almost didn't take him seriously! I guess they try to be quite original with all the fashion competition! We crossed through SOHO Square where many colorful individuals were conversing and resting in the park. We enjoyed a walk through the scenic Gay & Lesbian section of the city, then headed to Piccadilly Circus - and what a circus it is! Just imagine Times Square in New York City - very busy and very loud, lots of angled streets with people and cars everywhere! It's also the "Broadway Theatre" section of the city where Phantom of the Opera, The Graduate and many other shows are running. From here, we walked down Haymarket Street to Trafalgar Square, our last stop in London. We boarded The Tube and headed back the Heathrow Airport where we would await our flight into Athens. What a wonderful day of sightseeing, people watching, fashion and food!
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FAST FACTS |
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Currency: |
Drachmas |
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Exchange Rate: |
1 US Dollar = 350 Drachmas |
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Time Difference: |
+10 hrs Mountain Time |
We're HERE!!! Its 4:30 am, our flight arrived 20 minutes early (We loved flying with British Airways!). What a wonderful idea it was to only "carry-on" our luggage - our backpack suitcases are packed to the max, but avoiding the famous delays at Athens International were SO WORTH it! We walked through customs and out of the airport in 5 MINUTES! Spiro, our Olivia guide greeted us enthusiastically (especially for the am hour!) and proceeded to walk us to the Olivia designated shuttle. Spiro will be joining us for the entire Olivia trip and was already filling us in on upcoming events! We arrived at the Athens Hilton a few moments later said so long to Spiro for now and thanked him for being such a Grande host!
Athens is in the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures predicted to rise above 120 degrees, breaking anything in recorded history. It's already above 95 degrees and the sun hasn't risen! Since it was too early to get into a room, we decided to take some time to explore our hotel. There's a beautiful Olympic sized pool with marble sunbathing decks....traditional Greek Folk music is happily filling each area of the hotel through the piped in sound system...makes a very festive and welcoming arrival! There's a restaurant called "The Galaxy" on the 13th Floor with amazing views of the Parthenon and the entire city....the sun is just starting to reflect golden hues on the marble.
The excitement wins us over and we set out with a trusty map of the Plaka to explore the old world area of the city! The Plaka is famous for its dining, shopping, old world qualities and location, nestled at the base of the Acropolis. We walked down Konistantinou Street - a very busy, noisy, polluted thorough-fare. We decided that driving in Athens is an evening more FRIGHTENING thought than driving in London! The cars are even smaller with a larger population of scooters and motorcycles - parked in every possible spot... this is a very busy city!
We walked to the Stadium - what a magnificent sight and structure, made mostly of...you guessed it, marble! Onto the National Gardens and passed Exhibition Hall - there are many beautiful parks intermingled between the hustle and bustle of the busy streets - with cozy walking paths lined with marble statues... from a distance we see the Temple of Zeus before passing St. Paul's Church and walking onto the narrow cobblestone streets that mark the Plaka entrance on Kidathineon Street. This is a picturesque sight - small shops and restaurants coming to life in the morning light. One building is completely covered with the largest bougainvillea "tree" we have ever seen, sprawling from the ground to the top of a 3 story building with a trunk the size of our waist and in completely FULL BLOOM! Breath-taking!
We stop at a little bakery for some pastries and then go to the Grill House (Koomiror) on Adreanou for omelets with cheese and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. This is a wonderful corner cafe with outdoor seating and owned by 2 nice Greek ladies. We try out a little of our newly learned Greek language, the gals smile in appreciation at our humble attempts to speak a complex language. They seem sincerely grateful for our efforts! After eating, the gals filled our bottles with ice and water for the mui zesty (hot) day ahead.
We made our way out of the Plaka, with the sunlight heating up the concrete surrounding us, back to the National Gardens and up to Vasil Sofias Street, passing the Byzantine Museum, War Museum and then back to the Hilton with only a few wrong turns here and there.
With only a short delay, we got into our hotel room, showered and fell ASLEEP - finally after 2 days! Our room is comfortable, overlooking the pool and a distant view of the Acropolis and Parthenon. We spent a little time familiarizing ourselves with various light switches, unusual power adapters and the many nuances of traveling to a new country!
We slept peacefully for several hours, awoke to enjoy a quiet evening of cooler temperatures (only 95 degrees) on our balcony. We unpacked, dined on turkey jerky and Cliff Bars, did our laundry and went to bed around 11pm.
We awoke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when the alarm went off at 7am. It was nice to wake slowly and really feel the vacation excitement settling in! We got ready for the day, headed for the lobby to meet the Olivia Staff (who had just arrived late the evening prior) and started on an adventure to Syntagma Square via the 10 am shuttle.
We met Bonnie, a professor of Women's Studies who will be guiding us on various adventures during the cruise. We were especially fascinated to learn of her experiences in Jerusalem, since she's lived in the city for a few years.
After arriving in Syntagma Square, we followed "Matt's Athens Survival Guide" - a wonderful website that I explored prior to our departure and trekked back to the Plaka to try some of Matt's cuisine suggestions. The directions he provided were great - we enjoyed a much quieter walk than yesterday. Temperatures were already hitting the 112-114 degree mark, very hot in the direct sun. Lots of water and sunscreen!!! We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Byzantine Restaurant. Mary had roasted lamb (pun intended!) and a Greek salad. I enjoyed roasted chicken and a cucumber salad. Both meals were delicious! After lunch, we trekked around the Plaka to the base of the Acropolis - all uphill in the heat; it was easy to get fatigued. We explored a new route down the hill and passed the Lysicrates Monument and some unexcavated ruins. From here, we traveled up Adreanou Street to do some shopping.
After selecting some postcards and ice cream for a "heat refresher", we purchased a beautiful marble and onyx chess board with bronze pieces shaped like the ancient Cyclades figures. It's quite stunning and will be a beautiful addition to our home. We returned to Syntagma Square, caught the shuttle and headed back to the hotel to cool down.
After a leisurely and cool down, lots of reading about upcoming adventures, we met a group of Olivia women and caught a shuttle back to the Plaka for dinner. It was about 7pm and much cooler! We dined again at the Byzantine Restaurant which soon became our favorite stop. Mary and I split a Gyros and a Greek Salad. We ventured on our own after sharing a meal with some gals, to the Temple of Zeus - such a magnificent sight! We took a stroll through National Park and stumbled upon a play happening on a temporary stage by the Zappion Building. We walked to the House of the Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier noting the guards in traditional dress uniform, then went back to meet the shuttle to the hotel. We fell asleep enjoying the music of a live band playing poolside outside our balcony.
Our morning started with breakfast provided by Olivia in the hotel. It took three buses to get our group (approximately 260 women) to Delphi. The tour buses are very spacious and air conditioned - this made it very pleasant as temperatures sky-rocketed to record highs (again today) reaching 117-120 degrees. Our journey took approximately 3 hours with a 30 minute break for snacks and refreshments. The countryside is beautiful – Greece has a fabulous variety of terrain with lots of farmland. Crops rang from: cereal grains, potatoes, corn, cotton, olives, pistachios and honey. We also enjoyed scenic views of the mountain ranges reaching approximately 10,000 feet in some of the higher areas – there are even a few downhill ski resorts!
We arrived in Delphi greeted by the baking temperatures even at this elevation. The first part of our adventure led us to the ancient Oracle of Apollo. This famous landmark is known throughout centuries of history to be a sacred area where individuals came to consult the Oracle on any major decisions in their life. These ruins also house a stadium and theatre where many other activities were held. It was known as a sacred place of communications with the Gods and was worshipped by all as a powerful energy center. The theatre is amazing and the ruins are mostly intact. As we hiked upward, we reached the top of the plateau where the stadium is located. The stadium is an incredible site – measuring 200x100 yards and was home to games similar to the Olympics. We were so excited to reach the top of the mountain; most of our group could not bear the heat and never got the opportunity to view this magnificent sight!
Another incredible detail worth mentioning is that everything – I mean EVERYTHING – is made out of marble in Greece. The steps to this ancient temple are made of marble – it’s very squeaky to walk on in the heat. We chose to bypass the museum in lieu of another adventure! J J After completely losing our group, we set out to explore the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. This is a completely different trail (and all downhill – until our way back!) At this point, we’d already been exposed to the intense heat for more than an hour at a rigorous pace – but it was completely WORTH it when we turned the corner and saw the magnificent sight! There’s something about this temple that I’ve been very drawn to. I had goose bumps for most of the walk and my head was buzzing from the adrenaline and energy...or possibly nearing heat exhaustion. We spent a few glorious moments enjoying the spirit of the place before panic set in at the separation of losing our group! We trekked back just in time to use the restroom before hopping on our bus – finally back with the group!
After re-hydrating and refreshing ourselves, we drove to New Delphi City and enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant set up to accompany our group. We enjoyed spanikopita, veal and potatoes, a wonderful salad, homemade bread and watermelon for a refreshing dessert. We relaxed on the way back to Athens, very happy with our accomplishments of the day. We spent the evening re-packing our belongings to prepare for the cruise departure in the afternoon. Wow! The excitement continues! Athens has been a lot of fun – we’ve really enjoyed the city and look forward to a few more adventures here before we come back to the States. Tomorrow morning, we tour the Acropolis – this will be yet another amazing adventure I’m sure!
Today marked yet another weather milestone! The temperatures cooled to a more bearable 90+ degrees but the winds whipped through the Acropolis as we began our tour. I heard one very optimistic comment that stuck with me throughout the tour: “Just think…that was sand created from ancient times that is blowing into your eyes!” The Acropolis was even more magnificent than we could ever have imagined. Every angle, every nuance…the way sunlight highlights the structural angles – the incredible architecture…standing here among these masterpieces that have withstood various weather and wars – just amazing…After 3 rolls of film and several hours of video, we’d captured some of the essence. What an awe-inspiring tour! In addition to exploring the structures, we also visited the museum with many sculptures and miniature renditions of frescos or panels of historic events. After departing the Acropolis, we toured Athens by bus, seeing a variety of sights like: The Stadium, The Zeus Monument, The Parliament and Changing of the Guards, The University, the beautiful library and other State buildings.
Then it was onto the Port of Pireus! We arrived at the Port at 1pm, boarded and ran into several old friends that we met on our Olivia Bahamas trip the previous year – it was wonderful to see familiar faces and the friendly staff from Olivia! The ship is beautiful, complete with a theatre, gym, disco, spa & salon, entertainment lounge, casino and a huge dining hall. After doing a little exploring, socializing and an early steak dinner, we headed back to our cozy cabin to get settled in for a good nights sleep. The ship is pretty calm – since this is my first cruise – I didn’t quite know what to expect. We have a portal window in which we occasionally hear a splashing wave – pretty cool!
We spent a little time previewing this week’s Olivia entertainment: Suzanne Westenhoefer, Cris Williamson, Karen Williams, Teresa Trull & Barbara Higbie, Roxanna Ward – looks like a fun week! Tomorrow we’re at sea all day but will have plenty to keep us occupied – we hope to take in another lecture on women’s history with Bonnie Morris – she’s great! J
Today was a nice relaxing day at sea. We slept in, almost too late to even have breakfast! Oops! It’s hard living by a schedule when you are on vacation! We completely missed a 1 hour talk about the “important info to port in Egypt” once again – oops! We carefully grilled all of our new friends for all the pertinent information (especially all those detail-oriented Virgos!) After barely finishing breakfast and chatting with friends – it was already lunchtime! Today’s topic was “regional” we didn’t find any other local gals but were joined by Jill Cruse of the Olivia staff – what a pleasant surprise – she’s a great gal!
After lunch we attended Judy Dlugacz’s (The CEO of Olivia) lecture and chat about the future and history of Olivia. Some really motivational stuff – WOW! And some exciting adventures on the horizon at Olivia Travel. Then we attended another lecture with Bonnie about Israel – what to expect, appropriate actions, etc. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the ship, played some table tennis for awhile, then headed back to our cabin to prepare for “Formal Night” and “Cocktails with the Captain” before dinner. We had a grand time and were completely stuffed after yet another huge meal! We enjoyed a stroll around the ship while taking in a beautiful sunset before heading to the entertainment lounge to see Cris perform. Cris IS the essence of women’s music – she is a gifted singer/songwriter/performer and it was an honor to finally see her live. Mary has spoken so highly of her over the years. It was a heart wrenching performance since her recent breakup with her partner of more than 20 years. The audience was deeply touched with her honesty, sincerity and new material.
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FAST FACTS |
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Currency: |
Egyptian Pounds |
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Exchange Rate: |
1 US Dollar = 4.50 Pounds |
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Time Difference: |
+10 hrs Mountain Time |
The alarm went off at a startling 5am. We’d prepared most of our stuff the evening prior and were in good shape to shower, dress and head upstairs for breakfast. We dined in the main dining area with our new buddies from Chicago then reclaimed our passports and prepared to disembark!
By 7:30am, we’d located our Olivia guide, Bonnie and boarded Bus 9. We had a wonderful Egyptian guide named Bigga who proceeded to give us a quick history lesson on our 3 hour bus ride to Cairo. The land is mostly arid, with a few makeshift structures and farms intermixed. We noticed there were large bird cages on the tops of these structures and learned that the cages/houses were used to catch and train pigeons. Pigeon meat is one of the most common sources of animal protein in Egypt and Israel. We also had an opportunity to do a little shopping while on the bus. Mary and I both ordered solid gold Khartoushes with our names inscribed in Egyptian symbols! Cool!!
Our first stop upon arrival in Cairo is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali at the Citadel. As our first experience in the Holy Land, we are required to cover our shoulders and knees and remove our shoes – and if we want to be EXTRA respectful, it’s appropriate to also cover our hair. We learned that women, once married only allow their husbands to see their hair. Some women even wear wigs to cover their “real hair” in public as part of their Muslim tradition! The Citadel is beautiful – the domed roofs are completely encased with exquisite stained-glass murals – wonderful energy abounds!
Our next stop brings us to the Egyptian Museum where we spend a whirlwind hour long tour in bumper to bumper people traffic viewing King Tut’s artifacts! This was incredible and would be wonderful to spend an entire day here! Upon departing, we continue our journey through Cairo, heading toward the Nile River. Cairo is a very large city – population close to 5 million – very smoggy and sections are extremely war-torn, with some high rise buildings mangled from bombings and never rebuilt. Most are occupied in spite of what seems to be incredibly desolate living conditions. Every inch of ground near the Nile has been converted to farmland and gardens to produce food. One universal symbol is Coca-Cola – it truly seems to be everywhere! Then we crossed the Nile River (WOW!) and got our first distant glimpse at the Pyramids of Giza before stopping for lunch at a famous hotel where all ambassadors and presidents stay when visiting Cairo.
After lunch – we were on our way to the pyramids via camels! – Yippee! Riding a camel is very similar to riding a horse. I was quite at ease and was lucky enough to have a nice cooperative camel! Some of the gals weren’t as lucky! Their camels were biting, spitting, snorting and being completely rebellious – it was quite a sight to say the least! Mary’s camel honked all the way to the pyramids! We’d been moderately prepared for the “hawkers” trying to sell us everything and begging for bigger tips. They were quite persistent and very rude. Tolerating it was every bit worth what we were about to behold! The Great Pyramids of Giza… words cannot accurately describe the majestic images we were seeing. With each stone weighing 70 tons and being no less than 30 feet long, just breathtaking… We spent a little time here before heading down to the Sphinx. What an incredible sight…just to think that these remaining structures have withstood natural disasters, erosion and so many wars is just phenomenal. They really have earned their place as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
After several hours in direct sun exposure, we were ready for a break from the heat! Temperatures had soared to 50-55 degrees Celsius today. We started “getting” that everywhere we’d be visiting would calculate temperatures in Celsius so someone taught us a quick way to calculate Fahrenheit. Just take the Celsius number times 2 and add 26 – this will at least give you a ballpark estimate… We started clueing in that anything over 45 Celsius was going to be a warm day although some of the days, we may have been better off if we wouldn’t have known how hot it really was!!
Our next stop was the Papyrus Museum and the Bazaar for some additional shopping. It was incredible to watch the process of making this famous Egyptian paper. There were many beautiful items and we had a lot of fun bartering for our goods with the street hawkers! It seemed like a very long 3 hour bus ride back to the ship – we were all so tired from a long, long, long day. We arrived back at Port Said around 9:30pm to be greeted by ¼ mile long row of street hawkers who’d set up camp at our port, attempting to get more American dollars before our departure! It was a grueling walk with shouting voices and souvenirs shoved in our faces after an exhausting day… by the time we reached the ship steps, I felt like we’d arrived at the American Embassy!
After a nice hot shower, we hit the pillows and prepared for Jerusalem.
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FAST FACTS |
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Currency: |
Shekel |
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Exchange Rate: |
1 US Dollar = 4 Shekels |
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Time Difference: |
+10 hrs Mountain Time |
We spent the night at sea and arrived at Port Ashdod at 8am. Israel immediately felt different than our experiences in Egypt. We were greeted by Israeli soldiers on board our ship performing a visual inspection before we were allowed to disembark. We’d already been forewarned to make sure we did not inadvertently snap any photos of the Israeli military police, soldiers, etc unless we wanted to experience a visit to the local jails…not at all a happy thought! It’s understandable for a country that has a war every 6-8 years to be a tad bit cautious!
After passing through customs, we boarded a bus for a 1 ½ hour ride to Jerusalem. Our Israeli guide for this adventure is a gal named Tammarra (more details soon!) The drive from Port Ashdod to Jerusalem was beautiful – lush green countryside and lots of farmland – a stark contrast from yesterday’s tour of Egypt. The temperatures we also much milder – with highs expected to be near 35 degrees Celsius – I better buy a sweater!!! Once arriving in Jerusalem, we were surprised at how similar it looked to the United States, except Arabic! We stopped for a panoramic view…the city is such a mixture of old world meets the new world. The new world is planning for the arrival of the Messiah. In our brief experiences with Tammarra, we were already experiencing the sharp contrast of being in a country that has a very different culture. We found Tammarra to be a bit abrasive, curt and not forthcoming with many details of the sights we were viewing. Since I have little background with structured religions and less knowledge of Israel, I spent a large portion of the day viewing objects that I knew nothing about and wishing we would have taken a tour of the Dead Sea in Massada instead!
Our next stop was the Dead Sea Scroll Museum. What an incredible place! One of the highlights of our day was doing this tour with Judy and Cris…they had us in stitches many times!
Then we arrived outside the Old City walls to begin our tour of the Jewish Quarter on foot. The architecture is incredible…we passed through many long narrow passages similar to alleyways that were a little frightening! It felt much safer when we entered the main shopping area. A notable point to make is that the street hawkers are 10 million times more aggressive in Israel than Egypt and start at a much younger age… we’d been warned to be careful of being distracted by one child while the other was picking our pockets! Lucky for us, this wasn’t part of our experience. Our largest purchase was bartering for film J. After lunch, we began our walk to the ancient Western Wall or “Wailing Wall”. We were stopped near one gate as the streets were closed off and militia flanked the area from an apparent bomb threat. Yep, we’re in Israel alright! As soon as the false alarm was over, we were allowed to proceed. People were lined all along this wall… speaking and writing prayers on tiny strips of paper, then inserting them in the ancient cracks of the stones…it was a very powerful place.
We spent the rest of the afternoon touring various portions of Jerusalem by bus… we entered some scary looking places, saw a lot of political demonstrations and remembered that the peace talks were in progress and not going very well. There was an eerie sense that our magical window of opportunity to visit the city safely may soon be disappearing in the upcoming months. On our way out of the city, we were stopped by a group of Lesbian Israeli Activists who’d heard of our arrival in the country and wanted to welcome us! What a strange sense of pride to be greeted by such brave women in what would seem like such a hostile environment to celebrate gay pride. We purchased a kick-ass Israeli Pride t-shirt from the group! How cool!
We arrived back at the ship, pretty fatigued and ready for a good nights rest!
The alarm went off at 5am – the shower felt great and my body was feeling more rejuvenated once again. We promptly ate breakfast and prepared for another day of exploration. After a disappointing day yesterday, we were ready for a new experience! Our ship arrived at Port Haifa at 7am. Spiro was our Olivia bus guide! Our Israeli guide was a wonderful (extremely religious) gal named Julia – who was clearly not prepared for a bus full of lesbians! Once the shock wore off, Julia found her rhythm and we had a great time. She was much more informative! We enjoyed our tour of Haifa which consisted of a Panoramic Bus ride up to the top of Mount Carmel, sitting at 1500 ft., and provided magnificent views of the port city and the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped for a tour of The Gardens at the Baha’i Shrine. Immaculately manicured and perfectly sculptured trees, shrubs and flower gardens were everywhere, encasing the center Mosque for the Baha’i.
Then we drove through Carmel National Park to the Druze Villages. When Israel was first founded, over 300 million trees were planted, now there are many lush groves. Water is scarce though… another fact to throw in is that the entire population of Israel is around 6 million, compared to 15 million in Cairo alone, and 5 million in Athens. There is much more space here. We really enjoyed the Druze Village shopping – everyone was very friendly and much more laid back – low pressure sales! The Druze are a self-sustaining community, practicing their own religion (only 1,000 years old) and marrying their own people with their own set of rules and accountabilities. We had a great time shopping and bought many souvenirs including a set of beautiful crystal goblets, a life-like leather camel that Mary HAD to have J, some lightweight cotton pants and a cool astrology tapestry! We went to a Druze restaurant for lunch – the food was incredible with a middle-eastern flair consisting of tabouli, cucumber salad, hummus, steamed squash, mini pizzas made with herbs and sun-dried tomatoes, cabbage salad, “Druze Style” pita bread (the size of a skirt!) poultry (most likely pigeon) with rice, pine nuts and cardamom (very tasty!) and lamb and chicken shish-ke-bobs. Dessert consisted of pastries similar to baklava, fresh melon slices and very strong coffee.
Our afternoon was supposed to be spent relaxing on the beach, but the exceptionally warm temperatures had brought an “invasion” of jellyfish, and sharks feeding on the jellyfish, we chose instead to come back to the ship. All in all, it was a nice day – it feels really good to have a chance to relax – tomorrow we spend the day at sea. I think I may be coming down with some type of flu-bug L. We spent a bit of time relaxing, doing laundry, writing postcards and reviewing our loot! I feel like Kokopelli!
We slept in till about 11am. This was a welcomed rest for me; I think I’m finally starting to feel like a human being again! It sounds like this virus has affected about 50 people on our trip. Luckily it seems to only last a few days, either that or I did a good job of taking care of myself J.
After having lunch, we headed to the theatre to watch “The Changer and the Changed” a film primarily about Cris Williamson’s career, but also marks a great historical piece – about women’s music and the political scene of the 70’s. Then we attended Judy’s chat about the future of Olivia trips – there’s so much coming up! It’s wonderful to watch this company grow and be so successful – I love being part of it. Judy gave away many trips!!
We enjoyed some sunshine on the ship by playing a game of table tennis on the deck. It’s been forever since I played, and of course Mary is a Pro and kicked my butt! I got in a few good shots and really enjoyed playing one on one - before we got a competitive doubles game going with our friends Tonya and Tammi!
The grand finale of our afternoon/early evening was attending the Olivia Alumni Party – in which we received our new Olivia pin with a number 2 engraved in it, representing the total number of adventures we’ve now shared with Olivia. After a fabulous dinner with many of our new friends, we enjoyed entertainment provided by Teresa Trull and Barbara Higbie – both extremely talented and a joy to watch. http://www.barbarahigbie.com/ The vocals and music were incredible – styles reminded us of Katherine Chase meets Tori Amos meets Loreena McKennitt. Barbara’s fiddle playing and piano were astounding.
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FAST FACTS |
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Currency: |
Lira |
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Exchange Rate: |
1 US Dollar = 600,000 Lira |
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Time Difference: |
+9 hrs Mountain Time |
We awoke at 5am once again to begin our day’s adventure! This is definitely NOT a “rest & relaxation” vacation. We stepped off The Stella in beautiful Turkey - Port Kusadasi and boarded a bus with our buddy Bonnie and our Turkish guide “Wish”. What a beautiful country and pleasant guide. After our experiences in Israel, it was a welcomed change in energy. We drove through the countryside, consisting predominately of olive and peach trees.
Within 30 minutes we were pulling into Ephessos, an ancient city with a long history and were completely blown away at the preservation of the ruins in the city. Ephessos was originally built by the Amazons, in its long history; the city was rebuilt about 12 times. Most of the ruins that we toured are remains from the 3rd build by the Romans in about 300 BC. We took a lot of video and film here – just magnificent. It felt so warm and inviting.
On our way back to the port, we enjoyed breathtaking views of the Bay. Since we only had 4 hours in Turkey, it was a whirlwind trip. Once we arrived back in Kusadasi, we went to a Turkish rug store (famous for their wool and silk rugs). We enjoyed apple tea and Turkish coffee while being entertained by an informative demonstration of the various types and qualities of rugs. After purchasing 2 beautiful rugs, we proceed to do some souvenir shopping.
It’s important to convey our experience at this point. Olivia had traveled to Turkey the previous year and made quite a splash, even rising to somewhat of celebrity status. Just imagine: 500 lesbians arriving in a country - known for quality goods and shopping bizarres – whipping out their credit cards and SPENDING AWAY! By the time the gals reached the next port, the word had spread to shop owners and news stands, with headlines reading something like: “Ladies of Olivia Save Turkish Economy!” We were greeted with open arms - many shop owners knowing our arrival and displaying Pride Flags in their windows. We even had store owners coming out of their shops saying “Lovely lesbian ladies, please grace us with your presence in our store!” It was quite an experience and a positive display of a culture completely embracing us! Wow, whatta day!
We boarded the Stella by 11:15 to depart to Patmos, a beautiful Greek island where it is known that Richard Gere and David Bowie both own property. There are incredible views of the Aegean Sea from almost every point of the island. We visited a convent where Greek Orthodox nuns still live and practice. The convent was beautifully decorated with incredible artwork, tile work, marble and wood-carved designs. There are ¼ as many churches and monasteries as there are inhabitants on Patmos. Many of our group chose to rent mopeds and play on the beach. We found islanders to be very friendly. As we couldn’t port in this tiny island, we were transported via boat from our ship to one of the many marinas. The native islanders seemed to maintain fairly rigid standards within their community. All houses must be of traditional construction design and color. There has been a drought and water is scarce & difficult to transport to residents near the top of the island.
We awoke at 5am after a night of hurriedly packing all of our new loot and stuffing our suitcases to the maximum. We said ‘Yasoo!’ to the Stella Solaris in Port of Pireus and took a group bus back to the Athens Hilton. Ahhh… it felt like home! J The temperatures have decreased back to normal for this region and we enjoy sunshine and 70’s. It was a nice change and we excitedly made the most of the day. After arriving at the Hilton and meeting up with many of our new friends that were either going onto Mykonos or heading back to the U.S., we adventured out into the city.
Flo, Donna, Pat, Mary and I all set out on foot to the Cyclades Museum. It was only about a 10 minute walk from our hotel – what an incredible exhibit of ancient Greek Cyclades culture. An entire floor of this museum is dedicated to the Cycladic women/goddesses of the time. We really enjoyed learning more about many of the items that we’d seen for sale in the Plaka, but until now, didn’t know very much about them. After spending 3 glorious hours, it was passed lunch time and we were all starving! We continued walking to the Plaka – our favorite area – to our favorite restaurant. It was amazing to realize how much we’d learned about the area: places and directions when navigating our little group to all these places! We enjoyed a huge lunch – Greek salads for all, baked chicken for me and a fish special for Mary. After dining, we played in the Plaka, did more shopping and I found my “reconstructing the ruins” book! The gals all had a wonderful time; Flo & Donna purchased many last minute souvenirs before departing. We arrived back at the Hotel shortly before 6pm, spent the next few hours saying good-byes to new friends, before going up to our beautiful room on the 9th floor with spectacular views of the Acropolis.
We enjoyed a quiet night, repacked a few belongings for our Mykonos adventure and got to bed early.
We slept in until 8am! Whatta difference a few hours make! We joined the Olivia group for breakfast at the hotel’s Byzantine Café. Fresh squeezed orange juice, omelets made to order and final goodbyes L to those who would not be continuing on to Mykonos. We boarded a shuttle bus by 10:30am and departed the airport for Mykonos at 12:20pm. With a 25 minute flight, we arrived in no time. The island of Mykonos is absolutely as beautiful as we’d heard it was. The Hotel Petasos, located in the village Platy Yialos, is a stunning little resort owned by a brother and sister. Only a few short steps to the beach, a fresh market next door, restaurants, moped rentals – all were within 100 yards of our paradise. Our room was extremely clean with marble floors and a delightful patio overlooking the pool and Aegean Sea – lots of activities and great people watching.
After getting settled into our cozy room, we changed into our swimsuits and headed for the beach. It’s so picturesque! The water was quite a bit cooler than we expected it to be, it actually felt cold to us! The sand is quite coarse and consisted of large abrasive chunks. Most of the beaches are typically European with topless bathing the norm, some even completely nude. We enjoyed a nice stroll at the waters edge, then relaxed on some rocks in the sun for an hour or so. On our way back to our room, we stopped into the fresh market for a few goodies: sunscreen, water, cheese, crackers, salami and a book on Mykonos and Delos – the two islands we’ll be seeing over the next few days. We also got grapes and bananas before coming back to our room to enjoy a little picnic on our balcony – PERFECT!
After reading a little bit more about Mykonos, we learned that it’s one of the most popular island destination with a large tourist business. It also has an active nightlife, known to draw the gay and artist community. Since today is Friday, there seems to be a lot of locals from Athens coming in for the weekend. We’re looking forward to exploring more of the island and will tour Delos tomorrow morning. We plan to just relax this evening, unless we get a ‘wild hair’ and join a group in town for dancing at one of the local clubs!!
We slept in till 7am today, awoke, showered and joined friends in the beautiful hotel breakfast dining room. There was a fabulous smorgasbord of delectable treats! We met our bus by 9am and headed to the island town of Mykonos, also known as Chora, where we hopped on a ferry to Delos. The ride was about 25 minutes, filled with views of small neighboring islands before setting our sights on the incredible ruins of Delos. The views from the ferry were astounding – the size of the city in its full glory was estimated to be 26,000 inhabitants with excavations of the ruins being less then 30% complete. It’s unfortunate to see what wars and human destruction can do to a civilization. Delos has a fantastic museum filled with many statues and restored artifacts from the community homes. This was a wonderful trip filled with endless treasures. After several hours of exploration, we caught the 1:45pm ferry back to Mykonos, met a few gals and spent some time exploring, eating and shopping in Chora.
Chora is a sweet little village, with very upscale shops, beaches and very narrow streets like a labyrinth. We spent about 20 minutes walking in circles through the narrow corridor-like streets of apartments and shops looking for Nikos Taverna, which had been recommended to us as a favorite spot for lunch. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of Greek salad, grilled seafood mix with: crawdad, squid and codfish served with rice and mixed veggies – Yummy! We chose to split a meal after our previous experiences with huge amounts of food. After pleasantly plumping our tummies, we headed back into the labyrinth for shopping. Mary and I each purchased a cotton (linen-like) long sleeved shirt for the cool evenings. We also picked up a few souvenir magnets along the way. After a few more hours of walking, we stopped for ice cream before catching the city bus back to our resort. By then, it was 5:30pm and we were hot and ready for a dip in the pool. It only took us seconds to change into our swimsuits and feel refreshed in the pool. The water actually felt a little cool at first and we got a nice surprise when we discovered it was a SALT WATER pool!
After watching a beautiful sunset, we went back to our room for a shower and a candle lit snack on our veranda – what a romantic spot this is!! After relaxing a bit, we enjoyed a nice stroll to see the full moon rising – Happy Full Moon in Scorpio!
I awoke bright eyed at 6:30am, excited to spend a relaxing day by the pool. Mary was still sleepy, so I got up as quietly as I could and set up shop on our veranda. The peaceful morning, beautiful glistening buildings in the sunrise were a fabulous sight to see. I brushed my teeth and poured a glass of water, organized my postcard list and began writing. It was wonderful to recount our adventures of the past few weeks. I’ve had such a great time with stories and experiences etched into my memories!
Mary awoke at 8:30am and we ventured down to the poolside restaurant for a delicious breakfast. We had a perfect location under a palm tree husk umbrella with a little table for great relaxation and sunbathing. We enjoyed people-watching and we quite entertained by a Greek woman and her two young sons, ages 4 & 9 – both handsome and full of personality. I enjoyed listening to them speaking in Greek – they were quite loving and sweet with each other.
We snacked a little throughout the afternoon, but decided to skip lunch and wait for the big BBQ dinner put on by Olivia this evening. I spent a good part of the day writing postcards and Mary got deeply engrossed in her latest Harry Potter novel. Later in the afternoon, we got a bunch of gals together for a fun game of water football. It was a BLAST! Mary mastered throwing from the deep end of the pool and I ate quite a bit of salt water, diving for some great catches! After a couple of hours of frolic and a whole lotta sun – eeks – we went up to our room to get ready for the evening party.
The “Farewell to Mykonos” festivities & meals were being prepared with a BBQ of island specialties. What a spectacular spread of traditional Greek cuisine. Everything was delicious; we dined while enjoying our last Mykonos sunset then went up to the rooftop patio of the restaurant to watch the full moon rise over the sea. WOW, what a perfect time to be on an island! From the roof, we could smell the BBQ, here the traditional Greek music and distant chatter of conversations as well as see the lights appear along the cove as residents came home for the evening. It was a wonderful moment to take in the feeling of the island and culture. We returned to the party and enjoyed an equally impressive spread of desserts and dancing until after midnight. Many gals were still dancing away and some decided to cool down with a late night dip in the pool – quite entertaining for all!!
After our late night at the “Farewell to Mykonos” gathering, we awoke around 9am, lounged on our veranda a bit, and then enjoyed breakfast by the poolside one last time. After getting our belongings packed up, we spent the duration of our time visiting with our friends Lori & Vickie. The shuttle arrived at 3:15pm to take us back to the Mykonos airport, and then back to Athens.
Upon arriving in Athens, we checked into our hotel, and (you guessed it!!) took off on foot for the Plaka for an evening of last minute shopping and a farewell Greek dinner at our favorite restaurant!
It was wonderful to enjoy a few relaxing days in Mykonos. I feel well rested and ready to be back in our beautiful house with our loving and adorable kitties.
...Yasoo (goodbye) until the next adventure...
This page was last updated 01/04/08