TURKEY AND GREECE

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We love traveling in Turkey. Since it is not yet part of the European Union, it is still a relatively inexpensive tourist destination and it is a place jam packed with ancient ruins, beautiful beaches, lovely villages and great sailing waters. We especially like Kusadasi which is on the west coast of Turkey and strategically located near what is said to be the best preserved classical city in the world. The temple at Ephesus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of World. The Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist stayed in Ephesus after the death of Christ. The Library of Celsus held over 12,000 scrolls and this is where the statuette of Priapus, with his famous appendage, was found.

We spent the day with Suzanne, who had a private car tour, compliments of Cruise Specialists. The car turned out to be an eight seat Mercedes van. It was quite a nice way to go sightseeing and we had a great guide and driver. Since we had all been to Ephesus recently, we chose to visit some of the other ancient cities in the area. After all, this is the land of Alexander the Great, Marcus Aurelius, the Roman explorers and the Persian conquerors, so there is plenty of history to go around.

After driving through the bountiful countryside for 70 kilometers, we arrived in Didyma. Borak told us that in this area of Turkey the populace is self-sufficient. They grow every thing they need. We saw miles and miles of cotton fields and vegetable gardens. Every house is equipped with a rooftop water tank and a solar panel. A single solar panel provides all the heat a family needs during the short, mild winters. Having visited Ephesus with its hordes of tourists, it was such a pleasant surprise to have this whole ancient city just to ourselves and a few stray cats. Didyma is famous for its temple of Apollo and is slowly being excavated and restored.

Our next stop was in the former port city of Miletus. Due to earthquakes and silting, Miletus is now several miles from the sea. The Great Amphitheater is a reminder of the grandeur of this ancient city. Since my degree is in urban planning, I found it quite fascinating to learn that Miletus was the first planned city in the world. It is laid out in a grid plan. Outside the entrance to the city were located the baths for the visiting sailors. According to our guide, the sea men were not allowed to enter Miletus or mix with the locals until they cleaned up. After weeks or months at sea, this seems like a great idea.

After the sacking of Miletus by the Persians, a new city was built on the top of a nearby mountain. You can see the remains of the theater, baths, altars, agoras and the main promenade. It must have been something for the slaves to have hauled all the huge pillars and stones needed to recreate a city on a hill. It was hard enough just to walk up the steep stone paved paths. The beautiful Temple of Athena, built in the Ionian style, is the most famous landmark in Priene.

When we finished all that sightseeing we drove back to Kusadasi and asked Borak to recommend a good, typically Turkish restaurant for lunch. He joined us as we dined on doner kebap, lamb stew, spicy meatballs and sweet lokum, better known as Turkish delight. I did some shopping in the souk while Kevin got a haircut and shave at local barber who gave him a Cary Grant “do.” He looked very suave. We checked out a hamam which is a Turkish bath—but it seemed a bit on the tatty side so instead we visited the caravanserai which still welcomes weary travelers as it has done for hundreds of years. Now the inner courtyard is filled with carpet shops and tourist paraphernalia with nary a camel in sight. We watched the sailaway from the Observation Lounge. It seems that everyone was wearing gems purchased that day in Kusadasi. There must have been plenty of happy Turkish jewelers adding up their profits and counting the days until the Voyager returns next year.

Piraeus is the port city for Athens and the cruise line, very conveniently, arranged for a shuttle to get us into town and back. Since it was Sunday, we missed the usual traffic congestion and pervasive smog. The 10 km drive took only 15 minutes instead of the usual 1½ hours. It was a typical spring day in the Mediterranean—cool in the shade but warm in the soft sunlight. The bus dropped us off near the Plaka which is the old Turkish quarter of Athens perched on the hillside leading up to the Acropolis. The narrow winding streets are filled with restaurants, bars, markets and shops. We happened upon a giant flea market held only on Sunday filled with Greek antiques and faux Chinese jewels and ivory. We saw the changing of the guard at the parliament building. We watched as about fifty soldiers dressed in skirts, pom-poms and pointy shoes, rifles on their shoulders, strutted and marched in this colorful ceremony. On our last trip to Athens we toured most of the major sites such as the Acropolis, Parthenon and the Panathenaic Stadium where the modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. This time we saw many of the buildings and arenas constructed for the 2004 Games.

Then we went in search of the perfect Greek taverna for lunch. It had to have outside dining, serve calamari and olives and have some friendly Athenian waiters. All of the restaurants have touts trying to lure you into their cafés. We found just the right one—the Byzantino Restaurant overlooked a small square, shaded by flowering trees and a vine covered trellis and the sidewalk tables were perfect for watching Greek families coming from church services and filling the cafes. For centuries, locals and tourists alike have been spending their Sundays dining in the shadow of the Parthenon. It is the Greek thing to do.

We had a final stroll through the Plaka, before we returned to the ship to greet our newly boarding guests and to begin the last segment of the 2008 world cruise. It seems like only yesterday that we boarded in Ft Lauderdale to begin this adventure…

Our last stop in Greece was in the tiny port city of Katakolon in the Peloponnesus. It is the gateway to Olympia. We stopped here the last two years and were treated by Regent to a Greek lunch served at the waterside restaurants. Since this is an Olympian year and all of the current news is dominated by the travails of the Olympic torch relay, we decided that we would like to see the birthplace of the Games. The forty five minute ride through the Grecian countryside was worth the price of admission. We saw thousand year old olive trees, whitewashed villages and vegetable gardens and noticed some of the destruction from the massive wildfire which consumed acres and acres of this beautiful land last summer. Our guide gave a short refresher course on the Greek mythology surrounding Zeus and the Olympics. It seems that much of the mythology centers on parent/child conflicts—so I guess not much has changed over the last 5000 years. Upon arrival in Olympia we took a long hike through the vast archaeological site and saw the Sanctuary of Zeus, the ancient stadium, the altar where the torch was lit and tons of other excavated ruins. Our guide mentioned that the Olympic torch symbol was only revived in 1936 by Hitler for the Berlin Games. Perhaps it is the curse of Hitler that is plaguing the current world torch relay.

We were so fortunate that all the wild flowers were in bloom as were the Judas trees. It is said that Judas hung himself from this type of tree and thus it will forever be saddled with the name of the traitor. Greece is renowned for its variety of spring flowers which include anemones, cyclamens, irises and the reddest poppies I have ever seen. It looked like the whole of the Olympic site was garlanded by a Greek goddess just for our visit. When we watch the Olympic Games this summer from Beijing, we’ll think back fondly on our beautiful spring day strolling through the Grecian temples, Roman baths and ruins at the birthplace of this great sporting event.

We returned to Katakolon with just enough time for a taverna lunch al fresco. Over a delicious meal, our waiter stated telling us about a grain ship that was docked in front of Voyager. He said that it had been brought to shore by the Greek Navy because it was smuggling people. He introduced us to his newest waiter-- a young Iraqi man off the boat. The Iraqi then told us his story of escape from his homeland and how he ended up in Greece. He snuck across the Iraq border into Turkey and made his way to Istanbul where he contracted with a Greek smuggler. He paid $6000 and was promised passage by boat to Italy. He boarded the grain carrier along with 302 other desperate refugees and set sail through the Mediterranean. All the passengers were kept in the hold of the ship, under dreadful conditions with only water and bread for two weeks. After the boat developed engine problems they were captured by the Greek Navy. The boat was then escorted to Katakolon where the captain and crew were arrested and many of the refugees were sent back to Iraq. Our waiter wouldn’t tell us why he was granted temporary asylum in Greece, but it may have had to do with the fact that he had worked as a translator for the US Army in Iraq. He said that the war is ruining his country and that his family does not want him to return as they are hoping he will be able to establish himself in Europe and then get the rest of the family out of Iraq. Of course he didn’t get his $6000 back, but he did gain his freedom from his war torn country. It made me wonder about the porous borders in this part of the world and if all of the people being smuggled out of those countries are good people simply looking for a better life. We hope this is the case.

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