Day 9: Katakolon & Ancient Olympia, Greece

We docked at the port city, Katakolon in Greece on July 3rd. We had an excursion planned so we boarded the tour bus and headed to Ancient Olympia. We were looking forward to this since we knew the Summer Olympics would be next month. Here are some various pictures taken in Olympia.....

Dad and Robert





You can see, in the picture on the left, how the columns were smaller pieces of limestone stacked on top of each other to form a big, tall column. The arch you see, on the right, is the gate leading to where the first Olympic races were held. Only men were allowed to participate and watch the sports. One day a woman was discovered to be watching in the stands and from that day, all spectators and athletes were not allowed to wear clothes to the Olympics. This, of course, made sure that women never entered the gates. In the picture below on the left, you can see the length of the track. In the picture below on the right, I am standing in front of the starting block for the races.

Mom & Dad
























After visiting Ancient Olympia, we went to a hotel to watch the "Dancing Zorbas." We ate Greek food as we watched the dancers perform. I felt like I was in the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." We all tried some steamed octopus, which I didn't care for.... so I washed it down with some wine. We enjoyed the musicians playing a bouzouki, a stringed instrument, while singing along and the Zorbas dancing to the music.




Notice the musicians in the background.

A view of Katakolon, Greece as we were sailing on to Corfu, Greece.

Day 7: At Sea & Day 8: Navplion & Ancient Corinth (Greece)

We enjoyed sleeping in on our days at sea. We usually had to be at the Vista Lounge between 7-8am to catch our excursions.... so a break from that was nice. There were a variety of activities planned on the ship to fill your day at sea. One of our favorites was to watch competitions at the pool..... such as "who could make the biggest splash".... "who could fit as many plastic vegetables in their bathingsuit in a minute"..... "which team could pass an orange under their chins w/out using their hands, the fastest" .... and so on. (In case you chuckled over this... no.... I didn't enjoy it to see the guys in their swimsuits! Besides... they were too young.) Another favorite of ours was playing cards. We decided to play the game of "Golf," which is a game where it's every man for himself. In other words.... no team playing. If you know my dad.... you know how competitive he can get... so we figured it would be best to not play on teams. Mom and I (much to the dislike of our husbands) loved shopping on the ship. They had lots of beautiful jewelry to look at and other various goodies from each of the countries we visited. There was also a small movie theater with huge comfy over-sized leather chairs and popcorn to munch on. We watched only 2 movies in there on the whole trip..... "The Bucket List" & "The Spiderwick Chronicles." We also rented 2 movies to watch in our rooms. So... in case any of you were wondering.... there is plenty to do on days at sea.

On our sailing from Messina to Navplion... we passed by Stromboli, Greece. Dad got up early while the rest of us slept in and took some nice pictures. Here are a few.
As you can see, Stromboli has an active volcano. Not too many people live on this island.




Dad liked the rock that jetted out on the right... thought it looked like the head of an animal.



Day 8~

We arrived at the port city, Navplion and had to tender in to the shore. They used the lifeboats from our ship to take us to shore. Robert thought it was to make people feel better about using the lifeboats if there was ever an emergency.









We then boarded our tour bus to head to the canal. The Corinth Canal connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas.




Next, we headed to Ancient Corinth and were pretty excited! I tried to imagine Paul speaking to the Corinthians as we were walking about the ruins.

Mom and I











At the end of our tour in Ancient Corinth, there was a museum of items uncovered on the site. One thing I found interesting was the statues. Notice they are missing heads? Robert and I thought an enemy must've done this to the statues, but we were wrong. They are made headless on purpose, to where you can exchange heads.... so whoever became the new ruler, could place his modeled head on a statue.... or a god or senator, etc. They wouldn't let us put Robert's head on one. Oh well.



Some of the interchangeable heads







When we got back to Navplion we strolled down the streets for some great shopping. As we were walking a man beckoned us onto the patio of his restaurant where we ate lunch. We had the BEST Greek salad I've ever had!!! It was totally amazing... we all agreed. We've tried copying it, but just can't seem to reproduce it just yet.














A view of the sea as we tendered back to the Zuiderdam.

Day 6: Messina & Taormina, Italy

As we sailed on to Messina we were greeted by the statue of the Virgin Mary by the harbor with the inscription: "Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus" (We bless you and your city), a quotation from a letter which according to the legend Mary gave to the Christians of the city.

Here's a view out the window of our tour bus on the way to Taormina from the port city, Messina.


The gate to Taormina. Taormina is a small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. It is perched on the slopes of Mount Tauro.


Random shots of Taormina....

We're in front of the Greco-Roman Theater. It is frequently used for operatic and theatrical performances and for concerts.

A view of Messina.

Day 5: Civitavecchia & Rome, Italy

Our next stop was in the port city, Civitavecchia. From there we headed to Rome on a 2 hr. drive. This was our favorite city out of the entire cruise. Our tour was the most exausting tour out of the whole trip.... 11 and a half hours long! We went on the tour called "Roman Holiday." As we rode on the tour bus, we watched the movie, "Roman Holiday." Our first stop in Rome was to see the Mouth of Truth. Luckily no one lost their hand. :) It was thought that a liar would loose his hands if he placed them in the mouth of the Bocca del Verita. Thought to be an ancient Roman ornamental drain cover. The Mouth of Truth has hung in the portico of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome since 1632. Our tour guide told us that because of the movie... many people from Japan come to see the Bocca della Veritalla - the Mouth of Truth. And yes, most of the people in line were from Japan... and they were very excited. We then toured the church and the tile work on the floor was impressive.

Roman Police



Then we headed to the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately there was scaffolding at the top of the steps.

A view of Rome from the top of the steps. And some random shots of Rome.

The most famous fountain in Rome is the Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Waters of the Trevi Fountain. We only threw one coin. I guess it worked because we had a great experience on our cruise and made it home safely. :)

One of the best-known symbols of Roman neoclassicism is the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or "Altar of Fatherland." This is where the Grave of the Unknown Soldier, that represents the 650,000 Italians that fell in World War I, is located.


Trajans Column
Completed in 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars.

More random shots of Rome.

This was where Audrey Hepburn addressed the media at the end of the movie "Roman Holiday." It is an elegant restaurant where we ate lunch and drank wine. We were VERY glad to be in an air conditioned building with cold water to drink. Rome was HOT!

Robert and I in front of the Roman Colosseum.











The Pantheon... my favorite building on the whole trip... absolutely gorgeous!!