6/25 Trapani and Segesta, Sicily

Day 6 – Trapani, Sicily

Another lovely morning as our ship pulls into harbor at Trapani, on the northwest coast of Sicily. We quickly board the buses for the inland town of Segesta, where a splendid Greek temple, begun in 424 bc, stands sentinal.

A five-minute bus ride above the temple is a lovely amphitheater, dating from the same period, overlooking a pastoral landscape. Our guide, Smora, sings something (an anthem; an opera aria?) in Greek and we can all hear her beautifully. It clearly makes the point that the acoustics are stunning! There are many there besides our group and the applause was unanimous! How did they know about acoustics back then?

Lunch is off the boat at a charming spot along the beach.

We do a quick walking tour of downtown Trapani, then re-board the boat for a 4:15 departure toward Naples and Pompeii.

John remembers about today:

We notice that it starts with bigger rolls overnight and much of the early morning. For much of our trip the water has been very smooth. There are longer, deeper rolls in the sea. We're in rougher seas than we have seen before now. Anyway, it's rolley. We get back on schedule and it’s still rolley (9:50 pm between Trapani and Messina). We are in Italian waters; they drive on the right side of the road. As usual, we sail in the afternoon, arrive around breakfast.

Trapani is different because the land around it is so different. Enormous peaks, hardly mountains, but significant heights compared with where we’ve been before. The harbor, again, is great. There are two exits: one for commercial vessels such as ours, but another for smaller craft. Boats here are small boats, only one major yacht, some ferries. It is a working harbor. We dock on the side with the only working gangplank without issue. It’s still hanging out to the side, like a broken wing.

We arrive about breakfast. We board, then got off the bus. Because of a local antique car race, we know it will be unlikely to get to the mountain town. There are high ridges, somewhat like Tuscany, where we lived for a week in Montepulciano. Coaches are available, but the timing is tight. A delegation of nine people comes on board to clear us for disembarkation. There is a fair amount of diplomacy involved, but we are off the ship in good time.

We sit on the bus for 50 minutes inland, from Trapani to Segesta, a truly dramatic ruin in remarkable shape. All of its columns and all of its crossbars are in place after nearly 2500 years. The area is one that has earthquakes, but none has shaken these stones. Today it was spectacular against a crystal-blue sky that would have done San Francisco proud. The panorama is one of deep valleys and high mountains with dramatic clouds clinging to the tops. The temple is in a relatively low-level place; there were areas higher than it that were the sites of urban habitation. There is a spectacular amphitheater, a mile’s drive above the temple, what an incredible surprise! Built about the same time as the temple, it commands a wonderful view of a very deep valley with an expansive vista. Several of the members of our party climb up and down, but we take the bus out of concern that we’d miss the return bus.

On top of the site, there is extensive restoration taking place of another site. We have lunch off the boat. Our tour guide was clearly a gourmand, describing the meal we were likely to enjoy and, indeed, we did. A full meal that people would probably have eaten more, but most expected many more courses, so we quit and were a little surprised when the meal did, too.

There is a World War II gun placement and a stunning array of decaying wooden boats.

6/24 - Malta

What a spectacular country! We visit three wonderful places in the capital city Valletta during the morning. First stop is the archeological museum.

Fertility was a big thing with Maltans in the pre-historic age and we see numerous strange statues, of various sizes, of what may have been androgenous people. Huge-hipped, they resembled women in their lower halves, but they had the upper bodies of men. Wow! They certainly did know how to portray women as we saw one statuette of a female with breasts sagging below her waist.

After cherishing the ancient sign of eternal life, as etched in stone to the right, several of us look for jewelry and other souvenirs that portray this symbol. Until one of our group points to a fire hose sign, exactly the same symbol!

Click here to see more Malta photos.

The second visit is to the Co-Cathedral Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist. Unbelievable! It took them only five years to construct the outside, but one hundred years to carve the incredible inside. Do look at the photos. They have two splendid Caravaggio paintings which are never permitted to be displayed outside the cathedral. Sorry, no photographs were allowed in that gallery.

The floor is all tomb-tops of various people. (I presume all priests who lived and worked there, but that may not be true.) Those tombs were frequently adorned with elaborately arranged skeletons!

Third stop is the Palace of the Magistrate of the city,  priests of the Order of St. John, who all displayed the eight-pointed Maltese star on their chests. They have elegant staterooms and a room full of exquisite tapestries.

We return to the ship for lunch, then re-board the buses for the short ride to the Tarxien temple, a very early temple (3600 bc – 2400 bc) and very interesting. Right in the middle of a suburb, it is well-cared for but not like the other temple we visit. It has no cover, the site is hot, sunny and dusty (remember, all the best art pieces are at the museum we visited this morning.)

The Blue Lagoon from a great height above it

Hagar Qim

We then go further out into the country, stopping to take photos of the Blue Lagoon left (spectacular!) and then a few minutes further to the Hagar Qim temple. Much more carefully restored, with a huge tent covering the ruins and an elaborate visitor center (2/3 funded by EU money). We are told the work had had to be completed on time or the money needed to be given back to the EU. Needless to say, it is complete and beautiful.

We return to the ship and are watching the crew ready it for departure, when we notice the crew seems to be having trouble with the gangplank. As one of the workers fussed with the end of it, the gangplank suddenly gives way and pitches him into the narrow gap of seawater between the boat and the dock.

Fortunately, in only a few seconds we see him swimming to where there was a ladder and he is able to get out. We expect to hear ambulance sirens, but after the ship’s doctor braces his neck sand placed a big bandage on his chin, they put him on a body board and carry him back onto the boat. The captain later announced that, though he got bunged up a bit, he was going to be fine and would be back at work. We see him at work a few days later and are reassured that he really is ok.

Dinner is with the Yale group led by Gordon Turnbull, a delightful evening.

6/23 Valletta, Malta Harbor, evening arrival

Malta is marvelous! We hadn’t understood why the captain wanted to be sure all lectures were finished so we could be on deck when we docked at Valletta, but we quickly figured out why. The harbor is splendid!

Our arrival in Valletta photos are here.

We arrive about 5,taking a little while to get docked and get the gangplank in place, then we're free to wander on our own. When asked by what hour we needed to return to the ship, cruise director John said simply, "by the time the tours leave at 8:30 tomorrow morning."

Needless to say, we're back aboard well before the next tours began!

For some reason, Valletta's designers felt there was better security in making their streets in the form of a giant grid (I would have thought a more random design would prevent invasions, but what do I know?)

Anyway, the streets are laid in very easy to maneuver rectangles and squares. The only hard part is that it's all on a big hill. Once we finally get oriented, we climb and climb and climb!

During our day at sea we were treated with several lectures by superb speakers. Call me if you're interested in getting the names of the lecturers and their affiliations.

Coincidentally, one of the people John works with is in Malta for his semi-annual board meeting there and he is able to join us for a drink at one of the main squares. Awesome!

6/22 Pylos - Nestor's Palace and Fortress of Methoni

Outside temperature at 8:00 is 70. We dock at the Bay of Navarino (remember Guns of Navarone?) on Greece's western coast. We breakfast early on the 5^th deck outside buffet, sitting with two of our Greek guides. It's off-putting to sit down and the other two people at your table continue speaking in their foreign language, even though you know they are both fluent in English.

In the photo to the right, you can see the captain out on his little wing directing and driving the connection with the dock. The three buses wait for us.

We board the buses heading to Nestor’s Palace, some half-hour away on very narrow, winding, steep roads. Odysseus didn’t visit Nestor’s palace, but his son Telemachus did. I recall that Nestor also had a role  in the Iliad, but can't remember his exact place. The palace is huge and the beehive-shaped burial vault fascinating.

Left, the fireplace in Nestor's palace. There was originally a huge hole in the ceiling directly above the fireplace and it was obviously big enough to cook some awesome meals!

This archaeological site had an interesting, gently sloped roof over it, with wide-open sides. Compare with Troy's arching sail of a ceiling and the soaring tent we will see on Malta.

Our guide for the palace is Jack Davis, the archeologist who had unearthed the site, and Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the largest overseas American research institution. He is an authority in the prehistory of Greece and the Balkans. His wife, Sharon Stocker, leads the other half of our group and is equally well-qualified.

The story of the ruins is interesting: until about 1200 bc (the Odyssey, written in about 800 bc, recounting a story that supposedly took place in about 1250 bc). Up until its demise, the palace seems to have remained intact. But whatever happened to kill or cause the inhabitants to move, the site was never reclaimed, despite its apparent physical command of the area surrounding it. It was simply abandoned. Strange!

More photos are available here.

To the right is the beehive tomb that was probably used by the entire royal family. They used a stone trough to pile the bones of those who had previously died and whose flesh had disappeared. Apparently there were the bones of many people in that trough. There probably had once been a great deal of treasure there, too, but that was long gone.

We re-board the buses and return through Pylos to the old, but not ancient, fortress we had seen as our boat neared town earlier. This is the Venetian fortress of Methoni, a fascinating fortress reinvented to protect its inhabitants from ammunition sparked by gunfire.

Our guide, Smaro, carefully describes the defensive tactics: very thick walls, angled outward near the bottom, built with varying types of rocks and bricks for greatest support, bulwarks extending so the main gate could be protected from the sides. It is surrounded by a moat-like trench, probably left dry, but helpful in slowing the enemy’s advance. Fortress pictures are here.

We return to the boat for a fascinating lecture by Diane Ahl, on “Man is the Measure of All Things: The Male Ideal in Greek Art.” It is interesting to hear her comments on the image of young, male, idealized images. She has evidence, in the form of images on a pot, of men working naked in a bronze furnace area. There is some disagreement among the group about the wisdom of working naked among molten metal, but the evidence was on her side.

John remembers:

Entering the harbor. Not like yesterday: we first saw a huge rusted shape of a ship in drydock . Today was very calm in the protected harbor, and we were the only cruise ship there. This felt like a true Mediterranean town. When we approached in the early morning it was only a dark shadow. We were told there was a lot to get done today. We’re on a schedule. We had just a few hours there. We knew we needed to get back on the buses. It was fascinating driving through the flatlands. There is a big hotel complex here, that we didn’t see, but our guide spoke about. We only saw one hole of the golfcourse, but of course it was green. The guide talked about disputes concerning the water table and the resort’s excessive water needs. They do seem to be trying to be good citizens. 

Then we drove up and up and up. The guide commented on the  “commanding views” of the harbor, only useful to ancient people, to plan their defenses and see their enemy coming from afar. There was a clear understanding that this was a reason for Nestor to live here. Not very close to the sea but a perfect vantage point.

The winged lion was Venice's symbol

The great beehive tomb was built straight out from the palace. In modern times it was covered by currant drying areas. And 90% those currant drying areas signified ancient tombs. They walked us up; they explained the where-for and why-for. To be recreating it , oin tombs of what is there is today. Unrecognizable! Earthquake territory river nearby there weren’t olive trees there then it took a fair amount of imagining to see this notion that it was a tremendous number of years that this dynasty thrived; yes, it fell, but no one knows why. There was a notion, modern, to resuscitate the ancient recipes for scented and medicinal oils to be sold in the nearby spa.

The castle and ramparts were highlights, as was the guide. She was awesome!

We enjoyed the departure from the beautiful harbor of Navarone and as we got underway Kathy enjoyed a  pedicure. Funny nail colors, but sweet staff. The hairdresser’s been all over the world on this boat but looks forward to returning to the Philippines when we return to Athens. Said the voyages to Antarctica were wonderful, but only for those who don’t get seasick. For those who do, it’s awful. Another cruise.

6/21 - Syros, not Delos

We should have gone to Delos – an uninhabited island – with ruins from way back. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Delos enjoyed a long period of prominence, from 7^th century B.C.E. until 88-69 B.C.E. The winds were unfavorable and our captain feared we could not find safe harbor, so we sail to the nearby island of Syros, also in the Cyclades.

Photos from Syros are here.

Syros is a lovely town of some tourist attention, but not a destination for large cruise vessels, nor even small ones very often. Our cruise arranges for local guides to walk us through some of the local highlights, though we didn’t get back down to the market to try “Turkish Delight”, which, we are told, was a favorite local sweet. Our fault.

Greece may need austerity, but we see none exhibited. Everything appears to be paved with marble, the churches we visit are gold-encrusted, and the only shops we notice mostly sold "wants," not "needs." The two Greek Orthodox churches we visit are very ornate, and one has a small icon that, after a cleaning a few years ago, was discovered to be by El Greco.

The afternoon lecture is again by Gordon Turnbull "Did Helen Go Willingly? War, Women, Beauty and Violence." During cocktail hour Bard professor Bill Mullen mounts a short reading from Book Three of the Odyssey, describing Nestor's palace at Pylos, including a moving scene between old Nestor and young Telemachus. After dinner we watch Gods and Goddesses, their movie of the evening, on the TV in our cabin.

John recalls our arrival on a very windy day, huge whitecaps, trying to figure out where we were landing. We in fact landed in a harbor with two enormous dry docks. Not beautiful, but interesting. A massive seawall protected the harbor. We tied up right at the town wharf, a much smoother landing than at the Dardanelles.

We learned we would have a walking tour, with a subsequent release. It was the slowest tour ever. Our guide was heavy and slow, but so were some of our fellow travelers. We climbed to a charming Greek Orthodox church. The little fold-down wooden chairs along the walls were labeled for men, who sat on the right, women were to the left (but our seats were unlabeled). We walked still higher up and visited the architectural museum and saw the icons that were put in graves. There were these flat icons, which struck us as a very early chapter in what we had been looking at. We entered the market to get to the archeological museum and ran into the police/fireman’s protest. This wasn’t Syntagma Square: they weren’t marching, but singing. They had a big banner that we couldn’t read, but there didn’t seem to be any anger in them.

It was our first view of a swimming beach and we were astounded at the clarity and blue-ness of its waters.

We also entered a small, but delightful, renovated theater. The town reminded us a little of Red Wing. The Sheldon Theater in Red Wing is similar: small, but immaculately cared for and, hopefully, prosperous. Municipal theater Apollo: designed as a miniature of LaScalla, in its original form, it has four levels of tiers. Workers were preparing the stage for something upcoming, their sweeping and vacuuming creating a great deal of dust. Its last performance was in 1953.

We learned that the local Greek Orthodox churches always had at least one ostrich egg, the ones we saw were embedded in the chandeliers and not obvious. Our guide talked of saving the red Easter eggs, a symbol of rebirth, and faith, each year. Its archeological museum was just three small rooms in a smallish building, but contained bowls and other artifacts dating to 2700 B.C.E. We were amazed by the medicinal equipment: tweezers, tongs, sewing needles, and other tools.

The scenery was stunning, just as you imagine a small, Greek ocean town. 

6/20 Arrival in Canakkale and the visit to Troy

Beginnings and Endings

Of course the official start of our trip was at Troy, Turkey, that city besieged for 10 years by the Greeks, finally succumbing to the “Achaens,” as they called themselves then. The Achaens finally pack up their spoils of war and head for home, but their many ships are separated and arrive home at different times. It took Ulysses another ten years to get back and all his men were lost. Troy: end of war; beginning of journey home to Ithaca.

Photos are here.

Of course, wily Homer doesn’t begin his book in Troy, but at Calypso’s island and cave, where we’ll visit on Thursday (actually, John and I have elected to visit the city of Valletta, Malta's capital, and not make the journey to the Maltese island of Gozo that purportedly was Calypso’s.) 

Note her crow's feet! Brian says this is unique.

We travel through the Dardenelles, picking up a pilot at Mehmetcik. Some 300,000 Turks and 200,000 Allies died there and Attaturk said something like, “They may have been born other places, but in death they lie here. We are all Turks.” We understand the significance of the straight and its connection with the Black Sea and Istanbul. Canakkale is the town nearest Troy, now some 5 miles inland, compared with its seaside location in Odysseus’ time.

Gordon Turnbull, the first of our two lecturers this morning, and our ally from Yale, is awesome! He is the first lecturer of many throughout the cruise, and he talks about the origin of the Iliad and Odyssey and the various people who likely had a significant hand in shaping the poems. (not Homer!) The beginning historical and psychological perspective is extremely helpful in orienting us to the things we are about to discover.

C. Brian Rose also spoke on the boat about Troy and its archeological history, its nine levels, and the fact that the battle at Troy immortalized in the Iliad may be in the 6^th level of Troy’s ruins. Brian, the archeologist who has spent the last nineteen years leading the excavation of Troy, later guides us through the site. Passion matters. He has that passion and delights in sharing it.

Canakkale has a small but exquisite archeological museum. Brian talks about the sarcophagi he had unearthed in Troy, particularly the one that was obviously intended for a woman, with female images all around it. He was immensely surprised to find the body of a 25-year-man inside. He speculated that it had, indeed, been fashioned for a woman, but when some young male family member who had not been expected to die, died, it was used for him instead, and left unfinished. Robbers raided this sarcophagus during antiquity and all treasure had been removed. Another, unadorned, sarcophagus contained the remains of an 8-year old girl and had not been robbed. Its gold jewelry and other precious items were intact. In the photo above, Brian is on his knees pointing out the important images on the sarcophagus.

No evidence has been found of a Trojan horse, but then wood would not have lasted from the 1200 bc date of the presumed encounter.

Heinrich Schliemann was Troy’s first archeologist in the late 19^th century. Archeology did not exist as a science, so Schliemann’s approach was to run a bulldozer through what he expected to be the site of ancient Troy, exposing the nine layers of ancient cities, one on top of another, and a bounty to make him wealthy.  His second wife is photographed wearing some of the ancient gold jewelry from the site.

Schleimann’s trench is pictured below. Despite his initial crude approach, Schleimann is considered the father of modern archaeology. Thankfully, modern archaeologists use finer tools, including resonance imaging of underground objects, showing that at one point, Troy was much larger than its uncovered site.

Based on our very amateurish experience with docking a very small boat, we are repeatedly astounded to watch our fabulous captain sidle this 300’ ship up to narrow docks and quays.




Photos of our arrival at Canakkale are here.

6/19 Athens arrival; boarding Corinthian II

Our brief visit in Athens is transfixing. We knew we would have several hours between the arrival of our flight in the morning and the departure of the Corinthian II in the evening and didn't have any idea what they would do with us.

The flight smoothly landed ahead of schedule; our bags arrived along with all the others; the meet-and-greet person was right where they said he’d be. An auspicious beginning.  When they told us we’d be camped out on the mezzanine of a hotel until we could reboard the bus to the boat, we were disappointed. But the mezzanine happened to be a glorious meeting room in the Plaza Athene Hotel, right on Syntagma Square, two doors down from the Grande Bretagne, where we’ll stay after the cruise. And was it stocked! Tables of canapés, deserts, soft drinks, bottled water and plenty of cool air.

No one was protesting when we arrived, but the square was chock-a-block with tents and street vendors. We were in time for the weekly changing of the guards and enjoyed their spectacle. We walked up the hill a ways, passing at least ten screened buses filled with riot police. We hurried back to the hotel to miss what was anticipated as a 1:00 pm beginning of protests. Nothing happened.

Our departure from Piraeus was uneventful and we delightedly settled into our cabin.

Pictures from our first day are here.

Following in the steps (and wake) of Odysseus

We're off tomorrow! John is up packing, my bags are ready, Paul and Mia are cooking us dinner. Life doesn't get any better than this! More soon.