Continuation of the 2025 Oosterdam trip .....
Olympia - Oct 20th - Monday
We booked our private guide from Viator - (slight frustration in that the ticket or tour description did not let us know the TIME we were to meet 'Nassos') but we left the ship as soon as we were able to disembark and quickly found him. We climbed in our comfortable newish Mercedes van that was definitely "tricked out". Driver/guide was nice, informative and definitely willing to please. He also was very proud of his position in his family and village area.
OLYMPIA - it deserves the 'caps' !
It's almost impossible to describe - The site is so massive, so important and so filled with names of Greek gods that it is overwhelming. The gods were mainly the 12 Olympians but the Romans later adopted these gods and gave them roman names and slightly new attributes. The games are thought to have started in the 8th century BC and ran until the 4th century AD. They ran every 4 years and if there were wars going on during that time the visitors to Olympia were granted safe passage. They were restored in 1894 on a global basis but obviously not in Olympia. But the flame is lit at the beginning of every Olympic game in Olympia Greece.
There are approximately 760 buildings on this site in various stages of decay or restoration. The preserve has informative short descriptions of most buildings and how they might have looked (from ancient drawings), what gods they were dedicated to and how it was used.
Phillipeion
The only structure dedicated to a human (Phillip's family which included Alexander the Great)
Temple of Hera - one of the oldest temple in the preserve
This is where the olympic flame is lit every 4 years.
Nymphaeum - home of the nymphs - was a water distribution Sturcture
It was raining when we arrived but we ended up getting a rainbow as a bonus.
entering the stadium
Stadium
looking at the remains of the Temple of Zeus
the Baths - Maybe ?
Earthquakes, war, weather and time seem to have the largest effects on the stuctures. There was not a trace of one of the largest areas - the chariot race track - which was washed out by a river.
After spending 2 hrs in the outdoor area we went to the museum and spent another hour. It was one of the best museums we have visited.
Museum
We were both very impressed with the museum. It was not so crowded with items that you got tired. The displays were spaced apart so I never felt crowded.
Griffin
bronze helmets
Nike of Paeonios
pieces of bronze hair from some of the recovered statues
famous Broze horse 5th century BC
Hermes of Proxiteles
Messenger of the gods charged by Zeus to take the infant Dionysos (Bacchus- roman one) to the Nymphs to nurse him
We left the museum and did a little refrigerator magnet shopping. We joined back up with our tour guide and had lunch at his family restaurant where his sister cooked. I had a chicken gyro and Beth had Souvlakia - His cousin raided the family bar across the street for Ouzo - I loved it of course (black jelly beans) and Beth liked it.
our driver/guide on right - rest are cousin and brother
family restaurant
We asked our guide if he could take us to an Olive mill - so we could see how olive processing happened. There are many different species of Olive trees but some can live for hundreds of years. They generally start producing fruit at 3-5 yrs and their peak production is when they are 10-20 years mature. Yields decline after 40 years.
The can was flat on one side so the donkeys could carry it easily
To get the oil they even press the pits for get more oil. The remaining pulp that is left can be molded into pellets for heating. We saw examples of older mills and of the new fangled ones. The processor takes 10 percent of the finished product so the labor intensive portion of the work is gone.
Tuesday 21st - Chania Crete
We had no tour scheduled for today so we had a 'DIY' day. Crete - caught shuttle to Chania. The always informative port talk gave us some pointer as to what we might like to see which was the lighthouse, Venetian Shipyards and Chunkus Maximus. We took a 4 EU 20 minute shuttle from the port to a square in Chania and started with the lighthouse and shipyards.
one of my favorites of Beth
Lighthouse was built by the Venetians in 1645.
The Venetian Shipyards built in the 16th century for the construction and maintenance of Venetian galleys but later when the Ottomans invaded Crete it was used for storing food during the sieges.
Afterwards we went shopping! Sandels and a wrap for Beth were our goal and I probably bought a magnet ... can't remember. We found both items for Beth and accidentally ran into the Tic Tok famous fat cat, Chonkus Maximus. Of course we took photos. The port talk had been told not to give the cat food that it was now on a diet.
This was on our port talk PowerPoint Presentation
After putting both photos up and comparing - HMMMM -- is this fat cat an imposter ?? Are they trying to scam us with a Fake? At least it reminded me how much I miss my Marky Mark at home.
We meandered our way thru the charming narrow alleys back to the square where our shuttle was waiting for us.
That evening we had a beautiful sunset and we we lucky enough to actually see the green flash at sunset - 1st time for me !! 2nd for Beth- no photo of the flash - sorry.
22nd Wednesday Piraeus / Athens
Paula and Bob arrive. We were super lazy that day and did not get off boat
Thursday - Oct 23th - second trip to the Port of Katakolon which is the Olympia's start point.
We walk about the little port city. We first visited the Pharmacy -they have big green X by their door so we knew how to find them. We showed them the great cold medicine we found in Hydra and asked for more. They had it! It was my turn to get a cold and I had been mooching off of Beth's Greek cold medicine for the last couple of days.
We visited the
Katakolon Museum of Greek Ancient Technology It took us longer than expected because both of us were trying to figure out how the machines worked. (And still scratching our heads on some of them.) Damn those Greeks were smart. I bought a shirt as well as some greek seasonings and we both got our daily gelato.
colorful boats all around
and colorful flowers
Friday -Oct 24th - Sarande Albania - another second trip to this area.
Again, another DIY day of walking around the port. We strolled thru the fruit market and bought a fig cake to give to Paula for her bithday - she took a 'polite bite' and gave it back - always stick with wine for Paula......
Those things that look like necklaces on the top right are individual figs the fig cakes are directly below ( they look like a large hamburger patty. Sadly, my Georgia figs didn't taste as good as these.
walnuts
While walking around the town an elderly very short Albanian gentleman stopped to talk to us. Not invasive and very interesting, he had lived in Nashville TN for a while and just wanted to talk. We needed a WC break but there was none to be found, so it gave us an excuse to sit in an outdoor restaurant so I could get my daily diet coke.
This is one way to attract the tourists....
Birthday party on Paula's and Bob's balcony.
Saturday -Oct 25 - at sea -
Trivia, ate, read, played 4 Kings in a corner and napped
Sunday - Oct 26 - Valletta Malta
We had signed up for a "Red Umbrella Walking Tour". We were extremely lucky and got a great guide. Earnest was very informative on most of the massive history of his island.
A long time ago there was a underwater bridge from Italy to Sicily to Malta but with time and earthquakes and volcanos they disappeared. A lot of the roads were built with the sandstone that used to be underwater. When walking on the roads you noticed that they were laced with many small fossils. That type of sandstone is used in the roads and floors and is much more durable that the sandstone used in the buildings.
The large majority of the buildings had these unique balconies.
I loved the look of them!
3 male "mer-MEN"
not sure of the significance of the statue
Bare Mininum of the History of Valletta as well as Malta
They found a 8000 yr old building - think stonehendge- but 1000 yr older
St Paul -arrived in Valleta, after a shipwreak where he predicted the people would survive but not the ship. He was not a saint at the time but a prisoner on his way to trial in Rome to be killed. When on land he was also bitten by a viper and didn't die. Those events caused he to be declared a saint.
1530 King Charles the 5th ofSpain gave Malta to the Order of Knights of St John for the sum of ONE Maltese Falcon every year - they still deliver yearly payment. The Knights Templar consisted of educated men such as doctors and architects whose mission was to set up hospitals in the holy lands. Their previous base was in Rhodes but the Ottomans kicked them out.
1565- The knights fought off the Ottomans against big odds.
1798 - Naponleon took over Malta then the British took over.
WWI - the island was known as the "Nurse of the Mediterranean" because of the number of hospitals and wounded soldiers it treated.
a lot of the buildings here were hospitals during a variety of times
WWII - Malta was a strategic island due to its location halfway between Africa and Italy. Churchhill described Malta as the "largest indestructable aircraft carrier" due to the fact the RAF had 3 airbases on the island. Because of it's importance Malta was subjected to one of the most intense bombing campaigns, primarily by German and Italian forces, from June 1940 to November 1942. It was noted that 3,000 bombing raids occured during those years. The Maltese population and British defenders showed remarkable resilience, refusing to capitulate.
I left the group a little early but Beth carried on and took great photos about the Palace.
Democracy, Human Rights and Social Justice (3 figures) base of the core constitutional principals that shape Malts's civil and political order.
Extra bit of Trivia - Midnight Express was filmed in Valletta at the old fortress.
Monday - Messina - Sicily
lot of hawkers at port
No plans so we decided on a Hop On Hop off tour - sites were pointed out by a timed recording in five different languages and played the same 2 Italian songs inbetween stops -- we will be singing Volare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qivzSaALee8 ....in our sleep.
There were 2 types of buses - one that went to the most popular local tourist sites and another one that took a longer more scenic route. We did both We hopped off and did the
Church of Christo Re - Bell was made from WWI canons - Memorial to soldiers - looked like a church but was more like a ????? It had a soldier stationed there - moving - next to a castle like building not sure of age but it had a solar panel roof
Norman Messina Cathedral - Church 1910 ?? was Reconstructed after 7.1 earthquake Dec 1908 killed almost 100,000 people
the Clock tower with fancy moving parts - lion roars every day played Ave Maria brought a few tears to my eyes largest astronomical clock 1930
mac and cheese lunch - beer canolli- paula order Pork belly for dinner -- did not even take a "polite bite" no idea...pharmacy horrible cough drops on purpose.
Wednesday Oct 29 Civitavecchia (port of Rome)
We chose not to go to Rome because we had both previously been there and it included a 1 hr bus ride each way. So we decided to explore the local area instead. We had to take a 15 min shuttle ride just to get out of the extremely large port. During the ride we went past hundreds of fishing boats and their nets and lots of very large sailing and motor yachts.
After finally exiting the port we walked to town where there was a church - not sure of the signifigance other than you could see it from our ship.
The city seemed to be a normal modern shopping area for the port area workers. We got a friendly tip from a couple returning to the port that there was a delicious pizza place by the sea wall - just look for a sign with Homer Simpson drinking a beer. We took the tip walked along the pretty sea wall and found it. We had a beer and a thin crust with slightly burnt edges, sausage and cheese pizza. Both beer and pizza were great.
Thursday Oct 30 aj Corsica - rainy day
Armed with umbrellas and hoodies we went to join our Walking Viator Tour guide Andrea. Thank goodness she made our uncomfortable time with her enjoyable and informative. Ajjaccio's claim to fame was that fact that Napolean was born and raised there.
Andrea our guide
First stop (in hopes the rain would let up a little bit) was a nice covered food market. Enclosed were beautiful shops of wine, nuts, coffee and a fish market area. During the worse of the weather she gave us snacks and a rundown of the history of Corsica.
The dark small sausages on the top are made from Liver and I strongly dislike liver but BEFORE I knew what they were - I ate some and loved them !
History - Very confusing between the Greeks, the Ottomans, the Romans, Germanic then the city states of Pisa and Genoa (last one mentioned the Italian influences a few times by the guide). Genoa ruled for about 500 years till the French took over in the 18th century. Fairly stable till WWII then it was Italian and then German. After WWII returned to France.
Walked around the fort and then into Church of Saint Roch, the Patron Saint invoked against plagues.
--For a Weird coincidence --Most of the people in the old days lived in the mountains due to malaria being really bad at the beaches. During WWII the US military sprayed DDT for them - to wipe out the mosquitos. That's when the beach front and port area started to become populated. Also there was very little fishing until this area opened up. We know DDT is really bad now- but back then it really helped this area grow and thrive.
After the Church a few of us 'wimped out' and went back to the ship and Beth soldiered on (remember she is from the rainy Seattle area) to the Art Museum and Library.
Entrance to the Library
Friday - villa ...... de mer - Halloween - cute town - navigation with beth's phone has to have cellular -t-mobile just make sure you have your airplane mode on - when on a boat or in the air - Maps.me Ticket adventure - Train adventure Nice - market nuts dried fruit flowers and of course souveniers - tea -
after we got back to ville ... great gelato
crossant - beach promanade French Rivera rocky - buildings - modern art in the streets
Halloween party
cool facebook site - Amazing maps - follow on facebook
