Duke: Live at the Acropolis, and Mars Hill (Athens, Greece)

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Athens, Greece

The Acropolis for me was kind of a Pilgrimage.  I'll let the beginning of the video explain.

It wasn't just that Yanni was my inspiration to become a musician, but also that his music was always able to lift me up and carry my through my roughest times.  And that's why I was moved to tears at this site.

Anyway, moving on.  I was actually fortunate enough to be escorting a tour to this amazing place.  Unfortunately though, that required that I babysit the guests for a while at the museum of boring, but don't worry, we're going to skip right to the cool stuff.  Isn't that a great deal?  I save you all the down time, and take you right to what's important?  Anyway...

Like this:  The excavation is underneath you.

And you can walk right over it.

But enough of that.  The big deal that we have set out to see is The Acropolis!  There it is!  It is a law in Athens that no building may be build taller than the Acropolis.  Since this is only one of two or three hills in the whole area, that still gives buildings a lot of height potential (and sadly, with their current economic situations, no sky scrapers would be going up in the near future anyway)

Chronologically speaking, this is the spot where I would put my story about how I let the guests go on ahead of my while I balled my eyes out at the spot where Yanni gave his concert.

It happened right here!

 Sure, there's the Parthenon and everything right behind me, but this is more important right now.

The best thing happened to me after that moment.  I went for a little walk, and ran into my best friends on the ship!  Jennifer, Rebecca, and Gabriel!  They weren't escorting a tour, so they got to do everything on their own, and in their own clothes.  Me, I had to snap this picture, and then go run and find my guests.  I'm really happy though that they all got off this ship and saw this place as well.

The Four

...oh right, so I eventually got up to the top, which is the big draw of the place.  On top of the Acropolis is the Parthenon with all it's Glor-- Scaffolding?

Waa waa waaaaaaa...

Okay, well you travel the world long enough and you just have to realize that not every Unesco World Heritage Sight is going to be 100% ready for your picture taking pleasure.  Sometimes, a little upkeep is necessary.  Fortunately for us, the Parthenon has four sides.  Here's one of them:

Someone once accused me of thinking I was a God amongst men.  To this person I say, "I'm home!"

The next picture is a 360° panorama from the top of the Acropolis.  Click on it to get a better look around.

The Minithenon

Now, if I could just get five ladies to hold up my house.

Before we go, here are some of the things you can see while standing on top of the Acropolis.

Really big other hill.

Tetris-- I mean, Columns.  Or Bowling for Giants.

And here I have saved the best for last.  I give you: Mars Hill:

Mars Hill as viewed from the Acropolis.

Acts 17:22-34 KJV

²² Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
²³ For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
²⁴ God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
²⁵ Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
²⁶ And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
²⁷ That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
²⁸ For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
²⁹ Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
³⁰ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
³² And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
³³ So Paul departed from among them.
³⁴ Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

What is this silly picture about?  You'll have to watch the video at the end.

It was a great day.  No really, I'm not kidding, it was an incredibly great day.  After my tour, there was enough time to change clothes, rest a bit, and then take the train from Piraeus back into Athens where I met Marcy for some Authentic Greek Yogurt!  Oh yeah!

And then, we had this experience.  A warning though: this may be the longest video you've ever seen in your life.  Once you start watching, you might get stuck watching, and you won't get that time back.  This is the actual changing of the guard ceremony that happens on the hour, every hour (even at night!), every day.  Sometimes, I play it in the background of whatever I'm doing just because our stupid commentary still makes me laugh.  Again, you've been warned.

Next time:  We'll attempt to take a bite out of Ephesus.  Or, maybe we'll do the whole thing.  I haven't decided yet.  Ephesus is a really big deal.  It might take several posts to see all the perspectives.  We'll see.

Corfu, Cats, and lots of food.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Corfu, Greece

Corfu is the first Island of Greece that you come to if you're sailing from the West.  In fact, it's not even in the Aegean Sea.  But, it's still Greece, so all of the amazing food is still there, and that's really what we appreciate.  Oh, it's also pretty.  Here's what we did today.

Paleokastrista & Corfu Town
Description
Embrace the scenic natural beauty of Corfu during this memorable, half-day excursion to Paleokastritsa, and a visit to the Old Town.

Paleokastritsa Monastery
Depart the pier for the approximate 40-minute drive northwest to Paleokastritsa, Nestled amidst wooded hills and sheltered bays, Paleokastritsa is perhaps the most picturesque resort on the island of Corfu.  Upon arrival, proceed for a visit to the Paleokastritsa Monastery.  Although the monastery was originally founded in 1225, the present building dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, and is a fine example of an arcaded cloister.

Kanoni Peninsula
Next, re-board your coach and proceed for a photo stop at the Kanoni Peninsula.  This picturesque viewpoint offers splendid vistas overlooking the Church of Panagia ton Vlachernon and the famous Mouse Island.

Old Corfu Town
Your tour concludes with a visit to Corfu Town.  Upon arrival, take a guided walking tour of the Old Town, which features Parisian arcades, Italian architecture and the English Cricket Square.  Sights of interest include the residence of the British High Commissioner, the Venetian quarters of Cambiello, Corfu's historical centre, Town Hall, and the Church of St. Spyridon.  Following your visit, commence the brief drive back to the ship.


I think what I like most about Corfu is how narrow it can be in some places.  If you rent a car or take a tour, you will experience this eventually, that is if you don't mind navigating all the mountain roads.

The next two pictures were taking from the same spot in my bus as we were driving by.  I just turned around.  As you can see, there is beach on both sides.

But stopping at the beautiful beaches wasn't on the menu.  You know what was?  Another monastery.

I waited a long time for both flags to be caught in the wind.

Ekklesia - Church

The Holy Trinity

This next section is because so many people love cats.  In fact, if you love animals go to the Mediterranean because they are everywhere.  Then again, maybe don't because you'll go on some tirade about how they should be better taken care of.  Well, at the monasteries, they are very well taken care of, as you can see.

That's enough of that.  Here's the corfu airport.

And here's a big thing over by the shuttle stop.  It made it really easy for us to find our way back to the shuttle from the town center.

The town looked very much like this everywhere we went.

We docked in Corfu at least nine times.  After a while, we just used it like a restaurant, which is typical of crew.  You know you work on a cruise ship when you talk of ports like restaurants, "Where do you want to eat next week?"  "Hmm, how about Corfu?"

Here's just a small sample of what we ate throughout our many trips to Corfu.

Gyros portion

Moussaka

Baked Aubergine (Eggplant)

Wifi, Moussaka, Caprese Salad, and Jennifer.

Jennifer would ALWAYS order two things in every port in Greece: Tsatsiki, and a greek salad.  And I don't blame her.  The tsatsiki is very good there, and the vegetables are fresher than anything you can get in the states.  (I'd say that I miss it, but I'm writing this from Europe, so, lucky me I'm still eating well.)

That last shot was from our very last time in Corfu on Saturday, October 19, 2013.  We didn't bother using the shuttle that day.  Although, I'm pretty sure we took a cab back to make the back on board time.  It was a good day.

Next time:  Athens.  Duke: Live at the Acropolis.

Eating Palačinke in Budva, Montenegro then sailing out of the Bay of Kotor

Monday, May 13, 2013

Kotor, Montenegro

Black Mountain, or Crna Gora in Serbian, is what Montenegro means.  It's a tiny, more recently independent nation that actually manage to end up with some coast line in the Adriatic, otherwise Croatia would have it all.  It got it's name from the Venetians, who sailed into the Bay of Kotor at night time, looked around, and said, "Oooh, Black Mountains."  Then the sun came out and they turned out to be grey, but the name stuck!

Today, we tendered into Kotor, and I took my guests on a guided tour of the neighboring city of Budva.

But first, we drove straight through Budva, and directly up a hill for a spectacular shot of Sveti Stefan (St. Stephen).

We're not going there though.  It's a private place that regularly switches owners.  I think some billionaire Russians are in a bidding war with a Saudi prince right now.  When is that not the case?

Instead we looked immediately to our right across the bay to the city of Budva where we will be spending our afternoon.

Budva is both and ancient preserved Medieval village, as well as an up and coming city.  Our tour would walk through the Medieval section, but the drive would take us through the city.  The billionaire Russians are indeed buying up everything they can get and transforming this place.  They envision Budva to be a popular Russian vacation spot in the future, and they are making it so.  The locals aren't too happy about it, but they take the money nonetheless.

Oh, and about the money!  The go off Euro here.  They're only European Union applicants, but they still use the Euro.  What happened was their own money was so bad, that one day the whole country decided to buy Deutchmarks!  So, when Germany switched to the Euro, Montenegro followed suit.

Now that's all well and good, but let me show you my favorite thing about Budva.

Yum.

Yes, there is that, but just outside the bakery is a little walk up window with this sign above it.

No, not Pizza.  Palačinka!

What is Palačinke?  In a word, pancakes.  In another word, crepes.  But this is how we do them here.

Oh yeah!

My grandma and my dad have been making palačinke for me my whole life.  I know it looks the same everywhere you get it in the world, but believe me, we each have our own recipe, and of course mine is the best.

It would have been nice if Palačinke was the only thing we did in Budva, but unfortunately for us, our tour included admission to the most boring museum in the world.

Really?

The only thing the museum had going for it is that every potion in every video game I've ever played came from a bottle that looked like the ones above.

The tour also came with a snack in a restaurant (which I think is just cruel, but it happens all the time!  You all go and sit down in a nice restaurant, but you're not getting a meal!  Oh no!  You're going to get one little drink, and maybe something else).

At least it's pretty.

The something else today was ham on top of lettuce on top of white bread.  Apparently, this ham is like prosciutto, and is really special.  I thought it was special alright.  But it was lost on me.

Nevertheless, food is food, and although it seems like I'm complaining now, I can tell you that at the time I was very appreciative.  You don't always get food on a tour, so when you do, it's like Christmas.  (Really sad Christmas, but still).

Okay, tour's over.  Let me post the notes from the shore excursions office.

OMG, it was called Pearls of the Adriatic Coast.  How...cute.

Description:
Embrace the breathtaking beauty of the Adriatic Coast during this half-day, sightseeing tour of Montenegro and its environs.  (Points for using the word "environs.")

Depart the pier for the scenic, approximate one-hour drive to St. Stefan.

Sveti Stefan Viewpoint
En route, a photo stop is made at the Sveti Stefan Viewpoint for panoramic views over the Budvanska Riviera and St. Stefan.  This seafront hamlet, a fortified fishing village originally built to deter pirates, is today a charming resort town.  Leaving the Sveti Stefan Viewpoint, continue on to Budva.

Budva
Budva is considered one of the oldest settlements in the Balkans, and the most popular seaside destination in Montenegro (if you're rich and Russian).  The Old Town of Budva was founded in the 9th century, and lies on a tiny island that was once linked to land by a sandbar.  Over time this area has silted up to become an attractive peninsula.  The town is surrounded by 15th-century fortifications that include a Medieval rampart system with city gates, defensive walls, and towers.  Inside the walls, the town is a combination of narrow streets, tiny squares, and monuments honouring (the person who writes all the descriptions is clearly English) the diverse Mediterranean cultures that marked its development.  A guided walking tour within the ramparts brings you to the City Museum (of boring).

Budva City Museum
The City Museum of Budva is located in the heart of the Old Town.  Althought the history of Budva dates back hundreds of years, it has only had a museum for the past two decades.  The museum traces the evolution of Budva through displays of various artifacts with Hellenic marks, vases, jewellery, decorations, tools, and silver, along with artifacts made of glass and clay featuring unusual shapes and designs.  The museum offers a unique insight into the Illyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, and other Budvan rules through the years.  (It also has a display of old bottles)

Following your museum visit, refreshments and a snack will be served at a local restaurant before some free time is made available to browse the shops or explore the area.  Re-board the coach for the return drive to Kotor.  Upon arrival, you may opt to return directly to the pier or remain in the Old Town for shopping or further exploration and return to the pier at your leisure.

...which is exactly what we did.  Once we arrived in Kotor, we stayed for a while because Kotor is awesome.  In fact, we rarely escorted any more tours in Kotor because it is a place you just want to be to hang out and chill.  Every restaurant is CHEAP and amazing, and has fast wifi.  Need I say more?  Well, later I will because there are some more things I want to show you in depth later on.  In the mean time, look!  I ran into Jennifer!

She took a picture of me too.

We had a long way to sail after today (we had to get to Greece) so back on board time was pretty early.  Normally, this sucks, but today it meant that we would get to see the amazing sail out of the Bay of Kotor.  More on that, after a drink with Soraia.

Živjeli! - Живели!

The sail out of Kotor is pretty incredible.  So much so that I really didn't want to edit my video.  Yeah, it's about five minutes of the same thing, but that's what's nice about being on a ship.  You're not in a hurry.  You're not going anywhere.  The ship's taking you.  So, you can slow down your pacing and just enjoy things at the speed they come.

Video - Sailing Out of Kotor - Unedited

Like Norway, no picture will ever do it justice.  Kotor is a place you have to be there to feel.

Enjoying the sun and the sail out of Kotor up on crew deck 11.

This was the last thing we saw before we went below decks.  Imagine if this was your church.  Try not to get your Bible wet on the way there every Sunday.

Next time:  Corfu, Greece.  Paleokastritsa, and a cat video, because some people like cats.