Athens to Miami
Athens (Greece) to Miami (Florida)
Instead of
going to the Acropolis in Athens
again, we left the city to see Mycenae and ancient Corinth, in the southern tip
of the mainland, the Peloponnese Peninsula.
It was very mountainous all along the way, even some snow-capped peaks
in the distance. We stopped to walk out
on a bridge over the Corinth Canal, a skinny cut in sheer rock across a narrow
part of the peninsula. It was amazing –
only about 75 feet wide but 4 miles long and almost 200 feet down to a ribbon
of turquoise water. It is a spectacular
sight.
At Mycenae, we found mountaintop ruins of a
mighty citadel, center of the most powerful kingdom in Greece for about 400
years (1600 – 1200 BCE). It’s one of the
most important archaeological sites in all Greece. Location, location, location – situated high
above a fertile plain, the king could see invaders coming from either side of
the peninsula. The wall is constructed of enormous fitted-together stones
entered by the great Lion Gate. An
elaborate Grave Circle has been unearthed just outside the wall, which yielded
a host of priceless funerary artifacts including elaborate jewelry, vessels,
and many weapons. Within the citadel
they have excavated a large royal palace, an artisans quarter, residences, and
a sophisticated water transport system from below and outside the wall to an
underground cistern within it. Another
type of royal tombs (tholos) were dug inside the mountain in great beehive shapes,
then the entrances were concealed and blocked with dirt. Trouble with that is that every time somebody
else in the family died, they had to dig out the entrance all over again,
insert the body, and cover it all up again.
But they were really unique, I have to say. And oddly, there were a whole lot of bees in
them.
 |
| Massive wall of the Citadel at Mycenae |
 |
| Lion Gate |
 |
| Grave Circle |
 |
| City Ruins |
 |
| Ruins |
 |
| Ruins |
 |
| Entrance to Beehive Tomb |
 |
| Dome of the Beehive Tomb |
Corinth is
another city with a superb location, fertile plains and impregnable
fortress. This was a very wealthy,
bustling city at a crossroads of trade from most parts of the world. Its location on a narrow isthmus allowed it
to dominate the transport of goods across the strip of land from one ocean to
the other, and collect fees to do so.
Corinth was known for its luxurious lifestyle and loose living. There were said to be 1000 prostitutes in the
Temple of Aphrodite. Everyone went to
Corinth, which is the big reason Paul did.
If he preached Christianity in Corinth, then visitors there would
disseminate his teachings wherever they went. The ruins there reveal a huge
forum, including the seat of the tribunal where Paul was tried and
released.
 |
| Fortress overlooking Corinth |
 |
| Temple of Apollo in Agora of Corinth |
 |
| Residential area of Corinth |
 |
| Residantial area of Corinth |
 |
| Residences in Corinth |
 |
| In the Agora of Corinth |
 |
| Found in Ancient Corinth |
Gythion, Greece - we
had an excellent, surprising visit here.
We left the small port to drive to the ruins of Mystras, via Sparta. Nothing left of Sparta since their structures
reflected their austere lifestyle, and they didn’t build anything remarkable –
hence the origin of the descriptive term ‘spartan’. But Mystras, another UNESCO site, is
fabulous and very worth seeing. It’s a
13th century Byzantine city clinging to a steep mountainside, with
the remains of a huge fortress, the Palace of the Despots, 2000 houses, and
many churches and monasteries. They’re
built out of stone with red clay bricks interspersed as a protection against
earthquakes, all topped by orange clay roof tiles. Many beautiful wall and ceiling frescoes still
remain. One fresco in a large dome had been plastered over long ago for some
reason, and was recently exposed after an earthquake shook all the plaster
loose. They didn’t even know it was up
there! We had a wonderful time exploring here.
So different from what we’ve been seeing. Back at the port, we walked around Gythion
town and had very fresh fish for lunch.
 |
This is the Navigator anchor
coming up out of the water. It's just kinda neat. |
 |
| Gythion |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Mystras |
 |
| Recently uncovered dome in Mystras church |
There’s not
much to see on the island of Zakynthos,
Greece. It looks better sailing in than
we actually found it to be closer up. We
saw some very minor churches, had a couple of nice views, and some Greek snacks
while we watched some Greek dancing.
Somehow I ended up out there with them doing something that probably
couldn’t qualify as dancing, but it was really cold, so at least I warmed up a
little!
 |
| 2000 year old olive tree |
 |
| Bay of Zakynthos |
 |
| Zakynthos town |
 |
| Square of Zakynthos |
 |
| Main Square of Zakyntrhos |
 |
| Largest Church in Zakynthos |
 |
| View over the Bay of Zakynthos |
 |
| View of Zakynthos |
We had been
looking forward to Rome again from
the beginning of the trip. Walking there
is something we enjoy, so that’s what we did.
Nothing organized except our ride to and from the port. By 10:15am we were in Piazza del Popolo and
began our circuit to all the major sites.
We walked along the Tiber to the beautiful bridge in front of Castel
S’ant Angelo, then backtracked to see our wonderful ivy covered Hotel Raphael,
near Piazza Navonna. Had a cappuccino at
a café across the street, then headed toward St. Peter’s Basilica. It was getting very crowded since it was
still Easter holidays - lots of families and school children everywhere. We weren’t planning to go into St. Peter’s,
just walk in the main street leading to it, and see it from the outside. Good thing – the line for security was
enormous, and there was yet another line to enter after security. We went back through Piazza Navonna, thinking
about having lunch there, but so many people!
We went on to the Pantheon and ate in the square there instead. Afterward we walked past the small forum
where Julius Caesar was assassinated, past the huge, gleaming white marble
wedding cake that’s the Victor Emmanual monument, over the Capitoline steps and
down into the Roman Forum and Coliseum.
There’s always so much to see and photograph everywhere in Rome. We took our time and enjoyed everything,
slowly making our way to Trevi Fountain.
It’s just been cleaned and renovated, so it was gorgeous! And even more crowds here and everywhere in
the small streets around all the sites.
We still had time to get to the Spanish Steps and the piazza there, but
it was so crowded we couldn’t see the steps themselves. By this time, we’d walked about 5 or 6
miles, so we stopped for a break and waited about 45 minutes until meeting our ride in Piazza del
Popolo. It was a great day - we saw
everything we wanted to see without rushing.
Too bad about the crowds, but it was a pleasant sunny day to be
exploring again in Rome.
 |
| St. Peter's Square |
 |
| The Coliseum |
 |
| Piazza del Populo |
 |
| St. Peter's from the Tiber |
 |
| Hotel Raphael |
 |
| Castel S'ant Angelo |
 |
| Piazza Navonna |
 |
| The Pantheon |
 |
| Vittorio Emmanuel Monument |
 |
| The Forum |
 |
| Arc of Consstantine |
 |
| Trevi Fountain |
 |
| The Spanish Steps |
After Italy,
we landed at Monte Carlo, which was
a big favorite from a few years ago - this time not so much. The whole city was in the process of
preparing for the Gran Prix at the end of May, so roads were blocked off,
bleachers set up, temporary fencing and so on.
Beautiful port normally, but it was no fun walking around this
time. We made it to the Grand Casino, a
beautiful building, but even the view from there was obscured by boards and
fencing. We passed by some fabulous
yachts, shops, and did some people- and car-watching, but didn’t really enjoy
it too much. Big disappointment - don’t
plan a visit during the 6 weeks before the big race. You won’t see much of this usually gorgeous
place.
 |
| Monte Carlo |
 |
| Nice Yachts |
 |
| Monte Carlo |
 |
| Grand Casino |
 |
| Stairs up to Grand Casino |
 |
| Royal Palace |
 |
| This is probably James Bond's yacht |
 |
| Fabulous emeralds, but the watch is ALL diamond baguettes, face and band |
 |
| Diamonds anyone? In every color? |
 |
| Gran Prix Race preparations |
 |
| The pit stop is ready! |
Marseille, France was our gateway to Avignon in Provence. Scenic French countryside all day reflected the strict building codes to keep the area as traditional as possible. Everything we passed was stone-built with terracotta roof tiles, old or new. Seven popes resided in Avignon during the 14th century when they had to leave Italy. The Palace of the Popes is sort of a palace/fortress, with beautiful large reception rooms, studies, bedrooms, and chapels highly decorated with detailed frescoes. It was quite cold and windy, but we went outside at the top of the palace and had great views over Avignon and the Rhone River. After lunch, we went via St. Remy (charming) through Les Alpilles mountain range to the hilltop village of Les Baux. We had a walking tour of this tiny village built atop a spur of mountain, 800 feet above the valley floor. It’s like an eagle’s aerie! Fabulous views! Neat, tiny stone streets and houses are curled all around the summit and lead eventually to a fortress at the very very top. It was an absolutely enchanting, wonderful visit there.
 |
| Palace of the Popes in Avignon |
 |
| Think this is an original door? |
 |
| Inside the Palace |
 |
| Inside the Palace |
 |
| Receiving Hall inside the Palace |
 |
| Interior embellishments |
 |
| Statue above the Palace |
 |
| View from the top of the Palace |
 |
| Les Baux Fortress |
 |
| Street of Les Baux |
 |
| Street of Les Baux |
 |
| Street of Les Baux |
 |
| Les Alpilles |
 |
| Les Alpilles |
Deciding we
needed an easier day than we’ve been having, we took a leisurely drive around
the sights of Barcelona, and better
appreciated why everyone loves it. We
saw the Old Port area, the 1992 Olympic Port, Placa Espanya (main downtown
square), and the busy blocks-long Las Ramblas.
We passed some of the most famed buildings by Gaudi, the Casa Mila and
Casa Batilo. His work is certainly
different! Most of the areas near there
are from the ‘new expansion’ of Barcelona, featuring really lovely old facades
and many attractive squares with each corner cut off at a diagonal to give a
more open feeling. It’s all very
appealing, clean, and well-kept looking.
Lastly we drove to the Fair and Congress Palace which marks the entrance
to the 1888 World Exhibition. It’s just the
first of all the exposition buildings that were built all the way up the
Montjuic Hill. They’re all sizable and
still in use today. There’s a whole
exhibition area here called the Spanish Village which consists of examples of
architecture from all regions of Spain.
At the top of Montjuic we had an outstanding view over Barcelona. We didn’t stop at the Sagrada Familia,
Gaudi’s famed church that celebrates God in nature, but that’s ok. We saw it last time and really didn’t care
for it much. But we feel like we had a
great look at Barcelona overall and enjoyed some beautiful weather.
 |
| Architecture in Olympic Park |
 |
| Street Art |
 |
| Whimsical Decorative accent |
 |
| Gaudi |
 |
| Gaudi |
 |
| Gaudi? Not sure, but interesting accents |
 |
| The old bullring |
 |
| Pavillion from 1888 World Exposition |
 |
| Views of Barcelona from Montjuic |
 |
| Views of the harbor |
 |
| More views! |
Well, Gibraltar was quite a surprise for
us. It’s more than just a really big
rock. It’s full of caves and defensive
tunnels – virtually honeycombed with them.
We went into St. Michael’s Cave which was really very beautiful, but
sustained a lot of damage to its formations when they prepared it to be a
hospital during WWII (it was never used).
There are lots of Barbary monkeys all over the area, revered and
protected by the locals. We even saw a 36 year old female, the oldest by at
least 12 years – just a bag of bones, really, but everyone there knows her and
watches out for her. The tunnels we saw
were just a small percentage of the network within the rock. There’s quite a story about the laborious
digging that went on in order to position some big cannons high up in the
Rock. We couldn’t go all the way to the
very top of the rock because the cable car had closed due to high winds. But we drove to several points just short of
the summit and enjoyed views of the strait, Spain, the town of Gibraltar, and
even Africa - 14 miles away. The Rock of
Gibraltar forms one of the ‘Pillars of Hercules’; the other one is clearly
visible across the Strait in Africa –another major rock mount on that
shore. From one of the viewpoints we
watched a plane land on the runway crossed by the road to Spain. They close the road so planes can land. The town of Gibraltar is very nice, too. Most businesses and shops were closed since
it was Commonwealth Day for all the UK, but we enjoyed walking the little
streets. The massive rock dominates
everything and Gibraltar has an interesting history. Good stop.
 |
| The Rock of Gibraltar |
 |
| The Rock |
 |
| Gibraltar City Wall |
 |
| Street in Gibraltar |
 |
| In the town of Gibraltar |
 |
| Church Tower in Gibraltar |
 |
| Building in Gibraltar |
 |
| Still? |
 |
| Cafe in main square |
 |
| St. Michael's Cave |
 |
| St. Michael's Cave |
 |
| Barbary Monkey |
 |
| Grande Dame of the Barbary Monkeys |
 |
| Inside one of the tunnels |
 |
| Road to Spain across the runway |
 |
| The Rock |
 |
| 2 Rocks |
 |
| Opening of Gun Emplacements from tunnels in The Rock |
 |
| View across the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa and the other Pillar of Hercules |
 |
| Probably another James Bond yacht |
Loved,
loved, loved Seville, Spain! It’s 90 miles from the port of Cadiz, but the
road there traverses the pretty rolling agricultural area of Andalusia – olive
and orange trees, sunflowers, wheat and so much more. We entered the city via the Avenidas de las
Palmeras, lined with most of the main pavilions that were built for the 1929
Ibero-American Exposition, celebrating Spain’s history as explorer/conqueror.
The pavilions showcased her former colonies all over the world. They’re quite large and impressive, still
used for various museums and functions.
We walked
through the Jewish Quarter of old streets and courtyards to get to the Alcazar,
the Royal Palace. It’s still the
official palace of the king of Spain, although he never goes there. It’s so beautiful; seven acres of gardens
around it, beautiful Moorish architectural influences with a Christian look,
too. It has lovely tile mosaics, high
wooden ceilings with intricate designs, lovely courtyards. Wonderful!
We visited St. Mary’s Cathedral right next to the palace – 3rd
largest Christian church in the world, largest gothic. Great high ceilings, a highly decorated
central dome, brilliant gilded altar piece behind a barred screen, choir area
in the middle with rows of carved wooden seats for the clergy. There’s a magnificent carved wooden façade
for an immense pipe organ that required 42 men to pump air for it to be
played! Afterward we ate lunch with a
view of the church square where we could see dozens of local women dressed in
flamenco-style dresses accompanied by elegantly dressed escorts, walking or
riding in beautiful carriages, drawn by gorgeous Andalusian horses. It was their Labor Day as well as a fair or
festival day, and it was quite a show.
The dresses were fabulous. From
this square they drive through Maria Luisa Park to get to Placa Espana, a huge
beautiful crescent shaped plaza in front of Spain’s spectacular pavilion from
the 1929 Exposition. The pavilion and
square were enhanced by all the fancy horse carriages parading through it, and
costumed couples just strolling around it. The square has 4 arched bridges over
a curved canal of water symbolic of Spain’s history of discovery, exploration,
and colonization. We were extremely
fortunate to be in Seville on such a holiday and see such a display! It was great!!!!!!!!!
 |
| Jewish Quarter |
 |
| Jewish Quarter |
 |
| Jewish Quarter |
 |
| The Alacazar |
 |
| The Alcazar |
 |
| Dome in The Alcazar |
 |
| Room in The Alcazar |
 |
| Architecture in The Alcazar |
 |
| Ceiling in The Alcazar |
 |
| St. Mary's Church |
 |
| St. Mary's Church |
 |
| Some of the Organ Pipes in St. Mary's Church |
 |
| Gilded Altar Screen |
 |
| Christopher Columbus' Tomb |
 |
| Carved Wood Entry to the Pipe Organ |
 |
| Street of Seville |
 |
| All Dressed Up for the Fair Day |
 |
| Fair-goers in Placa Espagna |
 |
| Part of the Spanish Pavillion in Placa Espagna |
 |
| Spanish Pavillion |
 |
| Spanish Pavillion |
 |
| Spanish Pavillion |
 |
| Fans for Sale! |
We spent
most of our visit to Lisbon in the
Belem area where there are 2 UNESCO sites:
Monastery Jeronimos and Belem Tower.
The architectural of the monastery is classified as Manueline, a
combination of Moorish, Gothic and early Renaissance styles. It’s quite large and includes extensive cloisters and large church. High soaring ceilings (of course!) with lots
of beautiful frescoes in the main altar area, and a tomb toward the rear, which
they think is Vasco de Gama’s. It’s one
of those situations that no one really wants to investigate too closely, in
case it isn’t what they think. They’ve got their story and they’re sticking
with it. Adjacent to the monastery is a
Maritime Museum which holds many detailed models of various ships used in early
voyages of exploration – caravels, corsairs, and so on. They get larger and larger in size, extremely
minute in detail, down to the ropes and riggings, captain’s cabin, sails,
masts, deck equipment, guns, - everything really! Following that section is a huge room full of
royal barges of the Portuguese monarchs, and some later small boats and even
early airplanes. We usually are not too
crazy about museums, but this one is really really wonderful.
Across the
street from both of those is the Tower of Belem, also in Manueline style. It looks like a small castle but served as a
lookout and defensive position at the mouth of the Tagus River as it enters the
Atlantic Ocean. Lisbon was built more on
the Tagus River than on the Atlantic Coast.
We had no
expectations for Madeira and were
just amazed at how spectacular it is.
It’s moved right up toward the top 15 of all-time favorites. It’s absolutely beautiful, with a Kauai-type
look of deep green vegetation covering high volcanic mountains and
valleys. We stopped at the 2nd highest sea cliff in
the world. (I know you want to know -
the highest is in Taiwan). High and
sheer straight down to the water, but at the shoreline there are several
agricultural plots that are reached only by boat! The whole island is cultivated in terraces
climbing all the way up the mountainsides.
It reminded us of the terraces at Machu Picchu that rise all the way to
tops of the Andes there. The terraces of
Madeira actually constitute a UNESCO Heritage site! Fabulous!
We loved all the views we had, including a quaint fishing village on a
small bay, and a rural valley tucked way back into some mountains. The town of Funchal is right on the water,
full of old Portuguese colonial-style buildings, now housing shops,
restaurants, banks and other businesses.
One big stroke of luck was the Flower Festival that had started the day
we arrived. Flowers and floral designs
were everywhere, on display and for sale in small booths all up and down the
main street. We had lunch right off the
harbor and strolled around all afternoon.
We had heard that cruise ships can’t always get in to Madeira, so we
felt very fortunate to see the island and enjoy such a very special event.
 |
| Sailing in to Funchal, Madeira |
 |
| Fishing Village |
 |
| Just a great view! |
 |
| UNESCO Terraces |
 |
| Terraces |
 |
| View from the highest sea cliff |
 |
| Straight Down from the sea cliff |
 |
| Highest Sea Cliff |
 |
| High Valley Village |
 |
| Funchal Street |
 |
| Funchal |
 |
| Funchal |
 |
| Funchal |
 |
| Funchal |
 |
| Funchal |
 |
| Flower Festival Displays |
 |
| Flower Festival |
 |
| Flower Festival |
 |
| Flower Festival |
 |
| View of Funchal from the ship |
 |
| Queen Elizabeth parked next to us in the harbor |
We had 5
days crossing the Atlantic on extremely rough seas, 66 mph winds and 25 foot
waves. The Captain changed course twice
to try to get to quieter water, and so we were running late for our arrival in Bermuda. In fact, we thought it would get scratched, giving us 7 days at sea 9 oh my gosh), but we finally made it.
We were
scheduled to dock in Hamilton, but had to put in at St. George, on the other
end of the island. We learned that qualifying
runs for the America’s Cup yacht race were going on at the Hamilton end, so we
figured that’s what ousted us out of there.
We entered the bay through the narrowest cut we’ve ever seen and
anchored just at the foot of town.
Sailing in, we thought the island looked a bit scruffy, but St. George
has a very high charm and quaintness quotient. The entire town is – you guessed
it! - a UNESCO Heritage site. It’s full of old circa 1850s British buildings
running up and down the hills of town, colorfully painted with white trim,
lending a bit of a Caribbean feeling. We wanted to eat ashore, so we ate
outside right on the water, then walked all over, as is usual for us, enjoying
the attractive small community. There
are several wonderful old churches with lovely wide brick staircases leading up
to the entrances. One of them has a very
old segregated cemetery in the side yard.
Another large stone Gothic church is called the ‘Unfinished Church’, was
abandoned and left to ruin when the parishioners had a disagreement and split
the congregation. We walked almost to
the end of the island where we had sailed in past a small fort in the cut, but
turned around when the weather changed.
We got soaked before we could make it back to the ship. We’ll probably never know what Hamilton is
like, but we were happy we saw St. George, for sure! It was a great break in the long crossing.
 |
| Skinny cut into the harobor |
 |
| Fort on the point |
 |
| Harbor |
 |
| Harbor |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| Main Square of St. George |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| Unfinished Church |
 |
| St. George Church |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George Church |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| Segregated Cemetery |
 |
| St. George |
 |
| St. George |
We spent two
more days at sea enroute to Miami, busy with packing and goodbye dinners and
lunches.
It’s been an
incredible voyage! To be exact, we
sailed 35,014 nautical miles, which is 40,293 land miles to you
landlubbers.
We've visited over 60 ports in 32 countries. We’ve seen so many new and
wonderful sights, and re-visited some outstanding ones. We’ve been in who knows how many oceans,
seas, gulfs, sounds, fjords, lakes, and rivers.
We’ve met lots of people of diverse backgrounds and experience, learned
a lot about people and cultures and history.
We feel like
we’ve seen a large part of the world, but when we put pushpins in our map, we
see how much more there is! We have to
stop for now, are very glad to be home, but we’ll get back out there soon
enough again.
