This is the first part of the final leg of our trip: Katakolon (Olympia) Greece, Athens Greece, Mykonos Greece, and Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey, Tempuratures ranged from high 60’s to a high of 75 in Turkey.
This leg of the trip started once again in Civitavecchia. This is where additional friends joined the trip. We were very happy to greet Rosy and Al, Julie, and Pat and Jimmie. We left Civitavecchia on 4/29. The next full day we were at sea on our way to Katakolon (Olympia) Greece. This was a relaxing day at sea. The weather was sunny and warm and I spent part of the afternoon on our veranda cloud watching. I love looking at the clouds. It reminds me of my parents and I could feel their presence and that fills me with well being.
Our excursion in Olympia was to the Magna Grecia Olive Farm. Got a full education on olive growing and the products made from the olives. We had “tastings” of olives, olive oils, and jellies. Everything was delicious. We had a traditional lunch with music and traditional dancing. We saw a 1000 year old olive tree! Good thing they would ship to the US because we bought several bottles of olive oil, jellies, and olive oil shampoo and lotions. a great day from sunrise to sunset!
Athens was a 2 day stop. Day 1 Jimmie had arranged a private tour for us so that we could see as much as we could at our own pace. The Acropolis is a rocky hill in the center of Athens! In 1975 the Greek government began an effort to restore the Parthenon and Acropolis structures. The really important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis dedicated to the goddess Athena. Herodes Theatre is on the way up the slopes to the Parthenon. This walk is not for anyone with knee or ankle problems. The climb up is steep and slick rocks. This could be how the expression “you’re on a slippery slope” started!! The Acropolis museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and surrounding slopes. The museum is incredible. The top floor was designed on the “same axis as the Parthenon and has the identical cardinal orientation ” (Wikipedia). In other words, it has the same dimensions to display the entire frieze of the temple. With all of the windows and the elevation you can glance out and see the acropolis with the Parthenon in plain view. There are many sculptures on display. This was quite a day and ended with my decade changing birthday celebration! As I said to friends there is something to be said for celebrating a big birthday in an ancient city…EVERYTHING is older than I am!!
The 2nd day in Athens we took another private tour with Rosy and Al, Julie, and Jimmie and Pat. This one was a “foodie” tour of the old city. This was a walking tour and took us for baklava, olive oils, greek coffee, a stop at Miran’s Charcuterie and then another stop for slovaki and a beer. Needless to say we were not interested in having much for dinner. An observation: Athens is loaded with graffiti. Some of it is full sides of buildings and very well done. Perhaps the artist was commissioned to do it. But there is plenty of the usual looking graffiti which can really take away from what you are looking at. Another thing in Old Town was a section of a street with umbrellas hanging! I saw umbrellas hanging in Paris and now seeing umbrellas here, I decided to research this when I got home to see if there was any correlation. My brother and sister-in-law had been in Puerto Rico while I was away and they too saw an umbrella display. I researched this and found out about The Umbrella Sky Project which is an art installation by a Portuguese artist Patricia Cunha. These art installations have been spreading color and joy and love in streets around the world since 2011. I am assuming Athens was part of it.
Next stop Mykonos. We did lots of walking around in Mykonos and investigated most of the shops. We had a terrific lunch looking out at the water. The octopus salad was amazing. I found lots of treasures to bring home and I will enjoy my new jewelry! Tom and Al enjoyed their time too sitting on a seaside bench while Rosy, Julie and I shopped. I love how our husbands enjoy each other’s company.
Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey. This was one of my favorite stops. The first part of our excursion took us to The House of The Virgin Mary. It is said that Mary spent the last years of her life here. We were lucky enough to be able to go to mass. I felt very spiritual and connected here. When we shared the sign of peace with each other we had tears in our eyes. After the mass we wrote a note and put it in the wall of intentions. I asked to protect my family and for peace for my family and the world.
From here we went on to the ruins of Ephesus. This was totally incredible. There is just so much history in this part of the world. Some of the things you see fills you with awe when you think about how much was accomplished. The Great Theater here is amazing. It was constructed in the Hellenistic period and was remodeled many times in the Roman period. It is the largest theater in the Asia Minor. There are 24,000 seats and 1,000 standing places. There are still concerts in the ruins. Many are at the Library. One of the places that gave us a good laugh was the “public toilets”. Imagine all these men sitting around sharing the news of the day. It is said that slaves “warmed” the seats! We all decided we’d never be able to go! There are running competitions between the Greeks and the Turks as to who was responsible for so many of the names of things and expressions we all use today. One that our guide shared on our tour was the story was how when Cleopatra and Mark Anthony came to Ephesus “the red wine would flow”…and so began the expression putting out the RED CARPET for special events. The journey will continue to Rhodes, Crete and Naples in my next blog.
How To Wow Now 
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