Greetings from Greece

RUINS ... HISTORY ... MORE NEW FRIENDS ... WINE

What a perfect first shore day for us! We docked at 7:30 Sept 29 in the small Greek town of Katakolon. As the cruise ship gateway to Ancient Olympia, its existence relies solely in the tourist trade, and the massive cruise ships seem to dwarf the two streets that are lined exclusively with shops for passengers.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, instead of booking a tour off the boat, I had researched a local business and organised for a car to meet us at the dock. Our new Aussie friends Jenny and Mark joined us and made the trip totally affordable, at a cost of €160 instead of a similar deal for $US799! We were off the boat early, and on the road to Ancient Olympia at 8:20, well before a lot of the groups (Although there were still swathes of tourists there already when we arrived around 9:00am.)

The light was lovely, though I'm still really only managing to capture snapshots as opposed to making any photos. It wasn't too hot either, and we all enjoyed the historic significance of being  at Olympia. A visit to the museum afterwards proved what clever and creative people the ancient Greeks were. The artefacts were interesting even to a non-museum person like me. 

Our driver Maria then suggested we visit a local winery, the Olympia Land Estate. What a treat that turned out to be! A small boutique winery only 7 years old, and although well set up to serve the tourist, it maintained a sense of authenticity and intimacy. After an explanation and tour, we sat down to a tasting and a delicious tasting plate, all from the gardens of the winery. All 5 wines were delicious and resulted in purchases...

(As a side note, we are not meant to bring wine on board to imbibe during the journey. Muggins me pulled my bottle out when boarding knowing it would be stowed until the end of the cruise. My ballsy mother let hers go through the X-ray machine, and brought it back to the room undetected!)

We were then dropped in the small town of Olympia for shopping. Olympia basically closes from late October until early April when the cruise ships are no longer around. The shops were delightfully touristy, but we decided to sit down for some lunch even though I know both Mum and I would have happily shopped on. We ordered Greek salads, and we're very happy with them. Yum!

It was then back to Katakolon in the taxi. We were wrapt to have free wifi in the taxi, and probably spent too much time looking at our screens than out the windows! The landscape was nothing special though, and after noting the similarities and differences with home, we all went back to getting our digital fixes. It was totally the best idea for us to go the private route on this day. We loved our driver and the flexibility she afforded us, and tipped her accordingly. 

I then spent 45 mins in the township by myself looking for phots, before returning to the ship for. 3:30 departure. 

 It's now 9:15 Greek Time; already my birthday in NZ... Not sure how I feel about that! But we have a few things planned to mark the auspicious occasion... And I'm sure there will be tales to tell tomorrow...

In Cruise Mode

CRUISING ... CONNECTING ... FAMILIARISING ... ENJOYING!

I lost a partially composed blog post yesterday, annoying, and will now not post this until at least tomorrow. Internet in board is exorbitantly priced and I have already used a fifth of my US$100 package, so I'm going to try and be patient about posting things until on shore and in free wifi areas. And I have to curb my social media habit for the next three weeks :P

Mum and I are well into cruise mode... I absolutely love it! When I first mentioned to at particular  person that I was going on a cruise, they said "isn't that just for old people?" Well yes, there are some well seasoned folk in board, but the age range is very diverse. The Noordam is beautiful, quite modern and new, and quite glamorous. The food is awesome, and of course all prepaid; just drinks to pay for on board. I'm not thinking about what is being charged to my account, you only live once and I am not going to scrimp on this experience.

Our room is better than I had anticipated, and I'm so glad we upgraded to have a small verandah. It was amazing sitting out there in my PJs this morning watching the sun rise over the Italian coast, cruising past Mt Stromboli complete with its plume of smoke, and sailing through the Straights of Messina at midday. It was calm sailing till late aftn, when we got a definite roll on in the more open sea, but it seems to have settled again now we are in bed. 

Because today has been an 'At Sea' day, we spent some time familiarising ourselves with the ship. There's a lot of it too explore! We've also taken time to look at the onshore excursions and decide which stops we will book tours for and which we will explore by ourselves. We have booked our Athens and Ephesus experiences, and will confirm more as the cruise progresses. Tomorrow we have our first docking at Katakolon, and instead of booking with the cruise, we've arranged our own transport to the ancient site of Olympia through an ebook I purchased prior to leaving; 'Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports'. It's awesome because you can link right through to websites, it is full of specific local knowledge and tips, and has excellent, current maps. A quick email to a recommended taxi company this morning and all organised by 2pm. And at a fraction of the cost of a similar tour via the company.

Aside from the joys of the cruise experience, I've loved meeting heaps of new people. I had 'met' Jan on Facebook (this cruise had its own page) prior to the cruise, and have loved getting to know her and her husband Tom over the last couple of days. We have organised our trip into Olympia tomorrow in conjunction with an Australian couple we met this morning, and tonight we dined with another Kiwi couple we met earlier today. All wonderful people. I'm loving collecting new friends 😊.

When in Rome

TOURISTS ... VATICAN ... TOURISTS ... PIZZA

Today mum and I did what all good tourists in Rome do, and left 'Italy' to visit the Vatican City.

Us and all the other tourists in the world. Or so it seemed. 

We decided to do an organised tour for our first up adventure; it just seemed sensible with such a short timeframe and not having gotten our bearings yet. So we were collected from our hotel at 7:45 and bussed into the Vatican City. Joining a group of about 25 others, our guide Fabio lead us past an enormous line of people not in a tour, to get us into the area in pretty good time. However it did seem like everyone else was already there. 

This was my second time visiting the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. They are magnificent, and both Mum and I appreciated the commentary from our guide. Appeals to our sense of history and adds to the useless? facts file. Some of the artefacts provided a visual memory from my previous visit ( 17 years ago) and I found new wonderment in others.

What was markedly different however, was the sheer volume of tourists. I do not recall this at all from last time, and I do feel that the constant crowds detracted from the experience of viewing in a Museum. When we got to the Sistine Chapel, it truly was like a cattle yard, with guards yelling and ushering you on and  into the centre, and not a minute to stop and really consider the wonderment of the place. (And as an aside, you dickheads who think it is clever to take photos (not allowed in the Sistine Chapel) from your iPhone as you hide it by your waist, show some respect; your photo will be crap and you can rip a better one off the internet.)

St Peters Basilica was also overrun by tourists (a fellow group member commented to me at he felt like a fish swimming with a million other fish) but because it is so enormous, it didn't feel quite as cloyingly close. What an amazing building... So much to look at and an incredible architectural and artistic example of what creative humans can achieve, and without the technology of the modern age.

I took some photos on my iPhone today to post here, (seeing as I'm shooting in RAW on my real camera and can't download) but I can't seem to connect the phone to the hotel network, so again I have borrowed some off Mum. The last ones I took were of our second meal here, caprese salad and authentic pizza... So delicious. But sadly can't show the pics just yet.

Now it's a rest at the hotel before getting sorted for our cruise embarkation tomorrow. Who've thought that after only one day suitcases would, need re organising lol. Just the small matter of ensuring our prepaid transfer gets the message that we are at a different hotel... And she'll be right.

Plane Tired!

LONG HOURS ... InterNOT ... LEAKS ... REST

6:30am Rome time, Thursday morning, and after a long lie (though broken sleep) I'm up and ready for the first real day of exploring. The Internet has been tenuous through the the trip so far; unavailable from out terminal in Melbourne, and too slow to load anything for the majority of our time in Dubai. Here at our hotel in Rome, it drops off continually, and I am having to have my second go at a blog post  because the one I wrote upon arrival disappeared! Not that I am defining our trip by my connectivity, but I am a self-confessed social media freak, and I do, therefore, miss it!

Our plane journey was uneventful though very long. Total travel time was in excess of 30 hours, about 21 of those in the air. Watched 4 movies and did manage some sleep, but both Mum and I were super glad to touch down in Rome yesterday at about 1:45pm, 30 mins later than scheduled. This could have been one reason why it was difficult to find our transfer company, the other could be that I was looking for FOTHERGILL  on a board, not LYNN  squeezed in between two other names. Anyway, we had an unofficial tour of parts of Rome we might not see again on the hour long trip to our hotel. 

On arrival, we were told that there had been a storm overnight, and our room had been flooded. There were no more available rooms so we were transferred to a neighbouring hotel, which was apparently a step up, so all good. (Except many for the fact the room was configured to one large bed, as opposed to twins... Love my Mum,  maybe not that much... And despite a promise to remedy, we did end up sleeping quite successfully in our own spaces!)

After a most welcome shower, we meandered a nearby street for the most perfect start to our Italian experience, sitting outside on a temperate evening eating porcini fettuccine (me) and aubergine parmagiana (Ma), waited on by typically enthusiastic Italians, before returning for a much anticipated horizontal sleep.

Today we are doing a prebooked Vatican tour, something easy for the first day. 

Only got iPad photos today... In time I will download some from the camera to share. For now, Arrevederci, we're off the breakfast.

PS a quick addition for Mums camera, of me and the waiter hehe. I have just remembered that I can't upload RAW files from my camera to the iPad so will have to stick to snapshots on here :)

All Set!

REMEMBERING … WAITING … THINKING …  FAREWELLING

It's time! Online check-in, boarding passes printed even, and also, movies researched and selected in my mind. Batteries charged, passport packed and bags set to go. I'm pretty sure I have remembered everything... Now I just wait for my lovely sister-in-law to pick me up for the ride to the airport.

Being at work only this morning already seems ages past. My brain is well into holiday mode!

Last thing to do will be to feed these two lovely fellows here, who are being left in the trusty hands of my lovely dog sitters. I am so grateful that they are being cared for at home.

See you my boys, don't miss me too much! 

Almost Organised

PACKING … CHECKING … CLEANING …  PLANNING

Three sleeps to go, and with my early celebrations for my 50th done and dusted, I can now concentrate solely on our departure on Wednesday. Well in between work of course!
I have never been very good at packing; I'm forever taking too much. Whilst I am well under Emirates 30kg limit, I'm 2.5 over my goal of 20kg…  I thought I had improved, but with 6 formal nights on the boat, it was important to pack dressier stuff that you perhaps wouldn't normally take on holiday. I tried really hard to restrict myself to one pair of heels, but this morning "had to" throw in an extra pair… I also have a beautiful blue dress which I almost decided to leave behind, but then when I tried it on again it is just so pretty, and I don't actually have a lot of opportunities to wear it, so what the heck, it's in. It might even make an appearance on my real birthday.
Clearly no travel photos to share yet, so I'll leave you with a photo of The Blue Dress That Made The Suitcase, (from my graduation earlier in the year) and pic of me and my parents from yesterday's celebrations. I can't wait to get dressed up with my Mum! She knows how to rock a good look.

 

PS I've added a few links etc. over there on the right for those who want to follow via email, or to check out my Instagram or Track my Tour as we go :)

Ten Days and Counting!

ANTICIPATION … ORGANISATION … RESEARCH … DISCERNMENT

A friend asked me yesterday if I was going to have 'time' when I was away to blog about my travels… I can't imagine a better way for someone like me, who loves writing, photography and social media, to spend some of me time on a cruise!
I stole the idea of using a 'five words or less' description to start each blog post, from a page she recommended - thanks Lisa!
In typical "Lynn Fashion" I've had lists on the go, and am pretty much on track with my schedule. One of today's 'jobs' is to spend a bit more time researching the ports we will be visiting, and making note of the places I definitely want to see. Hopefully my Mum is doing the same!
We begin in Rome, with an extra day there before our cruise departs. I have been to Rome before, Mum has not. I was thinking maybe on that first day we should attack the Vatican. Then when we return with the cruise, do the Colosseum/Roman Ruins/Spanish Stairs etc. If anyone else has been recently and has some advice for this, please leave a comment. For example, I have heard of people making a 'tour group' to save queueing.
I've also spent some time this weekend organising my camera equipment - clearing memory cards, stashing spare ones so I'm never without, deciding what to take and what to leave… While the trip for me is primarily about spending time with my Mum as we visit these awesome places, so much of it is also about capturing my memories in pixels!
But for today, the only image I am including is this one of the route we will be taking. Now on to my real job of the moment… that research of each stop.