Day 4 - Greek theater in Taormina and Mount Etna

We woke this morning in the beautiful port town of Messina, Sicily.  Messina is a beautiful city that has many architectural treasures.  The city was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake and ensuing tsunami in the early 1900's and many of the ancient buildings have been almost completely rebuilt.

We boarded our tour bus and set out for the medieval town of Taormina.  The name means "between the horns of the bull" and viewed from above the city, perched in a cliff above the sea, is located between 2 small peninsulas that form the horns.  We toured an ancient Greek theater, the 2nd largest in Sicily, that was built by the Romans in 300 BC. Performances are still held there during the summer months.  Sorry for the lack of pictures today.  Taormina was a very picturesque town and I know I took pics but can't find them.

After touring Taormina we journeyed to Mt. Etna.  We stopped enroute for a traditional Sicilian lunch with our fellow travellers.  The restaurant was located at the point where the lava flow from the last active eruption in the 90's stopped.  The town residents built a shrine nearby in thanksgiving for an answer to their prayers the flow would be stopped before the village was destroyed.

Then on to see Mt. Etna.  The volcano is still active and building.  We walked around one of the crater edges and were treated to a glimpse of the snow-covered top with steam venting from it. Again, no pics from some reason, although I know I took some. 

Back on the bus and headed for the Riviera.  A really long day and we all agreed all-day tours are too much! 

We had a little "veranda visit"

Dick decided to photo bomb us!

While waiting for dinner the Captain announced that our visit to the island of Gozo was being cancelled due to a storm and heavy seas.  He advised the entrance to the port is narrow and they were erring on the side of safety.  We heartily agreed (no Poseidon adventures for us, thank you!).  We will have a day in Messina to explore and check out the sights.  

Dinner tonight at Red Ginger, a delightful Asian fusion restaurant.  We had an amazing meal, impeccable service, and lots of fun experiencing different cuisine.  Then off to bed to rest for another day of exploring.

More Greece....

Day 3 finds us arriving after an overnight sail to the port city of Katakalon.  After docking we boarded our tour bus with Bob and Betsy and Dick and drive through the beautiful Greek countryside to the site of the original Olympic games.  The site is a very interesting archaeological site that still hosts the lighting of the Olympic flame prior to each Olympic Games.  We selected a "3-D" tour and were glad we did.  There is extensive knowledge about what ancient Oympia actually looked like based on ancient writings, mosaics, and reconstruction.  We were given tablets with a map of the site and corresponding numbers the tour guide would give us.  We could then select the number, point the tablet at that site, and see an artist's depiction of what the buiding looked like, both inside and out.  It really made the ruins and piles of stone come alive, and we all marvelled at what this ancient civilization was like.  We could turn in a complete circle and it would show us everything all the way around us.  Quite a piece of programming!

One of the temples as seen on the tablet

A depiction of the inside of the temple

The entrance to the site.  Good thing the signs are also in English, otherwise it's all Greek to me!

Betsy was SO excited - she found an olive wood walking stick.  And she wasn't arrested for removing an artifact from an archaeological site!

Another artist rendering

Bob and Betsy, and Dick photo-bombed them!

The site is very large - 5,000 acres.  It was the training ground for the original Olympics, which were open only to Greek-born men.  The first Olympiad took place in 776 BC.  They ended in 394 AD under Roman rule.  The modern Olympics were started in 1896.

A bath house

Temple to Zeus and site of the gold statue in his honor.  It was pillaged and no longer exists

Note the holes in the rock.  These originally were used, along with metal rods, to connect the blocks.  When the temples were burned the metal melted and the buildings eventually fell down.

Column from the temple to Zeus

The archway entrance to the actual stadium grounds

The starting line for the running competitions.  The runners would all place their toes in the grooves, to ensure everyone had a fair start.  Early starting blocks!

3,000 year old starting line!

The site of the Olympic flame.  Not very impressive, is it?

Temple to Athena

Inside Athena's temple

Side wall of her temple

Another happy little olive tree

Headed for a little shopping - Olympia is where the tablet decided to extend its stay!  Hope it enjoyed itself!!

The wharf in Katakalon

Lunch on the wharf.  Riviera is in the background

Coke in little glass bottles

Authentic Greek Gryo.  Note there is no pita bread!

Mike on our veranda, relaxing and waiting for dinner

Our beautiful Riviera!

Next stop, Messina, Italy.

Glorious Greece!

Hello friends and family.  Sorry for the long delay in posting our adventures.  Unfortunately, our tablet decided to take a vacation of its own in the beautiful town of Olympia (Greece, not Washington), so we were unable to post anything.  It was an answer to prayer that the tour guide was able to locate it for us and return it to us as we prepared to leave our beautiful cruise ship. We are back home now, but I will post our adventures a few days at a time, so as not to overwhelm you.

We departed Spokane, and flew to Chicago, then Vienna, and then to Athens.  We were transferred to our ship at the port of Pireas.  We met up with our fellow travellers, Betsy Seidel and Bob Martin, Sandy and Jim Long, and Dick Martin.  We were definitely a band of Merry Wanderers.

We settled into our beautiful stateroom, checked out the view from our personal veranda as we left port, and the fun began.  We had 4 staterooms in a row, so were able to have conversations from the verandas morning and night.  We probably looked and sounded hysterical as we hung over the railings chattering away like a bunch of birds.

The ship, Oceania Cruise Line's "Riviera", was stunning.  It was completely remodeled in 2016, even though it was just built in 2012!  We had an amazing marble bathroom, a very plush mattress, sheets and comforter to die for (1,000 count linen sheets!), and every amenity you could think of.

The Riviera.  She is a "small" cruise ship - only 1200 passengers.  There was a ratio of 1 crew member for every 1.5 passengers, so the service was incredible.

Mike boarding the ship

Our marble bathroom.  I am already scheming on how to redo the master bath in our new house!

The ship travelled from port to port at night, so we woke up each morning to new scenery.  We then had all day for shore excursions or free time to explore.

Well, here we are in our first port, sunny and beautiful Gythios, Greece.  It is a balmy 72 degrees which is perfect shorts weather.

Gythios is a beautiful little town and is the ancient port for Sparta.  We were "tendered" off the ship to dockside to board our bus.  Our first tour was to the town of Sparta.  We drove through the beautiful country side, filled with olive groves, orange and lemon trees, flowers of every type and color and lots of agriculture.  There are many abandoned and/or unfinished buildings all over Greece as a result of their economic collapse in 2008, and the residents struggle financially.  Their largest income is from tourism.  They also export a LOT of olive oil - olive trees are everywhere.  The other interesting reason for unfinished bouses is the Greek tradition of starting a house for their daughters as their wedding gift soon after they are born.  Grrek tradition is to leave the parent's home and property/business to the sons.  The daughters get a house close to their parents.  Greek families are very close and spend a lot of time together, even as adults.  The house is worked on as the daughter grows, and the whole family gets together and finishes and completely furnishes it in the weeks before the wedding.

Many of our ports of call can't accommodate big ships, so we will be taken ashore in "tenders".

The tender from the ship

Once on shore we boarded our bus.

Greek streets were not designed for big tour busses!  The drivers were amazing in their ability to squeeze through little ancient villages.

Most taxis in Greece (and throughout Europe, in fact) are Mercedes.

Greek traffic is crazy!  If they can't find a parking place, they just double park.  They will run out and move for the busses and trucks when they honk their horns.

Statue to Leonidus, Spartan warrior and leader of "The 300", Spartan warriors famous for holding off an army of invaders.

The statue was amazing in its detail.

We visited a museum dedicated to the olive.  Didn't sound too exciting, but was actually very interesting.  They have documented evidence of olives being cultivated and used as far back as 3.000 BC. 

Ancient jars used to store olives

Beautiful ancient olive oil light

Amazing mosaic of an olive tree

Next stop on the tour was a family owned winery and vineyard, whch has been in the family for centuries.

The family home and winery.

The owner is very proud of his winery and was a gracious host.  We enjoyed a tour, followed by "mezes" (plates of bread, hummus, cheese,olives and other local delicacies) and very nice white wine,

Olives growing on a tree in their olive grove.  They also press their own olive oil.  These are not yet ripe - they turn ourple and then black as they ripen.  Olives are inedible until they have been processed, usually by brining.

Back on the bus for our return to Gythios.  We had free time to wander around.  Located a bank to exchange some dollars for Euros.  The first challenge was figuring out how to get into the bank.  Every sign is in Greek, and the doors are locked.  Fortunately someone coming out spoke English and explained.  You have to buzz for entrance, then enter a "lock port" one at a time, then be buzzed in.  Then you have to provide your passport, which they make a copy of (ID theft concerns, anyone?), then they make a copy of the bills you are exchanging, then you sign both copies, and finally they give you Euros.  Whew!  

We strolled around, gad a little traditional pastry that was like an unsweetened doughnut but quite good, and made our way back to the tender.

On the wharf.  Check out the octopus tentacles hanging on the rack.  Octopus is a Greek delicacy and the display is supposed to be enticing.  We passed!

Boats at anchor

The harbor

The tender back to the ship

Back on board, relaxing on our veranda

Time to meet up with the rest of the crew for dinner. We all have different shore excursions on many of our days, so decided to get together for dinner each night and share our adventures.  There are multiple places to eat on board, with 4 of the restaurants requiring reservations, which we made a long time ago.  There are also 2 other restaurants that don't require reservations and are more relaxed.  One is buffet style, with some items cooked to order, and the other a more formal "Grand Dining Room".  None require "dressing for dinner", which we all like, but "resort casual" is requested, which is fine.  The food in all places is beautiful and well prepared.  The wait staff is amazing.  Dick is already engaged in a running battle with them over serving himself beverages - a big "no no" in their eyes.  He tries and they catch him!   Tables are set with linen and cloth napkins, which the waiters place in your lap.  I could get used to this!

An after-dinner stroll around the decks to check out the amenities and then off to bed.  Found the bed all turned down, chocolate on our pillows, and even a cloth on the floor to step out of bed onto before putting on our "Oceania" slippers and totally amazing and thick terry cloth robe!  Good night, everyone.