Pam & Jake's Blog: 2009

(Thanks to Callie for her great memory and help with this blog)

So, we had a GREAT time in Greece. I hadn't been on a cruise since I was a kid and i was kindof excited to figure out if I could stomach 5 days on the water. (I got a little sea sick last time we had cruised) This cruise was pretty low key-no formal dress meals and one wee swimming pool for an afternoon dip (much needed in the Mediterranean sun) and the perfect way to see the Greek Islands.

If you want to follow along with all the pictures, we've posted lots of them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2344&id=1597002955&l=cf97462995
http://www.jakenyman.com/Greece/
http://www.jakenyman.com/Greece2/

We arrived on a Saturday evening in Athens and found our way to our hotel. We had an incredible location/walking distance to the Acropolis which was lit up for our viewing pleasure. As we took a dusk stroll along the base, there were tons of people out and about-kids playing soccer, tourists taking pictures, lots of lovers holding hands and smooching and a heap of stray dogs cruising for a hand out. It was a great introduction...

The next day, we hit the big tourist sites: We logged a few miles walking the Acropolis and hiking up the hill to see the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike and Theatre of Dionysos up close. Man was it hot!!! Then down the other side to the Ancient Agora where the Greeks did their daily business. We also found the jail where Socrates was kept and put to death with a sip of hemlock. It was a little weird that such a site that I read about in more than one high school and college class had just a little signcard to mark it. I guess that's the way they do things here. We took a midday break at a sidewalk cafe and then headed back through the Plaka, the main shopping and eating district, focused on tourists. An afternoon walk through the National Gardens to see Hadrian’s Arch and The Temple of Zeus and we were ready for a nap!

Monday, we bussed to the port town of Pireaus to board our "luxury" (aka budget) liner, the easyCruise Life. Orange and black, clearly the bastard step child of the Greek cruise industry, I love it! Our ugly little boat was easy to spot and I think breaks all the rules of cruising etiquette, spewing black exhaust into the deep blue sky of the Aegean, cutting off bigger boats so we could get to port first and disembark before others...the rebel, that was us. It did have a hot-tub that was only mildly hot, perfect for the Greek summer sun!

This sweet ride would drop us off at six different port sites over the next five days. Our first stop was Monday night in Mykonos, where we walked the narrow winding streets that were designed as hiding places for locals when pirates came to port to rob the village. We bumped into Petros the Pelican, the pink mascot (we think he’s the second or third generation Petros), ate some great local street food, saw the famous windmills and Paraportiani Church. Sunset at a local waterside restaurant and we were already hooked. We boarded the boat to find that, as an apology for a bunch of booking mistakes, our economy cabin had been upgraded to a suite! Nice! When both of you can stand up in the cabin at the same time, you know you’re talking luxury! Even better, that night at dinner, we hooked Shawn and Callie up with some Anniversary dessert and a little serinading from the talented (aka Elvis impersonating) waitstaff. It was fantastic!

Day two: Kasadasi, on the coast of Turkey is 30 minutes away from Ephesus, an incredible archaeological site that has uncovered massive Greek and Roman ruins. This is the town where all of the Apostles had visited and many were executed. It was a prosperus town, and the ruins reflected that-a huge library and theatre and hospital. After Ephesus we headed back to town to see how Turkish rugs are made and cruise through the market to be assaulted by the Turks. We felt this to be overwhelming, but managed to buy some beach blankets none-the-less. It’s messy and it can be fun when you’re willing to play along with them.

Back on the boat to get to Patmos where we hired a cab to take us to the Monestary of St. John, a hillside (still practicing) monastary where John was exiled and where we lived in a cave (yes, we saw the cave but there are no pictures allowed) while he wrote the Book of Revelation. It was a great little cave, overtaken by tourists, but a neat place to be and know that John was actually there.

Our next day was pretty laid back- our only port was Rhodes, one of the biggest islands of the week. It is primarily known for The Palace of the Grand Master’s of the Knights of St. John, a type of fraternity that was initially made up of hospitallers and their palace was built for their meetings and a place to plan and execute good works. Of course, the palace was sacked and burned down several times and the palace that stands today was built by the Italians as a place for Mussolini to come hang out...a lot of the amazing mosaics that we saw in the palace were stolen from others islands (what Mussolini wants, Mussolini gets).

We hit the markets for a while, tried some local fare and then crashed on the beach for the afternoon. Shawn and Callie swam out to a huge diving platform (maybe 30 ft high?!) to hang out with the local teenagers and show that we Americans weren’t afraid of nothing.

Our last two ports on Thursday were Crete to see the Minoan ruins of Phaestos and then one of my other favorites, Santorini. When people see pictures of “The Greek Islands”, they are usually seeing picture of Santorini and more specifically, the town of Oia(ee-a). Santorini used to be round in shape, but a volcanic eruption between the Minoan and Ancient Greek periods buried most of the island, so now it’s like a moon with a few small islands in the middle. The incline from the ocean to the remaining last mass and towns is so steep, you have to take a cable car (or donkey if you choose) to get up to the towns. Once at the top, it's a Taxi or bus to the other side of the island to see Oia. It was nutty! Check out the video below.

Oia is at the tip of the moon and the town is built on the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the rest of the island and the middle little islands. Most of town is whitewashed stucco in construction, but the five or six churches have bright blue roofs. The contrast of the the buildings, the ocean and the island in incredible. You can see why this island is on the busiest with 27 flights per day coming into the tiny airport. We managed to find a great bar with an amazing view for some snacks and a beer with plenty of time to take it all in. What a great last evening!

Friday, we ended our relationship with the easycruise Life and headed back to stable land (we were all still swaying for a few days) and Athens. With great determination, we walked around with maps in hands for an hour to find an awesome “mezzes” restaurant for lunch. Like Spanish Tapas, this place brings a huge tray of ‘small meals’ to your table and you just start choosing and grabbing and sharing and they just keep bringing you bread and wine until you’re stuffed. This quiet little patio cafe was tucked into the chaos of the Plaka-a real gem and probably one of my favorite meals of our trip. We spent the rest of the afternoon cruising the Plaka and shopping and then taking a well deserved and needed nap in the heat of the day. That night, we got to go to a Greek dance performance in an outdoor theatre near the Acropolis. Greek dance...not so exciting. Greek music, I like.

Our last day in Athens, we spent the afternoon at the National Archaeological Museum. This museum was an incredible compilation of art, sculpture and findings from everyday life in Greece since the beginning of civilization. It was truly an amazing collection and one can see why it is rated in the “Top 10 Museums in the World”.

We ended up meeting a local, hitching a ride to her restaurant out in the suburbs and enjoying our evening on the beach. It was amazing.

We took a short weekend trip to Brugge, Belgium. It was a great little city, we had fun exploring. The town has canals that were used to bring goods into the city from the sea. Now the canals are just used for tourists.

The yellow fields were all over on our drive, I just couldn't get enough

The drive was kind of buggy

Entering Belgium (from Luxembourg, where they speak Luxembourgish)

Before our ascent up the tower

The main square from the top of the tower

Inside a big fireplace in a mansion that has been turned into a museum-probably shouldn't have been standing on and touching the artifacts-oh well.

A canal and a tourist boat

At our hotel-we had to pass through the first-and-a-half-floor.

As you can read on the sign this store was named the "Bier Temple" Belgium is known for their beer, Jake said it was scrumptious !

The main square and the tower, we climbed all 300 and some steps to the top although Jake is sure there were at least a thousand

The BEST chocolate shop-they had creme brulee caramel in a dark chocolate shell

Another chocolate shop (first runner-up) that sells fried onion chocolate. Didn't try this although the Cuban cigar chocolate went down really smooth.

We toured the local brewery which included a free glass of unfiltered blonde ale-unless you are pregnant, in which case you only got a soda and a tiny sip of your husband's wonderful beer.