It’s Greek to me. Not very clever, but true.
We walked across the street to the terminal where we surprised our contact by showing up before the plane we said we were on landed. We had to tell them we were coming in a day later in order to get transported into town. 
It all worked well and we found our way to the hotel in downtown Athens with about 1 1/2 hours to rest before leaving for the Acropolis Museum. The museum was not open when we were here last and we kept hearing good things about it. It was filled with artifacts found in the acropolis, parthenon and surrounding areas. One hall is the size of the parthenon footprint and has a wall of reliefs—some of the original panels are in a British Museum, they sent copies when the Acropolis Museum opened. Other panels go between well worn and very detailed even today. Well worth a visit.
Our restaurant for dinner was up a hill in the shadow of the Acropolis. We sat on the patio enjoying souvlaki and other greek dishes while listening to a musical trio. They were playing traditional Greek music with two instruments and one singer. Poking his head through the fence/hedge was a cat—we are glad to them here is Greece as in Turkey. Back down the hill and home to sleep before our early wakeup call.
The morning bus ride was 2 hours to Delphi, the site of a Temple for Apollo. Once a temple for mother earth, Apollo took it over as his own. It also housed one of the Oracles, a priestess (Pythia) who gave predictions for the future. People would travel for days/weeks to bring her their stories to get her advice and counsel. During it’s 1000 year history, people brought offerings which were housed in treasuries for each town/region and Delphi became fabulously rich. The temple was considered to be the spiritual and physical center of the earth—two eagles were sent out in different directions and they met here on a rock. It was hot and quite a climb up the side of a mountain. The view from 2000 feet up Mt Parnassus was spectacular. The museum houses a collection of offerings and statues from the site. Included is the world famous sculpture of a charioteer. It is quite amazing, you can even see his eye lashes and piercing eyes sculpted of metal.
More bus ride, lunch, more bus ride and we arrived in Kalampaka for the night. We could see a monastery at the top of the rock towers that required pope pulley systems to bring in supplies. They are now preserved, have bridges to ease access and small cable car systems for supplies. James Bond—“For your eyes only” ended with scenes from one of the monasteries. Meteora, a world heritage site, has six preserved Eastern Orthodox monasteries, two of which have now become nunneries. The scenery would have been enough to make the trip worth while but perched on top were complexes, each with an ornate, highly decorated orthodox church from the mid 16th century. The frescoes survived due to the paint being applied to wet limestone plaster, the colors dry with the materials and have lasted in full color due to the dark surroundings of the church. It is one of those places that is hard to put in words and reminds again of the rich history and artistry that can be found around the world.
The pre-trip was through the south part of mainland Greece. The drives were delightful as the scenery changed constantly. Over mountains, near the sea, vast plains filled with crops, lush greens dotted with flowering trees and bushes and then higher up the rocky mountains. We saw mountains and towns that we have read about in history classes including Mt Olympus.
We boarded the ship around 5:00 and were happily greeted by out suitcase that was shipped from home—yea, a new set of clothes. The evening was spent in the laundry so now all our clothes are clean. A late dinner on the back deck with reminders of past cruises and dinner companions. We miss Richard and Linda who shared many meals with us there. We also miss Em, Larry and Dee from our recent Indonesia trip, and Carol and Bob, but we have not made it to the grand dining room where we used to eat with them. One of the destination staff members was on our Bangkok to Dubai trip, it was run into him here.
First stop Hermoupolis, Syros, Greece, the capital of the Cyclades. It is a Greek Island port in a cove with the neoclassical houses and large public building built on two major hills topped of by churches. One is Catholic and one is Greek Orthodox. Mostly white washed homes, though there are blues, yellows and the occasional home as well. It makes a striking sight from the harbor. We hopped on our tour bus and drove around the south part of the island, there is some agriculture but much of the land is hilly and rocky. Small villages dot the coast along the blue waters of Aegean Sea.
Back in town, we began our walking tour. Remember we said the town was built on the hills. Up, up, up we went to stop at a Greek Orthodox church. Similar to our pre-trip in decor but not as ornate but larger in scale. The icons scattered throughout the church are quite interesting, some are painted, some hammered in silver with cut out and painted faces. The Greek Orthodox church head still resides in Istanbul and the Greeks consider it to be like an Embassy. In 1983 a Englishman discovered an icon on display in the corner of the church, he asked for some mineral spirits and cotton and began to clean it. He discovered a painting by El Greco, depicting the assent of Mary into heaven, signed with his original name and it is estimated to have been painted when he was 19 after graduation from an icon painting school. They believe it came to be here when someone transported it for safe keeping during one of the wars and then brought to the church as an offering. Nancy bought a postcard for 2 Euros as got a free blessing from the monk.
Up more steps to the city square, fun to watch a little boy feeding the pigeons. Up more steps to a very small archeological museum. 
A trip through town hall to the Apollon Theater, we were seated in the 19th century, acoustically sound, first Opera house of Greece. Styled after Milan’s La Scala, this building hosts many music, art, ballet and opera performances to this day. Quite amazing when you consider the island has only about 20 thousand people. 
We climbed again to a second church, St Nicolas Cathedral, also Greek Orthodox. Here St Nicolas is associated as the patron saint of sailors, where in Turkey they focused on the children. Outside the cathedral was a statue to honor fallen soldiers. On the top was a lion to indicate bravery and strength, but with a very, very sad face. It brought tears to our eyes.
We wondered back down to the port through some of the side streets and alleys. Quaint town with small shops and restaurants. The Greek Orthodox church follows a different calendar than traditional Catholics. As you can imagine, that means different Easter dates. On this island, because there is so much intermarriage, the Catholics have special permission from the Pope to celebrate on the Greek Orthodox dates. Afternoon and evening spent quietly on the ship.
New day at Ephesus. We find ourselves in Turkey again, Kusadasi again and you may wonder why we would return to Ephesus since we were just there and saw the Odeon Theater, public baths, Library and the 24,000 seat grand theater where St Paul once preached….Why? Because we had not seen the Terrace Houses. Built into the side of the hill off the main road of Ephesus, these were the houses of the wealthy inhabitants. They have recently been excavated and are continually under restoration. These homes were quite large, each having a courtyard, its own well and indoor plumbing and heated floors. The floors are often marble and/or beautiful mosaics in animal or geometric motifs. Other ornamentation on the walls include marble wall coverings and fresco paintings. One of the larger compounds had communal walls, like a condominium, probably housing extended family members. We climbed three stories of steps following the homes up the side of the hill. It was well worth the return trip. By the way, on the first you remember we mentioned the cats. The night before we pocketed some shrimp from the ship to take to them. Happy kitties. But today there were far fewer cats and many, many more people due to the cruise ships. We found two who were quite excited by our treats. We saw another new sight today, backgammon boards carved into marble tables. 
Our other goal for the day was to have time to shop in Kusadasi. Kusadasi means Bird Island which is just off the coast and now connected with a concrete bridge. It is on the flight path of migrating birds. During the off this is a town of 70,000 people, during the summer time, it swells to 700,000. With 300 days of sun a year it is a popular destination. School is over next week so the crowds will begin, we are skipping town. Sue remembers buying eyeglass frames many years ago on our first visit here. We asked for directions and found a shop where she found new frames. The owner kept trying to pick out frames for her but the woman working in the shop was a better judge and would stand behind him and shake her head, “no.” She would go find other better choices—success again this visit. One last stop at the recommended leather shop, one stop too many, Nancy has a new coat.
Today is a welcome sea day, sailing through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus.
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