Category: Memory Keeping

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Memory Keeping, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Ancient Ephesus with a Chatterbox Guide

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: THE PORT OF KUSADASI, GATEWAY TO ANCIENT EPHESUS

In ancient times, Ephesus itself was an important port on the Aegean Sea, but now the sea has pulled back and the sleepy little town of Kusadasi serves as the gateway to Roman Ephesus. Ephesus was also the home of Mary, the mother of Christ, and his disciple John, according to tradition, the occult and some archeology. Come with us as we explore these ancient sites for ourselves.

An Early Morning Tour

A good friend cruised the Aegean earlier in the year and she thought seeing Mary’s house was one of the highlights of her trip, so I booked that tour, even though it would mean an early departure from the ship, as we did in Athens. So, I was up before Bill and got my shower, ate my breakfast bar and got ready for the day. Bill was interested in breakfast, so we went to the World Cafe for him to browse the buffet and I took advantage of their Diet Coke to offset the one glass too many I’d enjoyed the night before.

We found our bus and were safely in our seats by the 8:30 departure, which did not happen right on time. The daughter portion of a mother/daughter duo showed up to make us wait for her mother. There’s always someone who can’t seem to make it on time. Lo and behold, it was the lady who got lost on Crete. Thankfully, once she made it to the bus that morning, there was no more drama.

When we got on the bus, the guide was talking and she never stopped. OK – she had instructions to give, though we’d already heard them for three days in a row, then she had to let us know what was delaying our departure and then she started giving us the tour highlights, but we got more than the highlights, we not only got lots of details ad nauseum, I began to notice that to keep up her constant chatter, she was also giving us her life history, including the in vitro origins of her twins. TMI, for sure!

Well, I listened the best I could, trying to ferret out the important stuff stuffed in between the life events of a Turkish mother of in vitro twins! Bill on the other hand turned off his headset and snoozed. As part of her ongoing dialog with herself, our guide was quite interested in acquainting us with the goods which would be available at the souvenir shop close to Mary’s House.

Now, according to her, you wanted to go to the open air shop, not to the shop inside the restaurant. The open air shop had the blessed plates and icons. Not all plates and icons were blessed in the shop, but our guide was happy to help you know the difference. She never told us blessed by who or blessed for what, but they were blessed and we needed them – according to her. Even though not blessed, the shop had other merchandise available and she gave us a good run down of those, but assured us she’s be available for assistance during our time at the site.

Visiting Mary’s House

I was all prepped for a truly spiritual experience. The group climbed off the bus and immediately split into two groups. One was all about the blessed platters and the other group headed down the sidewalk, past the souvenir shop, to the holy site.

I took the photo of the the Mary statue, passed by an area with folding chairs, where groups had special ceremonies, and there we were at Mary’s house. The guy next to me looked just like my handsome, sophisticated and extremely smart husband, but when he stepped inside the small building he became a loud mouth skeptic, pointing out all the reasons this couldn’t be where Mary lived. There went my spiritual experience. I had an urge to grab his ear and drag him out of the building, instead I grabbed him by the arm, shushed him and then drug him out the back door.

I wanted to die. Here these people had traveled from all over the world to see this edifice and my husband had just been a very ugly American using his outside voice. He was walking very cocky, like someone who’d just debunked an urban legend. I had to calm myself and breathe before I could even talk to him. So we used the restroom facilities.

When I finally felt as if I could talk to him reasonably in an appropriate tone of voice I asked, “Did you realize the building we went into was not actually the home that Mary lived in, but a recent construction built over the foundation, of what is believed to the real thing?” His answer was more of a snort than anything else, as if to point out how obvious it was that it wasn’t her real house, but after the snort, he kind of got a funny look on his face, as if he were getting clue that he might have missed something.

Then I asked if he’d listened to anything the guide had said about authenticating this location as the home of Mary. Well, then I got an earful of how ridiculous our guide was and of course, he didn’t listen to her. So I replied, “If you had listened, then you would have known…” and I went on to tell him the many reasons why it is generally accepted as Mary’s house by authorities of various disciplines, both historical and religious.”

His demeanor changed somewhat and I scolded him a bit for embarrassing me. I admonished him to either listen to the guides or keep his mouth shut in the future and we can discuss authenticity privately. I had to listen to a little more pushback, blaming his faux pas on the inadequacy of the guide, but he had gotten the message. He wondered if I wanted to go back and see the house again and I assured him I most certainly did not. I was too embarrassed.

So, we headed back towards the bus and there was our guide directing all the shoppers on the proper blessed plates to buy for their homes. While I had no interested in the plates, blessed or unblessed, there was a counter of crosses of various sizes and prices. Had I been alone, I would probably have bought several, along with a handful of the smallest ones, but Bill was in no mood for me to create any benefit for our guide, which certainly she gets if we buy anything or she would not have been as focused on selling us the blessed plates.

Our next stop was the Roman ruins of the port city of Ephesus and there were no doubts about its authenticity. Come back next week for a real treat!

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Memory Keeping, Restaurants & Bars, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Winter Tourists Traipsing Through a Sleepy Rhodes Town

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: STROLLING UP & DOWN LANES OF HISTORY

Welcome to our mid-winter cruise in the Aegean Sea. The weather kept us from lolling around on sun swept beaches, but it also gave us the opportunity to enjoy a very relaxed day in Rhodes Town. I can only imagine what it’s like when the harbor is full of cruise boats. Tourists would be spilling out in every direction, clogging the streets and trudging in all directions. Instead, our group of perhaps 30 passengers leisurely strolled the empty streets enjoying an idyllic day in an iconic port. Come join us. You’ll love it!

A Perfect Beginning for a Perfect Cruise Day

Since our tour didn’t start until 11:30, Bill and I dressed for the gym and headed to The Restaurant for a sit down breakfast. From there we spent some time in the gym and then rewarded ourselves with a visit to the spa.

I have to tell you the free spa access on Viking ocean-going cruises has to be one of the best things about the experience. Earlier in the year we’d been on Royal Caribbean, where you had to pay for the privilege of hanging out in the spa and the facilities weren’t all that inviting. The Viking spa was spacious, pristine and well-appointed, yet it was free. Of course, you had to pay for specific services like facials, massages and such, but all passengers are invited to relax in Viking’s hot tubs, steam rooms and saunas. For the brave there are cold plunges and I’ve already mentioned the heated chaise lounges which were my favorites.

There were three hot tubs in the main room of the spa. Two were small round spas, much like you’re used to seeing at a hotel or perhaps in someone’s backyard, but the third was the size of a swimming pool. Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia had something similar, but it didn’t have the seating bars we loved there on Viking. At the end of the spa pool, near the large fireplace, the spa was equipped with a generous set of bars designed to be a sort of couch to sit on in the water. I’m probably not making it sound as wonderful as it was, but we loved it!

Rhodes Town Walk

It was glorious weather! My pullover sweater and jeans were perfect for a day of walking through a beautiful town. We met our guide steps away from the ship and she led us into town through a small gate. One of the first things we saw were the ruins of a splendid church. Then we reached the town center which was quaint and uncrowded. The most predominant population on the streets were cats!

Many shops don’t even bother opening for winter tourists. There were two ships in the harbor, but I think most people had opted for a bus tour to the other side of the island which had Roman ruins. With few exceptions, we were the only ones visiting on this sunny Tuesday.

Our guide was perfect – maybe not on par with Maria in Athens. She set the bar very high. But this lady was pleasant and informative, without wearing us out with the sound of her voice – a situation we would face the next two days. We didn’t realize how good we had it in Rhodes!

Wandering through the nearly empty streets our guide summarized the history of the town, from the days it was a mighty port guarded by one of the Eight Wonders of the Ancient World. As the great Greek and Roman Empires faded away, the Crusades became the primary activity of the Mediterranean and a great Crusader Castle was built on its heights.

We went to what was now called the Crusader Castle, but it wasn’t a relic of the Knights Templar or any other Crusader Army. It had been built in modern times to look like what Mussolini and his gang thought a Crusader Castle should look like. That was a little disappointing, but I can tell you they did a much better job than the Soviets in Bratislava, Slovakia. We went to that “castle” and it was laughable – a concrete shell on a hill for long distant filming. While not authentic, Rhodes Crusader Castle did have the look and feel of an ancient castle. They’d even incorporated relics from those days in the castle’s rooms, so it was probably worth the visit. And what else were we going to do on a lovely day in a lovely town. I’m so glad we strolling through this little town, rather than hustling across the island in tour buses.

Back to the Boat

Once we’d toured the castle, our guide bid us farewell and suggested what streets to visit on our way back to the boat. We were enchanted by the whole thing, but most especially those cats. So far the cruise had not offered many shopping opportunities and even though many of the merchants chose not to open on this particular day, there were a few who did.

I adored this huge sunhat and had I been on my own, it would have probably come home with me, but Bill was appalled at both its size and its price. Further down the street, I was pulled to aside by the look of some very unique necklaces. Chatting with the proprietor of the jewelry store I discovered the necklaces were the work of a designer they’d been working with for 40 years, but she thought it was his best designs, yet.

The price seemed very fair to me, compared to what I’d pay for comparable merchandise in Dallas, so I saw no need to haggle, but the the proprietor haggled for me. As soon as I began to pick up the necklaces and compare them, each one was unique, she named a different price than was on the tag. I told her I was shopping for three of my very good friends and the price went down again. If I’d paid with cash, I could have gotten even more off, but I hadn’t gotten any Greek money and I’d left my dollars on the boat, so she gave me another discount, somewhere between the 3 necklace price and the cash price. I wonder if she ever figured out I would have gladly paid what was on the tag!

This reminded me of a shopping trip in the Caribbean. My bestie and I made a morning of claiming those free trinkets they offer up in port cities to lure you in to jewelry shops. When they asked what I wanted, I would say aquamarine earrings set in yellow gold, because no one ever has those – and then someone did. The original price was very fair, but above the amount I will pay without Bill’s blessing. The salesperson bargained themselves down to almost a third of the original price and Deb insisted I was getting them. She’d pay half and I’d pay half to stay below Bill’s limit. Had I actually been prepared to get the earrings that day, instead of just tossing off a combination I thought they wouldn’t have, I would have paid full price – gladly!

Shopping done, we headed through the gate above to stroll along the shore as we made our way back to the ship. It was time for the Port Talk, so we went to see what Ephesus would be like. I stayed for a future cruise talk and after dressing for dinner, we took in the history lecture. The same guy who made the Greeks boring, also managed to make the Ottoman Empire boring.

For dinner, we went to Manifredi’s the ships Italian specialty restaurant. It was delicious, but too much wine put me right to sleep. Come back tomorrow and let’s go to Ephesus.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, International, Memory Keeping, Museums, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

A Crazy Day in Crete

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: WHEN YOUR GUIDE IS LESS THAN THE BEST

Our visit to Athens had been perfect and the fun continued into the evening, though our kitty cat did give a little long distance scare. Our day in Crete was designed to be a little more laid back, because our tour was not until that afternoon. Unfortunately, our guide did not meet the high standards Maria had set in Athens. Come find out why!

A Lazy Morning Aboard the Vela

At home in Heath, I wake up around 5 AM. That practice has been with me for decades, long before our cat, Rascal decided he was my alarm clock and perhaps if he wakes me up before 5, I’ll go ahead and feed him – NOT! On the Vela, I woke up at 8. I knew I should probably go to the gym, but instead I picked up my book and read until Bill woke up hungry.

I wasn’t really in a breakfast mood, so I went with Bill to the World Cafe and ate one of the breakfast bars I had brought along, while he browsed the buffet. From there we went to the spa area and Bill did a quick workout, while I enjoyed one of the amazing heated chaise lounges in the spa.

We got ready for the tour and I was hungry for lunch, but Bill wasn’t after his big breakfast, so I went on my own and had some delicious beef bourguignon. There was even a delicious gf dessert with chocolate and cherries.

Tour Time

Bill has an uncanny ability to read people from just a glance. I was excited about our tour to the Heraklion Archeological Museum, but Bill sensed immediately trouble was ahead. We soon discovered he was right. Along with the museum, this shore excursion included a walking tour of the city, so we were a little concerned when a wheel-chairbound passenger was brought aboard. So was our guide.

In the most polite terms possible, our guide explained the ancient city of Heraklion was not handicap accessible. The husband and son asked a few questions and then announced they’d handle it. The guide tried again to explain the difficulties, but they were having none of it.

So, our guide started the tour and did a short spiel about his island, which he proceeded to repeat over and over again in various iterations throughout the rest of the tour. The whole wheelchair thing was not really his doing, but before the day was over we were totally done with him!

The Heraklion Archeological Museum

I loved this museum. Before we got out of the lobby of it, I figured out we had already heard everything the guide had to say about his island. So, while I stayed within earshot of him to avoid getting lost, I took in the displays at my own pace and depended on my own knowledge of the Mycenean civilization, which was apparently more comprehensive than his. I didn’t find it necessary to display my total disdain for him.

Bill on the other hand found this an impossible endeavor. For one thing he was incredibly irritated by everything about this guy, from the timbre of his voice to his monotonous dialog to his attitude towards the participants of the shore excursion. For another he knew absolutely nothing about the Mycenean civilization. In protest, Bill turned off his headset and sat in the chairs provided against the wall in whatever gallery I was enjoying.

My favorite moment in the museum was when I saw the two statuettes in the center of the left page above. I have been looking at these ladies in photos for over five decades now. I am fascinate by the place and the time they lived in. Seeing them was a best among bests experience on this cruise.

When our time in the museum was over the trouble began. Our guide abandoned the rest of us on the patio of the museum to take the lady in the wheelchair and her family to a restaurant many blocks away, where a bus would pick them up and take them back to the boat. Now we knew this guy was more than a disappointment. He was an idiot.

When he finally got back, one woman was frantic, because her husband had disappeared some time while she was in the museum. Several other people had wandered off to do some exploring on their own while the guide escorted the family to the bus stop.

He should never have abandoned all of us for a group he’d warned not to come. He should have called either the boat or his tour company, gotten some help with the family and taken the rest of us on our walking tour. I know he could have made that call, because later he had to, because he lost another one of his charges later on.

He abandoned us again, to go look for the missing husband and thankfully found him. About the time the husband showed up, the other people who had wandered off reappeared and we headed off on our walking tour.

The Walking Tour

Gathering up his charges, our guide took us to one of those “You-Are-Here” signs on the edge of a shopping area. He explained several times where we were in relation to the bus (parked catty corner to the museum), and the sign we were looking at. Then he trotted off, telling us to hurry up, because we didn’t have much time.

At the end of a passageway, he came to a famous fountain on a square. This is where he should have stopped and released us to have some free time. He also should have stayed RIGHT THERE to lead us back to the bus.

Instead, after giving us a few moments at the fountain, he headed off to the right and started giving options about beaches, walking back to the boat, sites to visit and the shopping area. He walked us back to the fountain and headed back to the bus, telling us when we had to show up there, which was only about 15 minutes from that moment.

One lady in particular was totally freaked out about finding her way to the bus. Instead of saying, then come with me now, he spent another five minutes giving her direction before he disappeared.

I was ready to follow him back to the bus, but Mr. Bill wanted to do a little exploring. We actually did see a great little shop and bought a gift for our traumatized pet sitter, but then we had to head back. I have a pretty good sense of direction, but even I got a little lost on the way back to the bus. I only missed the parking lot by about a block and when I got back to the street with the museum, knew exactly where to go. We were on time.

Remember the frantic lady? Well, she never showed up. He went out searching for her and returned alone. He finally called his tour agency and let them know he’d lost a patron. He rode the bus back with us to the ship, but few, if any, were stopping to give him a tip. Most of us were livid. I marked it up to the adventures of traveling. Bill was among the livid.

Thankfully, as we walked away, another bus showed up and the missing lady was on it. I guess all’s well that ends well, but with a different guide, it might have been one of the most awesome tours on the cruise. With him it wasn’t.

The next day the ship pulled into Rhodes and we had a much more pleasant day. I hope you’ll come back next week and enjoy it with me.

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Memory Keeping, Museums, Photography, Restaurants & Bars, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Athens and the Acropolis

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: A MARVELOUS DAY OF TOURING

Let the fun begin! We’d arrived in our first Port of Call and it was almost a perfect day. Come along and enjoy it with us.

Getting with the Routine

We needed to board our tour bus at 8:15, so I was up at six. I woke Bill an hour later. Then we navigated to the World Cafe Buffet for breakfast. The room was quite crowded, but we got our food and found a place to sit. The scenery as you can see above was out of this world. Left to his own devices, Bill would have spent the morning making the most of the buffet and taking photos. I encouraged him not to linger over breakfast and allowed him to take one photo, but then it was time to go to the bus.

The buses were close to the gangway and we knew right away we were going to love our guide, Maria. We were on our way, right on time through Piraeus Harbor, you see above. The streets of Athens were empty, but it was a Sunday morning, so we sat back and enjoyed what Maria had to say.

Up, Up and UP!

Before you could say Aristotle Onassis, we were being ushered out of the bus. We began our climb up the Acropolis. I’d been warned it was a treacherous climb, but I actually found it quite easy.

We climbed up one set of stairs to a big plaza. Maria talked a little bit about potty breaks and what to expect next. Then we headed up a series of terraced steps to another plaza. This was the last toilet facility for a while, so Maria gave us time to use the facilities, which I did not need. Bill was busy taking photos and I was enchanted by all the cats.

Soon Maria was gathering us all up again and we headed up another set of stairs and headed off to the ruins where a more ancient series of steps waited for us. This was the real beginning of the tour and where the Athenians themselves once entered the Acropolis to worship their Gods.

These steps were a little more treacherous than the others were, but there were hand rails and it was no trouble. At the top, was the Parthenon and Maria gave us the info we needed to appreciate what we were seeing. Then she sort of set us loose to enjoy the Acropolis at our leisure and told us to meet her back at Older Temple of Athena at a certain time.

I’m saying all this very matter-of-fact, but for me it was a bit surreal. Just the day before I had been battling the vagaries of modern air travel and here I was walking where the greats of history walked. And not just people from the early days of Athens, but all the luminaries of history, including the Romans, Turks and others who had visited this spot. It was a little unreal.

We enjoyed the photo opportunities and eventually Maria gathered all of us to walk us around the Older Temple of Athena. She told us about the Carytid Statues which held up the roof of the porch and walked around to the spot where Athena planted the first olive tree for Athens, winning the city over to herself, rather than the mighty Neptune. It was a giddy experience.

Escaping Through a Back Entrance

Maria led us to an exit which was much more humble than the Grand Propylaea which had led us to the Parthenon. As we headed down, she pointed out sites which I actually found more interesting than those atop the Acropolis, because they were unknown to me. I began to understand even more clearly why the Acropolis had been so important to the ancient Greeks.

On to the Acropolis Museum

Our next stop was spectacular. We were standing in front of the Acropolis Museum. As they dug down to build the foundation of the museum, they discovered fantastic archeological sites. Instead of destroying the ruins or abandoning the museum, they came up with a wonderful compromise which allowed both to co-exist. Archeologists still explore the ruins, while busload after busload of tourists enjoy the museum. At the entrance of the museum, you can see down into the ruins and at several spots within the museum, plexiglass floors allow you to peer into the past.

That is if you look down and it is hard to take the time to do so, because everything around you is so amazing. These are the real treasures of the Acropolis. What you see up the hill are wonderful replicas, which keep the actual treasures safe from the elements. I could use up all my superlatives and still not describe the excitement I felt to see these wonderful artifacts.

We wandered with wonder through gallery after gallery and eventually ended up in the gallery for the Elgin Marbles. There Maria told us the trick Lord Elgin had played on the Sultan in Istanbul, which landed these glorious statues in the British Museum. As a reverse of the other exhibits, these were the fakes and Britain is holding the real artifacts hostage. The nations disagree over the details, but the Greeks hope that someday the real Elgin Marbles will make their way back to Athens. I sort of agree with the Greeks. This is the home of the Elgin Marbles.

Back to the Ship

We’d done a lot of touring in a very short time. For five hours we’d enjoyed the best of Ancient Athens. Now it was time to enjoy the very best of cruising with Viking.

Come back next week and peek into our afternoon aboard the Viking Vela.

Accommodations, ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Memory Keeping, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL

Our Luxurious Life Aboard Viking Vela

Jane Sadek

Making Memories: Afternoon Delights on the Vela

After a long morning of touring, it was time to enjoy the luxuries afforded us aboard Viking’s Vela, one of their ocean-going ships. We’ve got a lot to enjoy by bedtime, so come along!

A Smorgasbord of Delight

Our first stop after the Athenian shore excursion was the World Cafe. We were already getting a little tired of the buffet, but at that time of the day, it was pretty much the only choice we knew about. Before our time aboard was over, we’d find lots of places to eat, but we were just hours into our cruise.

While I’d had no trouble being gluten free at dinner the night before or during our breakfast that morning, lunch was more sandwichy and therefore not as gf-friendly as the other meals had been. I got by, but my choices were more limited.

Next up, we enjoyed a tour of the ship, led by one of the crew. We were shown lots of nooks and crannies we would not have found on our own. We learned a lot about Viking, even though we were already big fans. The gym was very nice and the spa – oh my! That we loved!!

Upsetting News from Home

After the tour, we went back to our cabin to relax a little and get ready for an evening of fun. I posted a few photos from our day in Athens and one of the comments was a request by our next door neighbor to give her a call when we could.

Now Sherry is just about the best neighbor anyone could hope for. As a bonus she loves all cats and especially our Rascal, so she actually thought is was a treat to be his caretaker while we were gone. We were enjoying our Sunday afternoon, but in Dallas, it was time for Sherry to head to church. Instead she was in our house, distraught, because Rascal was missing.

He hadn’t shown up for his Saturday evening feeding, but she saw he’d scarfed up his lunch and he is a cat, so while Sherry was sorry she didn’t get the opportunity to play with the little fellow, she assumed he was fine. When she came to feed him breakfast, he hadn’t touched his food all night long. So something was wrong.

Now we love our cat, but Sherry was inconsolable. We kept assuring her that he was most likely somewhere in the house and whatever had happened good or bad, we knew it wasn’t her fault. Rascal is named Rascal for a reason. Another cat loving friend was going to join her after church and they were going to go through the house we a fine tooth comb. I kept assuring her we were concerned, but not upset and that whatever it was, we trusted her to handle it.

What do you do when you’re on the other side of the world and your cat is missing. I prayed and Bill took a look at all the security footage to be sure Rascal had not slipped out behind Sherry. I texted a few friends to get a little more prayer support. Bill and I acknowledged that there was nothing else we could do and we weren’t going to let this ruin our evening. Since we had proof Rascal had not slipped out of the house, he was somewhere and they’d find him.

Putting on a Brave Front

After resolving to enjoy our evening the best we could, we went to the historical lecture offered by Viking covering Scientific and Technological innovations by the Greeks. Somehow the lecturer managed to make this otherwise interesting subject a real bore. Bill enjoyed it though, while I snoozed.

Next up was dinner. Somehow Bill managed to get into The Restaurant, even though he had on jeans, probably his dinner jacket saved him. The meal was fun and delicious. At the next table was a couple from Tulsa and we chatted with them a bit about our recent visit to their fair city. We also shared some vacation conversation. They obviously travel a whole lot more than we do and on a much grander scale, but they were perfectly delightful dinner companions.

From dinner we made our way back to the Theater, and this time the show was much more entertaining. The ship’s troupe performed the ABBA songbook with marvelous costumes and choreography. Their voices were great and we sang along with every word. What a great way to kick off the cruise!

Even better, as we stood for the final ovation, my silenced phone buzzed in my hand and Rascal had been found. He’d somehow managed to get into the upstairs guestroom and while he was there, the door closed behind him. Our doors have handles instead of knobs, so we’re not surprised he figured out how to get in. We’d wondered how long it would take for him to discover he could do this. The experience was a tough lesson for him though and we have had no repeat incidents.

That night, the Vela made its way to Crete while we slept the sleep of very relieved cat parents. Crete came with its own set of problems. Join us next week as we navigate them.

Accommodations, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Memory Keeping, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

On Our Way to Greece & Turkey Part One

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: BIG TIME BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS

While some people have their vacation dreams all planned out and can tell you when they intend to see each item on their bucket list, I have a hard time getting Bill to plan the next vacation, much less something years down the road. I do know people who have cruises booked years in advance. I spend a lot of my time trying to interest Bill in our next adventure and showing him various deals to sweeten the pot, but I sincerely think he hears none of it.

We came home from a Newcomers Event last year and Bill tells me about this great cruise someone took to Greece and Turkey. The next day we got a postcard for Viking with an “airfare included” deal on the same cruise. Within days our cruise was booked. I guess I’m going to have to start planting folks along Bill’s path to tempt him into trips, because I’m not having luck otherwise. Come along and let’s head to an idyll on the Aegean!

AIRFARE INCLUDED!

Airfare is a big hurdle in our travel planning. It costs so much money, it takes so much time and there’s nothing fun about it. You juggle suitcases for weeks, hoping to find a combination of bags to fit the various requirements of each carrier. Then you have all the airport headaches the airlines throw at you.

When you’re paying for your own airfare you have a little more control over things, but when you turn your fate over to the cruise line, there’s no telling what can happen. In this particular case, Viking thought a layover in Newark was the right way to kick off our trip to Athens. The next leg took us to Frankfurt and finally we would fly on to Athens. I get leg cramps just thinking about it.

FIRST LEG – DFW TO NEWARK LIBERTY

Things went pretty smoothly on the first leg of our trip, until we tried to get luggage tags. We left the house on time and then realized neither of us had thought to get cash. Thankfully a branch of our bank was right on the way. The Parking Spot makes dropping off your car and getting to the terminal easy. The first real hurdle was checking in our luggage. I’d checked us in online, even got them to check our carry-ons for free, but somehow one of our bags was missing from our luggage list and it wasn’t clear to me which buttons I needed to push to correct the error.

This is what I hate about this DIY internet world. There was a time when my travel agent delivered my airline tickets and all I’d have to do is show up for my flight. I’d drop my bag off at the curb and be done with it. Now even when someone else arranges your ticket, you have to play the online check-in game, which in my eyes is useless, because then you have to go do battle with the kiosk at the airport AND then you still have to deal with a person to hand over your luggage.

So, I’m standing there frustrated and frantic, imagining my luggage taking a different vacation than I do and up walks this self-consumed airline employee. Now then let me start by saying, in situations like this I should remain calm, so I am at fault for being so wound up, but this lady walked up and threw the chip on her shoulder at me before I even knew she was standing there! She certainly had no empathy at all for my panic. I was still in full freak out, trying to sort through it all, when this lady butts in and lets me know I am not being very respectful of her.

Respectful?!? I didn’t even know she was there and she was schooling me about respect. That’s today’s world – safe spaces and ribbons for participation, but zero empathy. Hello – I don’t care if you are green, blue or purple. I don’t care about your gender, religion or sexual preferences. It doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing tattoos, a hajib or a bone in your hair. I just want tags for all my bags. (We didn’t have this conversation. I immediately went into apology mode, but I was thinking this!)

You know what’s next. As soon as she finishes scolding me for my behavior, she throws herself in reverse. She is moving at the speed of a sloth. She piddles around looking at each bag, each tag and the computer screen as if she’s made the next important archeological discovery and doesn’t want to disturb a grain of sand until she’s documented it all. She doesn’t listen to what I’m asking for, at all, but is very careful to point out a mistake we’ve made attaching the tags. The world was probably going to end because Bill’s bags had one of my tags. When she talks to me, it’s in the tone you’d use with a preschooler. If they are teaching this method of dealing with panic to our airline customer service people, no wonder the flights these days are full of crazed people.

I am convinced this woman follows me around. I know she was there as we waited for the flight to our anniversary cruise, She strolled over to me and insisted the carryon with my wedding gown was oversized. I knew it wasn’t, because I had measured it a thousand times, but she took delight in terrifying me. She’s there on the phone when I’ve been frustrated beyond all sanity with phone trees and call transfers. She waits on me in stores to pounce when what I’m having trouble finding what I need. Do you get her in situations like this, too?

I spent my life in customer service, back when you treated people like customers and provided service, You gauged their level of frustration and put your personal feelings on hold. You listened to their words. You didn’t shush them up before you had time to figure out the problem! And you made sure they understood you cared about them and you certainly didn’t threaten to keep them from getting on the plane! I want so much to go back to those days. Where can I get a ticket to go there?

Eventually this woman, who’d stretched a 45 second operation on the kiosk to a five minute confrontation decided to release me from her punishment – until next time. We go to another human to turn in our bags and I guess I behaved, because I got no more lectures. There was actually a time when I looked forward to flying, but that was a long time ago.

Our time at DFW was otherwise uneventful. We waited the requisite three hours for international travel, claimed our seats and went on to Newark.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Memory Keeping, Museums, TRAVEL, United States

Philbrook Art Museum & Gardens

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: A SPOOKY NIGHTTIME TOUR AT THE PHILBROOK

Welcome along on our long weekend visit to Tulsa. During the early hours of Friday we visited the sights of Woodward Park and had lunch at the Wildflower Cafe. After Bill’s nap (what would a vacation be without naps) we took off for the Philbrook. It was a little rainy and dark to enjoy the gardens, but we enjoyed the time in the museum. Come along!

PHILBOO!

We did not wake up one morning and say, “Let’s go to Tulsa for Halloween!” Halloween is not a big deal at our house and that just happened to be the weekend we didn’t have other commitments. In fact, Philboo, the museum’s Halloween event, was a bit of an inconvenience, because a museum or garden filled with screeching, running kids in costumes sounds like a bit of a nightmare to us.

My plan had been to go from the Sneedon Mansion to the Philbrook, see the garden that afternoon and enjoy the museum that evening, because the museum was supposed to belong to the kids Saturday. I didn’t realize we’d spend such a significant and wonderful time at Woodward Park attractions and then have naptime, but that’s how it played out.

I have no complaints about our visit to the Museum, but the bad weather made seeing the gardens a bit of a challenge. Friday night was Philboo for adults. Lots of costumed patrons, but no screeching and running, so it was no problem. Not your normal night at the museum, but nothing disruptive. We had a leisurely time enjoying the galleries of the museum and checking out the gift store.

THE MANSION & MUSEUM

The Phillips Mansion is gorgeous – yes, Phillips like the gasoline, but not the Phillips 66 brothers. Waite was an oilman, but he went a different direction than Frank and L.E., his older brothers. Doesn’t sound to me as if there were any losers. All the brothers did well, but Waite was a quieter, more behinds the scenes entrepreneur and perhaps the more successful. Certainly the more philanthropic. He built his mansion, lived there filling it with treasures for a while and then gave it and the art to the city of Tulsa.

Though there’s lots of nice pieces in the Philbrook, for me there were no showstoppers – pieces or artists I went specifically to see, or pieces that moved me spectacularly once I was there. For me, it was the mansion itself which was the real draw. Above is a sampling of the walls’ offerings, thanks to photos made by Bill.

THE GARDENS

During our Friday night visit, it was cold, wet and dark in the gardens. You could step out on the terrace, but there was not sufficient lighting to be able to see what the gardens held. I despaired of ever getting to see them, but I didn’t know exactly what to do about it.

Saturday was given over to the Art Deco Tour of Downtown, which I’ll tell you about next week. It was also the height of Philboo, so as much as I wanted to see it, I didn’t even suggest it.

Our flight back to Dallas was not until 2 on Sunday, but that meant we needed to get to the airport by noon. Bill’s not much for getting up early on vacation without a specific reason and didn’t know whether or not he’d think the Gardens were specific enough of a reason, but he got in gear on Sunday morning and off we went.

As a patron of the Dallas Arboretum I’m used to a garden that takes hours to see. I knew the Philbrook Gardens were less extensive. I think we arrived with about 45 minutes to spare and that turned out to be more than enough, because the gardens are much more compact. Unfortunately, the price was steep, at least compared to the $5 per person admittance we’d had on Friday night. We paid twenty each for our Sunday visit, because that’s the price. There’s no, I-just-want-the-gardens price or even a senior discount.

But it was worth it. You start just outside the mansion on a balcony and stroll down immaculate terraced gardens to a fountain. After the fountain is a pond surrounded by more haphazard gardening.

Then there’s the park like setting with the folly. Very Thomas Kincaid-ish.

The terraces, the pond and the folly are the main attractions and going back up to the balcony is as delightful as walking down the terraces to the folly.

There’s a kind of side garden with a pool and bathroom facilities, where I think they have concerts and events. As you can see, the weather was not great, but at least it was not pouring rain. We saw the gardens and I was happy.

So, that covers the Philmont Art Museum and the Gardens. I was not blown away by the art, but I think you should plan on seeing this place. It’s wonderful. Come back next week and we’ll go on a great tour of Downtown architecture.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Memory Keeping, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

So What Exactly is a White Coat Ceremony

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: SO PROUD OF OUR GRANDNEPHEW

In the medical field, when I student gets to the point where they will be dealing directly with patients, they get their white coats. They’ve been trained enough to deal with people, but they aren’t trained enough to handle them alone. Our Grandnephew Karim, had reached that point and this proud Great Aunt & Great Uncle were invited to the ceremony. Come along and hang with the fam!

Multiple Milestones to Celebrate

Two of our grand nephews live in the Phoenix area and with Karim’s ceremony to attend the family came in from LA, Dallas and the Detroit area. But Karim was not the only celebrant. There were several family birthdays also, Bill’s sister Mona, his grand nephew Fady (Karim’s big brother) and grand nephew Adam. Adam is the youngest member of the family and it was his first birthday. So, you can imagine we wanted to have lots of fun.

Fady found a restaurant at Papago Golf Course called, Lou’s Bar & Grill, where we could all meet. The food was mediocre, but the company was great. It was impossible for darling Adam not to be the star of the show. I’d love to show him to you, but his parents don’t want him on social media, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Then the Party was Over

I have to be gluten free in all of my food choices. I’m quite serious about it, because if I’m not, I get sick. I thought I had followed the GF p’s & q’s at Lou’s, but then I started having stomach issues. I won’t bore you with the details, but eventually it meant we had to leave. I got a little respite in the car and then when we got to our hotel, I was in severe pain.

I went almost immediately to bed, even though it was still quite early. I woke up a few hours later and unpacked my bags. It was all of 9:30 PM, but 11:30 Texas time. I went back to bed in a bit and at 11 PM, realized I’d failed to put in my retainers. I put them in and went back to sleep until my usual wakeup time – 5 AM. Thankfully, but then I felt fine.

Our Accommodations

We stayed at the the Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak. I can tell you the resort was not at its peak, but suited our needs just fine. In fact, in our room, the bedroom was separated from everything else, so it was easy for me to get up early and not interrupt Bill’s beauty sleep.

At one time, I’m sure this was a great vacation resort, but those days had passed. The food venues were either closed or mediocre. Some of the pools were closed and others needed maintenance. Frankly, everything was run down – but it was clean and it was quiet, and it had been a real bargain. There was even a water park and some other amusements. We availed ourselves of the lazy river at the water park and truly enjoyed it, in spite of it not being in top condition.

So, if location and price mean more to you than other considerations, these accommodations might be just what you need. If you’re expecting a resort atmosphere, don’t book this.

The White Coat Ceremony

Confession, I goofed up. We did not get an official printed invitation to the ceremony. We just talked to his mom and told her we were coming. I googled dental schools in Phoenix and found Arizona School of Dentistry and went with that. As we drove towards the ceremony, I got this strange feeling we were going to the wrong place. We’d chosen the hotel because it was close to where his mother told us the ceremony would be – but she hadn’t told us the name of the school – and the GPS was not taking us in that direction.

I had a little meltdown, made several calls to family members and headed towards Midwestern University, which was Karim’s school, but it was not my finest moment in travel or family relations. I felt like an idiot and the pretended I wasn’t , but I had done something idiotic!

The ceremony was wonderful. Karim was so glad we’d come and the school did a great job on the official part of things. After the ceremony we got to visit the lab where Karim was learning his trade. It was great to see how well loved and admired he was. He’s amazing!

Post Ceremony Family Time

I’d been off that morning. Bill had his turn that afternoon. At his request I’d made reservations for the tour of a historic home. Then he got with his family and totally forgot we had the reservations. He’d been all for trading snacks for dinner, but then I had to remind him of what else we had planned. When he got his brain back, we made plans for breakfast the next morning and headed off for our next adventure.

Come back next week and join us at Wrigley Mansion.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Memory Keeping, Museums, Music, Performing Arts, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix AZ

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: MY NEW FAVORITE MUSEUM

My great nephew in dental school invited us to his white coat ceremony. I wasn’t sure what that was, but it was in Phoenix, so I was ready to go. Come along and discover my new favorite museum!

A Challenging Morning

We had crazy time getting on our flight: missed the exit for the Parking Spot, wrong turn once in the Parking Spot lot, told the shuttle driver the wrong gate, then boarding pass printed the night before said one thing, the airline app said something else and the board in the terminal said something else entirely. Then we asked a airline employee who sent us to another terminal via Sky Link. That’s all before we boarded the flight.

Then on the ground in Phoenix, the car we got shook like it was coming apart, before we got out of the airport, so we had to go back and exchange it. By then we were starving, so we went to an IHOP. Our waiter was on the autism spectrum. Now I’m thrilled IHOP had hired him and he really did a good job, but communicating with him was a little challenging. When you’re already frazzled, that takes an extra level of concentration and my concentrator was broken.

Bill’s problem was completely different. He ordered strawberry pancakes, expecting big fluffy pancakes with fresh strawberries. He forgot he was at IHOP, but he was crestfallen when the pancakes arrived with frozen strawberries on top.

A Wonderful Museum

After all our tales of woe, one might think we were on a losing streak, but I struck gold when I took us to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). It fell on my radar the last time we’d visited Phoenix/Scottsdale, back in 2020, but try as I might, I couldn’t get Bill interested. This time I didn’t give him the chance to nay say it. I just said that was where we were headed.

What an amazing place! The MIM figured out how to make technology work in a museum. As you may remember several posts back, I’d panned the use of technology by the Seattle Art Museum which made enjoying their porcelain collection impossible. I was wary when the MIM receptionist gave us headsets and told us not to worry, because they’d come on automatically when we neared a display. He was right.

In the first gallery I saw all the icons I’d wished for when we were visiting MOPOP a few months before. It’s like someone had looked into my personal catalog of musical greats and chose the stars they’d highlight in the their museum. Well, some of them were not my favorites, but they were my dad’s and I stood there with tears in my eyes wishing he could be there with me.

Here’s how it worked. If you looked at a display case from afar, you could see the display with costumes, instruments and such. You knew who you were going to enjoy. Then, when you stepped up closer, an audio recording would play, filling you in on the details of the display and video recordings would show on various screens. Step away and they’d quit. It was phenomenal. I had a great time – and that was just the first gallery!

The next gallery was a hands on exhibit allowing visitors to play many different kinds of instruments – mostly percussion. Mr. Bill loved it and we spent a good amount of time there.

The balance of the museum might be the best part. They’ve divided the world up into various sections and whole galleries are devoted to the music of the different regions. Oh my goodness! There were gorgeous costumes from all over the world. Videos of folk dances or notable entertainers from an area. And the instruments. How wonderful! Various areas of the world have instruments I’d never dreamed of. It was one thing to look at them, another to hear how they sounded and something else completely to see a video of beautifully costumed dancers performing to music played on the instrument. I was in heaven.

For me, being cut off from the rest of the world with the headphones allowed me to be fully immersed in the experience. I was tapping my toes, snapping my fingers and clapping my hands. I might have even broken into dancing a few times. Did I mention this was a wonderful museum.

Having visited all the displays of the various countries we started visiting other galleries, devoted to specific instruments, like the piano or guitar. These galleries probably deserved just as much of my attention, but we’d pulled out of our garage about 4 AM that morning and the two hour time difference were telling on me. Besides, we had a family gathering to attend.

Here’s another spread from my photo book:

Please, please, please visit this museum if you are in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I’ll e going back every time I’m in the area. Now plan of coming back next week and I’ll share some highlights from our family time.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Memory Keeping, Museums, Photography, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Petersen Automotive Museum

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: I LOVE CARS

The Grand Finale

As I’ve mentioned, I didn’t do much in the way of research for this trip. Nephew was supposed to cover LA, Lizbet planned Huntington Beach, we know the Central Coast and Bill found Casa de Herrero. All I can really take credit for is bringing the glue that turned all of these disparate things into a vacation.

Petersen Automotive Museum was not anybody’s list, but we passed it when we were leaving LACMA and I made a mental note of it. When we decided to go, I just put LACMA in the GPS and looked for the place I saw across the street. We spent more time in the car museum than we did in the art museum! It was one of our favorite things of all the new places we visited.

If you don’t love cars, then this is not the place to go. That’s all there is: cars, cars and more cars, with a few motorcycles thrown in for good measure – floor after floor of cars. They tell you to take the elevator to the top and then work your way down.

My favorite part was this section of the museum. Here’s some of the cars they had. Yes, I do keep showing you various shots of Steve McQueen’s sports car, but it’s only a fraction of what I have.

This car museum spoiled me forever. In a few months time I would go to another famous car museum, but all I could thing of was how inferior it was to this one.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Eventually we had to leave the car museum. Perhaps I should have covered it in more detail, but there were cars, lots of cars and then some more cars. It was heaven.

After some fast food it was back to the car rental place and then onto the airport via a shuttle. (We used Fox.) The weather was glorious all the time we were in California, but the story was different back at home. North Texas had been caught up in the annual freeze over for most of the time we were gone, which was odd, because we used to have one snow day a year and that was it.

We enjoyed the final day in LA. Our flight left LAX a little before 7, but the time difference was against us and it was midnight before we crawled off the plane. Thankfully, the flight was to Love Field, because things are much closer together and our car is always just across the street. We don’t have to wait for a parking shuttle.

Remember the cold weather? Well, Bill had me stay in the building and went to get the car. What a gentleman! But he was soon back without the car. It wouldn’t start. We feared we’d be sleeping in the terminal, but Bill called some emergency number posted in the garage and it was no time at all until a guy showed up and jumped a start.

We made our way home and went to bed. Directly to bed!

Before I move on, I’ll share a few more of my favorite cars with my photobook pages.