An Excursion Into Egypt

In October 2006, my wife Diane and I made a port of call in Alexandria, Egypt, while on a 12-day cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel from Athens, Greece, to Istanbul, Turkey. Ours was the first cruise since the terrorist attacks in September 2001 that was allowed to make overnight excursions to Cairo. Everyone participating got on their assigned buses and then all 13 of them pulled out the port and drove bumper-to-bumper at about 70 miles an hour with police cars leading and following and a plainclothes policeman with a submachinegun on board each. 

Below, the relatively unimpressive modern lighthouse of the port is a reminder that Alexandria was once home to the Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  

Here the vast size of the Great Pyramids, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still exists, is evident by a view of them from the outskirts of the city.

  

Above left, Diane stands in front of the 19th-century Mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo, respectfully attired to enter it. Above right top, an interior view of the main area within the mosque. Above right bottom, a detail of the nearby sprawling 12th-century Citadel of Cairo, constructed by the famed Muslim general Saladin. 

 

Above left, a view from the Citadel across the smoggy sprawl of Cairo toward the Great Pyramids in the suburb of Giza. Above right, a whirling dervish, a type of mystic that achieves ecstasy through a spinning dance, who we had the opportunity to see during a Nile dinner cruise. The real highlight of that night, however, was being seated with and meeting Richard and Laura Allan, with whom we have been close friends ever since! 

Above is the massive Sphinx of Memphis. Our Egyptian guide, Hanan, spoke pretty good English but sometimes got key words confused, as when she described this statue to us: "It is ver-ry heavy ... It weighs 90 pounds!" (Its actual weight is, of course, approximately 90 tons.) 

 

Above left, Diane demonstrates how to "walk like an Egyptian"! (Note that we did not actually see any Egyptians walking like this during our trip.) Above center, Diane and I at the Step Pyramids of Saqqara, which predate the Great Pyramids of Giza. Above right, Diane and some of our traveling companions in one of the temples at Saqqara; in the background with the sign is our local guide Hanan. 

Above the Great Sphinx and one of the Great Pyramids at Giza! Below, what would a visit to Egypt be without a camel ride? I took one at the same location 20 years earlier, when I visited Cairo while stationed with the U.S. Army in what was at that time known as West Germany. 

Two Days In Athens

While working on an article for d-Infinity Online magazine ("Monsters Among Us"), I tracked down the pictures I had taken during the trip my wife Diane and I took to the Mediterranean in 2006. Our first stop ahead of boarding a cruise ship for 12 nights was Athens, where we spent a couple of days, September 26-27, exploring the historic heart of the city. 

One thing that struck me about this trip was how relatively few photos I took, and I probably take anywhere from five to even 10 times as many a day when I travel these days. (I also shot them at a much smaller size than would be the norm for me now, which limits what they can be used for and their viability for print). It is easier, after all, to delete or ignore them later, but it is truly said that one never knows if they will pass the same way again and once you have left a place you might never have a chance to take pictures of it again. 

A highlight for us was a visit to the Acropolis of Athens, site of the Parthenon and other temple structures, which Diane had never before visited and which I had not been to since 1981. 

  Above are three views of the Parthenon, dedicated to goddess Athena Patheneos, patroness and namesake of the city. From the left are a view of the main entryway, Diane in front of renovations that were ongoing while we were there, and one from the base of the rocky hill.  Above are a closeup of the main entrance during a rare and fortuitous break in the crowds and a very touristy one of me in the foreground taken from the ruins of the nearby Roman-era temple.  While the Parthenon and the Acropolis are so associated with each other that people often mistakenly use those terms synonymously, another impressive religious structure on the site is the Erecthyon, above. Its most characteristic feature is a ceremonial porch that has a roof supported by six Caryatid columns, pillars carved in the forms of robed women.   Many of the artifacts excavated on the Acropolis are on display at a small museum there, which bears visiting by anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the site. Shown here is lord Hermes, god of communication among other things. Above left is a view of the Parthenon from the rooftop bar of our hotel. One site I have seen from a distance and wanted to visit every time I have visited Athens but, for a variety of reasons, been unable to is this beautiful 5th century B.C. temple of Hephaestus, god of craftsmen. This is a view of it from the mount of the Acropolis.  Good views of many other interesting things can be viewed from the centrally-located Acropolis. Above left are the ruins of the massive and beautiful Roman-era temple that we explored while in the city. Above right are the remains of the theatre-temple of Dionysus, god of wine, drama, and madness.  A sense for the titanic size of the Roman temple can be seen here, with Diane standing in front of it. Some the inhabitants of the temple ruins sleeping in front of an overturned column capital are a further indicator of the site's monumental scale.  We also spent some time walking around the Syntagma Square area of Athens and visited Greece's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, above left. Above right is one of the Evzone ceremonial soldiers who stands guard in the area.  On the afternoon of our second day in Athens we took a cab to the port of Piraeus and boarded the Norwegian Jewel. A few hours after this picture was taken we sailed westward, to the Peloppenese and Olympia! 

Aegean Odyssey: A Brief Retrosepctive

A big trip like the one my wife and I have just returned home from makes me contemplate, for good reason, the purpose of travel. To me, it is to learn about the world and better understand one's own place in it; to make connections with people from other lands, both natives of the areas visited and fellow travelers; and to share ones' experiences with others, both in person and through venues like this. Ideally, a person will come back from a trip of this sort with new ideas, a new perspective on their old ones, and a reinvigorated sense of purpose. Suffice it to say that we accomplished with our Aegean Odyssey everything we might have expected. 

In the ancient world of the Mediterranean, hospitality and how people treated strangers was extremely important and was, not to put too fine a point on it, integral to the continued existence of civilization itself. Commerce with other lands could not take place if travelers were subjected to theft or violence or were not able to obtain from their journeys things commensurate in value to what they had expended on them. People like our friends Dimitri Kremmydas in Athens and Michael Townsend in Crete may just be mortal people but, in that they invited us into their homes and made our journey more fulfilling, they follow in the steps of paragons like Aeolus, who used his winds to carry travelers on their paths across the wine-dark sea. 

Many other people bear mentioning here and they include friends Richard and Laura Allan, who journeyed from their home in Scotland to spend six wonderful days with us in Santorini, our fourth reunion since we met them on a Nile River cruise in 2006; my friend Brendan Cass, who made monumental efforts to come to Kos Island for just a day-and-a-half so that he could experience it with me; Nathan and Alison Richards and Toni Symonds, who along with Michael Townsend made our time in Crete much more enriching; the staff of the Atlantis Hotel in Santorini; Stamatis Patiniotis at the Asimis Kolaitou Art Gallery and Giorgia at the Lignos Folklore Museum in Santorini; Mary, Voula Mavrea, and the other staff of the Small Village resort on Kos Island; teacher and caretaker Julie, who shared her knowledge of the Hippocrates Garden with us and her friend Dora, an archaeologist who discussed history and mythology with me; and Sophia Stavrianou at the Porfyris Hotel, who provided excellent advice that helped us make the most of our time on the island of Nisyros. Thanks also to Tracie Conner for getting us to the airport on our way out and to Karen Holmes for picking us up there and to Taylor Conner for taking such good care of our cats while we were on the road. And there are undoubtedly other deserving people I may have neglected to mention in this quick recap of our trip and I beg their forgiveness and will be sure to add them as I update it! 

We encountered villains in the course of our travels as well and, while their impact was much less than that of the good people we met, they bear mentioning. These scourges of the Aegean include the swine that lurk at the port of Santorini and other islands and will not answer polite questions while trying to sell overpriced shuttle rides; the many shiftless taxi drivers of Rhodes, who will drive past visitors hauling luggage up the street in favor of giving ride around town to cruise ship passengers; the gypsies who create distractions with their drugged and abused children while their compatriots pick traveler's pockets; and the restaurants that provide substandard service and food to strangers because they do not think they will have to deal with them again or prefer to deal only with those who speak particular languages. Heracles, Theseus, and the other heroes of antiquity would certainly have wreaked a terrible vengeance on them all. 

Many friends followed our journey, commented on it, and provided encouragement to us during it and I would like to thank them for that. Interestingly, a number of friends commented in response to my posts during this trip about how I don't stop working even while on vacation, which points to the fact that of all the things a prolonged trip like this is to me a vacation is not really one of them. Yes, a journey like this can and ideally should have elements of fun and relaxation, but our four-week odyssey through the Aegean was often physically demanding, was expensive, and was attended by elements of uncertainty and hazard. If we just wanted a vacation we could have much more easily, inexpensively, and quickly gone to Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast of Texas, Disney World, or a hundred other places. 

So this trip was much more than any mere vacation could have been, I achieved my goals with it, and, while I am physically exhausted, I have been mentally stimulated -- and am hitting the ground running with an eye to finishing up projects I set aside when we went overseas and to jumping into ones that are exciting and altogether new. And being inspired and invigorated by a trip is, I think, the most someone can expect from it. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 27 (Kos/Athens)

Took an early morning flight from Kos to Athens, checked into the Sofitel at the airport, and spent the afternoon with friend Dimitri Kremmydas discussing everything from culture, politics, and religion to wargaming and learning how to make phyllo dough and spanokopita! 

More to come! 

Aegean Odyssey Day 25 (Nisyros)

Aegean Odyssey Day 18 (Rhodes)

Arrived on Rhodes after an overnight Blue Star ferry from Santorini. No taxis at port and just one overtaxed city bus and, like dozens of other people, we had to drag our luggage up to the main road and then, after getting rudimentary directions, along the irregular sidewalk in the direction of our hotel; very tough on Diane in particular. 

More to come! 

Aegean Odyssey Day 15 (Santorini)

Visited two museums, foot-and-hand-washed laundry in the bathtub, tried to do some writing and updating of my blogs while being plagued throughout the day by bad Internet connection and difficulty keeping the computer powered up, and had a gyro each for first and second dinner. 

After breakfast we walked up through town to the vicinity of the museums I wanted to visit. When we arrived at the Archaeological museum Diane confided that, with only 56 hours until our departure from Santorini, she was "concerned about the laundry" and we both agreed it would be best if she went back to the hotel to work on it. My guess is that she had glanced into the foyer of the museum when we walked past it the day before and recalled that it was dominated by pots, certainly the sort of antiquity she hates the most. 

Archaeological Museum
To say that I was a bit disappointed with the museum is not to diminish the many wonderful things its two halls, configured in an L-shape, contained. It is the only museum I have visited on this trip, however, where I was provided with no brochure or other guiding information, and about half the items were not labeled in any way, leaving visitors to guess at their provenance and somewhat uncertainly figure things out on their own; there did not even appear to be a guidebook available for sale. 


In general, a preponderance of the artifacts dated to the 7th and 8th century B.C. and were from local ancient cemeteries. Certainly the most striking and beautiful of the objects was the lifelike bust of the goddess Aphrodite (above), which still retained much of the pigment that had been used to color her hair. Other things I particularly enjoyed were the ceramic items with depictions of birds eating snakes, a theme that appears to have predominated in the iconography of local grave goods from this period; and some humorous and even somewhat vulgar statuettes that appeared to have been in vogue for a time, such as a satyr mounted on a fat little donkey that almost could have been the model for the one in Shrek. 

I love artifacts like these because of the connections they make for us with the past and the sorts of questions they prompt. How did someone feel about the person they buried this with? What would I want to be buried with? Contemplating these ancient peoples in this way always makes me quite emotional and I hope part of them knows that they are being remembered and mourned anew. 

Santozeum
Located just a half block down the hill from the Archaeological Museum and apparently situated in what had once been a large private residence is the Santozeum, a museum dedicated to full-sized reproductions of frescoes discovered in the ruined city of Akrotiri. Upon entering visitors are provided with a laminated booklet that provides a crash course in Theran wall paintings and which explains the iconography of those on exhibit; there is also a brief video with interviews with the Princeton archaeologists involved with the restoration of the frescoes. One of the most impressive of the works is certainly that depicting the extended sea voyage of a Minoan fleet from the 2nd millennium B.C., which includes representations of four different Bronze Age seaports. As with the nearby Museum of Prehistoric Thira, a visit to the Santozeum complements one to the archaeological dig at Akrotiri and helps make a trip to it complete. 

When I got back to the hotel Diane dumped some soap and two weeks worth of my laundry into the tub and, after letting it soak in hot water for around half an hour, I got in and stamped around on it for about 10 minutes before working each piece a little by hand. Seemed very reminiscent of pictures I have seen of people stomping grapes for wine and made me wonder if anyone would ever discover a fresco at Akrotiri that would get dubbed "Washerwomen of Thera"; asked Diane to take a picture for posterity but she declined. Then, as I wrung out each piece Diane rinsed it in the sink, wrung it out again, and then found a place to hang it on one of our two balconies. I don't think it was too obtrusive but, suffice it to say, the hotel won't be using any pictures of it taken this afternoon for its new brochure. 

Headed out to find somewhere casual to eat and, after wandering around lower Fira a little, rejected one place because it looked "too hot" and another probable-looking establishment simply because it was named "Meat Corner." Finally stopped at a gyros shop called McDaniel's Snack Bar, where Diane had a pork gyros and I had a lamb kebab pita, both good, along with a couple of cans of Coke Light (hours later I was hungry again and wandered a few streets down to Nick the Grill, where I had a delicious lamb gyro that had a nice hot blob of fat in it). 

Watched the sun set over the caldera from our terrace while the crowds milled below and cheered as it descended beneath the horizon, a tradition that irritates Diane (and which is, admittedly, a little strange; for time immemorial people have celebrated the rising of the sun and even gone to great pains to ensure it would happen, and this is certainly a new spin on that). Then, I went downstairs to the "Colonial Room" and ordered a cup of coffee. I chatted with the barman, Giorgio from Athens, while he went through the prolonged process and learned he was working at the hotel for the season and very much liked Santorini. 

"There are many islands," Giorgio said. "There is only one Santorini." 

Eating and Drinking in Greece

This is an ongoing entry about my experiences with food and drink in Greece, including the many things I have been happily surprised by and the handful I have been disappointed with. And, while I like Greek food, I know that the handful of things I am familiar with represent just a small part of what the country has to offer and am endeavoring to try as many other things as possible. Tavernas are the Greek counterparts to German gasthauses and French cafes and are the ideal places to get great food at affordable prices. Bakeries and grocery stores are also good places to purchase local delicacies, to reduce the number of meals you end up eating out, and to allow you to do some picnicking. 

* How much to tip is often not clear but apparently 10% is appropriate in Greece and at the high end of what people tend to give (although less does seem to be the norm in some areas, such as Crete). 

* Think twice about tavernas and other establishments that cater to a specific non-Greek ethnic or linguistic group if you are not part of it! Places that specialize in the needs of German customers, for example, are so enamored with serving what they clearly consider to be a superior people that they are notoriously indifferent to the needs of other patrons. This phenomena is almost certainly what caused us to have negative experiences at Arkhado Restaurant in Rethymno, Crete, on Day 6 of our journey and at Naoussa Restaurant in Fira, Santorini. 

* Supermarkets or open-air markets in villages, towns, and cities can be great places to pick up olives, cheese, produce, bread, wine, beer, and other items to eat wherever you are staying or in some idyllic spot you are visiting. 

* Check out bakeries for local delicacies of various sorts, especially for breakfast items or meals on the go. "Ask for kaltsounia," my friend Dimitri Kremmydas told me. "And see if they have local pies. Koulouri with sousami is also great with some cheese in the morning. Pies, especially with greens are big in Crete."

* It is traditional for tavernas to provide complimentary desert at the end of a meal, almost always watermelon and/or other fruit, but sometimes ice cream or yogurt, and about half the time raki, a local distilled liquor. The most sumptuous bonus spread of this sort I have thus far had was at Zisi's in Rethymno, Crete, and appears below; it included a flask with three shots of raki, yogurt with candied pumpkin, honeydew melon, and watermelon. 

* If you are planning on eating gyros, look at the meat on the rotating spit to see how full it is! If it is slim then you may get smaller, drier pieces of meat then is optimum. 

* Get a male waiter if you can! Yes, I know, what a terrible and sexist thing thing for me to say. Professional table service is more traditionally performed by men in Greece, however, and young female waitresses are much more likely to be dull-witted younger daughters who are at loose ends for the summer and being put to work at their family's establishments. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 6

RETHYMNO, CRETE -- Woke up around 8 a.m. after sleeping about 11 hours. Calves were so stiff I could hardly walk. Self examination revealed the blister on my left foot was worse than ever. Hips, feet, arms, and shoulders, however, which all hurt badly after our return from Samaria Gorge last night, were all OK, and with proper care I will recover quickly. Diane is not doing so well and with here injured knee will likely be in bed most of the day. 

Breakfasted on pita bread, feta cheese, olives, and two cups of coffee. Took a couple of dips in the pool and sat for awhile in the jacuzzi, where I found some jets to work my calve muscles. Then, made appoints for hour-long full-body massages for both of us. 

Went to the mini-mart at the resort to get Diane provisions for the day and stopped at the front desk to ask where I might find three local dishes my friend Dimitri had recommended -- stifado, burburistus, and kokoresti -- which I was pretty sure I would not find in a touristy taverna. After the pro forma delay in helping me, the front desk clerk warmed at little at my question and recommended a taverna called Zisi's, which he said was about a kilometer down the road and were he was pretty sure I could find at least one of those items. I am a pretty good judge of distance and was starting to think I had somehow missed the place until I had gone about a mile and saw it just ahead of me (and a check online later revealed it to be about 1,500 meters). It was worth the walk, however, and a very pleasant taverna that had one of the more obscure items on my list, burburistus, which I promptly ordered, to the waiter's obvious surprise and amusement. It is, in short, a Greek version of escargot, but cooked in olive oil and not butter and much more generous in it portions, coming with three dozen snails rather than the more effete French six (an image appears at bottom). With toasted bread and a half liter of red wine the tab was just 9.80 Euros -- and then the waiter brought me some honeydew melon and watermelon, a dish of yogurt with candied pumpkin, and a flask of raki with three shots in it! Overall a very pleasant and affordable experience. 

Cut over to the beach on my way back, walked about halfway back along it, and had a dip on the way at a secluded spot where no one could run up and grab my bag without me seeing them approach. (Above top, a view of the shore from the main road through the area of Rethymno we are staying in; above center, a picturesque ruin -- and a fixer-upper that we will use as a the basis of our relocation to Crete?)

Back at the hotel had a one-hour massage and then a some time in the excellent steam room and dry sauna, followed by a dip in the pool. 

Diane and I then went to dinner at the taverna across the street from the hotel, to Arhodiko Restaurant, which is clearly a place that caters to a German clientele and is much less particular in its treatment of people from other lands. I did not have a good feeling about it, but it was close and Diane was still have trouble walking, so we gave it a try, and I had the first bad meal of the trip there. Gyros should have been a safe bet but what I got were tepid, dry, little chips of meat, not the hot, succulent ones I would have hoped for, along with cool fries that I did not try to finish. Diane had the moussaka and said it was good. 

Worked at little at the hotel and then passed out early, probably around 10:30. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 3

RETHYMNO, CRETE -- Long, lingering day made phantasmagoric by heat, lack of sleep, travel, and alcohol. 

Got up early and flew out of Athens on a 7:20 Aegean Air flight to Iraklion, Crete (here is a glimpse of the coast of Attica as we crossed over it and began to fly southeast). Collected our luggage and were picked up by a shuttle service and friendly driver Demetrius, who was chatty but whose English was only marginally better than my non-existent Greek, causing him to give us slightly suspicious sideways glances anytime we referred to our friend Dimitri during the hour-and-15-minute drive from the airport to our hotel (at bottom is a view of the Sea of Crete from a little ways west of Iraklion). 

Room was not ready when we got it so we went for an early lunch and were pleased to discover at the place we stopped that we could get a liter of decent local red wine for 7 Euros! We had that and a couple of mixed grill plates that included gyros, chicken, pork souvlaki, and a lamb chop. Proprietress Maria also provided us with some great information about the local area and gave us a nice complimentary plate of watermelon, oranges, and figs for desert. 

Went back to the hotel and finally got into our room a little before 2 p.m., upon which we promptly passed out for about four hours. We then got up and walked down to the beach, where I bathed in the surf, always loving the opportunity to scrub myself with sand and wash in natural water. 

After that we got dressed and went out to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up choosing Mr. Gyro and met two nice couples of expat Brits who now live in Crete and, after spending a number of hours chatting with them, were left considering relocating here after we decide we have lived in Texas long enough (from bottom left are Alison, Toni, Michael, and Nathan). 

Vocabulary
Figs: Syka
Oranges: Portokali
Watermelon: Karpousi

More to come!