Back in a time when taking a cruise was not a guaranteed way to contract Covid, we booked a dream holiday on the Celebrity Equinox. We had enjoyed our experience on the Pride of America around Hawaii so much we thought we would try cruising again.  My theory is if you can get off the ship most days it is nice to have a cabin and a meal to come home to.  We left from Rome (Civitavecchia) and returned ten days later.

Here are some highlights (and lowlights) of our 2011 cruise.

Santorini

The first port of call was Santorini. After studying Trip Adviser and the Cruise Forum we decided to catch a bus from Fira to Eai and explore some of the island. We were still confident even after receiving a warning.

We sat at a table with a couple from Colorado called Rick and Sue.  They are taking an organized tour on Santorini and wished us luck on our self-guided tour.  The biggest obstacle will be getting a bus from Fira as there could be nine ships in port. 

That morning I picked up our tender boat passes which had number 9 on them meaning Groups 1-8 would leave before us. Of course all the people on organized tours were leaving first.

We waited until 2.00 pm when we expected to go ashore, then it became 2.30, then 3.00. A Latin American musician kept people entertained but by 3.00 we were wondering if we would ever get off. About 3.10 our group was called and we climbed into our tender. The ship’s lifeboats were not used as there is an agreement to use the boats from Santorini. Once ashore we had the option of a one and a half hour wait for the cable car, a ride on a mule or a walk up 600 steps. Thinking we were in good shape we opted for the walk but didn’t count on sharing it with 600 mules, or the overpowering smell of their dung and urine in 30+ degrees Celsius heat.

About halfway up we watched horrified as we spied a large man walking down the hill with two riderless mules coming down behind him.  We yelled but it was too late.  He was pushed forward and as a result was running faster and faster.  John heroically grabbed him by the arm and swung him to the side of the path.  I had an image of them both rolling down the steep steps.  He was very thankful, but I don’t think he realized how bad the situation could have been.  I think we were conned by the 600 steps as each step was three paces deep.

 Once at the top we found a café with a beautiful view but I headed straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face until I felt human again.  We drank cold sparkling water and beer and at last took in the view.  Fira is on the edge of a caldera.  The crater is now filled with water and is reputed to have once been the site of the lost city of Atlantis.  The houses and buildings are nearly all white with occasional splashes of pink and cream. 

We could see four large ships and two smaller ones in the harbour. That could mean 8000 visitors ashore at one time which is an awful lot for a small village. We had planned to catch a bus to Eai but with the late arrival on the island and the heat we opted to look around Fira instead. Once away from the crowds in the town we had a pleasant walk along the cliff edge admiring the views of white-washed houses and blue domed churches. I vowed I wasn’t going down the track with all the mules but the line for the cable car was snaking along the street and into the distance so we reluctantly started downhill. The trip back wasn’t so bad once we squeezed past all the mules who were patiently waiting at the top. I went for a slide when I stepped on a patch of mule dung so walked very carefully from then on. John beat me but saved a place in the line for the return tender. We were so glad to get back to our cabin and a hot shower.

Athens

At breakfast we sat next to some sisters from Glasgow who were heading off on an organized tour of Athens. I was a bit apprehensive about our “do it yourself” tour in an unknown city and briefly wished we were on a tour as well. Not for long. Back in the room the safe refused to open. Imagine if we were supposed to get on a tour bus and couldn’t access our money or IDs! We spoke to Joel who rang the person in charge of opening safes. Two frantic phone calls from John and a man arrived, plugged a contraption like a large mobile phone into the safe and was able to open it. We hurried off the ship, jumped onto a transfer bus from Terminal B to Terminal A and then began walking to the train station. There were lines of taxis, all trying to get our business. One driver said E20? so John said OK and soon we were sitting in air conditioning with a cheerful driver telling us about the things we should see. For E85 he was prepared to be our tour guide for the day but although tempted we bid goodbye at the foot of the Acropolis.

The first glimpse of the Acropolis, so close to the city, was awe inspiring.  Ever since reading my Primary School Social Studies textbooks I had wanted to see the Parthenon and now at 60 I had finally made it!

 We used our Rick Steve audio guides as we wandered around the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and of course the Parthenon.  John was amazed at the amount of restoration since he was there in 1969.  It is partly funded by the EU and will take forever to restore.  We enjoyed hearing a couple of stories about the site include the man who was asked to raise the Nazi flag on the hilltop, but as he lowered the Greek flag he wrapped himself in it and threw himself off the cliff, and the two Greek boys who scaled the wall and removed the Nazi flag.  What happened to them I don’t know.

 After leaving the Acropolis we started looking for the Plaka where we had cold drinks in a shady bar.  We still wanted to see the smaller Parthenon like building we had spotted from the Acropolis on the plain below.  It looked to be in excellent repair and was surrounded by trees and gardens.  With John’s good map reading skills we arrived at the Temple of Thesseion, entry to which was included on our Acropolis ticket.  We also walked between the columns of the Stoa of Attalos which I identified as Ionic and Doric.  It has been fully restored and is now a museum.

Outside Parliament House there were many protesters demonstrating against the spending cuts being voted on in Parliament.  There was some doubt as to whether the trains would be running because of the strike but to our relief there was a train to Piraeus and then a shuttle to the ship.

Istanbul

I woke up just before seven feeling as though I had the flu but the view as we came into port at Istanbul was enough to get me out of bed. We saw a row of famous buildings visible from the waterfront. The Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Tekpaki Palace. At 8.30 precisely we walked down to our shuttle bus and were on our way to the Bazaar in Istanbul. First stop for us was the Underground Cistern (Yerebatan). Apparently it was used in a scene from “From Russia with Love”, a James Bond movie. We were lucky to be there before the crowds and we enjoyed the strange music playing as we walked along the boardwalks. It was used as a water storage facility from 532 AD until the 16^th Century and restored in the mid 20th Century. The columns come from different Roman structures. There are two Medusa heads used as column bases, one upside down and the other sideways. Whether this has any significance or was just a useful bit of stone is unclear.

Across the road was the Hagia Sophia. I learnt about this building in art history at high school and to actually see it was exciting. It was constructed in 537 AD and was a Christian church for 916 years. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, the church became a Muslim mosque for 481 years. Now it is a museum, opened in 1935 after extensive restoration ordered by the enlightened leader Mustafa Attaturk. The lime covering on the Christian mosaics was removed so once again they could be viewed. (Note: Since 2020 it is once again a mosque.)

While waiting in line we were approached by a carpet seller.  This was a common occurrence throughout the day.  They were invariably cheerful and all seemed to have an Australian wife and a cousin in Wollongong. In the Hagia Sophia we walked up to the top gallery and looked down below.  This area was reserved for women during services as a Muslim Mosque and maybe when it was a Roman Christian church as well.

The Blue Mosque, although free, took a while to access because of the long queue.  I had taken the scarf off John’s suitcase so I could wear it over my head but found the majority of people had no scarf or if they did just draped it around their shoulders.  I got that wrong (or did they?).  The ceiling was amazing but the crowd was dense so we didn’t stay long.  The mosque was constructed in 1609-1616.  It has 21,042 blue, green and white tiles in the interior and six minarets.

The Topkapi Palace was last on our list and I was really looking forward to it. Begun in 1475 it was extended and extended until it was abandoned in the 19th Century. It is twice the area of the Vatican but has been constructed around large squares and gardens so has a lot of open space. The Imperial Treasury houses consist of four rooms in all with a decorated throne at the entrance to each one. Some of the exhibits included the Topkapi Dagger and the Spoon Maker’s Diamond.

Next Day

With half a day to see more of Istanbul we opted to walk around the port area and explore.  We saw a sign which said “Tunnel’ but as it had trains we didn’t go in.  John was keen to see the fishermen on the Galata Bridge so we watched them pulling in heaps of tiny fish which they put in jars and containers.  There were also some larger mullet.  There would have been 200 people fishing on the bridge with a gap in the middle to let boats through.  The Galata Tower was my object as it was visible from most vantage points.  We walked up steps and down hills and up more hills until finally we found it.  Had we taken the Tunnel we would have been there in minutes.  It connects the district of Galata with the district of Beyoglu.  The subway is the shortest in the world and is only 750 metres long.

 The Galata Tower is 61 metres tall but is also on top of a hill.  There are supposed to be 143 steps or a lift but we used the lift and I counted 60 steps on top of that.  At the top we had quite a good view of the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara.  Its claim to fame was when a scientist named Celebi jumped from the top and flew to the other side of the Bosphorus Strait, using the wings he had invented.

After an expensive coffee outside the tower we continued to walk until we reached Istiklal Street.  We came to this via the Jewish Quarter which had security guards at each end and made us a little nervous.  The Tunnel came out here and was met by an old-fashioned tram which was full of people so we didn’t get on.  The street was lined with embassies, Russian, Swedish and Danish, a number of Christian churches and luxury hotels.

Ephesus

We woke up today feeling confident as we had a pre-booked tour with Ephesis Shuttle. Our guide Melissa was holding a sign that read “John Curry”. It was certainly nice to get into our air conditioned Mercedes Benz van and be whisked off to Ephesis in comfort. Once there Melissa stayed with us and talked about the various sites as we walked. The highlight for us was the Terrace Houses which are now under permanent cover and have been unearthed from the hillside. The walls are covered with frescoes which were being revealed as we watched. It was quite thrilling to see people in action working on the walls.

On the way back we visited the Temple of Artemis which is only a column but was once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

 Behind it is a monastery which used the Temple of Artemis as a source of building materials.  I was excited to see it because I had read about it as a child.  This is what it once looked like. It was more than twice the size of the Parthenon.

Attribution: Zee Prime at cs.wikipedia.  

Mikonos

 Today was a beautiful blue and white day.  Blue sky, blue sea and white buildings.  A blast from the past for John.  From the time we pulled into the pier which did not exist in ’69 John was comparing and noting changes.  He didn’t recognize anything until the shuttle bus took us around to the drop off point, a five-minutes walk from the town.  He was pleased to see the toilet block over the water was still there although now it has flush toilets which no longer empty into the sea and the little old lady no longer stands there collecting money from the visitors.

After a walk through the maze of streets we passed through to the other side of the town where we saw a row of windmills. Now no longer in use as windmills, some are private residences and shops. John was surprised at all the shops and cafes. They were all private homes with families when he was here last. In the past some had rooms to rent but the ubiquitous display of postcards, souvenirs and T-shirts showed how much the island had changed.

Past the windmills we finally came to John’s beach where he slept on the sand in his sleeping bag in 1969.  The taverna where he ate was still there although the staff were new and young.  We had two capucchinos and two enormous pieces of baklava.The beach had a few pebbles but the water looked inviting so we took turns to have a swim. We were able to change in the Taverna and use their day beds and umbrellas.

Herculaneum

This morning we spent packing as we did not have to leave the ship until 12.45.  The ship was very quiet as most people had gone ashore on the long trips to Sorrento and Capri.  We finally gathered in the Equinox theatre before going ashore on one of the ship’s life boats.  Then it was into a bus and off to shock, horror, a cameo factory. Once back on the bus we were held up for another half hour!!!!  There were three American ladies who must have been buying out the shop.  They finally appeared looking quite unperturbed.  A few people were muttering that they had spent an hour and a half seeing nothing but finally we were on our way and pulled into a carpark shortly after, at the foot of Mt Vesuvius.  

As the day progressed the mountain became clearer and the huge crater in the middle of it became apparent.  We looked down on Herculaneum from ground level.  The city was covered with molten pyroclastic rock to an average thickness of 16 metres.  Unlike Pompeii, wooden and other organic based materials were carbonized and preserved. There are a number of two-storey buildings and vivid mosaics.  Much of it is still buried below the modern town of Ercolano.

As Vesuvius erupted people rushed to the shoreline on the edge of the city to escape in boats but they were killed by the high temperature of the blazing clouds exploding from the volcano.  Their remains have been found in the boathouses along what was the water’s edge, now about a kilometre from the sea.

Having visited Pompeii in 1998 I enjoyed seeing Herculaneum even more, but then I am absolutely fascinated by the whole story of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Our voyage had come to an end and lived up to all expectations. We would definitely go on another cruise.