Day #10: Delos, Greece

After a relaxing Day #9 at sea, we arrived at the port in Mykonos, Greece on October 15th, Wednesday.

Just around this time, Art's Panasonic camera went on the blink.  There were dark spots in the lens so I had him use my smaller Sony camera.

Unfortunately as he was playing with the camera to learn the functions, he managed to reformat my SD card which effectively erased all the photos I'd taken.

Sigh...

It's a good thing I use two cameras!

Since Art knew I've always enjoyed Greek and Roman mythology, he agreed Delos would be an interesting place to visit.

The island of Delos, near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece.
                       --Wikipedia

Our city tour guide, Christina explained that Delos is surrounded by 29 islands and was supposed to be the birthplace of Artemis (also known as Diana) and Apollo.  

The myth goes that Zeus was once again participating in extramarital affairs, this time with a minor goddess named Leto.  When she became pregnant, Zeus' wife, Hera refused to allow Leto a place to give birth.

Zeus brought up an island from the sea which was Delos.  There Leto gave birth to twins, Artemis and Apollo.

This is the House of Dionysos.


It was amazing that we were still able to see mosaic from the 3rd century BC.

Men lived on the lower floors and women were on the upper.

There were few windows which insured privacy.  The buildings were also tall so that it would be cooler.

This amphitheater could hold 6,500 people.  Wealthy people would be on the first row which had back rests.

The Naxian Lions were dedicated to the sanctuary of Apollo near the end of the 7th century BC.

And here are the famous twins, Apollo and Artemis.  He was the god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, etc.  Artemis or Diana was the goddess of hunt and the moon. 

The boat dropped us off on the opposite side of the Mykonos harbor.

Christina told us that all buildings on Mykonos must be whitewashed three times a year and that the roofs must be flat to catch rain water for the cistern.

The water was so clear that it almost made me want to wade in it.

I wasn't exactly sure what this was.

Penguin?



We were now headed toward Istanbul. Art had cancelled the excursion we were going to take and opted instead to use the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus option since we'd seen so much on a land tour we took there in 2005. 

Day #8: Pompeii

It was October 13th, Monday when we docked in Naples, Italy.  One of the places we'd always wanted to see was Pompeii.

We could see the peak of Mt. Vesuvius in the distance on the right.

Aha!  Pizza makers below our balcony!


Our Norwegian Cruise Line excursion again provided bottled water.

I'm not positive of all the Non-Stop excursions, but I've heard they didn't get the free bottled water and had to purchase their own.

One of the first things we saw after entering Pompeii was the Piccolo Theater.

Our FAVORITE tour guide during the entire cruise was Vito!  He was full of good humor and incredible knowledge.  You knew everyone loved him because throughout our walk other tour guides would call out to him or come over to give him a hug.  Vito laughed saying they were nice to him just because he was old.

Vito explained that the indentation in the stone here was for sliding doors.  

 

There were narrow streets covered with large, smooth cobblestones.














 Apparently, sewage and other things were often thrown in the streets so these high stone walkways were used to cross the street.  They were also spaced wide enough for chariots.

You could still see some of the paint on the walls.

Pompeii was first settled in the 7th century by the Greeks.  Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.  There was no lava.

Excavation began in 1748.  3/5 of the town is already excavated.

There were 18,000-20,000 people living in Pompeii at the time of the eruption.

You can see Vesuvius in the background from Pompeii.  It looks peaceful, but it can still erupt again.














Seeing bodies that have been covered by ash brought home the shock of the tragic events.

 

It was wonderful that we arrived early because Pompeii was soon crowded with tourists. 

This raised relief on one of the stones on the street pointed the way to the nearest brothel.  Would you believe it took me a long moment to realize what the relief was?

 

I'm so glad we were finally able to see what an incredible place Pompeii was.

We have lots of oleander in Hawaii, but I don't think there are a lot of double ones.  Vito reminded me that it is poisonous.  It is pretty though.

These morning glories were also strikingly colored.















Art and I returned to the ship early, and we were able to see when Arnold and Nancy returned.

Our fun loving Non-Stop tour guide secretly told the wait staff it was our anniversary.

It was a HUGE surprise when they started singing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and brought us a cake.

Ummmm... Nope.  Our anniversary is in January.

There was a one hour time change as we headed out to sea.

Day #9 was to be a relaxing day onboard ship.

Day #7: Rome, Italy

Since we'd already spent over a week in Rome in 1993, we wanted to try something different this time.  We opted for the Secrets of Underground Rome Tour.  Arnold and Nancy would be seeing the Colosseum and other incredible Roman sites.

At each port, there were crew members dressed in regional costumes offering to take photos with you.

We joined our NCL Underground Rome tour which took us to Catacombe S. Domitilla in Civita Vecchia (Ancient Town).

And yes, we were definitely underground.

I was hoping Rome was not a place where earthquakes could happen.

The catacomb of Domitilla has over 11 miles of subterranean tombs.  It dates back to the 3rd century and is the burial place for Christians of long ago.

We were able to see a lot of tomb paintings that are still visible today.

Our docent, Laura told us that there were 150,00 bodies buried and that Romans then were under 5 feet tall. She also said there were 65 catacombs in Rome.  This is one of the largest.

There was also a subterranean church.

We saw more pino (umbrella pine) trees that we were introduced to in Pisa.  These are the trees that produce pine nuts that I love.

Our guide had told us then that the name Pinocchio comes from Pino.

Pino comes from the name Giuseppino.










Our bus soon took us to the Colosseum.

We spotted more Roman soldiers.  It was fun to see cousin Arnold and Nancy go rushing by with their tour group.




Our group did not go into the Colosseum, but stopped for a closer look at Ludus Magnus the gladiators' training academy which is across the street.

Oh yes, we remembered Flat Stanley this time.

We met a lovely woman named Bernice from New Jersey who we would bump into several times during our tours and onboard ship.

I was so amazed that she often traveled alone enjoying the world.

We walked to St. Clements Church.

This ancient church was transformed over the centuries from a private home that was the site of clandestine Christian worship in the 1st century to a grand public basilica by the 6th century, reflecting the emerging Catholic Church's growing legitimacy and power. 

                                                                                     -- Wikipedia

Masimo was our city guide.  He reminded us of a college professor who wished he hadn't retired.

He was a fount of information on every nook and cranny of Roman ruins.

Masimo led us underground to the basement and explained the three levels of the 1,000 year old San Clemente basilica.  The basement had been a 4th century early Christian church, and below it a Roman Republican Era building that was destroyed by The Great Fire of 64 AD.

Next stop:
Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, is a church in Rome, Italy, commissioned in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII, whose brother, Antonio Barberini, was a Capuchin friar. It is located at Via Veneto, close to Piazza Barberini.  

 The church is most famous as an ossuary, known as the Capuchin Crypt, in which is displayed the bones of over 4,000 Capuchin friars, collected between the years of 1528 and 1870.      --Wikipedia

This is where the Imodium stopped working for poor Art.  He had to get to a bathroom immediately.   And this was before he saw the inside of the Cappuccin church with the all the bones on the walls. 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

We were not allowed to take photos in the church, but I found this photo in Wikipedia.

I didn't know that cappuccino is so named for the color of the Cappuccin monks' robes.  Now, every time I see a cup of cappuccino I might remember the bones in this church.

And so ended another day.  Art was actually feeling pretty good.

Could anything else go wrong?

Day #6: Pisa, Italy

The Norwegian Spirit docked at the port in Livorno.  We grabbed breakfast at the Raffles Buffet at about 7:00.  It was teeming with people ready to disembark for our next outing.

Nancy would be spending the day resting to recover from her fall on the previous day in Provence.

Our city tour guide was Viola who informed us that Pisa and Livorno were historical rivals.

Pisa was the richest town and is where Pinocchio was published in 1811.

The bus ride to Pisa from Livorno took about 45 minutes.  We then boarded this little train into Miracle Square.

Art and Arnold were looking forward to climbing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

I do not like steps.  I said I'd wait at the bottom for them and would look at their photos.

I'm not sure how my mind got changed, but Art said I needed to do this.

We made it to the top!!!

Would you believe we forgot Flat Stanley?

The Leaning Tower is 57 meters (about 187 feet) high.

There are 294 steps!

Once we got back down we did what all the tourists were doing.

Sorry about the distortion in these panoramic shots.

We mailed a postcard to KC which cost 2 Euros (almost $3) and collected our free water bottle.  All the NCL tours seemed to give out free water bottles.

 When we got back to the ship, we saw this towel monkey hanging from our ceiling.

We never buy photos on board ships because they are really expensive.  We were perplexed to find this waiting in our room.  Arnold and Nancy had surprised us with the photos!

We were happy and relieved to hear that Nancy was feeling much better and ready to join the outings.

Day #5: Aix En Provence, France

Art's tummy was not feeling great and we were worried he wouldn't be able to go on the excursion with us to Aix En Provence.  He broke down and took Imodium for the first time.  He doesn't usually like to because he feels what needs to leave his body should be allowed to.  Still, he didn't want to miss the first excursion.

We went to the Stardust Theater where all the NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) excursions congregate to be assigned to different tours.

They sold water at the front which was actually unnecessary since all the Norwegian Cruise Line tours we went on provided free water bottles.  It was interesting that the one Non-Stop tour we went on did not.











We then walked toward the gangplank to leave the ship.

I had this image of Provence from paintings by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse.

Obviously, I didn't read the tour description well.  We were led through the city at a fast pace.... too fast.

It was hard to absorb the surroundings and choose the photo I wanted to take.

Our city tour guide, Jean said Aix En Provence meant City of Fountains.  They have 40 fountains in the city.

Painter Paul Cezanne's father was a rich banker there, and we were able to see the outside of his building.

Art was feeling a little better, and I was feeling relieved as we concentrated on following our tour guide.

I realized then that we'd lost track of my cousin, Arnold and his Nancy.

In a rush to take photos, look at buildings and keep up with the group in a huge crowd, Nancy had banged against one of these short pillars and fallen face first onto another pillar.

Luckily our city tour guide was able to get Nancy over to a doctor right away to get her injuries attended to, but we were all shaken up.

(Nancy very kindly sent this photo to me to show where the accident took place.)

After a little snack, we boarded the bus again for our trip to Marseilles.

This southern version of the Arch of Triumph in Marseille is called Porte d’Aix. It was the way to connect Marseille to Aix-en-Provence (and Paris).

Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome and built by Architect Penchaud in 1823 and adorned by inscriptions and low-reliefs (David d’Angers and Jules Ramey), the Porte d’Aix commemorates the victories of the French Revolution, the glory of the Republic, the Consulate and the First Empire.
                --Why Travel to France




Riding the bus on President Kennedy Drive, we were able to catch this photo of the fellow who seemed to be floating in air near the beach.

We could see the Château d'If which was supposed to be an almost escape proof prison like Alcatraz.  It was the setting for The Count of Monte Cristo.

When Jean said, "Of course you have heard of Count of Monte Cristo" several voices chimed, "No."

That surprised us and shocked Jean.

Once in Marseilles we were taken to Notre Dame de la Garde.  There were a LOT of steps to get to the top.

Jean told us that whenever relatives come to Marseilles, Notre Dame de la Garde is one of the must-see places to take them.

This photo (taken from a distance) is courtesy of Wikipedia.

The inside of the Neo-Byzantine basilica was very impressive.

Our granddaughter, KC sent this letter to us before we left on our journey.

We were excited to see how many countries we could take photos of with Flat Stanley.

And here is Flat Stanley overlooking Marseilles, France.

Before boarding the ship, our hands were always sprayed with a hand sanitizer.

That evening, we saw the first of several towel creatures.

Art's tummy was feeling better although now that he'd taken the Imodium, he was worried he might have the opposite problem.  Nancy was feeling better though a little unsteady.

It was a surprise when I returned to Hawaii several weeks later to hear that one of my dear Zumba friends who happened to be on a river cruise in Budapest also took a similar fall with even more terrible injuries. Her tour and ours also had several others who fell which resulted in cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Travel insurance sounds more and more like a necessary expenditure.  Sigh...