Our Adriatic and Aegean cruise has been over more than a week now, and the jet lag and euphoric hangover are gone.
About all that’s left is the head cold Patty caught on the way home and then passed on to me.
Oh, and with your kind indulgence, a few more photos…
This wasn’t taken in Greece — Montenegro, I believe — but I had to run it. Julia (left) was the shore excursion manager on our Viking cruise, and Jenna was our indefatigable cruise director. (They bleed Viking red!) This was a rare occasion when they got a few free hours and did some touring of their own.
The island of Santorini, off the southern coast of Greece, offers some iconic Grecian scenes. The island has three towns, all perched atop high cliffs.
The domes of many Greek Orthodox churches are painted sky blue, symbolizing their reach to the heavens.
A closer view of one of the three towns on Santorini
One of our best discoveries was the Santo Winery on Santorini. This is the winery’s patio (not a giant Bingo board), in a state of preparedness for high tourist season, which begins later this month. (Patty handed her phone to a Californian who offered to shoot the picture, and, voila, he produced a winner.)
Finally, it was on to Athens, one of the world’s oldest and most intriguing cities.
The Parthenon is the centerpiece of the Acropolis, considered the foundation of modern Western culture and the cradle of Western civilization. The Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 BC during the Age of Pericles, when culture, democracy, art and education blossomed in Athens.
This is another famous Acropolis building, the Erectheion, highlighted by statues of the Caryatids, six women who “hold up” the marble roof of the building’s northern porch.
A view of Athens from the Acropolis, which is high above the city.
The Parthenon at night, as seen from the window of our hotel in the Plaka tourist district. I took a final, long look at it early the morning of Friday, March 30, the day we departed Athens for the long flight back to KC.
For this tourist, it’s a wrap.
Our local connection to the jet set.
We were at a book-exchange party Saturday night, and a woman about my age was pushing a book about the 30 best national parks. “This is for when you get old and can’t go to Europe any more,” she said. Got me wondering how many more trans-Atlantic trips I have left in me. I hope a few, anyway.
How does a book exchange party work?
Great pictures, Jim … I hope I have some transatlantic flights in me, too!
All winners!
Thanks, Lisa and Terry.
Tom: Good question on the book exchange party. Saturday was the first one I’d ever attended. About 40 people were on hand. Each had to bring a book that was entered into the communal pool, then each person previewed his/her book in about 20 seconds.
Then we drew numbers from a basket, and the people with the lowest numbers chose first from the pool. If you had a low number and chose one, however, someone drawing behind you could take the book from you, leaving you to return to the pool and select another. A book could only be claimed once after being selected, though, so if you claimed one from someone ahead of you, you could rest assured it was yours.
It was a lot of fun, and some of the 20-second narratives were funny and quirky. One guy, for example, grabbed his book from the moderator after the moderator introduced it and said, “I got this book from the library. It’s very good but it’s due back in a few days so I’m taking it back.” Later, he referred to it as “Crosby Kemper’s book.” Not exactly in the spirit of the game but funny, nevertheless.
Gorgeous pics. Your souvenir sweatshirt reminds me of John “Bluto” Belushi’s shirt in Animal House: “College.”
Jimmy! Come home! I need your take on the new Jungerman charges.