Saturday, November 19 – Doing Nothing in Athens

We first visited Athens in 2009.  We pre-arranged for Nick, a driver but not a guide, to take us to all of the tourist highlights which he did.  When we met him in the parking lot by the cruise terminal, he “suggested” that we begin our day at the Acropolis, the hill overlooking Athens containing the Parthenon.  He said we would beat the heat and the crowds, and he was right.  We also spent time at the National Archeological Museum [best remembered for the Hall of Naked Men], Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Zeus and more modern sites.  The latter included the stadium where the modern Olympic games were introduced; a statue of Lord Byron; the changing of the guard in front of the President’s home; and the highest point in the city from which we could look down on the Acropolis.

When we returned in 2011, we hired Nick again.  D and a friend went to Corinth, Mycenae, Epidaurus and elsewhere.  MA stayed on board the ship as she under the weather.  Although Nick was not as outgoing as he had been, it was still a good tour.

Since we’ve “done Athens”, we stayed aboard the Rotterdam in Piraeus today.  Piraeus serves as the port for Athens just as Civitavecchia [literally the “old city”] is the port for Rome.  Both Rome and Athens are about an hour’s ride from their respective ports.

We wandered into the cruise terminal in search of free wi-fi but could not connect with the internet.  Our tablets swore they were connected to the terminal’s server, but that was as far as we got.  Others were similarly frustrated and those from the crew who did get on had more patience than we did.  They said it was slow and certainly were not exaggerating.  We went back to the ship.

The rest of the day was similarly quiet.  Trivia, lunch, etc.  The big excitement was another boat drill.  Cruise ships are required to have emergency drills for passengers every 30 days.  The folks who boarded Monday in Rome had theirs that afternoon, but those of us who boarded in Canada or the US had ours today.

TOMORROW – Heading to Malta

Friday, November 18 – Cute Katakalon

We love Katakolon.  Period.  It is a three-block town that appears only when there is a ship in port and then closes until the next ship.  It’s sort of like the old musical Brigadoon in which the town appeared every hundred years.  And we may be the last ship of the season, so everyone will go away on vacation or tend their gardens tomorrow.

The three blocks comprise tchotchke stores, clothing stores, jewelry stores, a drug store and about a half-dozen outdoor cafes; these may have indoor seating, but we have never looked for it.  Today was, perhaps, the warmest day we have had, a good 10 degrees warmer than Florence at about 65F.  Not only did we not need coats, we were comfortable eating outside in “our” café.

The walk from the ship to the town is about 2 inches.  Okay, it’s a block.  The most noticeable feature of the walk is the stench of sulphur where the dock meets the land.  It’s been this way at least since we first visited in 2009.  Once around the corner, though, it dissipates quickly.  We looked in souvenir stores just to see what we could see and, as always, bought some items which will go unspecified.  We walked past the jewelers and the clothing stores and went to the end of the third block, rounded the corner and walked into the café we go to every time we are here.  Although it advertises itself as a fish-centric restaurant, we avoided the fish and got moussaka [MA] and a gyro platter [D] along with 2 Diet Cokes.  Other passengers wandered in while we were there and quite a number of crew were there as well.  We watched as they ordered extra rice which the waiter brought along with soy sauce, ketchup and mayo.  When we finished, we paid our 27 euro tab and went for the real shopping.

MA was wearing a “Trojan wall” bracelet which she bought here last year.  We looked in several stores before finding one which had a similar necklace.  The necklace was too short, however, but the staff offered to add 3 links [more if needed] to bring it the length she wanted.  There was no additional charge most likely because of the huge markup already in place.  The price was allegedly 92 euros but “for you, only 80 including the extra links.”  Maybe we could have found it at a better price at the next/last store, where we bought it originally, but maybe not, so MA walked out of the store wearing the necklace.  We looked for souvenir polo-style shirts for D but found nothing; the one shirt he liked wasn’t available in the right size.  Another possibility was dismissed when we heard the price.

Having eaten lunch and used most of our available euros, we returned to the ship where we read until trivia.  The “new people” showed up again and we now know his name is Stan; we still are not sure of hers.  We chatted until game time, scored 14 points again [nowhere near the perennial winners] and then chatted some more.  Stan told us yesterday that he had brought the wrong power cord for his laptop and had borrowed one from one of the tech people but the plug was the wrong size.  D took ours to trivia today and told him to try it.  When we returned from dinner tonight, there was a note in the door saying that the cord had worked and to call them.  D did and then went to their room to retrieve the cord so he could use our laptop.  We will probably be passing this cord back and forth for the next three weeks.

As most cruisers know, the cabin stewards place towel animals on the beds when the do the evening turn-down service.  We have been saving the eyes and tonight at dinner we made little faces on our butter plates – two eyes with a butter nose.  The waiter, the wine steward and Stephanie, the assistant manager, were all caught by surprise and are now convinced that we have escaped from the asylum.

TOMORROW – Nothing Doing in Athens

Thursday, November 17 – Kekira, Corfu, Greece

Lest you worry, there was no entry for yesterday.  It was a sea day with little to distinguish it from all the others.  We did, however, add a new member to our trivia team.  He asked to join us Tuesday and was brave enough to return yesterday.  He and his wife, who are from western North Carolina, joined the cruise Monday in Rome.  She has been under the weather, apparently from jet lag, so we have yet to meet her.  While we all introduced ourselves, we cannot remember his name.  As an aside, we continue to be also-rans with 14 of 18 points, but we are having fun and it is good to have someone else to talk to.

Last night was also Formal Night #4.  We invited speaker George and his wife Jan to share our table while they could because they depart on Saturday when we reach Athens.  We had a pleasant evening talking about our families and travel experiences, two safe topics.  Even though they are Canadian, we did not even tiptoe toward politics.  George and Jen sat next to us on the World, so it was like talking to old friends again.

We planned to explore Corfu more than we did Naples but still intended to find someplace for lunch while ashore.  Once again, we missed our goal.  MA was not feeling up to wandering the old town and she would not let D go alone lest he have another “spell,” so we stayed on board, read and relaxed.  The old town here sounded interesting and very walkable.  There is an old synagogue as well as more than 30 churches in an area that looks to be about 8 blocks square.  Throw in shops and cafes, and it is probably a lively place to walk.  Maybe next time.

We chatted with our anonymous trivia partner by the Lido pool after lunch.  His wife was with him and we made very small talk.  She looked rather wan and appeared to have had tea and crackers for lunch.  We wished her a speedy recovery.  Surprisingly, she joined us at trivia this afternoon.  We played well as a team [14/17] and spent an hour in conversation once the contest was over.  As noted earlier, we have missed the social aspect of trivia and hope we don’t drive them off before we return to Florida.

TOMORROW – Katakolon, Greece

Tuesday, November 15 – Neopolitan Delight

We have visited Naples twice before.  In 2009, we organized a tour for 6 to the Amalfi Coast where we visited Positano and Sorrento where he had “real” pizza.  We also spent time wandering the ruins of Pompeii.  Last year, MA’s back bothered her so much that we got as far as the terminal before she returned to the ship; D wandered around Naples looking for a BNP bank so he could use his ATM card at a cooperating bank without a service charge.  We got a little farther today.

We had hoped to follow up on advice from the World cruise’s port lecturer who said that there was a pizza place literally under the cruise terminal.  The terminal is built like a big H with a roadway running under the crosspiece.  When we finally put down our e-readers and went looking, we found not one but two little cafes selling pizza and other goodies. 

We picked one and realized we were the only non-Italians there which we took as a good sign.  While sitting in a covered enclosure outside, ordered a pepperoni pizza and 2 Cokes. It was a bit chilly but too bad and the walls surrounding this “patio” offered protection from the wind. The pizza and soda hit the spot and, we thought, was quite affordable at 12.5 euros.  By European standards, it was a bargain.

And that was our big adventure for today.

TOMORROW  --  Gunning for Greece

Monday, November 14 – Resting in Rome

As Rogers and Hammerstein wrote in Oklahoma, when Judd Frye would die, “the flowers in the dell will out a different smell….”  For those who did not already know, passengers who reach their final destination before the ship does have the flower locker as their new cabin; hence, yesterday’s title.

Also, despite her best efforts, MA was not able to find any eligible sailors when she went for a drink and dinner last night.  We thought you would want to know.

The doctor in Florence told D to take it easy and rest for a few days and not to drink any alcohol.  Since he does not drink and is naturally lazy, these were easy instructions to follow.  We stayed in bed until 8:30 despite having turned out the light at 9:00 last night.  After a quiet breakfast in the MDR, during which a half-dozen or so staff members asked after his health, we returned to the room to read for a bit.  With the prospect of sleeping all day ahead of us, we left the room so the stewards could straighten it.  We think they were behind schedule this morning because Rome is the end of/beginning of a segment and they had to prepare the rooms for the new people [all 50 of them].  We took our tablets and the laptop to the Ocean Bar where D was able to find an outlet.  Once the laptop was plugged in, he worked on the blog while MA read.  When he was finished, she proofread and offered suggestions and corrections which he duly followed.  The entry was finished but not posted around 12:15, so we toted our HAL bag to the MDR for our first lunch there. Normally, the MDR is closed on port days but was open today for the newly arrived Mariners.  Apparently it was open the day we boarded, too, but we did not know it.

We returned to the room where D posted the blog and deleted email.  The lights were turned off around 1:30 and the alarm set for 6:00[!]  We didn’t sleep that late, but let’s say that this SCAN was a lot more fun than yesterday’s.

We ate dinner at the Pinnacle Grill, Holland America’s extra-charge steak house.  The add-on charge is now $35 per person, but we remember when it was only $10.  However, as 5-Star Mariners, we each receive 2 free dinners at the Pineapple [as we call it], so dinner was free and we will go again in early December as we cross the Atlantic on the way home.

TOMORROW – Nothing in Naples

Sunday, November 13 – Florence or Flower Locker?

When we booked this cruise, we especially liked that there was no pressure to race off the ship at every port since we had been to most of them.  We made arrangements for only two excursions, one in Casablanca and one in Florence where we had lunch reservations at Ristorante ZaZa.  We ate there in 2001 on our first visit.

Well, the “best laid plans of mice and men” and all that means that we did not get to ZaZa for lunch.  In fact, we never got to lunch anywhere, but we did have an adventure unlike anyone else on the Good Ship Lollipop.  Here’s what happened:

We were up way too early by our standards and had a light breakfast in the room.  By 7:30, we were in the theater where we waited about 2 minutes before being called to board our bus to Florence.  We hate The Big Bus, but it had become our only viable transport after our original group of six dwindled to the two of us; the private escort we had contracted was simply too expensive for just us. 

The ride to Florence [Firenze to the locals] was uneventful.  We were dressed for brisk weather because the forecast called for a high of 55, quite a change from last week’s temps of 80 in Tuscany.  About 15 minutes out from the city center and our “disem-bus-kation,” D began to feel warm and clammy as well as a wee bit dizzy.  Blaming it on the heat on the bus and his multiple layers of clothing, he assumed that the cold air outside the bus would revive him.  Wrong.

Once outside, as the group began walking toward Santa Croce church, he actually felt worse.  He was having trouble walking and told MA that he was, as he said, “staggering.”  Granted, the street and sidewalks were cobblestone, his problem was from the dizziness.  Thing were spinning so much that he sat on the steps of Santa Croce while the tour guide gave her speech about when and where to meet and what to do in an emergency.  When the group dispersed to enrich the Florentine economy, D sat on the steps in front of a storm drain in case he threw up.

We moved to a table at a nearby café, but D feared he would fall off the chair because things were really spinning.  MA went into the café to ask someone to call our local trip coordinator [the aforementioned emergency procedure] and D moved back to the curb in front of the café.  Within 2 minutes of the phone call, Debora, the coordinator, was there.  She and MA hovered and huddled behind D discussing options while he threw up in a plastic shopping bag.  Finally, D agreed an ambulance would be in everyone’s best interests.  It should be noted that several shopkeepers were concerned enough to offer help of one sort or another; D did not want to make a mess in the leather store if he didn’t make it as far as the proffered toilet nor was he keen on the lemon offered by the barista.

The ambulance arrived in about 5 minutes.  He declined the crew’s efforts to help him stand up, but needed assistance walking to and climbing into the ambulance.  Stretched out on the gurney, he had his sweater and shirt pushed up and out of the way while electrodes were attached.  It must have looked like a scene from a TV show.  When it was time to speed off to the hospital, which is behind the Duomo, D asked if MA was coming and was assured she was in the front seat.  Off we went, MA in the shotgun seat, siren blaring, until we reached the hospital.

During most of this, D had his eyes closed to assuage the spinning.  Assorted people pushed the ambulance gurney through the Minotaur’s Labyrinth before settling into a curtained treatment area.  The staff removed the rest of his clothing thoroughly if not gently.  Now our hero was reduced to black socks and matching Jockey shorts, an adult movie in the making.  The socks were pushed down [although the shorts weren’t, thank God], and leads were added to those already covering his body like freckles.  When the almost-English-speaking doctor arrived, he checked peripheral vision, had blood drawn and sent D for a head CT.

And then we waited.  And waited.  All the while, MA and Debora were in the waiting room with no information.  Apparently, we were all waiting for the results of the blood work and for a specialist to review the CT films.  MA couldn’t get anything to eat because D’s wallet was in his pants pocket and the pants were in a bag under the gurney.  Debora offered to take her somewhere and lend her money, but, in the end, they waited together.  Debora finally left to run another tour errand, but returned when MA called later [see below].

Almost 4 hours after we arrived at the hospital, MA was brought the treatment area where the doctor said that all of the tests had been negative; D had had neither a stroke nor a coronary.  In fact, the head CT showed nothing [snickering is allowed here] although there was the possibility of a benign cyst which would not have had any connection to the symptoms.  With that, we were given copies of all of the tests [in Italian, of course], CDs of the scans and a bill for 121 euros.

We were escorted to the front of the ER where we were able to pay by credit card despite having been told we would have to pay in cash.  The gentleman who took our credit card called Debora for us and she was at the hospital in less than 5 minutes.  She called a cab to take us to the bus and called the bus to let the driver know we were coming ahead of the group.  We were on the bus almost an hour before everyone else arrived and we returned to the ship without further incident.  It should be noted that throughout this adventure, the people of Florence were wonderfully kind, concerned and helpful; if you have to go to a foreign hospital, Florence is the place to do it.

Back in the room, D stripped out of his sweat-soaked and still-wet clothing and went straight to bed where he stayed, waking briefly to talk to MA.  She, meanwhile, was not about to miss Indonesian Night in the MDR, so she went alone and garnered everyone’s sympathy while enjoying bami goring.  She was exhausted, too, and the light, and we, were out by 9:00.

And that’s how we spent our day in Florence.

TOMORROW – Resting in Rome

 

Saturday, November 12 – Fabulous Florence

Well, here we are with yet another sea day, so there isn’t much to report that hasn’t been written before or won’t be written again.  True, we had another formal night [chilled New England lobsters for appetizers!], but the highlight of the day was a Skype chat with Jon and The Boys.  The connection was not good, but we don’t know if that was because of the satellite connection or broadband overload caused by too many passengers using the system simultaneously.  Despite the often-frozen screen, it was good to see and talk with them.is ey

TOMORROW – Florence and our first excursion

 

Friday, November 11 – Talking to the children

Stardate 1112.16 – Our communications systems are down.  We are either in a dead zone for radio reception or the Klingons are jamming our signals.  We have not been able to contact Starfleet Command not have we received updates from them.  We will try again.

The Rotterdam is in Barcelona, so, by extension, are we even though we never went ashore.  We had scheduled a Skype conversation with Harper Jane and Emily for 8 a.m. Baltimore time which was 2 p.m. for us.  Going into town and returning in time to make the call would have been too rushed.  We slept in and loafed around the ship until it was time to call.

Conversations with HJ are not really conversations; they are shouting festivals.  The girl has yet to develop an “inside voice” and exhibits a great deal of enthusiasm.  Mostly, she told us she had a surprise to tell us which was that we were an assortment animals.  It was fun and funny and we are sure that she stayed excited all the way to school.  We hope to talk to The Boys tomorrow.

We invited a new couple to dinner tonight.  They sit practically beside us in the MDR and we have seen and spoken with them often in the past 2 weeks.  They are from Cleveland, so we gave them grief over yesterday’s loss to the Ravens.  Other than that, we swapped stories about cruising before heading back to the cabin to read and write.

TOMMOROW – On the Way to Florence