Beth's Cruise Day 3 - 6

Jan 6
Location: Rome
Our excursion met at 8:15 am in the Stardust theater so we woke up early to get in a full breakfast before disembarking. Assigned to tour bus 11, we were greeted by our Civitavechian tour guide Fillipo (a rather cute, albeit effeminate, young man). He pointed out Michelangelo’s fortress, the home of the virgin mary statue which cried blood and the borders of Tuscany as we made the one hour drive to Rome. Arriving in Rome, we went straight to the Coliseum. Here we learned that it had been built using blocks of a rather common stone with metal pegs between them (earthquake proofing) and then covered in marble which was later stripped to build St.Peter’s Basilica (as was the bronze in the Pantheon). Built by jewish slaves brought back by Tiberius after the sack of Jerusalem (for which there stands an arch memorial down a lane), it was torn down and then later partially destroyed by the popes. Right next door stands the Arch of Constantine which commemorates his legendary victory against a claimant of the throne where he saw in a vision the cross and heard a voice tell him he would be victorious under that symbol.
Avoiding shout-out #4 from a large Italian man dressed as a gladiator, we walked down the Via Dei Fori Imperiali to see the remains of the Roman forum. The senate house is perhaps the only building still standing and this is only because it was converted into a church. Another column, originally built to honor some T__ius emperor for his victory in Romania had been blessed by the pope and the bronze statue on top replaced with one of St.Peter. We also saw the remains of a temple to the Goddess Minerva, who was both the goddess of wisdom and housework, dedicated to women. Ironic no?
At the end of the “via” stands the Palazza Venezia and the Palac Vittorio which was built to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861 and is named for the 1st Italian King. From there, we hopped the bus to lunch which zoomed past such points of interest as the Circus of Nero, the ruins of the palace of the Caesars, the baths of Carcella, the wall of Aurelius, the fortress of St. Angelo, the Sistine BRIDGE and other historically significant sites. I was desperate to soak up as much knowledge as possible.
Lunch was amazing. It began with lasagna, progressed to salad (strange), continued with pork loin and green beans and finished with Tiramisu and the best coffee I have ever had. I did not need sugar and (for me) that is saying a lot. We then drove down to the Vatican – the smallest state in the world (less than 40 Hectares), though it actually owns 40% of Rome. Here we saw St. Peter’s Basilica. Built by pope Alexander VIIit took 100 years and 12 architects such as Burnini, Michelangelo, Raphael, etc. to build it (please forgive misspellings there, we have no more internet time to use to check on these things). Inside of course was Michelangelo’s “Pieta” or “Mourning of the Virgin Mother”, the bronze statue of St. Peter (these are the only two remaining pieces of the original Constantinian church), and the bronze canopy over the pope’s altar. The canopy, only 9 stories high (as opposed to the 130m of the dome above) was sculpted by Burnini. The dome is in fact the tallest structure ever built before the use of reinforced concrete!
Back outside, we admired the colonnades (covered in the name Alexander VII in case you forget), statues of peter and paul, the Egyptian obelisk, the papal balcony and the nativity scene which was in residence in the square as it was the Epiphany (January 6th). This is also why the Sistine chapel was closed. Stopping for dinner at the Garden café we arrived back at our room to discover a towel elephant! We immediately dubbed him Humphrey and placed him in a position of honor. We then went to see Duo Platchkov the dynamic juggling and acrobatic team which thrilled us with their stunts despite the heavy rocking of the boat. A quick stop at Spinnaker (the club) revealed it to be empty and Gwen went to call Andrew while I sought out an inside viewing area (there is none!) before bed.

Jan 7
Let’s just say... At Sea Day now means “Lazy day”. I really have nothing of consequence to report for this day.

Jan 8
Location: Piraeus/Athens
We didn’t arrive in Piraeus until 11am so we had a leisurely breakfast and then disembarked. We had planned to either take the metro or a taxi to the Acropolis and try and catch a hop-on/hop-off tour bus for the day. However, without a map or signs to the metro, we were forced to consider taxis who all refused to just take us to the Acropolis unless we paid them 165 euros to drive us around for about 4 hours to ALL of the sights. After turning down two cab drivers and even getting out of a cab when he admitted he wouldn’t just take us to the Acropolis, we finally surrendered to the tune of 120 euros. We weren’t entirely sure this was a good deal, but I think in the end we got lucky, as everything shut down at 3 due to strike. Our driver, however, still took us around for a couple more hours to peak through bars and from overlooks at a few more sites.
We started with the Acropolis, looking down in the temple of Dionysos before making the climb up past the Gates and the temple of Nike (under reconstruction) to the plateau. Here we stood in awe before both the Parthenon and the Erectheion. Before meeting up with our driver in time to get to the president’s palace and see the changing of the guard who wear HILARIOUS outfits and walk even more hysterically. I got video. One question: If they need to chase someone, do they have to use the silly walk? Having admired the stadiums built for the 2004 olympics on the way into town, we then stopped at the ancient stadium to flex our muscles a little. From there we headed to Zeus’s temple (an impressive sight and at one point one of the largest temples with the most columns ever used in a single structure). It was enclosed in a large park which also included Hadrian’s Gate, the ruins of Apollo’s temple and a roman bath. Continuing on, we stopped at Parliament for THEIR changing of the guard.
We then TRIED to stop at the National Archaeological Museum but it was now 2:30 and things were closing at an alarming rate. The ground floor of the theater of Dionysos was also closed. Our driver still took us round to both the Greek and Roman Agoras as well as the Clock Tower of the Winds before driving us back to Piraeus and to a very nice restaurant which was really rather out of our price range. Obviously he knows the people who own it or something. We settled on salads and a shared dish of shrimp and received two LARGE glasses of Oujo (sp?) on the house. Unfortunately, both Gwen and I hate licorice...so we couldn’t bear to choke down the white liquid. Noticing this, our driver asked if we didn’t drink. We laughed at this and explained our aversion to the taste to which he said “Is Greek drink! Everybody like Oujo!”. He spoke to the waiter who kindly brought over 2 LARGE glasses of wine instead. Over lunch, we tried to explain to the driver that we did NOT live with our parents and that they were NOT supporting us or paying for this trip. He was flabbergasted at the concept of two women working and living away from home, supporting themselves. He told us we should find Greek boyfriends who would support us.... RIIIIIGHT.
After a mildly awkward moment where the cab driver (old enough to maybe be my GRANDfather) asked me to go for a drink with him, we returned to the boat and went immediately to the hot tubs. After showering and changing and then grabbing a quick bite we decided to bust out the vodka we had snuck on board. Our veins flowing with liquid courage we brought the remainder to the club for 70’s night... That’s right. 70’s Night. Need I say more? Let’s just say we were absolutely ridiculous (did you know there’s a line dance to “Stayin’ Alive”?) and are now famous (or rather infamous) on board. People recognize us in elevators and the cruise director’s staff (the “fun police”) love us. Pictures may or may not be posted... we have not decided how global we would like to make our terrible dancing.... :-P

Jan 9
Location: Izmir/Ephesus
We had been intelligent enough the night before to order room service breakfast for 7am (it’s free so we are being SO spoiled!). We groggily went through the motions of getting dressed and arrived at our meeting point slightly bleary eyed. Besides being tired (5 hours of sleep will do that), I was perfectly fine. This is typical of me as I never get hung over (boy will I be in trouble when that stops! :-P). Gwen, however, was feeling stuffed up, headachey and nauseous; I think a combination of her persistent cold and a hangover.
As we found our bus, we discovered on the seats water bottles and goodie bags courtesy of Tursa Turizm (I think the national tourism bureau). The bags each contained a map, a postcard, a “blue eye” good luck charm, a tablet pendent (with explanation), a survey and a moist towelette. I was struck by just how desperate all of our hosts seemed to impress upon us the cleanliness and modernization of Turkey as well as its safety and interest for tourists. The bus trip included such spectacles as the BRAND NEW highway, Ikea, government planted forests and finally the fortress of Ephesus. Ephesus was actually built 3 times. Each time it moved as the river deposited more silt, moving the harbor. The original town was built somewhere around 1000BC, rebuilt around 600BC and then moved again around 700AD to be nearer to the fort for protection against invaders. We were going to see the second city (600 BC).
Arriving at the upper gate we walked through the “administrative” section of the city. Here was a small theater for council meetings, the senate house, government buildings and a roman bath. Walking down a lined roadway we passed the Temple of Artemis built to replace the original which was one of the seven world wonders. We then passed down a roadway to the medical district which included doctors, pharmacists (you can still see their signs!) and a tomb (perhaps an indication of the efficacy of these doctors?). There was also a temple to a roman emperor (I want to say Domician (sp?) but I’d have to check the map to be sure). Continuing on through the Gate of Hercules, past what would have been statues of great men of the city, we came upon the commercial district. This included houses and shop fronts (complete with mosaics in front of them to identify each shop), the fountain of Trajan, the temple of Hadrian and another large bath (we even saw the public toilets!). At the end of that walkway stood the breathtaking Library, the 3rd largest of the ancient world.
Here we had an oopsies and almost lost our guide, but recovered just down the road at the great theater where public gatherings were held. This is where Paul was barred from entering to preach as the people shouted “Artemis is our god!” somewhere in the book of Romans and then taken to a tower for safe keeping (St. Paul’s Tower). From there you could look down the column lined road to what used to be the harbor. We stopped at the gift shops and bought some BEAUTIFUL 100% Cashmere shawls.
On the way back, the bus stopped at a Persian rug making facility. Here we learned how silk is extracted from cocoons and how to weave rugs of wool, cotton and silk using a double knot method. We were given traditional apple tea and pastries and a brief presentation of the various types of rugs and then given the chance to purchase one. After all, for only $2,400 for a 3’x5’ rug, who could pass it up?
Arriving back on the boat we ate (Gwen was in desperate need of protein) and then napped. Waking up and deciding we deserved an incredible meal, we went to the French bistro on board. Oh my. I have not had mussels, onion soup like that since being in France. We stuffed ourselves on lamb and even scraped our plates clean of the remains of crepes suzette and crème brulee before heading up to Spinnaker for a comedy show and drinks with some of the cruise staff.