Destination known and looking for jobs!: The cruise ends!!

After much kicking and screaming, we had to get off our cruise ship yesterday. Overall it was nice time and we had amazing weather. We had a cabin on the outside so it had a little window we could spy out of. There was an outdoor pool where movies would play on a big screen at night. There was a 24 hour buffet and room service plus three dining rooms. There was a bar at the top deck of the ship where they would have a happy hour during sail-aways. Even with all this eating and drinking, Jeff and I did work-out 25% of our days on the ship! They had different entertainment every night. One night we went and saw the Princess dancers do a variety show. It reminded so much of a Saturday Night Live skit, we never went back for the others! We really enjoyed our time on the ship and most of the ports too.

So after we left Venice, the ship took us to Dubrovnik, Croatia. There we climbed up the old city walls and had wonderful views of the sea. The next day we came into port in Corfu, Greece. We were planning on taking a bus to a beach, but after arriving at the bus station the oh-so-helpful information guy told us that the bus didn’t run on Saturdays. So we went to a shop that rented scooters, but the oh-so-helpful guy there said we needed a scooter license to drive the stupid thing. So we re-named Corfu to Corpoo and got back on the ship and sat by the pool sun to ourselves. Who needs a sandy beach when you have three pools and six hot tubs to choose from?

The next port of call was Katakolon (Olympia). Well, it was a Sunday and not just any Sunday in Greece, but election Sunday. So not only were the local buses not running, but the Olympia grounds were closed. Instead of getting off the ship that day and getting frustrated, we slept in and had another relaxing day by the pool.

The next day we docked in Athens, Greece and we finally got off the ship to see the sights! We walked from the cruise ship dock to the metro and took the metro to the acropolis. It was a beautiful temple overlooking Athens. We also walked to down the smaller theater and the temple of Zeus. We got some really nice pictures and had a great time.

From Athens the ship went to Mykonos, Greece. We had meet a lovely newlywed couple on the boat, Phil and Ashley who live in Indiana, that we wandered around town with. Mykonos is beautiful with white washed buildings with bright blue trim. The four of us took a taxi across the island to Paradise beach. During the busy season, there appears to be many restaurants and bars lining on the beach. But since its quiet time, we were basically the only ones there. The sun was out, even though it did start sprinkling just before the taxi came back to pick us up. The water was still cold so Jeff was the only one brave enough to swim.

After Mykonos, we went to Kusadasi, Turkey. We took a 30 minute taxi ride to the ruins of Ephesus. This has been the best pile of Roman rocks we’ve seen so far! There were paved roads, an ampitheater, a library, and hundreds of pillars. It was impressive! We arrived back to the port area and wandered the local bazaar for bit. I was really temped to buy a beautiful handmade Turkish rug, but (1) I couldn’t bear the thought of carry around that heavy thing in my backpack and (2) we didn’t have thousands of dollars to buy it. Besides, it doesn’t really make sense to buy such a beautiful rug and not have a home to put it in when you get back!

Our next stop was Rhodes, Greece. We spent the warm day on the beach with Phil & Ashley and the water was much warmer than in Mykonos so everyone went swimming. There was a platform 50 meters out from the shore that had three different level diving platforms. The highest jump was about 20 feet and I wasn’t brave enough to jump, even though Jeff made it look easy.

The island of Santorini was next and was by far our favorite stop. The ship had to anchor out and we were shuttled to shore in tender boats. Once you got to shore, it was steep 900 feet up to the town. There were three ways to make it to the top: 1. Pay to take the cable car up (lame!!! It’s no German Zugspitz) 2. Walk up the winding cobblestone path (which we were planning to do) 3. Ride a donkey for five euros (AWESOME!!) Who could resist riding a donkey for 5 euros up a steep hill covered in donkey doo-doo in the hot sun? Not us! The Greek guys throw you on a donkey and off you go. You basically have no control of the donkey. They don’t have bridles just a halter with a rope tied to one side and there is a ‘oh-shit’ metal handle on the front of the saddle. The donkey walks when it wants to and where it wants to and takes breaks when it wants too. We laughed the whole way up! Once to the top, we wanted to see more of the island than just the tourist trap so we traded in our donkeys for a gas-powered means of transportation. No not a car, not a scooter, but a four wheeler, which apparently are totally legal to drive on the roads. We went to the black sand beach awhile and then to some of the other smaller towns on the island before we had to go back to the ship for the evening.

Our last port was Naples, Italy. We skipped Naples for ruins of Pompeii just a short train ride out of the city. Pompeii was an old city in the shadow of the volcano Vesuvius. Around 74 AD the volcano suddenly erupted and buried the city in 7-9 meters of ash. This preserved many of the buildings, including the frescos on the walls. We could see many of the homes, the shops, the laundry, the brothels, the markets, the temples, the theater, the bakery and much more. The ash also encapsulated the people and as the bodies decomposed there were air pockets left behind. When they began to excavated the city, the diggers would expose little areas around the air pockets and pour in plaster of paris. Once the plaster harden, there would be a likeness of the person who had died. Some were so detailed you could make out the expressions on their faces. The castings are not preserved in the areas where they are found, instead they are preserved either at the museum or newly built covered areas in Pompeii. It was a very interesting site to visit.

The cruise ship dropped us off in Rome and we’ve spent the last two days sightseeing here. We toured the Coliseum yesterday, the Pantheon (oldest building in Rome), and saw the Trevi fountain (biggest fountain in Rome and we both threw coins in to make a wish). Today we went on a tour of the Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Celestine Chapel was amazing. Two days wasn’t enough time to explore everything Rome has to offer!

Tomorrow we catch a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. We’ll be in Turkey on Turkey day! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jeff and I are both thankful to be doing this adventure together.

Cheers!