Friday, May 27, 2011.

We are getting a late start, but at least the A/C is fixed. We were able to drive to the outskirts of ST. Louis; actually it is Highland, Illinois just before the state line at a Walmart! At 5:15PM the RV turned 26,000 miles! At 6:15 we stopped for gas. we are actually making very good time, and on a holiday weekend! We have seen lots of flossing from the middle of Illinois on.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Leaving home at 6:19AM gave us a jump on the traffic. We stopped for gas at 7:50 and by 2:17 we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel. Greta has been adjusting nicely on this trip. She really enjoys sitting on the large dashboard because she can see people and birds. She hates to be left alone and really cried when we went I to Cracker Barrel. Daddy ate haddock and veggies and I had chicken and dumplings.
The coach has been very warm, so we are stopping at a Freight Liner to check out the A/C. They are open until midnight, but we are on the books for tomorrow morning. So they allowed us to stay overnight on their parking lot.
While they were fixing the coach we went to Costco and Walmart. Daddy bought a new computer at Costco because his laptop is not working correctly. We ate pizza and a hot dog for lunch. Then we stopped by the Grand Ole Opry to see what kind of tickets we could obtain for tonight's show. There weren't any good tickets left; maybe because it's a holiday weekend. I picked a big magnolia bloom almost ready to open. It smells heavenly! Sure wish I could have a magnolia tree at home!
Since we can't obtain decent tickets for the Opry, we are going to leave after the coach is fixed. The only traffic we have hit so far was coming into Nashville.

Friday, May 20, 2011.

Breakfast was outside on the roof of the clubhouse with an awesome view of the Acropolis! They had tables with umbrellas, planters with 18" tall olive trees, 12" tall rosemary and shrubs planted all around the exterior walls. This breakfast comes with the room and it is sort of a continental breakfast.
This morning we walked to the market where they actually butcher the meat with cleavers right in front of you to your specifications. There are no electric saws or blades. The chickens are hanging up by their feet with their heads still on, but no feathers!!! We saw pigs' feet and a small pig hanging up also. Many lambs are hanging up by their feet without their wool, but still having their heads with their eyes staring out! Creepy! At the seafood market there are every variety of fish you can imagine! Also, clams, mussels, shrimp, oysters, squid, calamari, octopus, eels, etc. Pigeons and very well mannered dogs walk all around. None of the dogs are skinny.
Then we started the extremely long walk up to the Parthenon built for Athena with several stops up the steep slopes! There are cafes along the way offering respite! The Parthenon is actually cordoned off; you are not allowed to walk on or touch the marble! When Daddy was here in 1971- 1972 during the Vietnam War you could walk all over the Parthenon. He was really disappointed! You can see the Myrotoan Sea and the harbor of Pireus where our ship had docked from up here. In fact, Acropolis in Greek means the highest point in town. The cost of the Acropolis was 469 times the cost of a warship! The Parthenon was originally built as Athenos Parthenos in 447-432BC.The one building on the side of the Parthenon has statues of Greek women and a huge olive tree that might be from when it was built since olive trees live forever.
We stopped at the Elixiras restaurant where they advertise meals made fresh from the countryside from old traditional recipes. I ordered Dolmades, which are grape vine leaves stuffed with rice and fresh minced meat sprinkled with dill. It was delicious! Then we walked back to the hotel to rest. It's been a long day only because of walking the steep hills. It was amazing to see how large the Acropolis is. The stadium we could see from the top of the Acropolis was the Theater of Dionysis. The Acropolis has not been rebuilt since it was bombed when the Turks stored their munitions there. You can still see the buttresses supporting the wall around the Acropolis! On our tour we have seen 9 cats, 2 kittens and many dogs. The dogs are always asleep in the shade.
Greece has the most ancient archeological sites with the Acropolis in Athens, the amphitheatrer of Epidaurus, the rebuilt palace of Knossos on Crete, the caldera of Santorini and the gray pinnacles of rock of Meteora. The sun rises above the Aegean Sea and sets over the mountains. Athens borders the Myrotaon Sea which flows from the Sea of Crete and the Aegean Sea. The Ionian Sea only flows into maybe 1/10th of it. We sailed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Adriatic Sea through the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea back to the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt and back through the Ionian Sea to the Sea of Crete and then Athens. The Delphi is the oracle near Mount Parnassos and Olympia on the island of Peloponnese. Homer's "Iliad" praises the Greek expedition to recapture the beautiful Helen of Troy led by the Mycean King Agamemnon. Troy fell as well as the Myceans to the mysterious invaders called Dorians!
A Greek politician said "a pot of basil may symbolize the soul of a people better than a play of Aeschylus." Every house has several pots of basil; they are displayed on every table in a cafe or restaurant too. They are clipped in perfect ball shapes and there are more pots of basil in Athens than there are cell phones!!!
The National Garden archway is covered with many tiny white roses climbing all over. There are also acanthus flowers, which they have carved into the columns, bridal wreath, pittosporum and many palms. The shrubs, trees and flowers are from all over the world. On the side of the National Garden where they needed to excavate for the Metro, they found the ruins of a Roman bath. They have left part of it visible for everyone to view. The rest will remain under the National Gardens.Then you pass by Hadrian's arch. In front of the Olympian Terrace is Zeus' Temple with only 13 columns remaining. They are of Corinthian style and some are just laying on the ground. You can see how they pieced the column together with each one a tiny bit smaller than the one it sits on. Olympia is surrounded by a tall wall. You can only see 3 columns no; but the excavations are still going on, and they will uncover more.
The following is a history of Greece to provide a basis of understanding for the present country and culture: Greece is the cradle of Democracy and the nursery of western art and archeology. Greece consists of 15 provinces or states: Thrace, Macedonia, Zagori, Epirus, Thessaly, Sporades, Central Greece, Ionian Islands, Peloponnese, Saronic Gulf Islands, Cyclades, Dodecanese and Northeast Aegean Islands and Crete. From 1453-1832 Greece was constantly occupied by Turks, Venetians and Franks. In 1832, the Great Powers (England, France, Italy and Russia) gave Greece their independence and sent a Bavarian princelet, Otto, to be King of the Hellenes. At the end of the 19th century Greece made Athens its capital, but most of what today is Greece was still ruled by the Turks and Italians. The Balkan Wars in 1912 allowed Greece to annex Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace and the large islands of Samos, Chiros and Crete. After WWI Greece attacked the Turks, but failed and the slaughter was called "Catastrophe". Greece and the Turks agreed to a population exchange: 1.5 million Greeks had to return to Greece and 500,000 Turks had to leave Greece. Now a small Greek Muslim population lives in Thrace.
The simple Greek megaron became the temples and basilicas of later civilizations, and our football and soccer stadiums mimic the Greek stadiums. The theater layouts of stage, wings and orchestras are all descended from the Greeks. Our shopping malls are designed like the Greek side by side shops. Even our pot and pan shapes are derived from the Greeks. The frescoe walls and red tiled roofs are all Greek in origin.

700,000-3000BC. Stone Age. Stone & obsidian knives & tools; human remains in Macedonia
3000-1500BC. Bronze Age. Anatoli(Turkey) invades; bronze workings and 1st palace found
1700BC. Huge earthquake on Crete destroys Minoans
1600-1100BC. Rise of Myceans; Dorian invasion
1450BC. Santorini volcano erupted; destroys as far away as Crete
Geometric Archeological period
1000-600BC. City-states formed;writing, coinage and trade invented
776BC. 1st Olympic games
700-500BC. Tyrants rule
525-485BC. Athenian democracy; Euripedes and Sophocles; marble & bronze building
490-480BC. 1st Persian Wars; Xerxes- emperor of Persia invades Greece; burns Acropolis, written in Herodotes
461-429BC. Under Pericles, Athens rebuilds Parthenon
Mid 5-4c. Classical era Rise of Philip of Macedonia; ancient Greek monuments built; Greek democracy born
431-404BC. Peloponnesian Wars, Athens and Sparta spar, Athens falls
430-428BC. Great plague kills 1000s and Pericles; Sophocles sentenced to death, drinks hemlock
4-1 century. Hellenistic era. Rise of Philip of Macedonia's son, Alexander the Great
338BC. Battle of Chaironeia, Greece defeated by Philip of Macedonia
336BC. Alexander the Great reigns over all from Egypt to India at age 23
323BC. Alexander the Great dies; Babylon successors squander his kingdom
146BC. Rome defeats Greece
2c-3cAD. Rome rules Greece, Egypt, Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor
168AD. Rome conquers Macedonia
50-200AD. New Testament written in Greek, John wrote Revelations on Patmos
324AD. Constantine moves capital of Rome to Byzantium on the Bosphorus; Greece belongs to Roman Empire
Made Christianity the favored religion
328AD. Roman Empire and Constantine the Great
Late 3cAD. Roman Empire divided into east and west
4c-15cAD. Byzantine era
1204AD. 4th Crusades, moves capital to Byzantium
1453AD. Constantinople falls to the Sultan of Turkey; 350 years of Turkish rule
1571AD. Turkish fleet destroyed by Italy, Greece, Sicily and Spain

Thursday, May 19, 2011, Athens, Greece.

We disembarked from the Princess Ship this morning and took a taxi to the hotel-Intercontinental Athenium. It Is upscale and we upgraded for 54E extra per day to gain access to the clubhouse that has free food all day; a special lobby with wifi and Internet. Really nice. The room has an awesome bathtub with marble all around. It is so nice after being on ship with a shower. The bed has 350 thread count percale sheets! The hotel supplies a free shuttle bus to the downtown area called Plaka. We met a couple from Victoria, Australia, not far from Renmark, where the McLean couple from the cruise are from.
It started raining so we found a small restaurant on a side street.It is outside under awnings and the pigeons are walking all around eating crumbs dropped from the tables. On the walk here we saw many fat, lazy big dogs asleep beside the buildings. maybe they are waiting for their masters to come out of the shops! We ordered a very good Greek red table wine and they gave us refills for 1E extra. Then we ordered chicken kebobs on a pita with yogurt, grilled tomatoes, green peppers and French fires. This area is a shopping district with all kinds of stores: shoes, many Gucci purses, Gap, Sephora, undergarments, Starbucks, Diesel, White House, Black Market. They have an unusual alphabet; some of their symbols stand for several of our letters together. The waiter said they had no desserts- but he went and found some baklava from another vendor for me! Daddy told him he needs to join capitalism. Buy baklava for 1E and sell it for 5E! It was delicious!!! Not as sweet as the ship's; therefore, it is better! Daddy then ordered an ouzo, I thought for him; but no, he wanted to Serbia I could handle it. The waiter added bottled water to it. it was very good, an anise flavor!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

We dropped anchor in the Thira Bay off of Santorini, Greece and took liberty boats into the island. Before civilized towns there was a group of Minoans on Crete with a highly developed culture that traded all over the Mediterranean and made bronze tools and knives. They built huge palaces with indoor plumbing and colorful walls. Their designs which were free and flowing were adopted by the Trojans and Greeks. Centuries ago this bay was called Thera and shaped like a round cone. Before 1600BC the volcano erupted with the center of the island exploding out. The resulting tidal wave washed over the Minoan culture on northern Crete. They never recovered. The caldera that is left makes a natural harbor. This is where our ship is anchored. On the other side of the island they are close to trade with Africa, Egypt, Algeria, France and Italy. This aided in their survival for many centuries. The cliffs rise quickly from the water to great heights. The highest point is where they built ST. Elias Monastery. I believe every house has a view that is incredible.
In 1967 excavations revealed a large settlement of 30,000 inhabitants at Akritiri very similar to the Minoans but no preserved bodies were found. They had toilets and hot and cold running water. They have also found evidence of the ice age here. The layers of rock show colored layers of lava, slag, ash and pumice stone. From the largest eruption they uncovered charcoal of an olive tree from before the eruption. Between the 2 volcanoes there is a hot sulphur springs. It appears there may have been a large land mass between Thera and Crete; maybe the lost continent of Atlantis from Greek literature. The island was repopulated quickly. Egyptians used it for their ships. There are remnants of Roman buildings and Christian churches. In 1204 during the 4th Crusades Italian knights came to name the church Saint Ireni. In 1209 Venetian nobles came. In 1579 the Ottoman Empire took over. The last volcanic eruption was in 1929. In 1950 smoke came out, but not any lava. In 1956 an earthquake destroyed 80% of the homes and those people left. The houses up on the cliffs that are carved into the pumice stone are the only houses that are earthquake proof. That stone bends with the earth.
Santorini is having an unusually cold spell. By this time of the year their flowers are usually dried up. But now their flowers are in full bloom and they also had an unusually long and cold winter. The mountain on which these flowers are blooming is made of pumice stone from the volcano and it was used to built the Suez Canal. Now vineyards grow all over it's slopes because the soil is acidic. They keep the vineyards low because the winds from the July and August storms will blow the grapes away. The only precipitation they receive in the spring is in the morning from the fog. In the summer they only need 3 rain storms to fill up the cisterns under their houses. They use this water to irrigate their crops. In the winter most of the vineyards are in the clouds for weeks. In the 1980s they went for 7 years without any rain.
Santorini has a 12,000 year old vineyard variety from 1626 years before Christ. Between 1840 and 1845 Europe lost all of their vineyards, but Santorini didn't. In fact, Santorini was the first to start producing organic wines. In 1885, 80% of their wine was exported to Russia after the Ottomans opened the Bosporus. They are known for their wines. Their ascetico wine is like a dry Riesling and it is exported. They leave the white grapes in the sun for 14 days to dry to make the wine. They do not use mechanical presses. This becomes their sweet dessert wine. In the summer they drink a light red wine. The dry red wine is a mablodragono.
The farmers use the rain water collected in the 2 cisterns under the houses to irrigate their crops. They grow grapes, olives, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and garlic. A lot of the time their rain is mixed with sand from the Sahara Desert and is rose tinted. Therefore, they only drink imported bottled water. Every farmer has two to three donkeys because they can handle the narrow steep paths to the fields on the terraced mountain sides. One donkey only makes 3 or 4 trips, then they switch to another donkey. After 2 months of working, the donkeys are given 30 days of field rest. Some of the farmers would enjoy being a donkey in their next life!!! Also these donkeys do not have to wear any iron shoes.
During the summer is their high tourist season. Because of their heat many tourists turn up the air conditioners and the electric for the island cannot keep up. They usually have black outs throughout the summers. From early November to March most of the tourists are usually Asian. The island is not crowded this time of year. The beaches are all black sand and gravel from the volcanoes. I cannot imagine laying on a beach towel by the water! The water off the coast is basically fished out. The seafood is very slowly coming back.
Easter is the Greek Orthodox New Year. They traditionally eat a soup made from the veggies of the land and BBQ lamb. The houses have replicas of the Saint Ireni Chapel. This island has 45 churches and on Good Friday every one of them are illuminated.

Monday, 5/16/11

Today we pulled into Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was originally an island in the Mediterranean connected to the mainland by a bridge. It is the largest and oldest port in Egypt. The harbor entrance is the Fortress of Quait Bay which is a 15th century medieval castle on the old Pharos Lighthouse. Nearby is Ras El Tin Palace, the summer residence of kings. King Farouk signed his abdication papers there. Alexander the Great founded the library as a clearinghouse of the world's knowledge. He is buried here. This is the second largest city in the Roman Empire and the second largest in present day Egypt. It is also the capital of Egypt. Before the 3rd century, Egypt was ruled by Greece and Pharaohs. In the 3rd century Alexandria was under the Roman Empire until the Ottoman Empire conquered it in the 7th century and trade ceased. The Christians arrived in Egypt in the 4th century. By the 19th century the trade was finally revived. Mohammed Ali helped Egypt fight off the French soldiers in the 19th century. On July 23, 1952 Egypt revolted, had King Farouk sign an abdication, and became a republic with a President. Another revolt erupted on January 25, 2011. In September they will elect a new Parliament and in December they will elect a new President. Now the people realize they need the police that belonged to the previous government under Mubarak. At first they policed themselves, but they still have to work and can't do both. But there's a feeling of hope now that Mubarak is gone.
Alexandria is the result of the Nile River Delta Valley, the first place civilization developed. Egypt is called the Gift of the Nile because the river bestows rich life along its banks. The Nile River starts at Lake Victoria in Africa which floods from the snowmelt of Africa's greatest mountains into the White Nile River. The rotted vegetation flows down through Sudan and merges with the Blue Nile River flowing from Ethiopia's Lake Taua with nitrates and phosphates. This is the perfect fertilizer. Every year the Nile floods in a 7-9 foot width all along its banks and adds rich silt to the fields.
In 3100BC the ancients developed a reliable calendar by watching the sun and moon. Within one generation, they developed written numbers, letters, accounting, geometry, architecture, astronomy, reservoirs, canals, and taxation. The labor before 2200BC on the pyramids was not by slaves, but by farmers and craftsmen who needed jobs when the Nile flooded. This ensured the entire society was at work during the off season.
The Mosque of Mursi Abul Abbas is the largest with 4 domes and a minaret. Egyptians are mostly Muslim. Muslims must pray 5 times a day and must clean their whole body before they pray. Then they must kneel and face the east to pray. The minaret sends out a chant over a loudspeaker when it is time to pray. The devout stop what they are doing and prepare themselves for prayer.
Pompey's Pillar is really a Roman Memorial column dedicated to Diocletian; it is not Pompey's tomb.
In 31 BC Julius Caesar entered Egypt and married Cleopatra, who was the ruler at 16 years of age. They had a son, Caesarium. But Romans killed Julius Caesar and Cleopatra and her son had to be smuggled inside a carpet back to Egypt. Then Cleopatra married Marc Antony. He was killed; then she took her life and left a 13 year old son who was killed also. Then Egypt came completely under Roman rule.
The catacombs in Alexandria were built by a Roman family who adopted the Egyptian style, but added a banquet hall because family and friends that visited would stay all day. They brought food from home and broke pottery when finished. It was okay to bring pottery in, but wouldn't take it back to their house because it had been near the dead. In the banquet hall are 3 benches for the family to sit and lay down on because they always reclined when they ate. For the first 100 years it was private. After that it was opened for anyone. the Greeks and Romans cremated the bodies, but in the catacombs are mummies. The Greeks and Romans wanted to be like the royals and pharaohs, so they started doing mummies. The catacombs has a central shaft. Leading to 3 underground levels; but you cn only access the top 2 levels because an underground stream has deteriorated the 3rd level. Once it was discovered everybody started using it as a cemetery.
We drove through the streets and saw many markets. they stack their wares on the sidewalks and streets so full it's difficult for the bus to pass by without hitting them. You can buy anything here: bread, sponges, clothing, veggies, fruits, purses, shawls, curtains, etc.
Khakotis Village is one of Upper Egypt's towns which Alexander the Great built in 293AD. First the Christians lived here, then it became a Greek community. The Egyptians worshipped animals. The Greeks worshipped animals in a human form. Pompey's Pillar was the highest and largest when it was built. It was made in Aswan and floated down the Nile when it flooded to Aleaxandria. The Greco-Roman Museum used to be a private home in 1922. It was sold to the American Embassy in 1952.
In 3000BC Egypt was divided into 2 countries: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. This was the time when writing started. It encompassed the old, middle and new kingdoms with the intermediate periods scattered in between when Egyot was attacked many times by the Asians, but not occupied. Queen Hatshepsut was the princess of Moses I. Moses II married his half sister to be able to rule legally. She was 20 and he was 69. She started to wear the double crown to represent both upper and lower Egypt. She reigned for 22 years and it was the most peaceful time Egypt had known. When she died her stepson scratched out her name everywhere.
The Persians were the first people to attack and occupy Egypt. When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt he told them he was the son of their god, Amon, so they would accept him. Then he helped them defeat the Persians. ST. Mark was the first Christian to visit Egypt and spread Christianity. In the 4th century AD Christians were allowed to practice their religion. They were called Coptic Christians. In the 7th century AD the Arabs entered bringing Islamic culture with them. They made Cairo the capitol.

Sunday 5/15/11

Today the ship docked at Port Said, Egypt. Most of the passengers were taking tours into Cairo. We have already been there, so we stayed on the ship. It was extremely warm out anyway. Ray and Carol went on a tour of the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. The buses were put into a caravan with the military stopping traffic to enable the buses to stay together. We are the first Princess ship to enter Egypt since their unrest started. The Egyptians protect their tourism.