Roadside Mysteries

The place to party!

and get your masks on!

and advertise on the Doge’s Palace?

Written “BVLGARI” in ancient Roman style, it’s Bulgari Jewelry; Derived from the surname of the company’s Greek founder, Sotirios Boulgaris. This is what you see when your ship arrives in Venice, the most beautiful of European cities?

Libreria san Marco

Owned by Guess I guess? What’s really happening is that there is some restoration being done on the buildings in Venice. The work area typically has protective netting fixed to the side of the building but some smarty-pants figured “Why have ugly protective netting when you could put up ugly advertising and make a few bucks in the process?”

That’s better. No advertising on the basilica at least!

But they’ll still let anyone in the piazza!

The 5 masted sailboat “Wind Surf” leaving the main island

Part of the Windstar cruise line; Only 312 passengers… OK, if we ever decide on doing this again, this would be our ship!

You can’t leave Venice without a gondola ride?

Well, it could cost upwards of €150! Don’t have that kind of change? Then the Traghetto is for you! You can ride in a real Venice gondola for half a euro. I only lasts a minute, but so what?

Called Kaisariani:

This little gem is located outside of Athens

The catholicon and bell tower

While there were seemingly a million visitors at the Acropolis, there were zero tourists here! It was a great place to get away from the crowds and take in some refreshing mountain air.

The Refectory

Grain mill

Behind this was the bathhouse, a garden and the monk’s cemetery.

Another view of the catholicon or main church

The monk’s cells and library

I’m not sure where the stairs lead. This area was not open to visitors.

Byzantine frescos

Plus a few newer pantings in fairly good condition considering there was substantial damage from earthquakes in 1981 and 1999.

Here’s the MUST SEE’s in Athens:

Elanora

No, not a must see, but our guide for the day in Athens. She knew what we wanted to see and suggested we go directly to the Acropolis before the hoards of tourists!

The Acropolis

It’s on a big flat-topped rock floating 500 feet above Athens. You can’t miss it!

The Parthenon (438 B.C.)

We used to go the The Parthenon on Halsted Street in Chicago all the time. It was the first place I yelled “Opaa!” at a dish of flaming goat cheese.

The Porch of the Caryatids (407 B.C.)

Or Porch of the Maidens; It appears to be screened in at the moment; It’s just the porch section to one of the buildings called the Erechtheum.

The Temple of Haphaestus (415 B.C.)

It can be seen from the Acropolis and is the best preserved of all the ancient Greek temples. See?; it still has a roof!

The Dionysos Theater (535 B.C.)

This is where Thespis of Icara climbed on stage and took on the role of a character in a story: He was first actor in recorded history and a real ham! It’s how we have the word Thespian today.

And that’s the Acropolis! Now it’s time to climb down as millions of tourists are climbing up to see the same structures. Elanora says it’s time to go the National Museum of Archeology:

A mask from Mycenae (16th century B.C.)

Made out of pure gold, this artifact has been called the Mask of Agamemnon. Our guide Elanora was very well informed about ancient Greek history, as if she was a history professor; Well guess what? She was!!

The Artemision Jockey (140 B.C.)

Jockey Detail

Poseidon

Or it could be Zeus; The weapon is missing. Trident = Poseidon, Lightning Bolt = Zeus. Somehow, I would think that it would be a hell of a lot harder to make a lightning bolt out of bronze so my guess is that it is Poseidon.

Kouri & Kouros (550 B.C.)

… or Lorena and John Bobbitt if you look close enough (sorry)

No, it’s not this person:

Celine

This is Celine, our personal  guide in Ephasus. We had a bit of a problem letting her know that we did NOT want to go to a rug shop, nor did we want to do ANY SHOPPING AT ALL. That’s why we hired a personal guide; They go where we tell them. At least that’s the theory.

The Virgin Mary’s House

As envisioned by a German nun who had never left Germany; Most of the building dates from the 7th century but who’s counting a few hundred years? It is now a shrine for many Orthodox Christians.

There’s a prayer wall near the house

Celine tells us that many young Turks like to stick gum and cigarette butts in the trees! The sign says not to do so.

Somewhat older than the house is this place:

A Corinthian Facade

Not crazy big like Pompeii, but still quite impressive. Here’s the Celsus library. It was the third largest library in ancient times next to Alexandra and Pergamum.

Hey, where have I seen this?

These are 3X3 and 3X6 LEGO blocks!

Of course they can’t be. LEGOs are 20th Century and these are 2nd Century. So, that would mean that LEGO blocks are actually Ephesian Blocks!  Go figure.

And back then, they had fairly modern toilets. Did people just get stupid around 300 A.D. and forget stuff?

There is a large trench under these openings about 9 feet deep!

Your foot must be at least this big to proceed!

Celine points out that this is an advertisement for a prostitute.

The Odeon

It’s where St. Paul came to preach the Christian Way but was booed off stage by vendors who sold pagan statues; What would they do with their inventory of Artemis statues if everyone stopped worshipping the god of fertility?

Duncan Madog worshiping a statue of Artemis.

People used to refer to Artemis as the ‘Goddess of Many Breasts’ but it is more likely that what she is sporting represents yet another symbol of fertility: sacrificial bull testicles or ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS! I just had to get an Artemis statue! And I did.

What’s left?

What’s in my wallet?

The end is near and I have only 35 euros, 30 dollars and 130 Turkish Lire.

on the island of Mykonos:

The Famous Mykonos windmill landmarks

and the famous Pelicans Irene and Petros!

The narrowest alley I could find

By the Coo Bar. It’s Cool!

Greek fisherman fixing his net

Hey, it’s real gyros!

Attempting to drive in town? Fergetaboutit!

Street cleaning

Bag lady?

Tailgater

Many varieties of baklava!

Greek bakery

Looking out: The Cyclades

And back in from ‘Little Venice’

On the hill: A private tour of a windmill

1st floor: A little fridge, a drinking glass, a chair and some assorted tools

3rd floor: The main crank

Gear and shaft leading down to the mill on the 2nd floor

Our “guide”

He didn’t speak much English but he obviously was the caretaker of this windmill. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and he welcomed us in for a short tour of his ‘place’.

The last scene: Little Venice district

Too bad! We have to go back to the ship. Next stop: Istanbul

and other excessive pleasures:

The Love Boat Dream

Which apparently they have the rights to “The Love Boat” as this is a Princess Cruise that we are on. The Dream dessert is an option on the dinner menu that was available for the entire cruise and it is a chocoholic’s favorite.

The Ruby Princess

View from the docks. That whole horizontal window is the bridge.

Big hot tub

Medium hot tub

Small hot tubs and pool

Even more hot tubs, pools, and movie theater

A real casino (in Monte Carlo)

A slot machine on the ship’s casino

Dean Martin’s Wild Party! OK. This machine came out like fourteen years after “The  King of Cool” died (Hell, did you know Martin was known as the King of Cool? Not me!) Made by the WMS video game company, it’s been said that “Dean Martin’s Wild Party is a volatile game, but worth the trouble if you can hit a bonus round. It is unusual in that it starts with only two lines that funnel into sixty.” It’s no way near the “I Dream of Jeanne” slots, but we had gotten two casino tokens as change from the ship’s laundry so we thought “why not?”. Dino ate those tokens in no time! Momma Mia!

In the ship’s galley

Desserts are getting ready!

Fancy cakes on display?

Entertainment at every corner?

And a large theater yet!

A place for kids to play!

And this “Sanctuary” for parents to get away from the kids! Actually there were very few kids on this cruise so not many people took advantage of the sanctuary (which costs extra, BTW!)

Caged in sports area!

Mini-Golf (and cyber-golf too!) No skeet shooting though.

Lots of happy employees!

and Tony was on had to talk about it:

Our guide Tony who has a weakness for limoncello.

And he took us on a walking tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and most popular tourist destination in Italy:

The Ruins of Pompeii

This amazing site attracts over 250 million visitors per year!

It’s much larger than I imagined

And it provides a well preserved snapshot of Roman life that had been buried for 1,600 years.

A street sign directing you to the “Red Light” district of town

Interestingly the better maintained parts of Pompeii ruins are the brothels

where there were graphic user interfaced walls that the customer could point for specific services

So much to see and so little time! It would take a good week to really check this place out!

A plaster cast of a Pompeiian caught in the moment.

A preserved foot

… and part of a skull

Never really liking history in the 4th grade, the whole concept of the Vesuvious eruption and people getting buried alive in volcanic ash was probably the first time I actually paid attention in class. I’m sure I had insisted on a now long-forgotten pilgrimage to these ruins and now that I’ve been there, I am glad I was able to make this journey. This place is amazing! Really, it is!

The Dogs of Pompeii

The dogs might be there to “protect” the city, but it seems they prefer to sleep in the streets. They hardly move; they appear dead.

They are stray animals and while some groups are working on having them removed from the ancient city, they are kept well fed by the tour guides who pitch in to help.

toward Sorrento:

Looking out to the Bay of Naples

from the Piazza Tasso

Bayside Sorrento

A typical street view in Sorrento

A courtyard musician

Men’s group meeting

Gnarly looking tree

If you are anywhere near Naples, Italy you have to go to Sorrento. Actually if you have a choice stay away from Naples altogether and spend as much time as you can in Sorrento.

Well, the cruise line kept telling us that you have to book an excursion with them or you may not make it back in time and you might miss the boat. So, while we did book two days of excursions we thought “Hell, Rome should be no problem” and we decided to check it out on our own.

We don’t do cruises! We like to visit a place for maybe a week and really check it out; can’t do that on a cruise! We knew we couldn’t check out Rome in a day, so we hung out the best we could:

The ship docks in the town of Civitavecchia. From there it’s a one and a half hour train ride to the main station in Rome. From the station you take the Metro to the Colosseo stop:

Tourists at the Colosseo Metro station

Sure, If we paid for a ship excursion we wouldn’t have to buy our own train tickets, worry if the train is on time or make sure we get the last train out to the docks before the ship sails off… But where’s the fun in that?

From the Metro, it’s right across the street:

Yep, the Roman Colosseum

Time for a Roman Photo Op!

Or purchase a $7 diet Coke from across the street!

OK, we paid for the location but it’s the only way to have access to a clean restroom. We also had pizza there for lunch.

The Arch of Constantine

The Obelisk of Thothmes IV at the Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Along the way…

to the Catacombs of Domitilla; We thought we could walk from the piazza to Domitilla, but as time was a concern, we took a taxi. A good thing too, it was much further than we thought. When we got there we met some visitors from Arvada, Colorado who took a taxi to the cats just like us!

Outside the catacombs

The subterranean basilica

These are the largest of the catacombs in Rome and the only ones that still contain bones! That’s why we made a point in checking them out.

Subterranean frescos

Our underground tour guide was this guy who reminded me of the weird character “Polo” played by Ronnie Corbett in the  1966 movie “Casino Royale”. I think he was perfect for the part.

After the tour we  jumped into the nearest taxi to the train station and had a bit of a rush to find our last train back to the port of Civitavecchia. By some luck we made it on time, but it was a close one! If we didn’t make it we probably would have had to stay in Rome and take the train into Naples the next morning and find the ship from there.