Our cruise departed out of Rome. After a seamless flight, we were welcomed by cold and rainy weather. Then, our car service to the port (about an hour away from the airport) was a no-show, resulting in an expensive taxi ride (the taxi also broke down on the way) to the port. We only hoped this bad luck would not be foreshadowing for the cruise.
When we got to the port, the skies opened up, and it all of sudden became sunny and warm, a trend that would continue throughout the cruise. The ship (Royal Caribbean - Legend of the Seas) left the port, we got settled into our room, had a great dinner, got the kids to bed, and hit the casino.
Our next day was at sea. We got the kids situated into the aquanauts (kids program for 3-5 year olds). Sandy and I attended several seminars today and throughout the cruise. Topics included nutrition, exercise, stress management, healthy skin, and digital photography. We all met up for meals and time at the pool.
The next day was our first port of call, Mykonos, one of the Greek Islands. It is a small island, easy to walk around. What is most striking is how bright it is - blazing sunlight reflects off all the whitewashed houses and buildings. The streets of Mykonos were purposely constructed as a maze to confuse attacking pirates. The design helped foil would be attackers by confounding them, enabling villagers to maneuver them into ambush. The town mascot is a pelican known as Petros II, and is actually quite a celebrity. The most famous Mykonos landmark is its windmills.
The ship docked in the afternoon, so we took the opportunity to hit a couple more seminars in the morning. After exploring the island in the afternoon, we got back on the ship, enjoyed the pool, and had another great dinner. The ship did not leave the port until late in the evening so we had to skip the gambling that night.
The next day, we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey. Kusadasi means "bird island". We were picked up by coach and taken to the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is the Pompeii of the Eastern Mediterranean. It is the most ancient city in the world, dating back to 3000 BC. Our first stop in this area was the house of Virgin Mary. Virgin Mary accompanied by St. John came to Ephesus at the end of her life. In 1967 Pope John VI claimed the site authentic and each year a traditional service celebrated by the religious clergy, honors Mary's assumption into heaven. Our next stop was the archeological site of the ancient city of Ephesus. The findings at this ancient city are the remains of the second largest city in the Roman Empire. This place stretches for miles and is only about 30 percent uncovered. The Arcadian Way was the main street. The amphitheater, where St. Paul preached, held over 24,000 people. The temple of Hadrian, the Celsus Library, the Marble Way, and the Fountain of Trajan are in amazingly good condition. Our next stop was the train restaurant (doubles as an outdoor train museum) where we had a fantastic outdoor buffet (as you can imagine, JP and Syd were more interested in the trains than the food). Our final stop was to a carpet factory. The Turks are a nomadic people deriving from Mongolia. When they travel, their most essential animal is the goat, which provides not only food, but clothing. The wool is woven into whatever piece of clothing they need. As such, the Turks are master weavers and their specialty is carpets. The carpet making process is very tedious and time consuming. Turkish women are required to weave 5 carpets before they get married so that they learn patience. A 3x5 carpet made from silk will take a woman 1 year to make, while one from wool will take about a month (larger thread - less knots - lower price). The average Turkish salary is 700 per month, so the silk carpets go for thousands of dollars. After learning about Turkish carpets, we got back on the ship, and had another great dinner as we watched the sun set.
The next day, we arrived in Rhodes, Greece, famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The 100 ft high statue, built by the Greeks, was thought to have been erected in the city's old harbor. It was built to commemorate the victory of the island after the unsuccessful one-year siege imposed by Demetrios. The monument was built in honor of the sun god Helios, and took 12 years to complete. The monument was toppled by an earthquake in 227 BC after standing for 56 years at the harbor entrance. The remains were removed by the Saracens 800 years later to Asia Minor where they were eventually lost. The city is divided into the old town, surrounded by medieval fortress walls, and the new town. We took a walk around the old town, which is filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. The main attraction is The Palace of the Knights of St. John, also known as the Palace of the Grand Masters. Other sites include, The Hospital of the Knights, the Mosque of Suleyman, and the Temple of Aphrodite.
The next day was a short day in Limasol, Cyprus. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. It is a divided island, controlled by Turks in the North and Greeks in the South (the island is about 80 percent Greek). Because of the location of the Island, there have been numerous occupations dating back over 9000 years. The Persians, Egyptians, Athenians, and Alexander the Great all laid claim to the Cyprus territory. We booked a land excursion for the island which included the following sites:
Kourion - an impressive Greco-Roman acropolis perched above the sea. There were Roman baths very well intact, as well as an amphitheater dating back to 2BC that is still in use today.
Omodos - one of the most picturesque villages in Cyprus. The village is home to the monastery of the Holy Cross, which has in its possession a piece of the original cross, as well as a portion of the ropes that were used to bind Jesus. They also have two rocks that witnessed the crucifixion at Golgatha.
Temple of Apollo - impressive Roman ruins. Anyone that touched the altar in the Temple of Apollo became a human sacrifice.
There is a place off the coast where there is an unusual number of stones on the bottom of the sea that are in the shape of a heart. The goddess Aphrodite is fabled to have been born in this spot.
Our next day (day 7) was a day at sea - plenty of sun, food, and gambling. This evening we witnessed an incredible sunset in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea as we ate our dessert.
On day 8, we arrived in Alexandria, the primary port city of Egypt. The city was built by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. We hopped on a bus that took us to the plateau of Giza to see the Pyramids. It was a 3 hour ride, so fortunately the kids were tired and took a snooze for about half the ride, and we played games and drew on the doodle pad for the other half. The kids have seen the Pyramids on the Little Einsteins cartoon series. They were so excited to see the Pyramids in real life. There are actually 96 complete pyramids in Egypt, but the three we saw are the largest and most famous and reside in what is known as the Valley of the Kings. The pyramids took 100,000 people and 20 years to build.
Our next stop on the tour was to see the Sphinx, which is about 5 minutes away and still in the visual vicinity. The strongest animal on earth was thought to be the lion and the wisest, the human. As such, the Egyptians took a left over piece of stone and carved it into a monument with a lion’s body and a human head. The Greeks later dubbed this figure a Sphinx.
The next stop was to the Nile River, where we took a lunch cruise, complete with a belly dancer - what a show! The Nile is the longest river in world (over 1600 km) and runs South to North. Back in ancient times, the Nile River was thought to divide the world between the living and the dead. The living were on the east side of the river to receive the sun when it rose. The dead were buried on the west side of the river to receive the sun when it went down.
