5 More Days Until I am State-side!

I cannot believe that the voyage is almost over. It is incredibly bittersweet. I have made some awesome friendships on this voyage that I know  will stay in touch with for forever. But, at the same time, I am so incredibly excited to be able to see my family in less than a week. Hence the bittersweet feeling.

When I got on this voyage people kept telling me that it would change my life and I have to admit- I was fairly skeptical. But, I need not have been because it did, in more ways than one.  Globally I am more aware of the world. Culturally I am more in tuned with different people and the wonderful, unique experiences bring. Most of all though, I have developed a deeper understanding of the important things in life. Family. Friends. Love. Happiness. All of these traits are vital to living a complete and fulfilled life. That is what this voyage there and back again(Hobbit reference intended) has taught me. Love like there is no tomorrow J

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

~T.S. Eliot

 

Ugh- 9 Days Until HOME!

Well today is not the best of conclusions for Portugal, but apparently 50% of travelers get traveler diarrhea and it doesn’t last for too long (24 hours) so I can’t wait for the end of these 24 hours. Nah, it isn’t that bad, but I am actually pretty excited to go home now. This adventure has been amazing. I now have 9 days until I get back to the United States and this whole entire voyage seems surreal and amazing.

I will continue with my almost post-voyage reflection in the coming days.

 

Sintra

Today I decided to head out of Lisbon for a bit and see what some of the rest of Portugal was like.  Sintra is a small, fairy tale-like city that is located at the bottom of the Sintra Mountains. It has a population of about 33,000 people and is essentially a tourist suburb of Lisbon. A 40 minute train ride, in a very clean train that was nowhere near as packed as the one to Civitavecchia, took us to Sintra.

We decided to try and get to the Palace of Pena which we had heard great things about but didn’t realize how far of a walk it was. Literally 5 miles of uphill walking led us to a beautiful park that was the grounds of the Palace. Interestingly enough the Palace of Pena is considered one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal and is often used by the Portuguese president for special occasions.

Historically the palace was a monastery that was destroyed by lightening in the 18^th century. Then, in 1755 the historic “Great Earthquake” of Lisbon occurred leaving the monastery in ruins. In 1838 King Ferdinand II decided to acquire the monastery and he transformed the remains into a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. Ever since then it has been kept in pristine condition and is now a major tourist attraction.  But, enough for the history of the palace and let me tell you about how beautiful it was:

Gorgeous! Absolutely, unbelievably, breathtakingly gorgeous! The outside really looked like a real life fantasy tale. I felt I was in a Disney princess’s movie as I was walking through all 14 rooms of the palace. The outside had many turrets that seemed to tower all the way to the sky. And, let me tell you, the view from the top was incredible- I could see all the way across Sintra to the ocean (about 18 km away.) I am struggling to put into the beauty that the entire experience so I will put up pictures later (I know I have been saying that a lot but really- a picture is worth a thousand words.)

Then, it was time to get back to the train station. Only problem-a 5 mile walk downhill didn’t sound like the best, so we managed to convince a taxi driver to take 5 of us in his taxi. We had to stop a little bit away from the train station since he wasn’t suppose to have so many people in the taxi and since we saw an ice cream store nearby we, of course, had to stop in and get some before boarding the train back to Lisbon.

Once we got back to Lisbon it was time for dinner. Overall the food that I have had in Portugal has been sub-par compared to that from the rest of the countries I have been to so we decided to branch out and try some Thai food. It was the best Thai food I have ever had. The pineapple rice that we ordered literally came in a hollowed out pineapple! In addition all of the plates came with carrots that were cut into small Tulip shapes and was delicious. It was quite delicious and the mohitos that we went for after pretty much topped off a wonderful day. Overall it was an awesome way to end the last night in port J

 

Sharks and Skates and Rays.. Oh My!

Today was quite the day. I think that after so many different countries, so much different weather, and so much less sleep I have pretty much did myself in and now am feeling the effects by getting sick. But, ah well, such is how life goes and so these next few days in Portugal might just have to be a bit less hectic then my previous adventures.

Firstly today I went to Lisbon’s famous Oceanarium. It is the second largest aquarium in Europe and comes highly recommended by many guide books and my marine biology teacher (thank you Dan Abel.) So, my friends and I set out to try and figure out the tram system here in Portugal. It is much more confusing than any public transportation system I have encountered yet and I was very thankful when this nice college-aged woman asked us if we needed help. We responded “yes please” and she proceeded to push all of the button on the machine (of course it was in Portuguese) and then we were on our way to the Oceananium.  When we got there we had to walk through this huge 3 story mall to get to the entrance of the aquarium (which seemed kind of weird.) My first thought when I saw the Oceanarium was something along the lines of “they built a skyscraper for fish.” (once again- just remember that I am in a sick, sleep deprived state.) But, it was very much like a skyscraper and was by far and away the most impressive aquarium I have ever seen. Then we went inside.

I could have stayed in this aquarium for hours and hours and never been bored. There was a huge tank in the center of the aquarium with so many sharks, (sandbar, white tipped, black tip, mako, ect.) apex predator fish, (blue finned tuna, ) rays, (mostly giant manta rays) skates, (they swim with this very funny swishing of their pectoral fins that are connected to their head) and so many other fish that were fun to try and identify (including the oceangoing sun fish which is quite possibly the most ugly fish that I have ever seen.- google it)

That was just the big tank.

All along the two stories in tanks that lined the walls were many different aquatic organisms including penguins, sea otters, (my favorite J) many different frogs, tropical fish, sea horses, bioluminescent fish, and I could continue this list forever. There were over 6,000 species contained in the two story aquarium. When I thought about it that way, the magnificent skyscraper I had observed from the outside seemed quite small.

After the Oceanarium it was onto lunch. I have to say by this time I probably looked like a zombie. So, because both my friend Prachi and I were the living dead we decided just to go to the food court in the mall that we had passed through (I know, I know.) Well, it turned out to be an awesome idea because this food court had some ridiculously gourmet and healthy restaurants. The restaurant that I got my “fast” food had make your own salad. So, I got the weirdest salad ever. Imagine this: Half pasta, half romaine lettuce with watermelon, papaya, egg, fresh feta cheese, and cherry tomatoes with plain yogurt as a dressing. Mmmmmm sooo yummy and so weird J

Then we went to this gorgeous park and laid under a tree for a bit just taking in the general splendor that is Portugal. After that I really needed a nap and I was super excited because we had gotten tickets to go to a jazz concert that evening so we headed back to the ship.

The concert was awful. I have never hated classical music this much. When they said improv jazz apparently it meant a bunch of noise. I feel like I need to preference this concert a bit before I rant about how terrible it was. We bought tickets to what we thought was a jazz quintet consisting of a marimba, double bass, cello, violin, and viola. Well, this is what we went to see but it was not jazz, it was just noise and they were some of the most passionate musicians playing some of the worst junk that I have ever heard.

This is the dialog that went between my friend Chil’in and I during the first 20 minutes of the concert (the parentheses are my commentary now):

                Chil’in: “opps” (it was she that found the concert and bought the tickets for us online)

                Me: “I think the marimba player is on some sort of drug, most likely cocaine” (weed and many other drugs are legalized here in Portugal and the marimba player kept sniffing and rubbing his nose while playing)

                Chil’in: “I think all contemporary musicians are on cocaine- probably some bad second grade coke that inspires pretty much rubbish.”

                Me: “The cellist needs to leave. The bassist is very talented and is the least high of all of them. The marimba player is psychotic. The violinist needs to retire (he was like 70 years old) and the violist is most likely a serial killer.”

                Chil’in: “I’ve never seen someone play rubbish with so much passion. These guys score an A for theater school of melodrama. We need to cleanse our ears after this. But this is quite an eye opener- never realized music can be THAT bad.”

                Me: “I have honestly never hated classical instruments this much and I have heard some pretty bad beginning violinists. I just don’t see any beauty in it. I mean, passion… but please.. are they all deaf?”

                Chil’in: “Maybe they think we are. But yea- who ever invented the instruments they are playing now should be jumping out of their graves. I guess we have them to thank for putting out all remaining hope for modern art music. Can I just say- the cellist might end up in cellist hell for his insufferable pretentiousness”

                Me: “I have never detested the cello (or any instrument for that matter) more than I do now.. I want to jump in a hole where I never have to listen to this audio agony again.”

Then we left.

The only good part of the concert was the concert hall. Well, it wasn’t really a concert hall, it was more of a room with a bunch of tables and a stage and some standing room in the back. We got there early enough so we got a front row table and were able to sip a couple of beers while we waited for the concert to start. In fact, by the time the concert started there was about 50 people who were standing in the back. 

And then I listened to Beethoven before I went to bed.

 

Best Field Lab Ever!

Today I had my ecology field lab.  Normally when I think of “lab” it is kind of a dreary feeling of knowing I have to go sit in a lab room or 4 hours. Well, let me tell you that my ecology field lab today was about the farthest thing from sitting in a lab room. We started off at 8:30 with about a 45 minute drive through the countryside of Lisbon. We picked up a couple of biologists who know the area and continued up into one of Lisbon’s natural reserves. I have to admit, of all the ports Lisbon has been the one I have been looking forward to the least. I think it is because it comes right after Morocco which is by far the most exotic place I have been on this voyage and so going to yet another place in Europe seems fairly tame. In addition, I am pretty worn out and am need of about 50 hours of sleep to be fully awake.

Anyway, even though I was not super looking forward to Lisbon I have to say I was surprised and very impressed. The natural reserve was absolutely gorgeous and had some of the best scenery I have ever seen. It very much reminded me of Oregon (which made me kind of nostalgic for home :/) I shall put pictures up when I get internet because the views were quite stunning. After gorgeous views and some educational information from the biologists came some free time on the beach. Can I just point out that I got to go to the beach for a field lab? (ya… best field lab EVER.)

Then it was a (paid for) 4 course meal. Yummy, yummy bread, cheese, deep fat fried veggie patties, green beans, cookie cake, and espresso to top it off. (yummy, yummy.) I was pretty much in a food coma after that. Then we went into this fortress on the top of a nearby hill that had an oceanographic museum in it. Climbing all the way to the top of the fortress meant more gorgeous views and the water was so clear that I could even see the tiny little fishes swimming around in the blue water.

After taking pictures and looking around the museum for about 20 minutes it was up a large hill to the bus and then back to the ship. Can I just say: “Best field lab ever?!”

For dinner I went to this quaint restaurant where I split some salted cod and honey almond cake with a friend. The salted cod is a specialty in Portugal and it was what the waiter recommended so we decided to try it. We also had some really good sparkling green wine (another specialty in Portugal- the vineyards are everywhere here!).  After that it was a nice walk/ taxi ride back to the ship (like 4 miles) and then into bed by midnight. Overall, it was a pretty good day J

 

 

Camel Riding on the Hottest Day Marrakech Has Seen in 50 Years:

Today it is 122 degrees outside in Marrakech. That is the hottest that it has been in Marrakech in the last 50 years. It just so happened that it is also the day that I get to go ride camels. But, before I get to go camel riding it was a stop at the spice bazaar.

This spice bazaar in Marrakech is nothing like the one in Istanbul and reminded me more of an auction. When there is a large group that comes in, like the tour group I am in, they hold an informational session of about 45 minutes that allows everyone to smell all the spices, try all of the cosmetic products, and view all of the henna. Then, the guy in charge goes through each item and asks who wants it and how much. Overall, the entire process takes about 3 hours and you end up with a lot of great spices and way too many random cosmetic products. Overall, it was a pretty fun time smelling all of the different spices and my skin felt great after all of the various creams and ointments that I tried.

Then, I thought it was onto camel riding, but in fact it was onto dune buggying. Apparently the place that we were taking out camel ride through also offers dune buggy adventures. So, I got to drive this very rickety old dune buggy that make screeching sounds when I tried to turn and had no power steering for about a 20 minute ride through the palm groves. When my friend Dawn and I got out of the buggy we were both covered in dust and it looked like we were the tannest people in the world because dust had literally covered every inch of our skin. But, it was very much a good time and I felt like quite the cool race car driver J

Finally lunch time. The restaurant that we were eating at for lunch was a traditional Moroccan style restaurant. There were no chairs only seat cushions, pillows and very low to the ground tables. So, we all sat on the cushions and dug into the delicious food they brought us. Like the other meals that I have had, the vegetarian food was quite lacking. Because I am terrible with identifying meats I will just give a detailed description of the vegetarian food.

The first course was cous cous with cooked carrots. The carrots were absolutely exquisite and the cous cous had mint flavoring in it which made it very refreshing. After that was homemade bread and for dessert there was orange slices with cinnamon and some interesting melon I had never had before.  Then it was onto camel riding! J

I have ridden horses a lot before and they are very fun, but a camel was much better. The saddles that were on top of the camels were so comfortable and I sat cross-legged most of the time on top of my camel looking out at the palm groves. (Margaret- someday we will have to go together.)  The guide that was walking beside the camel train carried a huge water bottle and would go around spraying all of the people in the group to cool them off. In fact, because it was so hot we all wore blue turbans to stay a little cooler. My guide came around once and dumped a bunch of water on my turban and it was all dried up within about 20 minutes (wonderful, wonderful 122 degree heat.) J

Camel riding was pretty much the high point of the day. The evening involved another trip to the square to do some shopping and haggling. One thing that bugged me was that the gender gap in Morocco is very big and the guys in my group could get better deals then I could. But, seeing all of the snake charmers and monkey people again were pretty fun and all of the shops were so colorful (I will put pictures up when I can!!)

 

Goodbye Africa!

Today involved a 3 and a half hour bus ride back to Casablanca, where the ship is docked (thank God for air conditioning!!!)

I wandered around Casablanca for a bit, doing some shopping and looking at all that Casablanca had to offer. Because Casablanca is not primarily a tourist town, there is a lot of industry to see (especially the industry of shipping things across the Mediterranean.) I was very, very tired and so I headed back to the ship around 4 for a 2 hour nap until dinner. Being in the suffocating heat for multiple days really just wiped me out.  In addition, the day after tomorrow is Portugal, so I have to recoup a bit before that new and amazing adventure begins J Exciting!!!

 

Marrakech Day 1

Today was the first full day in Marrakech, Morocco. The day started with a delicious breakfast and then it was on to the first tour of the day: the impoverished neighborhoods. I have to say, I had my eyes open quite wide as I walked down the streets full of water, sewage smells, and so many homeless people I could not believe my eyes. Coupled with that, I felt kind of uncomfortable walking down these narrow, impoverished streets with a group of 29 people and two tour guides. Honestly, I felt like I was in the zoo and that I was intruding onto these people’s way of life. We past this one guy’s establishment where he handmade giant padlocks. I have never seen so many unique and decorated padlocks. I did not get many pictures because no one wanted their picture taken.

Oh! Did I mention it was 119 degrees? 119 DEGREES! AHH! So, the next stop (before anyone passed out from heat exhaustion) was one of the local palaces. It consisted of beautifully decorated tiles that covered the walls, ceilings, and floors and all together gave it a very busy feel. It was very interesting to see because there were tons of nooks and crannies all over the place for who knows what. After the palace we transitioned on to seeing some old grave sites. One of the ones that we saw had ceramic huts to house the dead bodies which I thought was pretty cool.

Then it was onto lunch. One of the challenging things about Morocco thus far is that the amount of food that is vegetarian is limited. Chicken and pork seem to be pretty much endless in this country. But, I managed to have some funny tasting rice, bread, and some cooked carrots for lunch. Lunch lasted about an hour because it was so hot outside that no one wanted to go back into such an intense heat. Did I mention 119 degrees? J

The next place that our lovely guide, Abdule, took us was an indoor Moroccan market (air conditioned.) it was fun to look around and I was endlessly amazed at the amount (and size) of the jewelry. All of the jewelry that I have seen in both Morocco and Turkey has been huge, gaudie, and the locals are never wearing it. This market also had a surplus of wooden boxes and trinkets.

Then it was a look at the outside at one of the local mosques (we could not go inside because I am not Muslim) and onto a look at the Marrakech irrigation system. The water was absolutely disgusting (brown with small minnow-like fish in it) and I could understand why everyone says don’t drink the water in Africa.

I have pretty much detailed this day as it was, there was not much excitement or much very intense to report. I think most of the reason is because the heat was pretty much the most exciting part of the day. By exciting I mean most time consuming because it took so much water and so much rest to not pass out from heat exhaustion.  I still cannot get over how the native Islamic people survive during Ramadan when they cannot eat or drink from 4 am until about 8:30 pm.

But, after 8:30 pm, when the heat goes down a little, and the sun disappears, the entire city of Marrakech comes alive. The shops reopen up, ready for haggling, and the main square becomes alive with storytellers, snake charmers, and people with monkeys. In addition, all of the food vendors set up their tables and serve all different types of local food. The orange juice vendors make the most wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice. J

 

My Waiters

Delphi Photos

Culture Shock (8/1)

I am sitting on my 4^th floor balcony overlooking a beautiful garden full of palm trees and a gorgeous swimming pool. It is about 5 am.

So, where to being? Firstly, let me just say I AM IN AFRICA! Marrakech, Morocco to be specific. Apart from the whole 115 degree heat thing it is perfect. In general, Africa is like nothing I have ever experience. On the four hour drive from Casablanca (where the MV Explorer is docked and a huge shipping magnet) we passed by so many Berber villages. These villages housed some of the poorest people I have ever seen. Many had goats or donkeys and it became not uncommon to see someone trotting down the highway on a donkey or with a donkey pulling a small cart. That in itself was a huge culture shock. Maybe that should be the theme for this post- culture shock.

Let me point out a couple things about Moroccan culture before I proceed much more. Firstly, it is currently Ramadan in the Muslim world which entails no eating or drinking from sunup to sundown. In fact, because Morocco is an Islamist state (culture shock there too) it is in fact illegal for anyone to drink or eat during that period in public. For instance, last night dinner was held at 8:45 pm because that is when the sun went down.  One more culture shock and very interesting thing is that you are not allowed to bring in or leave Moroccan money (dirham.) I have yet to figure out the logic behind this rule- counterfeiting maybe?

One more thing before I continue with the excitements of the day: yesterday was kind of bitter sweet because many of the crew members are leaving for their homes. I mentioned the two waiters that I became fond of both were giddy in the morning for breakfast because they had less had hardly an time left on the ship. One of them even said that he woke up at 4 am and couldn’t get back to sleep because he was so excited to go home (to the Philippines.) It was pretty heartwarming to see J I can’t even imagine what it would like to be on a ship serving people for 9 months long.

Alright, enough reminiscing about those long gone friends (tear) and move onto recounting the travels of August 1^st. Marrakech is about a 4 hour bus ride from Casablanca and is the biggest tourist city in Morocco.  It is the third largest city behind Rabat (2.5 million) and Casablanca (6 million.) One of the things that struck me as interesting and different when I got into Marrakech was the immense amount of brown that I saw. All of the buildings and most of the ground is covered in brown colors. The hotel that I am staying at for the next three days is pretty cool. All of the electricity in the room is activated by inserting the room key into this little slot in the wall and then all of the lights and the AC turns on. Also- we have a fridge (cold water J ) and a very nice balcony.  It is quite the fun place to stay!

Tonight encompassed dinner (a bunch of unique food that I have never tasted before, and gave me a tummy ache.) and then it was onto bed (and of course watching Olympic swimming for a little bit.) I can’t wait to see where tomorrow takes me. 

1 More Day Until Morocco

Tomorrow is Morocco! The only bad part is that Marrakech (where I am going for 4 days) has a weather forecast of 117 degrees Fahrenheit. 117 DEGREES!!! I can’t say I am totally looking forward to such toasty weather. :/ One other bummer about today is that all of the waiters I know on the ship are getting off in Morocco and a new group is coming on. They are all really happy though because they get to go back to the Philippines to see their families J There are these two guys who always wait on my friend Dawn and I (pretty young guys, probably about 23ish- their names are Don and John) and they were so excited today to be finally going home after 9 months aboard the ship. I have to admit, I am craving home a little bit (especially since the floor doesn’t always move when I try to walk on it.) I can’t believe there are less than 3 weeks left on this ship! It all has gone by so fast but every moment has been absolutely wonderful J

 

Bridge Tour (7/29/2012)

Today I got a tour of the bridge (the place where the ship is steered.) It was very anticlimactic to see where the captain steers the ship from because it was this tiny little steering wheel about the size of a golf cart steering wheel. I think in my imaginations I had wished for a giant steering wheel like that seen in pirates of the Caribbean J There were so many cool instruments to look at in the bridge and interestingly enough the crew also tracks everything by hand just in case something were to happen to the electrical equipment. The guy showing us around was about my age and he was a cadet in training which was interesting to see. Overall, today has been a very productive day and I am avidly counting down the days until Morocco. This evening I am sitting out on the back of the boat observing the general splendor that is the ocean at night and listening peacefully to the waves.

 

7/27/2012 - 7/28/2012- more days on the boat...

Today was.. rough… I used the sea sickness patch for the first time and it helped quite a bit so I didn’t throw up. But, having wind that was 30 knots and a boat that is moving 11 knots creates severe rolling and pitching. Today was the first time this entire trip that I used a sea sickness patch (which helps SO much!) In fact, two out of my three classes got canceled because there was only about 50% attendance due to people being sick in their rooms. I think the most challenging part about classes is trying to take them on a moving vessel, and the whole seasickness thing is just not very pleasant. But, the next day (7/28) was much nicer and I got yet another midterm out of the way! Only 2 more midterms and 1 paper to go until Morocco!! J

 

When I Fell in Love with Turkey

Today I actually went into the Hagia Sophia. The other day I didn’t have time to go in, I just walked around, but today I actually got to go in (for the steep price of 25 TL.) All I can say is I am SO glad that I did! It was absolutely gorgeous! The most interesting part was that there were definite influences of both the Catholic and Islamic faiths. Built in the 6^th century A.D. by Jusiniaus I it was originally a Catholic church. This is because the empire at the time was Catholic, but during the Ottoman takeover (an Islamic empire) the building was converted into a mosque. Interestingly enough, 2 centuries later the Blue Mosque was made in the effort to create a “perfect” Hagia Sophia. This was because when the Hagia Sophia was first created, the dome in the top was the biggest of the time in addition to being a perfect circle. As the building aged, the circle morphed into an oval shape, thus creating an “imperfect dome” and the Ottoman emperor felt the need for a perfect mosque.

In 1935 the Hagia Sophia was turned from an active mosque into a museum. This made it more of a tourist attraction and created greater revenue for the government. For instance: the Blue Mosque does not charge an entrance fee because it is an active mosque and people go there to pray. Since the Hagia Sophia is not active anymore, there is no need to keep it readily accessible for believers and therefore they can charge an entrance fee.

The architecture in the Hagia Sophia was absolutely gorgeous. There is Arabic calligraphy all over the walls along with some ancient mosaics from the 6^th century when it was first created. I think what amazed me the most was the excessive use of gold in the church. There was literally gold everywhere- on the ceiling, walls, in the dome, and even in the arches. The balcony of the church offered an incredible view over the bay.

After the Hagia Sophia, I waited for my friends while sitting in a local park and people watching. When my friends got there we went to a café to get something to drink. The guy standing outside the café told us he would give us a discount and we were both sweating profusely so we decided to go in. the café offered a great view of the street and there were tons of little kitty cats everywhere that were amusing to watch. I ordered a lemonade and out came a huge glass of freshly made lemonade with some small green apples on the side with mint and lime to flavor it. It was absolutely delicious and when it came time for the check he charged us about 30% of the actual price and gave us his business card. I can honestly say that has never happened to me before.

Then it was time to meander through the streets of Istanbul for awhile. We ran into a couple nice shop keepers including one that gave us yummy apple cider with lemon. He was trying to sell me a scarf and when he started to wrap it around my head he accidentally punched me in the eye (owie!) I think it might give me a bruise tomorrow. One of the other shop keepers that we ran into had the most adorable cat in the world. It had two different colored eyes (considered good luck in Turkey) and was pure white. In addition it was about 3 months old which meant it was in that absolutely adorable stage (and very fluffy too- Margaret- I thought of you J )

After some more walking we stopped back in at the Spice Bazaar for a last minute pick up of some dried fruit (to use as snacks for the next 6 days on the ship) and to say by to the spice shop worker that I had made friends with. He gave us some good pomegranate tea (so of course I had to get some to have on the ship also. J )  He was a really nice guy- meaning he had a very good balance between charming, good businessman, and not too pushy. A lot of the other shop owners are very much in your face and it gets tiring after awhile. But, he made us promise that if (when) I come back to Istanbul I would stop by his shop and he can show me around the city. So, that is something to look forward to in the future J

So, overall a recap of Turkey: I will come back to Istanbul someday. Out of all the wonderful places that I have been on this voyage so far, Istanbul is hands down my favorite. There is no comparison. The people are wonderfully nice, the city is remarkably clean, there is a ton of history, and the beauty surrounds the entire city. In general, I fell in love with Turkey and will be saving up to come back someday J

 

Terrace Dinner

This morning contained a smattering of mosques. I went again to the blue mosque (totally better the second time,) this time with a tour group, so I learned a lot of interesting things about the architecture. For instance, the majority of the fine detailing is actually paint directly on the wall- all the way around the walls and the ceiling. It is crazy to think that, like Michelangelo, the artist had to lay on his back in the 17^th century painting with the paint dripping onto his face.

The second mosque that I visited was one on the tip of the golden horn. In the back there was a cemetery that had gorgeous tombstones with Arabic writing. My favorite part of all the mosques I have seen is the gorgeous calligraphy that wraps around all of the columns in the mosques. Normally it is gold Arabic calligraphy detailing Muhammad, his sons and grandsons, and the four caliphs. To me though, not being able to read Arabic, it just looks like a gorgeous, shiny, picture J

After that, the friends I was with went to the Turkish bath and I amused myself with the English newspaper I found while sipping tea at the café outside of the Turkish bath. It was ridiculously relaxing and kind of weird to hear about what is going on back home knowing that I am half a world away.

Then, it was back to the Grand Bazaar for the last time to do a bit more of browsing and dickering. Even though I have been to the Grand and Spice Bazaar multiple times, I still didn’t retrace any of my steps. The overload of colors, beautiful shiny objects, beautiful tea sets, scarves, and the excess of leather was still overly stimulating to my senses.

After the Grand Bazaar it was definitely time for dinner. Well, we came across this restaurant that had decent prices and when the guy showed us to our table we went up 4 stories to the rooftop terrace for dinner. The view was wonderful! To one side there was the bay with all of the cargo ships and fishing boats floating in the water. On the other side was a gorgeous panoramic view of the Blue Mosque. It was incredibly beautiful especially since the sun was setting at that time and the light created the most picturesque views of the mosque. In addition, it is Ramadan right now which means that Muslims do not eat or drink from sun up to sundown. This means that from about 4 am to 8:30 pm they cannot consume any food or drink at all. But, once sundown hits the streets become alive- especially at the Hippodrome.

The hippodrome was the ancient site of chariot racing but today is just a long street that during Ramadan hosts a bazaar. Shops everywhere, cotton candy, popcorn, curros, and pretty much any other type of Turkish food you can imagine. Once the sun went down the streets were crazy! Everyone was eating (I literally don’t think I saw anyone who did not have some sort of food or drink in their hand) and everyone was so happy (and lots of little kids running around.) My friends and I walked around for a bit just taking in the general splendor, letting all of the happiness around me rub off on me and putting me in an excellent mood.

On the way walking back to the ship (around 10:30 pm) this shoe polisher who was walking in front of me dropped one of his brushes. I picked it up and ran up to him and told him he dropped it. He thanked us profusely and then literally pulled my friend Ian to the side and started polishing his shoes saying something to the effect of “for free”. He then cleaned each of our shoes, which was weird because I had sandals on, so it was like cleaning my feet. Then, as we went to leave he started asking us for money. Since he had said it was for free we were all under the impression that we didn’t have to pay and I only had a 50 TL and I wasn’t about to give him that. He then got pretty frustrated, picked up his things and walked away. It was kind of an odd encounter in general.

 

Synagogues of Turkey

This morning started out with a tour detailing the various Jewish Synagogues in Istanbul. There are three synagogues total and they have the highest security of any religious building I have ever seen. Firstly, I needed my passport to get in and the tour guide had to send in a list of all the people who were going and everyone had a background check run on them. Once we got to the first synagogue all bags were checked and everyone had to show their passport and be cleared. This tight security was set up in 2004 after Al-Qaida bombed the synagogue and killed 23 people. The synagogue itself was pretty cool to look at. It was much smaller and less elaborate than any of the big Catholic or Islamic religious places I had seen.

Today I saw two different synagogues with very different styles. The first one was a very orthodox synagogue meaning that it was very traditional. For instance, when the men say their prayers (twice a day) they wrap prayer bands around their right arm, have prayer boxes on their left hands, and wearing traditional headdresses (a constant reminder to pray.) There is also gender segregation in this synagogue. The women have a specific spot they have to sit (on the second balcony) whereas the men get to sit on the ground floor. The second synagogue that I saw had a bit of gender separation too but was slightly less orthodox. The women sat in the back of the synagogue whereas the men got to sit in the front closest to the Torah and the Rabbi who is reading the prayers. Overall, it was very interesting to learn about the Jewish culture, especially since they have managed to keep their culture alive even though they had been persecuted for so long. 

Then it was time for some lunch. By lunch I mean delicious Turkish Pizza. It was incredible pizza because there was no sauce on it and the bread was more a pita bread then dough. The young man that was waiting on the table I was at couldn’t have been more than 16 years old which was pretty interesting to see.

Topkapi Palace was the next place I went to see today. It was… breathtaking! I don’t really have many pictures because in all of the rooms there were security men to make sure that no one took pictures. Some of the pies of art that were on display were insane. For instance, there was this diamond necklace (a very large diamond necklace) that was 86 carrots! There was also old coaches, many swords (including Sulliman the Magnificent and Selim the Grim,) and gorgeous clothing from the ancient eras. Quite frankly, the amount of wealth that was contained in this palace was quite breath taking.

One of the other most breath taking thing about the Palace was the views. There were multiple balconies that had wonderful views across the bay and to the Asia side of Turkey. There were many boats in the bay and the entire setting was so picturesque that I sat and stared out at the water for awhile just taking in the beauty.

I stopped by the Grand Bazaar on the way home to get a bag. (I need a bag because I have gotten so many souvenirs that I don’t have enough room in my suitcase to bring it all home J ) I got this really pretty bag, made in Turkey, and is a small overnight bag. Also, the man who sold it to me was very nice and he had both of his teenage boys working in his shop; family businesses are always fun to see.

I was looking at this one guy’s shop and saw a pair of pretty cool hippy-like pants and when I asked him how much they were he said 65 TL. I told him that was way too much but thank you and went to leave. As I was leading he kept knocking the price down and asked me what my maximum price was. I told him 25 TL (I thought that it was so low he would never take it) and it took him about 1 minute of following me before he said “fine 25 TL.” So, now I have these really odd looking pants (I swear mom, they are the only non neutral clothing items I have gotten on this trip J )

Then, it was back to the ship for an early evening because I am absolutely exhausted.

 

Soaking and Spices :)

This morning as an early start (about 7 am) to get to the Turkish bath for an early soak. I had heard so many good things about the Turkish bath and so with eager anticipation, we took the tram to the local one and started the adventure. Here is how the Turkish bath adventure went:

1.       Undress and put on these bikini bottoms (half a swimsuit maybe?) and cover up with a towel

2.       Then into the bath. There are two baths to choose from. One is a larger marble bath about 5 feet deep and filled with moderately warm water. The second one is a much warmer Jacuzzi that is about 4 feet deep. it was so relaxing with the warm air all around (the entire bath is basically a giant sauna) and the warm water soaking all the dirt and stress away.

3.       Time for the body scrub and body wash by the attendants. The people I had talked to who had attended Turkish baths said that a body scrub was a must. The lady who was doing my scrub took off so much dead skin that I didn’t even know I had (it sounds disgusting, but after I felt the cleanest that I had ever felt.) It was then a body wash and she washed my house in some really yummy smelling apple shampoo.

4.       After the scrub it was back into the bath for another soak. I got super sleepy and so relaxed when I was sitting there.

5.       When it became too hot to stay in the water we went and laid on this warm marble slab for awhile. The marble slab was in a circular shape with small nooks all around the walls with basins to wash your hair in if you should so please.

6.       After laying for awhile I went out and lay in a much cooler room. Then it was back to normal clothing and out into the fresh air to try and wake up a bit.

7.       Overall, this was one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had AND if I ever go back to Turkey I am definitely going back to this wonderful Turkish bath J

Waking up from the relaxing Turkish bath was much harder than I expected. So, the whole day was kind of a slow moving day (also because it was ridiculously hot- well not compared to Croatia, but 90 is still pretty toasty.) But, the first stop on the itinerary still had to be met and so we proceeded onto the Blue Mosque. It is actually called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Sultan who ordered it built) but is called the Blue Mosque because of the unique blue tiles that line the walls. The ceilings are super high and there are 4 giant pillars that hold up the entire mosque. It is quite the site to behold and has a very calming presence on the inside. Like all mosques, shoes have to be taken off when entering the mosque and this means that the mosque tends to kind of smell like feet.

One thing that takes a little bit to get used to is the call to prayer five times a day for the Muslim population. When the call to prayer happens, Muslims turn towards Mecca and the prayer lasts from 30-45 minutes. In addition to the call to prayer, Ramadan started on the 20^th and so the Muslim population is fasting during the day. Surprisingly, no one is really grumpy- Turkish people are the nicest people I have met thus far.

Today I also saw the Hagia Sophia. It was originally created by Justinianus I in the Byzantine Empire as a massive Catholic church. In, it was the building of this church that caused a lot of the bankruptcy in the Byzantine Empire at the time. Then, awhile later, when the Islamic people invaded, the church was turned into a mosque. After that, it was turned solely into a museum and a pretty cool site to see.

The coolest place that I saw today (other than the entire Turkish Bath experience) is called the Basilica Cistern. It is an underground water storage system that was created in the 6^th century (and required the use of 7,000 slaves to create the structure) during the Byzantine Empire ruling period. There are massive columns that hold up this giant underground well that were harvested from all over the empire from cities that had been conquered. In addition, there are two very large Medusa heads on a couple of the columns that are incredibly intricately carved. For a period of time, the cistern fell into a state of disorder and it became very unclean the water non-potable. But, it was quickly repaired and has been functioning and providing water to the Topkapi Palace since the fall of the Ottomans in 1453. One of the cool things is that there are tons of coy fish in the cistern that swim happily around cleaning the water.

After we got out of the cistern we went to this weird local restaurant nearby. I had this super weird egg and feta cheese dish fried up- basically a feta omelet. The best part of the meal, however, was fresh squeezed orange juice. For some reason, around Istanbul, there is a ton of fresh squeezed orange juice. You can actually see them squeeze the orange juice freshly on the counter right next to your table (pretty cool, and super delicious.)

Another stop on the itinerary for today was the Islamic Art Museum. The museum consisted mostly of carpets and elaborately decorated dinnerware. The reason that Islamic art consists mostly of patterns and there is a noticeable lack of humans is due to the traditional culture in the Ottoman empire. Painting people was like “creating people” which the Ottoman’s believed was a job that belong only to Allah. This means that it was disrespectful and improper to paint people and therefore the artists turned to carpet making and patterned painting.

The museum had an art exhibition in one of the side rooms that was absolutely gorgeous. The exhibit was called “The Five Senses.” It played on people’s 5 senses meaning that there was perfume in the air for smell, chocolate treats for taste, beautiful paintings for sight, and all of the paintings were able to be touched. In fact, there was a lot of brail on the paintings and all of the writing on the walls describing the paintings was in brail. I talked to the gentleman from the art gallery after who was displaying the paintings and he said that it was supposed to be an exhibit that allows everyone to enjoy it, even those who cannot see the paintings. It was pretty cool to see and the paintings themselves were absolutely beautiful. Then, since it was super toasty, my friend and I headed to a local coffee shop. We got some yummy, traditional Turkish tea and sat for a bit resting our legs.

We ended up getting into a conversation with the owner of the shop and he pulled out a map to show us a couple cool places to go. Then, it turned out that the lady who had drawn all of the illustrations on the map was in the café and so we got her to sign each of our copies. After chatting with her for a bit, we headed off to wander to the Spice Bazaar. On the way we walked through the hippodrome and came across this mosque in a residential area. We stepped inside and it was like stepping into a Zen forest. It was absolutely beautiful to look around and just take in the wonderful beauty that was contained in the trees.

After wandering around in the mosques and the backstreets, I headed to the Spice Bazaar to pick up tea and a few other spices. My friend and I met this really nice guy running one of the spice shops and we had apple tea with him while we tasted all of the dried fruits that he had in his shop. My favorite was definitely the strawberries and kiwis. Also, he let us try some of the honeycomb- so so wonderful! I had never had anything that sweet and delicious. After purchasing the goods (and some others that seemed to be particularly intriguing) we headed off to find the place we were meeting a group for dinner.

The interesting thing about dinner this evening was that at this restaurant I didn’t order anything because they only offered one item. The item on the menu was a mix of traditional Turkish food. This meant that for the vegetarians there was macaroni salad with a yogurt base instead of a mayonnaise one, spinach in lemon juice, yummy rice with lots of spices, and a couple other vegetable dishes that I couldn’t really distinguish.

Dessert for the evening involved going to this dessert shop about 20 minutes up the road. In the spirit of traditional Turkish food I had some rice pudding with bananas, dried dates, and chopped up peanuts on top. It was pretty good, but overall I am not a huge fan of the texture of rice pudding. For rice pudding though, it was exquisite J

After dessert at the local café it was time to head back to the ship. On the way back my two friends and I noticed that there were two slightly creepy men walking an identical pace with us on the right side. I was a bit nervous so I sped up without saying anything. They sped up too. Then I tried slowing down, whispering to my friends to just be on the lookout. Well, one of the girls with us started laughing (I wish it was funny, I just thought it was scary) and that made the men’s heads turn anymore. Getting to the point where I was actually worried, we stopped off in a ice cream shop to “look at the flavors.” We milled around in there for a good 5-7 minutes and then stepped back outside. The men were still there. Waiting in the middle of the street. The only thing left to do was just continue to walk back (obviously in the most lighted area possible with the most people around.) I set off with a very fast pace and after about 10 minutes they couldn’t keep up with us anymore or didn’t want to and we finally shook them. Needless to say, the end of the evening was way too eventful. Now bed.

 

Istanbul- Only the Beginning

Istanbul is wonderful. There are the friendliest people I have ever met, some of the best and tastiest food, (dad get ready for some of the spices I am going to bring samples of home J ) and overall a very pleasant town to roam around in. Today after the diplomatic briefing on the ship in the morning I headed out to see what Istanbul is all about. The Grand Bazaar was the first place that I stopped into. By “stop into” I mean wander through the over 4,000 shops. It is literally the biggest mall in the world and is very overwhelming for the shopper.  There were scarves of every color, more carpets and rugs then I have ever seen, antiques, silver, purses, bags, apparel, and so many random things that I would wasn’t expecting to see.

One of the best parts about the shopping atmosphere in Istanbul is the shop keepers. Many of them are all about getting to know the customers before they start to sell things. For instance- we entered this one guy’s carpet shop and he invited us in, gave us all traditional Turkish apple tea, and we chatted for about 30 minutes. Then, we moseyed around his shop, I figured out just how expensive carpets really are, and then we left. It was a fun experience and I have begun collecting business cards because that is the big thing for shop keepers to give out to talkative customers.

The Turkish men are (if it is possible) even more blatantly flirtatious in public then Italian men. Often times, many of the Turkish shop owners will say lines like “hi beautiful, come look at my shop,” or “hey darling want to have a look,” or the one I seemed to get a lot today (about 7 times) “hi baby face come look in my shop.” I still have yet to fully figure out what they all meant by “baby face.”

Anyway, the highlights of today were numerous. I think Turkey is my favorite country I have been to thus far and so I have to gush for awhile. Firstly, the Grand Bazaar (as I have mentioned above) is overwhelming. One of the shops that I stopped into was full of scarves and the guy there taught me 3 different ways to tie the scarves. There were the most colorful, shiny, and intricate scarves I have ever seen there. I am pretty sure I could have just looked at them for days and been content.

It was amazingly fun and I think to fully look through the entire Bazaar I would need about a month. But, after a couple hours, it was time to find lunch. We ventured out of the Grand Bazaar and met this very nice old Turkish man who made it his business to find us a restaurant to eat at. He walked us down this sketchy alleyway to this local restaurant where we sat down and decided to give it a try. Turkish food has incredible flavor. All of my taste buds were very stimulated during the meal. Interestingly, when one orders meals at a traditional Turkish restaurant it comes with free bread, salad, cabbage and onion mix, and tea at the end. (yummy yummy Turkish tea!!) Overall, my favorite part of the meal was the use of yogurt. There was literally yogurt with everything- on kabobs, vegetables, and bread.

The kabob that I got was this eggplant kabob with grilled tomatoes on the side. I don’t know what spices were used or how it was grilled, but I have never had eggplant that I enjoyed eating this much. Oh! And the tomatoes were to die for! I was so unbelievably full after that meal!

 

Then, once lunch was over, the nice old man who brought us to the restaurant came back and insisted that we look at his leather shop. He had a beautiful shop but none of us were really interested in spending 1000 Lira on a jacket (about $500.) So, we had some Turkish tea, chatted about his sons, his business, and the shape of Turkey’s government. After that he took us to his cousin’s carpet shop where we got an exciting display of all the gorgeous carpets (and yes, they run about 5000Lira for the smallish ones. – AHH) But, the owner was really nice, gave me his business card, and asked me to go out with him that night (Dad you will be happy to know I declined going out with the random Turkish fellow) and then we left the shop.

Next stop: Spice Bazaar. Overall, the Grand Bazaar was visually stimulating and the Spice Bazaar was stimulating to my nose. There were so many smells of spices, Turkish delight, tea, figs, apricots, and so many more things I can’t even remember to list. It was a wonderful time wandering around, tasting all of the samples of the various goodies and buying some spices to take back home (Kevin- cumin.)

After a quick stop back at the ship it was time to hit the town for dinner. There were 6 of us in the group and therefore there were too many of us to fit in a single cab. My friend Caitlyn and I volunteered to walk to the hotel we were meeting my friend’s mom at (I know right, I have serious mommy jealousy!) and we proceeded up the busy street full of shops and people. It was supposed to be about a 25 minute walk and 40 minutes later we end up at the hotel that we think is where Dawn’s mom is staying at. Well, it turns out there are three hotels with the same name in different locations and we happened to be at the wrong one. The next 40 minutes was a series of disasters. Pretty much everyone we asked for directions pointed us in a different direction and some of them didn’t even think that the hotel existed. I was getting to the point of being slightly nervous about being lost when we ended up in this series of alleyways with no cars, lots of sketchy people, a ton of cats, and no English being spoken anywhere. On the verge of desperation I stopped to ask these 4 elderly gentlemen all sitting a circle and chatting. Only it turns out that they speak no English at all and I tried to communicate in my flustered English and 2 words of Turkish that I don’t speak their language and just need directions. One of the men stands up and motions for Caitlyn and I to follow him and so we gingerly follow him. For 20 minutes he leads us up and down alleyways and finally we get to the hotel. This man literally made my day. It was so nice of him to go 20 minutes out of his way (each way) to help two tourists find their way.

So, finally at the hotel (about an hour and a half after we were supposed to be there) we ventured out for dinner. Dinner was exquisite. I had potato ravioli with hummus and yogurt (again with the delicious yogurt.) after that I had some Turkish tea and a little baklava to top off the evening. Then, (since I understand the city so well now) I walked back, looking in all of the little shops (the shops stay open until about 11:30 pm) and finally got back to the ship. Shower. Blog. Bed. Tomorrow= more Turkish fun! Thanks for reading J

 

Kerameikos and Olympian Zeus

Today was the last day in Greece. Yet again I ventured off to Athens (it is about a 20 minute metro ride and let me tell you, I am becoming awesome at navigating the metro system J ) The first stop today was Kerameikos. Kerameikos is divided into two parts. The inner part is known as the potter’s quarter which is essentially the main part of the city where the public buildings, temples, and bath houses were. But, what Kerameikos is most famously known for is the outer part that encompasses the ancient cemetery and the public graves. There is still excavation going on in this site and I got to see the people working with those cool archeological tools, chiseling out some of the stone. J It was amazing to see how old the ruins were and that I could walk down the streets of inner Kerameikos and imagine that I was back in the ancient town. In fact, the road that visitors now walk on today used to be a little river that ran through the town and acted as a sewage drainage system (it must have smelled pretty darn icky!)

Then, after grabbing a coffee at a local café it was onto historical site two of the day: Olympian Temple of Zeus. This ancient temple is in downtown Athens and has columns that seem to tower above everything. It was quite the incredible view from the exit of the metro. A lot of the temple has been destroyed during the Christian takeover (the same time when Delphi was destroyed) but about a dozen of the towering columns still stand.

After Zeus’ temple it was lunch time. Lunch today was not the best, I got a Greek salad and it was good, just not super wonderfully excellent like every other meal I have had in this country. But after we stopped for a croissant (with chocolate inside,) so that made the experience much better.

Back to the metro, 20 minutes back to Piraeus, and a walk through the graffiti ridden walls back to the ship. Tomorrow there are classes and the next day it’s Turkey!!

 

Delphi

If I were going to build a temple for my god I would definitely build it at Delphi. About 190 km away from Piraeus, it is the most picturesque place with the best views and an incredibly peaceful presence. An ancient spiritual site built into the side of Mount Parnassus is where the ancient Greeks had their most famous oracle- The Oracle of Delphi.

On the way to Delphi I passed by the city of Thebes. (Margaret- think Hercules.) Thebes gets all its recognition from the ancient mythology that takes place in its walls. The stories of Oedipus revolve around the city of Thebes where he answers the riddle of the sphinx and thus frees the Thebans from the terrible monster. He then becomes king and eventually fulfills the prophecy told by the oracle at Delphi that he would murder his dad and marry his mother. It is an awfully tragic story and does not have a happy ending (he goes into exile) but is what gives Thebes its recognition.

Once I got to the Oracle at Delphi I was amazed by the beauty of the natural topography. It is literally built into the side of Mount Parnassus. The legend goes that Zeus threw a rock and it landed at Delphi which meant that that was the perfect spot to build a temple. Another legend says that Apollo, who originally came in the shape of a dolphin, carried the Cretan priests all the way to Delphi on his back and instructed them to make a temple. Regardless of which legend is more accurate, a temple for Apollo was constructed at Delphi and people from all over came to make sacrifices and ask advice from the Oracle. Often times the priestess at the Oracle were young women (symbolic because Apollo is the caretaker of youth) known as Pythia. She would sit on a tripod and relay the people’s questions to Apollo who would then, in turn, relay the answers back through Pythia to the awaiting worshiper. This all changed when one of the young priestesses ran away with a one of the priests and then, old women became the acting oracles, but dressed up as youthful girls to keep the symbolism alive.

Along with the temple, the ancient people of Delphi had constructed a theater. Originally built in the 4^th century B.C. it can seat about 5,000 people. The theater is still in use currently, although there is talk of shutting it down for two reasons. 1. The rocks, over the years, have become very slippery and women in high heels have been known to fall and hurt themselves in the slippery rocks. 2. The cleaners of the theater get about 24 kg of gum every year from people sticking their gum under the seats and it is very hard to remove.

Overall, there is not much left from the ancient oracle site because when the Christian regime took over Greece the emperor ordered the site to be destroyed. It was pretty cool to look at the ancient ruins still there and compare them to pictures depicting the glories of the past.

After wandering around the ancient site of Delphi, I headed to the museum of Delphi. This is where all of the remains that were removed during the excavation are held. It was pretty cool to see the statues, pottery, gold head dresses, and jewelry that were all dedicated to Apollo in the glory of the temple. Then it was onto lunch time (which was really good because it was already 2 o’clock pm.)

Lunch was held at a traditional Greek restaurant. There were 6 courses, so get ready to be really hungry after reading this. J

Dish 1: Spanikopita. I should classify, really good spanikopita. Not like the icky stuff you buy frozen in the grocery store and throw into the oven. The really good homemade stuff that the Greeks make and taste super yummy.

Dish 2: cheese ball- fried. It sounds pretty gross, but it was a combo of cheese and spinach deep fat friend into a ball. It is all with tizikie sauce (super super yummy!!)

Dish 3: Mozzarella cheese stick- like the deep fat fried ones with deliciously fresh mozzarella cheese in the inside.

Dish 4: Salad- of course it was a Greek salad. This means tomatoes, green peppers, olives, olive oil dressing, and a big hunk of feta cheese on the top.

Dish 5: Spaghetti- with some really good homemade tomato sauce

Dish 6: Baklava- enough said.

It was delicious.

Then it was onto the last stop of the day- an ancient Orthodox monastery (11^th century.) Since I wasn’t told I would be going one I wasn’t dressed appropriately (I had shorts on that did not cover my knees) and so I had to borrow a skirt from the monastery. It basically was a gross olive green bag, but a small price to pay to be able to see the incredible mosaics that were in this monastery. There was so much gold that the entire monastery seemed to be alit with a glow from the walls. It was absolutely gorgeous.

After that, I headed home and then went out to skype with the family (so much fun!! Thanks mom, dad, and Kevin!!) Then it was to bed and tomorrow I think I will go back to Athens for a bit.

 

Heavy Metal, Water, and Coughing All in the Same "Dance"

I am excited to report that today it was only about 98 degrees! In addition to the significantly cooler weather, there was a very nice wind that blew the entire day. With this refreshingly cool wind blowing, I set out walking through the city of Piraeus to the metro station. On the way, I stopped in at a fish market to view all of the local fish (and octopus, shrimp, mussels, clams, and so much more.) It was kind of disgusting when I saw the skinned lamb hanging upside down with its head still on and blood dripping. Then, when the butcher came over and asked if I wanted a picture with him (I had my camera out because I was taking pictures of the fish for my marine biology class) I think I cringed visibly. Anyway, I made it through the smelly fish/meat market unscathed and ended up at the metro. Then it was onto Athens!

The first stop in Athens today was the Acropolis. Just a little history on the Acropolis: Acropolis literally means “city on the extremity.” The Acropolis in Athens contains many buildings including they very historic Parthenon. In my history classes back in the states I have learned about how the Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena (who the city Athens was named after), how it was created in 447 B.C., and is regarded as the enduring symbol of Ancient Greece.  In addition, I have seen many pictures of the Parthenon and they looked incredible. But, in real life, the Parthenon is immense and breathtaking to behold. Its sheer size is just incredible and the columns seem to tower over everything and appear to reach all the way to the size.
(I will have to put pictures up the next time I have internet!)

One of the best parts about the Parthenon was that even though the sun was bearing down upon all those viewing this historic site, the winds were so strong that it was quite a pleasant temperature on the top. I stayed up there for awhile, looking out over all of Greece and simply observing the wonders of the Parthenon.

 

After the Parthenon I ventured to Ancient Agora. Agora was an ancient city that had private housing until the 6^th century B.C. until the emperor at the time reorganized everything. From Ancient Agora I could see the temples of Zeus and Hephaestus. All of the temples are huge and very incredible to look at. After wandering through Agora, my friend and I ventured into downtown Athens into the shops and flea market and then to a very yummy restaurant where we had some excellent Greek salad. The next stop was the metro station which happened to be by Parliament so we got to see that too J Once we got into the metro we realized that one of the lines (conveniently the one that we needed to take back to Piraeus) was closed until 4 pm because they were on strike. It’s hard to get used to the fact that anything could be closed because of strikes and riots, but that is how Athens is right now.

Back to the ship and time for a shower and to do laundry in my sink!!

The night was… interesting to say the least. I went on a Semester at Sea sponsored field trip called the “Athens Theater Festival.” When I signed up for the field trip, I was under the impression that it was going to be a Grecian play at an outdoor theater. Well, needless to say, plans chanced apparently when I found myself in an old warehouse with a modern dance show going on in front of me.

I love trying new things and experiencing new experiences and sometimes there are experiences that I don’t really get and this was one of them. Here are a couple of highlights of the experience:

1.       The first 15 minutes of the 45 minute play involved the 3 dancers (that was all there was in the entire dance) standing and walking forward, backwards, and sideways in complete and total silence.

2.       The next 15 minutes involved each dancer taking the “spot light” to different “music.” Music is in quotations because the first dancer danced to this punk metal music that someone would listen to if they were in a terrible mood and needed a really hard work out to cheer themselves up. The man who was dancing to this music carried a box out the entire time (it reminded me so much of Scrooge’s Christmas Carol when Marley comes in caring a box of chains.) The second dancer danced to this “music” that had very odd trickling water sounds happening the entire time. She was holding a giant wooden spoon. The third dancer held a large oval and danced to the sound of coughing. I kid you not there was a good 5 full minutes of different men/women/children all coughing and she had this dance routine (most of it walking) that she preformed.

3.       The third segment of this piece was quite possibly the most ridiculous. The two female artists ran in place (like when you’re at soccer camp and you coach makes you do “happy feet” and then hit the ground, except without the hitting the ground part) while the male who was in the show laid on the ground kicking his feet.  I think that he was poorly pretending to swim (his mouth was in an “O” shape the entire time and his arms were slowly moving.) 15 minutes of fake swimming and running in place.

4.       The end.

After the “dance” I went home. I think overall I found it vastly amusing because of how ridiculous it was. This is not a critique on the artist’ dancing abilities, just on how much I was not expecting what the night led to offer. But, overall, the day was quite fun and I had a great time writing this blog. J

 

Heat Advisory, West Nile, and Food Coma All in the Same Day!

Today was hot. Just plain and simply scorching hot. By “hot” I mean roughly 107.66 degrees Fahrenheit was the estimated high for today in Athens Greece. So, by my rainy Oregon standards it was unbelievable. But, regardless of the incredible heat, I ventured out into downtown Athens regardless. Athens is a city wrought with graffiti and political unrest (one of the give aways were the policemen with crowd control shields on numerous street corners.) The first stop on the Athens itinerary was to slowly saunter (due to the extreme heat) to a local restaurant to get some hearty home cooked traditional Athenian food. The restaurant had all of the choices of food laid out in the display case to point and grunt at in the very few Greek words I know. (Interestingly enough in Greek “ni” means yes and “ohi” means no. It gets very confusing because it is directly opposite then how it works in the states.) But, regardless of my poor Greek the owner gave me exceptional food. I had the most delicious artichokes cooked with shelling peas and golden potatoes. They were the biggest artichoke hearts ever J

After the yummy lunch we ventured onto the National Archeological Museum. Because it is Monday, many of the main attractions in Athens are closed. In fact, due to the high temperatures, the Acropolis closed around 10 am when the heat began to get so extreme. But, the National Archeological Museum opened at 1:30 for those tourists seeking minimal air conditioning. I ended up spending about four and a half hours at this museum due to its vast size and the amount of history that it contained. Essentially, all of the Greek mythology and literature that I have learned about and studied in school came alive in these original painting, vases, and sculptures from 600 B.C. I don’t really know how to fully express the wonders and the amount of aw I was in as I wandered the halls of the museum. Statues of Zues, Athena, Poseidon, and Hades all lined the walls: made out of marble, bronze and even some with plated gold. I could not get over the splendor that was contained in the museum. Eventually, when I get internet I will put some pictures up although I have to admit, I was too awestruck in most of it to even take pictures. J

After such an expansive time at the museum, it was time to find dinner. We took the metro to another part of the city in search of this legendarily supreme restaurant we had heard rumored. After asking many locals for directions (the streets are labeled really oddly and are on the side of the buildings, not to mention they are all in the Greecian alphabet which I can not read very well) we ended up at this cute little pastry shop on the side of the road. All these homemade pastries and ice cream dishes were modeled in lighted display cases. So, of course I had to indulge in an ice cream bar just to see how it was and let me tell you. It was incredible. J Then it was on to the real restaurant. Outside of the restaurant there was a cute little park with lots of dogs running around (apparently in Greece the government provides food and water for the stray dogs which means there are numerous amounts of strays in the streets.) We wandered in the park for a bit until the mosquitoes started to get really bad. Today the Greece government issued a warning for West Nile Virus. There have been quite a few outbreaks in Athens and they are expecting more to pop up soon. So, even with the immense amount of DEET that I put on I didn’t want to be out when the mosquitoes were getting particularly summer. Then, it was dinner.

Dinner was… awesome. I feel like a theme of my blog is “this food was awesome” “this food was incredible” “this food was the best I’ve ever had” … but seriously. It was. I had a Greek salad that consisted of sweet onions, a huge chunk of feta cheese, fresh tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, delicious olives, and a light dusting of olive oil vinegar. That along with a local beer and the free desserts (some yummy desert bread with a dusting of powdered sugar on top) pretty much sent me into a food coma and I was ready for the hour trek home. All in all, it was a really pleasant and relaxed day! Tomorrow (barring any more heat advisories) is the Acropolis!

 

Anticipation for Greece

The past two days have been spent trying to get back into the swing of taking classes. There are two days in between Dubrovnik, Croatia and Piraeus, Greece and those two days have been chalked full of class responsibilities. I have to say, I am ready to be in port again! The boat has been going about 9 knots per hour (when we are in the Atlantic it goes about 23 knots) which is very slow and therefore not much rocking, which is nice. But, for now I am content to slowly travel on to Greece. That is about all I have to say for now, happy reading and I will be gushing about Greece soon! J

 

Siege, Gelato, and Tea

Today is the last day in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik. The first destination on my itinerary is the old city walls.  The wall around Dubrovnik was mostly constructed between 1100 and 1600 A.D., and runs around most of the old city stretching almost 2000 meters.  For almost a thousand years the walls stood as a defense against invaders and were not breached until 1806 when Napoleon's armies were invited in. Today the wall is a tourist attraction that offers a gorgeous view of the city surrounding it.

Part of the reason that Dubrovnik is such a picturesque city is due to the fact that all of the house’s roofs look the same. They are all orange clay tiles that are pristinely clean. The effect of the similar looking roof is quite beautiful from the top of the walls. It makes the city very colorful and more like a fairy tale than ever.  Walking around the walls was incredibly hot. By hot I mean insanely sweltering. I literally had sweat dripping in beads down my face. It looked like I took a shower.  All in all, by the time I arrived down from the walls I was very much ready for the well deserved gelato that awaited me (Margaret- it was mint chocolate chip, I took a picture just for you ;) )

After sitting in the shade and eating my gelato quickly before it completely melted I ventured off to walk around the city for the last time. I encountered some very nice people selling hand made goods and the local markets are all about letting you try samples of the food so I didn’t really need lunch after that. Then I headed to the grocery store where I got some very yummy blood orange tea (all they have on the ship is Lipton, which gets old pretty quickly.) I hit up an internet café for a bit after that to do some updating on my blog and get some early dinner before it was back to the ship for the evening and on to Greece in just a couple of days!!

Montenegro- the Highlights

Disclaimer: this post is not for the faint of heart due to the length. But, it is only because of the super amazing time that I had on my two day trip to Montenegro.

The day started out with a beautiful drive through the mountains of Croatia to pass through customs (of which I got a stamp in my passport!!) and into the small country of Montenegro. The most amazing thing about Montenegro was the wonderful views. There was literally no bad view from anywhere in the cities or in the mountains. I can honestly say I have never in my life seen anything as beautiful as this country.

The first stop on the itinerary was the city of Kotor. It was the old capital of Montenegro and some pretty cool old palaces. The places actually look like slightly large houses because they were not that wealthy of a country. But, the best part of Kotor was the view (this is going to be a common theme.) From the main square of the city, in every direction there are gorgeous mountains. It is like the country is in the middle of a giant valley with a small bay on one side. When I have internet next I will put up pictures because, as the old adage says, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and in this case, it is very, very true!

In the center of the town there is a gorgeous Catholic cathedral. Through the history of Montenegro it went from Catholic to Orthodox, to Catholic and back to Orthodox. Then it was settled on to have both Catholic and Orthodox be the main religions of Montenegro. So, about one block from the Catholic cathedral, there is an Orthodox church. Both of these buildings have gorgeous architecture and, like lots of churches, are really beautiful to look at.

The next stop on the itinerary was the Maritime museum in Kotor. It is a museum recounting some of Kotor’s main historical figures and momentous events. There was a room that was dedicated entirely to rifles and knives. I have never seen such elaborate weapons! (I am not sure how practical they were or how much they were used actually for warfare.)

After a gelato stop as we were leaving Kotor, we took a bus trip up one of the mountains nearby. The road that we were driving up was basically a super-duper squished two lane road that had 30 “S” turns. Needless to say, I was fairly motion sick by the time we reached the top of the mountain. The view from the top is beyond words. The entire bay was in view along with parts of the Adriatic, numerous mountains, and the sun was playing on the water making the most gorgeous backlight for pictures. I stood there speechless for about five minutes just taking in the view. It truly was my happy place. I can see myself going back there many times in my head and remember the beauty very fondly.

We finished the drive up the mountain and had a snack at the top. By “snack” I mean that we stopped at the only restaurant on the mountain for some cheese, bread, and this really yummy native fermented honey drink. There was a biker who was biking up the mountain that reached the restaurant just as we did. It was pretty funny because he biked this crazy long road (it took about 35 minutes in the bus) and then when he got to the restaurant ordered a tiny espresso, took off his shoes, and sat there for awhile. It looked like quite the intense workout!

The drive down included many more excellent views that were just as breath taking. Then, we stopped in a small medieval town close to Kosovo and looked around at the monastery there.  The best part of the town was the immense number of small kids running around. There was this one little blond boy who kept chasing pigeons around and making little squeaking sounds. (I really love little kids J )

Then we proceeded onto the city of Budva. This is the major hotspot of nightlife in Montenegro. The hotel that we were staying in was in downtown Budva and was absolutely adorable. It was a tiny room that had air conditioning and a gorgeous view of downtown Budva. Dinner was at the hotel and consisted of a three course meal. The vegetarian meal was a bunch of vegetables (peppers, zucchini, corn, carrots) all stir fried in this sauce that I had never tasted before with a sweet taste but left a sour after taste. It was very interesting, but was a yummy new experience.  After dinner some friends and I went out for the evening. In downtown on the main road by the ocean there was a carnival with open air pubs, street musicians everywhere, and so many people of all ages and ethnicities. It was quite the interesting night and I met some very nice natives and ended up sitting down by the water watching the disco lights off in the distance for awhile. It was absolutely beautiful, and a night I will never forget.

Once the evening ended, I headed back to the hotel for a glorious night’s sleep!

The morning came way to quickly, but by 8 I was out of bed and down having a coffee for breakfast. I had until 12:30 pm to explore so I hit the town once my coffee was finished. The first stop was a pastry shop that had the most delicious pastries. The one I got was a croissant but it had chocolate melted in the middle. (Europe really understands how wonderful pastries are for breakfast.) After breakfast I meandered around the shops for a long while, chatting with shop owners, looking at stray cats and dogs, and looking at the beautiful views that were everywhere around the city. The walls around part of the city had a very narrow part on the top that was just barely wide enough for one person to walk. But (like the rest of the country) had wonderful bay views from pretty much everywhere along the walls.

Then I went to the beach for about an hour. When I say beach I actually mean a shore line with a lot of rocks. The water was magnificent though. It was about 80 degrees, wonderfully clear and just seemed to go on forever and ever. In addition, it was very salty (because it comes from the Adriatic Sea) and that meant that it was very easy to float and absorb the beauty that surrounded everything. The beach was very crowded with family: small babies running naked around splashing in the water and moms and dads with their family. It was pretty cool to see so many families just enjoying a day at the beach.

At 12:30 I headed to the restaurant where everyone was meeting for lunch. It was a lunch full of fresh veggies and potatoes (it tasted like the tomatoes were freshly picked.) Then gelato and back on the bus. The bus ride was pretty much a straight ride back to the ship past the Croatian border (yet another passport stamp!- I am excited about the stamps because I haven’t gotten any other stamps in my passport because we don’t have to go through customs to go into the ports.) The one stop that we made was at a gas station that had a full bar and good coffee. It was pretty much deserted because there are not many people (compared to the United States) who buy gas in Europe because it is so expensive (about 10 dollars a gallon.)

Once I arrived back at the ship a shower was my first priority! It was definitely time to get all of the salt out of my hair that had encrusted on and was flaking off. The shower was glorious! After that I was ready for dinner, (mmmm pizza) a little skyping with the family back home, (it was so great to see you all!!) and then back to the ship because I am absolutely exhausted. Tomorrow I want to have one last full day in Dubrovnik so I have to get my beauty sleep J Thanks for reading!

 

Snorkeling, Sea Kayaking, and Opera

Today was the most picturesque day I have had yet on this incredible voyage. The day started out standing on the observation deck at 7 am watching as the ship pulled into port. Dubrovnik, Croatia kind of reminds me of a fairy tale land. The hills have houses all with the same roofs and there are mountains very close to all of the coastlines. After breakfast, I went on my Marine Biology field lab (it’s the equivalent of having a lab in college just not nearly as cool.) This field lab involved sea kayaking and snorkeling.

I kayaked over to the beautiful island of Lokrum (Croatia has a ton of islands off its coast with only about 6% of them inhabited.) The water was perfectly warm and refreshing to jump in and the scenery was so beautiful. As I was kayaking to the island in front of me I could see Lokrum, to the left were huge cliffs that seemed to jut out of the mountainside, with a town seated perfectly in their nooks, and to the right was the open waters of the Adriatic Sea. The whole time I just kept looking around and telling myself that it isn’t a dream and I really am in Croatia. Croatia!

After awhile, the kayak tour pulled up to the beaches of Lokrum (not beaches of sand, but of rock.) We got out and had lunch at the only restaurant on the island. They served water (mmm… they came in 330 mL glass bottles interestingly enough,) sandwiches (tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach, and homemade bread,) and for dessert brownies with this sour-ish strawberry sauce and ice cream. It really hit the spot.

After eating it was on to snorkeling. For about 90 minutes I cruised around the rocky outcrops of Lokrum. Here are a few of the many highlights.

1.       Huge starfish with little black spots on it’s back. (I got to pet it because unlike the Medes Islands, Lokrum is not a Marine Protected Reserve which means you can pretty much pick up anything you like.

2.       I got to hold a sea cucumber that one of the guides pulled up. It squirted water and felt bumpy and slimy.

3.       I saw numerous fish, tons of little hermit crabs, a lot of sea urchins (interestingly enough on the CDC one of the things to watch out for in Croatia is stepping on sea urchins) and even a random bucket on the bottom of the ocean floor.

4.       One of the guides cut open a sea urchin (apparently it is a delicacy in Croatia) and let everyone try it. Pretty much everyone who tried it grimaced and said it was slimy and salty. 

Snorkeling was really excellent. I didn’t get cold and apart from the fact that the water was super salty, it was perfect. I was bummed when we had to leave, but kayaking back was yet again breathtakingly beautiful (I think this is becoming a theme for my entire Semester at Sea trip.) We (Caitlyn and I who were sharing a sea kayak) got into a water fight with one of the guides and when we got backed we’re completely soaked. Swimming was the perfect way to end it all and then I ventured back to the ship to get a glorious shower!

Once I was all squeaky clean, I headed off to Old Town Dubrovnik with a couple friends. The first stop was food. The place that we ate at was this quaint restaurant that had good food (small portions) and I could see all of the food being made at the counter (fresh fruits and veggies being chopped up.) After that we wandered around the streets for awhile. I came across these two guys who were playing music in the street. One was a cellist and the other a guitarist. They were taking commonly known classical songs and turning them into a duet with a folk twist. I was fascinated and could have easily amused myself for hours watching them. In fact, at one point, the cellist got up and walked around while still playing his cello! (Margaret- you would have loved it.)

Speaking of outdoor music, July 10^th was the opening of the Dubrovnik Summer Music Festival. This meant that the city blocked off a huge square in town and set up an orchestra and choir that was playing during the evening. It was really fun to watch a choir of about 100 and a full orchestra play in the middle of Dubrovnik’s main square. In addition, there were police everywhere because due to the enormity of the Summer Music Festival, the Croatian president was coming for the opening ceremony and fireworks. Sadly, I did not get to see him, the crowds were crazy and you had to have tickets to go in where he was speaking. But, nonetheless it was pretty incredible to hear all of the music and experience the thousands of people (an estimate of 15,000 people for the opening ceremony was given by the chief of police.)

Once I had contentedly wandered around to my heart’s content, I stopped in for some gelato (coffee flavored, obviously) and then I walked on home. I stopped in a nightclub with my friends for a bit, but the music was crazy loud and terrible American rap that I don’t even listen to when I’m in America. So, that was fairly short lived and then I went back to the ship for sleep!