St. Paul, the Acropolis and Worry Beads

Athens – Cradle of Western Civilization

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

So says the famous Greek philosopher Socrates some 400 years before Christ. 

I never really understood that quote until recent times, but these last few months I have taken it to heart. I suppose it is only naturally when you lose the people that raised you; to question who you are and what you stand for.

However, as I go through this journey, I must say that Socrates’ famous statement, “everything in moderation”, should apply to self-analysis as well, too much examining and you have paralysis setting in.

But enough said, on to Athens….

Something fantastic happened here in Greece all those thousands of years ago. A blossoming of thinkers and doers that shaped the way our modern world has become; encouraging active thinking and critical deliberation from all of the people, starting with the common citizens on up to the politician and the scientist. Democracy was founded here. Medicine defined. Artwork depicting real humans doing real things was created. Athens, considered the apex city of the ancient Greek world, was the cradle of Western civilization.

The beautiful Parthenon, temple to Athena

We are docked in Piraeus, the port town of Athens, and awake to a crisp morning. Perfect for touring. Liana is raring to go. She has had her plan of seeing the Parthenon and the ancient Athenian acropolis for many a month. It’s only a half an hour by taxi, and we are there in plenty of time to have a leisurely day exploring the ancient part of the city.

Liana keeps us entertained during the taxi ride with stories that she knows of the founding of Athens. The city is named famously for the Goddess Athena. “Do you know the story behind that?” asks Liana.

Well, it seems that when the city of Athens was being built there was a dispute amongst the gods of Olympus as to whom the patron of this promising young city was going to be. The two most favored gods were Poseidon, lord of the sea, and Athena, goddess of wisdom and courage. As the story goes, the gods went to the high marble hill in the center of the city to present their gifts. First Poseidon struck the ground with his staff and out flowed a spring of water to ensure the people of the city that they would always have a drinking source. But upon examining the water the people of Athens realized that the water was salty, like the sea that Poseidon ruled, and so was undrinkable for them. 

Then came Athena, who planted a seed, which in turn became a massive olive tree, thus giving the city food, oil, wood and something to trade. She was the unanimous choice and not only does the city bear her name, but many temples and coins are in her honor.

So, our taxi ride into the city is entertaining. There is nothing like the ancient Greeks and their fascinating tales and legends. I understand why Liana is so enamored of its history.

Liana and I can both feel the ancient spirits here

And so, after waiting our turn in line with all the gigantic busses we climb through the olive groves to buy our tickets to the acropolis. These days they limit the amount of people who are able to enter into the acropolis so hopefully we can avoid the crush that is my memory of the times I have visited here with my parents.

A view of the Erechtheon, and it's graceful maidens

And so we climb the-oh-so-famous steps up the smooth marble that leads us back in time. It’s mostly white marble rubble that is strewn about, but the reconstruction that has been taking place here seems to rebuild the ancient buildings of this ancient capitol. As promised, it it not very crowded when we get to the top, so all that waiting was worthwhile. The very famous Parthenon rises dramatically in front of us.  Built at the height of Athenian power in honor of Athena, the Parthenon has been considered one of the world’s most perfect buildings. Its grace is evident, even after thousands of years of ravishment. The temple would still be standing in good nick today if the Turks hadn’t used it as a storeroom for explosives. In the 1600’s the invading Venetian army shelled the acropolis with the all too predictable explosion that explains the hole and roofless shell that the Parthenon is now.

Ah well, it is still marvelous. And all around are the remnants of the buildings that were the center of power here in Athens. The Erechtheon, a temple whose roof is held up by lovely ladies, stands to one side, and is a beautiful building all on it’s own. It is said that the spring that Poseidon created was within these walls.

And of course there is the Olympic flame which is kept here, symbolic for all the world that Greece was the founder and ancient owner of these games (although, why it's kept in Athens and not in Olympia is a bit of a question)...

The Olympic flame burns here, with the Parthenon in the backround

Looking out over Athens from the top of the Acropolis

And no one can come up here without taking in the view of the city itself. A mass of roof tops, ruins, hills and parks stretching out like a vast sea of humanity. The majority of Greece’s population lives here in Athens, about as many as inhabit the whole of New Zealand in fact! 

All the political machinations with the money and banking systems here in Greece during the past year or so have given the country much press in the outside world, but it seems to me as if life is going on as usual. This city has weathered many a storm in it’s past. The ghosts that roam these streets think the crisis of these times is quite a bit less dire than when the Persians sat at the gates or when the Ottoman Empire was occupying the city. Certainly a whole lot less bloodshed. But who’s to say it won’t come to that someday? May you live in interesting times, as the old Chinese curse goes? I’m sure the Greek people feel like they are in interesting times indeed.

Liana loves the antiquity of the place

As we descend down off the acropolis we wind around the roads at the base of the marble cliffs. Everywhere you go there are ruins of something. An aqueduct. A church. A marketplace. Liana is in heaven. She wants to touch and feel just about every rock that sticks up out of the ground. 

Before heading completely off the mountain I need to make one stop.

It is the Areopagus.

The small outcropping of smoothed marble just at the northwest foot of the Athenian acropolis. It was used from Mycenaean times, and before, as a place of meeting for judicial trials and political speeches. In fact the Greek author Aeschylus set the trial of Orestes at the Areopagus (if anyone tires of the drama’s of the "twilight saga", I highly recommend some ancient Greek plays – Orestes was on trial for killing his mother, who had killed his father, who had sacrificed their daughter to the gods – it’s pretty, well, dramatic, and a very good read!)

The view of the Acropolis from the Areopagus

But the Areopagus is most famous for being the place where the Apostle Paul gave his famous speech to the Athenian elite (found in the chapter of Acts in the bible). It is all about their temple to “the unknown god” and goes on to explain the nature of this unknown god. It’s a powerful speech.

One that my dad found particularly inspiring. When I was a little girl and we first came to Athens this was our first stop, not the Parthenon. It was so very important for him to stand on this spot and recite those lines, like a special link to the divine for him. Seeing him nearly cry while quoting Paul, saying the long ago spoken words, has always stayed with me.

I am not a Christian by name. In fact I feel sometime that I feel too much spirituality to pick a brand of faith. God is everywhere and in everything. Each faith has it’s own way to connect to the god that is universal. What is truly important is that there is a connection with God, whether it is through prayer, song, nature or meditation and I find it difficult to chose one over the other when they seem to be all parts of the same whole.. At least that is my view, but I am only just starting out on my journey into the realm of the divine.

With such memories swirling around it was important for me to bring my own little family up here, possibly more to pay homage to my dad, who is no longer with us, than to the apostle Paul. Talk about seeing ghosts! I could just about see him reciting the words and feeling the divine. I hope that wherever he is in the next life he could feel our love for him and his life long quest for enlightenment bridging the gap. Life is truly a miracle and the love will always remain.

In front of the Greek orthodox church in the Agora

I am truly lucky to have a husband that so understands me. I need a few moments to get myself together. And Liam has now maxed out on the historical stuff. He’s discovered that his shoes, combined with the ultra slippery marble, are kind of like skiing. Boys! Visions of him "skiing" right off the edge, or of us ending up getting his broken arm plastered in a Greek hospital flash before our eyes and Randall directs him quickly off the Areopagus and we head down into the Athenian Agora, also known as the Forum of Athens. A little less spiritual, and a lot more of the common people - although, ironically, the first building we go into a Greek Orthodox Church.

Looking onto the Agora and the temple of Hephaestus from the Acropolis

We wander around, enjoying the calm, olive tree filled ruins. There is a massive museum of the Agora, which, despite Liana’s begging, we do not go into. We do hike up to the graceful temple of Hephaestus, son of Zeus and Hera and blacksmith of the gods. At the top of the Acropolis looking down on the Agora we had remarked on it as standing out of the buildings with such grace. Largely unchanged in the over two thousand years that the temple has stood looking over the Agora, it again anchors us in ancient times. But, as the poppies, red and beautiful, remind us, that ancient history is behind us, and life goes on. So we leave the amazing ruins that define ancient Greece and head out into the big, bustling modern city that is modern Athens.

One of the many cherry vendors in Athens

Lunch is first on the agenda. In a square, with cherry and strawberry vendors selling their wares, we stop for a gyros, beer and fresh fruit. (And an espresso for me!) Then it’s off for some shopping.

Amongst all the other shops we find an amazing music store with every type of instrument. After many passes by, and several auditions, Randall finally buys a travel bouzouki for himself, with full approval from all of us. The small guitar-like instrument sounds a bit like a cross between a mandolin and something oriental. Very unique and we all enjoy the sound. It was made right here in Athens and when ever we hear the sound it will remind us of this amazing country. And some traditional Greek music scores may be on the agenda for Randall, yes! Christmas sorted!!!

Just before we head back to the ship I succumb to a komboloi shop.

Now, that may sound risqué but it’s actually quite cool. Komboloi, or worry beads, are a very strong tradition in Greece, and every Greek man caries his around with him. Said to relieve stress, keep the hands busy and pass the time I have had no interest in buying any for myself. It is said that the beads pick you and that you know when you have the right set of beads. Randall bought an amazing set of red coral beads on our date in Mykonos, but as a woman I felt I really didn’t need any. (We won’t mention my nervous habit of picking at my fingers when I feel stressed.) So when we walked into this shop I didn’t think anything of it, until I touched a pair of beads and just had to have them. Ten euro later I am now a proud owner of some beautiful stone beads that I have worried to death just on the taxi-ride back to the ship - who knew my fingers had so much nervous energy!

Fresh cherries and Greek beer, Life is Good

What a day we had. Liana felt it was not nearly enough. Her appetite is just being whetted for more journeys into classical history.  May it remain so! I feel as if I’ve had a moment or two with my dad, someone who was instrumental in developing me, but whose ghost I need to let go so that I can forge my own journey. And Randall and Liam got a good view of Greece. I know we’ll be coming back here sometime in the future.

And with that we are back on the ship just as a freezing bout of rain hits us. It’s good to be reunited with our littlest munchkins and prepare for the evening and tomorrow, our last taste of Greece (for this trip) – Corfu…..

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. “

Epicurus

Santorini and Mykonos - Gems of the Greek Islands

Santorini and Mykonos

hiking up the donkey road in Santorini

Ahhh, beautiful Greece. There is a special color for the water in Greece. Azure doesn’t cut it. Turquoise, cobalt, sapphire, cerulean…. No, the best I can say is it is Greek water.

We are anchored in Santorini and getting ready to take a small boat ashore to this old volcanic island. Clara joins us today but Juliet begged us to stay onboard, so we are a family of five at the moment.

Santorini, the southernmost gem of the Cyclades island chain, awash in the Aegean Sea. Once a thriving Bronze Age port, a vital part of the Minoan civilization, the island literally blew apart in a cataclysmic volcanic eruption 3600 hundred years ago and is now merely a shell of an island with a huge sea caldera, big enough for our gigantic ship (and many others) to all anchor in. The eruption, one of the largest in earth’s history, ended not only the civilization on the island but also the entire Minoan civilization - gave rise to the legend of Atlantis.

Looking down from the top of Santorini into the Sea filled Caldera

Pretty exciting stuff, especially for this traveling family.

Again, as we don’t have much time we won’t be able to see the ruins of the town that survived or explore for the underwater ruins that are out there somewhere. (Atlantis, I’ve found it!) But we will climb to the top of the cliffs, see the main town, soak in a little island life and look down into the caldera proper.

gyros heaven

As the tourists line up for the funicular (like a quick cable car) and the rest queue to buy a donkey ride we decide to hoof it up the steep slope ourselves. We hike the mount all the time at home so no sweat, well, some sweat, we can make it. And so we hike up the something like 500+ steps  to the top of the caldera rim.
We are constantly being passed by donkeys, carrying scared looking tourists, clutching their Dior bags and point-and-shoot cameras. Apart from dodging the Donkey dung it felt good to get physical, especially for me after the few weeks of sickness I’ve had. And with every bend in the road the scene gets more and more magnificent.

The view from the top must be one of the best in the world. Fira town perches precariously to the top of the volcanic rim. It has been photographed something like a billion times, and everyone has seen the quintessential white houses looking down onto the blue water. But you know what? It deserves to be photographed like mad and celebrated. It’s a truly amazingly beautiful place!

A fishy pedicure!

So we take our photographs and spend time pointing out the caldera to the kids - how we are standing on the rim of the volcano that exploded so many years ago, and how there is a new island rising in the middle of the water, someday to blow up again – but hopefully not for another 10,000 years or so!

Who needs laughter yoga?

Not far into the town we ran across a foot spa store that is entirely unique to us. I must try this out! There are rows of plush seats with water tanks to put your feet in. The water tanks look like aquariums, because, well, they are aquariums. Each foot bath has a hundred little cleaner fish and when you stick your feet inside they come and eagerly start nibbling at your toes, eating away any dead skin and fungus. It is supposed to be relaxing, but being ticklish, I nearly made myself sick laughing then entire 20 minutes. Each time I would subdue the giggles another little wiggly body would push between my toes and start munching away, and I would break out into another fit of laughter. Who needs laughter yoga when you can laugh silly and get the dead skin taken off your feet?

finally on a donkey

The kids thought I was mad, but all had a go at getting their feet cleaned as well. What a fun experience, and my feet really were smoother when I was done!

The best part was listening to our budding entrepreneurs deciding on their business plan of importing the fish to Mount Maunganui and setting up their own fish foot cleaning business. Liana deemed Clara suitable for charming the customers in, while Liam was relegated to cleaning the fish tanks. Who knows, they may make their fortunes in the fish pedicure market someday!

Fearless daddy leads the way

Fira, is a small town and soon we had exhausted the stores. So we settled for a gyros (just as drippy, slurpy, greasy and yummy as yesterday) and a bottle of water before heading to find some last views. Our limited time only allowed me to have a quick espresso before navigating our way to the top of the trailhead that leads down to the marina 500 meters below.

The kids, who had wanted so badly to ride a donkey on the way up, got their wish on the way down. After some serious haggling the Greek man saddled up two donkeys, hoisted the kids up, handed the reigns over to Randall and walked away. We were on our own, so how to make a tired donkey move? It was a bumpy laughter filled ride down, but we made it just in time for the last tender back to the ship before it steamed off to the second island for the day. Ah, what an experience.

MYKONOS

Arriving in Mykonos just after seven there was never any doubt in our minds that the kids were going to be left on the ship in the kids club while mummy and daddy went out on the town.

Oh to be so free. Just the two of us on a quaint, if tourist ridden, Greek island. The only hands we held were each other’s. The town is made for casual strolling in and the sights are laid back and low key. Mykonos doesn’t have any significant historical sights (at least not that we could see in the few hours that we were docked here) so we had full permission to relax and just be the silly tourists that we sometimes make fun of.

Working up our appetites with a stroll to some of the traditional Grecian windmills we had severe decision trauma choosing a restaurant, but when a table presented itself right on the water the decision became very easy. The view was stunning, the food amazing. The wine went down effortlessly and the company was perfect. Who knew it was so easy to hold a conversation when you are not constantly peppered with questions from the small inquisitive people that follow up everywhere?

walking through the streets of mykonos

A perfect evening to recharge our energies before the excitement and history of our next stop – Athens!!!

Ancient Olympics!

And we’re on the move again….

Looking back on Sorrento to say goodbye

It was a tearful goodbye from the kids when we said goodbye to our new friends at the Palazzo Montefusco.  They took such good care of us we felt like family, but it’s time to be moving again. By mini bus from Sorrento across Italy to Bari, on the Adriatic Sea where we pick up our next ship to tour Greece and the Adriatic.

Driving across Italy is a treat. Leaving Sorrento we pass the backs of the rocky mountains that make up the Sorrentine peninsula and pop out at Salerno, the southern end of the Amalfi coast, before heading east to make for Bari, the second largest city in the south of Italy. At first it’s a land of hill top villages and mountains, Liam gets to be on lookout for fortresses, but gradually the land turns into wheat fields and wind farms. After about three hours we get our first glimpse of the blue ocean and next thing we are winding through the industrial town of Bari to the docks where an enormous ship awaits.

We’ve booked on MSC lines for a quick highlight cruise that will give us a glimpse of Greece, Croatia and Venice. Kids travel free so it was a fairly economical way for us to get the flavour of this part of the world. I was all for staying on a Greek Island for a month and getting a full dose, but the budget had to stop somewhere!

So as we settle in on our Italian ship the rain clouds come and wash away some of the dust of this land and get us ready for our first view of Greece tomorrow morning.

OLYMPIA – home of the Olympics….

About midday we dock at Katakolon in the western part of Greece. It is a seaside town that is the gateway to the ancient city of Olympia – home to the first Olympic games.

Leaving Clara and Juliet on the ship we head out with just the big kids. Liana is practically vibrating with excitement. It’s finally getting to the part of the trip that she picked. Liam had input into Petra and Vatican City, while Liana was desperate to see Greece and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. She’s studied the Greek classics, can tell you most of the stories, and knows a great deal about ancient mythology so today was her first exciting foray into the land of Homer, Herodotus and Hercules.

The remains of the temple of Zeus

Instead of taking the overly priced tour we buy a ticket from the local bus. It takes us about 30 minutes to get to the hugely touristy destination of Olympia. I was here with my parents (and Cathy!) twenty or so years ago and it seemed quite off the tourist map back then, but with the recent Olympics and all the money that poured into the country from the added tourist revenue, it has been commercialised and fancied up. Large car parks for the buses and cafes and tourist shops are all in place.

We get our tickets and head into the well kept archaeological site. Liana squeals when she sees her first Greek text. It’s hard not to feel super excited when you are surrounded by antiquity. 

The first remains found here date back to the 10^th century BC and the first Olympic games were officially held in 776 BC, and were played continuously at this sight until the last Olympiad in 393 AD, after which the Christian emperor, Theodosius I put a ban on the ancient games, deeming them too pagan. And when the 2004 modern Olympic games were held in Greece the men’s and women’s shot put competition was held right here in the restored Olympic stadium. How amazing would that have been for those competitors!?

In the well laid out ruins that are the modern archaeological sight of Olympia there are many different time layers within the buildings. It was a bit of a pilgrimage sight for many people in the ancient worlds. In fact it was said that wars were put on hold so that competitors could travel to the games. They were sacred of Zeus and the ruins of the massive temple in his honor are still some of the most impressive of the sight. There are Roman ruins as well as Macedonian ruins, all put together with the Greek ruins. It's similar to any working sight that is continually improved upon. 

But no matter how much time you spend wandering around the ruined temples, ancient training halls, places of worship and places of feasting, every tourist ends up at the Olympic stadium.

Inside the ancient stadium

Not too many people can say that they’ve run in the Olympic games but here you can pass through the archway that ancient competitors would have strode through and run in the old stadium. Even us women who would have been forbidden entrance to the ancient games. After overcoming his horror upon hearing that all competitors ran in the nude, Liam was keen to become an olympic athlete and we caught him on video racing in his first Olympics, which he did with his usual grace and comedy. That's my boy. 

There were also other tourists and a few Greek school groups who were doing the same thing. How amazing would that be to go to school, learn your history and then walk out on your own doorstep and be able to touch and feel the spirit of your ancestors and walk (or run) in their footsteps. It makes you think that you’d have a bit more appreciation for the timelessness of history. Or maybe not, and I’m merely looking at it through my own filter of experiences.

All in all, we only had a few hours to introduce the kids to Olympia, but it was enough. They got the spirit of the ancient Olympics and feel the difference of this place over the other cultures we’ve visited so far. We are only a few hundred miles from Italy but the feeling of the land and culture is as different as Oman was from Italy. A good lesson that geography does not necessarily dictate the spirit of the land.

After returning to Katakolon we had a bit of time before ship was due to leave so we spent the time doing a bit of wandering and shopping in the touristy shops. I bought some cute dresses for the girls and some aspirin to help with the lingering aches from my earlier illness. Randall and the kids added to his growing dagger and sword collection. And finally we pass a gyros shop. Stopping in our tracks it’s time for the kids to discover true gyros. Sauce dripping, steaming, onion filled gyros. Oh yum. Hot fresh pita bread filled with greasy meat, fries, onions, tomatoes and tziziki sauce it’s an instant hit and we gorge our way back to the ship. For me the perfect way to end our afternoon. 

A brief stop here on the western Peloponnese and it’s back on the road south to more Greece, blue seas, gyros and sunshine.

But not before we have a night out at the club on the ship so our girls can tear up the dance floor....