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 Wednesday, September 21, 2022 – Kusadasi and Ephesus

Seabourn Encore approached the dock in pre-dawn darkness, without even a sunrise due to clouds on the horizon.  Our tours today included the Virgin Mary’s House, the ruins of Ephesus, rug weaving demonstrations and a private classical concert for Seabourn on Harbor Road in front of the Great Theater at Ephesus.

Miriam and I were last here in 2008 as part of our Holland America transatlantic cruise.  Since that time the Virgin Mary’s house has been declared a Unesco “World Heritage” site and much development has taken place around the actual house.  The original ruins only went up a few feet above ground and the building that is now there is only 25% original and 75% reconstructed.  The line is clearly visible.  Like many of the sites, no photography is allowed inside the shrine.

After a short visit before most of the hoards of visitors arrived, we headed to the ruins at Ephesus.  Not much has changed except the crowds were even larger.  We walked down through the ruins to the Great Theater and Harbor Road, past the Celcus Library façade.  We were able to discern carvings of the goddess’s  Nike, Medusa and Artemis.  The guide talked about how St Paul did not actually talk in the great Theater but rather in the Jewish Synagogue next to the library.  In ancient times, Ephesus was a large and important seaport with as many as 250,000 residents, but earthquakes and filling of marshlands to combat malaria which covered the city under many feet of debris means the Harbor Road is now miles from the sea.  The site is still only 10 percent excavated, but radar and lidar surveys show extensive ruins buried under the hillsides on both sides of the city.

Celcuk Library

Celcuk Library

Harbor Road in Daytime

Finishing our tour, we headed for a hand knotted silk rug weaving demonstration and sales pitch to buy rugs before we returned by foot through the Grand Bazaar to the ship.

After an early dinner, most of the passengers, including us, boarded buses starting at 6:40 to return to Ephesus and a private classical music concert in front of the Great Theater.  Harbor Road has been walked by St. Paul, Mark Antony and Cleopatra and many other famous historical figures.  Tonight it was lit up with candles and set with tables for us listen to the chamber orchestra as we sipped wine.  To be in that setting walking that same road knowing the amount of history that preceded us was somewhat sobering and exciting at the same time.  The distance into the concert setting was too far for Miriam to walk unaided, so the ship arranged a wheelchair transfer from the gangway to the concert and return.

The concert venue on Harbor Road

The evening was stunning with the setting and the lights, something not to be missed.  Returning to the ship, the ship’s wheelchair was delivered to the wrong port entrance so Miriam walked all the way from the port entrance to the ship, where much of the crew were on hand dockside, singing and dancing to welcome the passengers back from the concert and to join the dance in progress on the pool deck.

 Monday, September 19, 2022 – Patmos

This morning we approached the island of Patmos just as the sun was rising.  Seabourn Encore anchored off the harbor below the Monastery of St. John, perched high above the small town.

Boarding our tour bus we headed first to the “Cave of the Apocalypse” where the Apostle John received his revelation, which was transcribed by his assistant and which became the final book of the New Testament.  The grotto has had a church built around it over the centuries and there is a chapel incorporated around the actual grotto.  Our guide did a creditable job of explaining much of the symbology and metaphors in the Book of Revelation.  We were not told ahead of time about the restrictions on photography at the religious shrines and museums in Greece, so outside pictures were allowed, but no pictures were allowed inside.

After the grotto of the apocalypse we went further up the hill to the Monastery of St. John which was built in the 1100’s.  The monastery is now surrounded by the town of Hora, which has grown over the centuries.  The original papal bull giving ownership of Patmos was on display, with many other artifacts and even the preserved skulls of the founders of the monastery.

Walking back down through the town of Hora we visited a traditional Greek house dating from the 1500’s and occupied up until the 1960’s.  Pretty primitive compared to our american standards.

Returning to the port area we found a taverna and relaxed with tzatziki and calamari washed down with local greek white wine and beer before returning to the ship via local tenders.

Tuesday, September 20, 2022 – Crete

As dawn approached, our ship approached Agios Nikolaos in Crete.  We had a long tour for this day and several of the group decided to opt out, including Miriam.

Going ashore at 0730, we boarded buses for the one hour trip to Iraklion, the site of the Minoan Palace of Knossos.  The ruins were partially excavated in the 1930’s, but most of the site is still underground.  The palace is huge, more than 40,000 square meters and up to 5 stories high.  The throne room has been partially restored.  The palace dates to 2600 BC, but was mostly destroyed in about 1450 BC, with the eruption of the volcano on Santorini, 80 miles away.  The palace was rebuilt, but not occupied after 1100 BC.

The throne room was interesting because the king sat below his subjects and on a stone throne, with a ritual washing basin in front of the throne.

Following the tour of Knossos we headed to Arilithos, a recreation of a typical Greek village of 100 years ago.  Here we toured the various houses and enjoyed a Cretan style lunch while we watched traditional Cretan dancing.

Finally we headed back to the ship after a tour lasting 8 hours and prepared for our next destination, Kusadasi, Turkey and the ruins of Ephesus.  The weather was stormy overnight, but Seabourn Encore was very stable and we did not even notice the wind and waves.

 Athens, Greece – September 17, 2022

We started the day with breakfast on the rooftop restaurant at the Grand Bretagne Hotel.  The temperature had already started to climb and was predicted to be more than 90 degrees.  The three couples gathered in the lobby at 0845 for a planned trip to Delphi.  Unfortunately the tour operator never showed up and we ended up booking a minivan from the hotel concierge.  It is a two+ hour drive to Delphi and upon arrival found out the ADA access was poor for Miriam and the temperature was now 90 degrees.  The museum had a wheelchair which helped, but it was just too hot to really explore the ruins.

Vahkos Restaurant in Delphi

The rugged terrain of Mt Parnassus and the Oracle ruins site

We headed into Delphi and stopped at a delightful restaurant with an open balcony perched on the hillside.  The balcony was shaded and the breeze made it pleasant as we lingered over lunch before the two hour drive back to the hotel.

Arriving at the hotel, we had arranged for our medically observed Covid testing. The nurse comes to your room and after just a few minutes we got our “Negative” test results which they emailed to us and the hotel, so the hotel printed a hardcopy.  We are now good for boarding Seabourn Encore in the morning.

Dinner on a warm Saturday night in Athens was a challenge, everywhere outside was fully booked, so we ended up with a group of 8 in the Winter Garden restaurant in the hotel.  The food and drinks were good, but everyone was ready for some sleep, so we ended up back in the room by 2200.

Athens, Greece – September 18, 2022, Embarkation Day

Miriam and I headed to the rooftop breakfast venue, with more stunning views of the Acropolis.  After a leisurely breakfast we headed back to the roomed and finalized our suitcases for pickup.  We are scheduled to board the Seabourn Encore at 1240 PM and head-out out from the hotel at 1115.  The weather continues clear, sunny and very hot, with 91 degrees predicted as the high for today.  Seabourn Encore is one of the two largest Seabourn ships, with a capacity of 600 guests.

We actually had an early departure from the hotel and arrived at the ship before they were ready to board new guests.  There were about 150 transit passengers already on board.  After a short wait, we were cleared to board at 1130 and went to the Colonnade Restaurant to wait until our suite was ready.  Even the restaurant was not yet open, but we could sit out on the aft deck and have a glass of water while we waited.  The fresh breeze and shade made for a pleasant afternoon while we eventually had a light lunch.  Our suites were ready by 1400, so we had plenty of time to explore the ship before departure.

The ship is full, and guests continued to arrive all afternoon.  Departure is set for 1900, since it is only 177 NM to our first stop, the island of Patmos, where we will get a chance to visit the monastery of St. John.  Patmos is where the Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation.

The group of eight gathered at the Keller Grill for dinner as the Seabourn Encore departed Piraeus on time for Patmos.

 Greek Isles September 2022

After a two year delay due to the Covid pandemic, we are finally in the air and headed to Athens.  After two days in Athens, with a trip to the Oracle at Delphi, we board Seabourn Encore for a two week voyage touching many of the famous Greek Isles and several stops on the Turkish coast, including Istanbul.

We are joined on this cruise by three other couples from three separate orbits in our lives.  One couple from Virginia we met on our first Seabourn cruise to Antarctica, one from Houston, Texas we met during the build and delivery and Alaska cruises on our Selene trawler and one from Bellevue we have known for more than 30 years through our church membership.  It is a diverse group, but one that should have a lot of fun as we enjoy the shoulder season weather in the Greek Isles.

The weather is reported to be 90 degrees when we land in Athens, but that is after a 6 hour layover in London Heathrow.  The connecting flight is purported to be full.

After takeoff, we proceeded right to 39000 feet  and the meal service started.  Miriam indulged on the mushroom ravioli and Patrick had the braised short ribs.  After dinner and drinks we all retired for a few hours sleep before our arrival in London Heathrow before 0700.

The wheelchair service lacked something when we arrived, we had to wait until everyone had disembarked and then stood in long lines with no fast track, until we said something.  Security was tighter than SEA, and it took some time to get Miriam through and into the British Airways First lounge.

Kent and Melody were unable to join us, they were in the business lounge, also nice.

The lounges were busy, the main terminal was very crowded and few masks were seen.  Apparently the pandemic is over in the UK.

After a 6 hour wait we finally headed to the gate for the Athens flight, now delayed by 30 minutes.  After boarding and with the doors closed we were informed by the pilot of an additional 30 minute delay due to a French Air Traffic Control strike which affected all European flights.  We finally departed from the gate more than one hour late for the 4 hour flight to Athens.  With the 2 hour time zone change we did not land until nearly 9 PM.  After getting our bags and exiting baggage claim the driver was waiting and we arrived at the hotel at 10PM, finding that Seabourn had screwed up the room reservation, which took phone calls to Seattle to straighten out.

Frank and Cathy were in the lobby and we joined them for a late drink at the rooftop bar/restaurant with spectacular views of the Parthenon, lit with impressive lights.  The sky was clear and the temperature still warm.

Kent and Melody, meanwhile were still in London, hit with the same ATC strike issues as us.  We don’t know what time they will arrive.