Tag: Greece

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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.

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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.

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On Our Way to Greece & Turkey Part Duex

Jane Sadek

MAKING MEMORIES: THE FRUSTRATIONS OF GETTING THERE!

Welcome to our cruise vacation. Unfortunately, we had three planes to catch before we could get to our port of Embarkation. A member of the United Airlines Ground Crew made our time at DFW a little difficult, but soon we were winging our way to Newark’s Liberty Airport. Come along with us!

Modern Inconveniences

So, we land at Newark, I turn on my phone and start getting notifications. The friendly skies were sending us love notes about our upcoming flights. I was happy to use my data to read all my notifications, instead of trusting the airport wi-fi, but I wanted to juice up my phone, so there’d still be power when I got to Frankfurt. We found a charging station and I filtered through my love notes. Primarily, Lufthansa wanted me to know that I’d be flying with them out of Frankfurt, even though the flight had been booked through United and United was letting me know I should check the departure boards in Newark, because sometimes there were gate changes. Those messages resolved, I checked up on the rest of my digital life and then sat there, very near our gate and let the phone charge.

When they called us to board, we got to participate in the new airport game – Gate Bus Plane. We filed through the turnstile to have our boarding passes read and then marched down the stairs to the tarmac. There we boarded a bus which played chicken with all the jumbo jets to take us to our pond jumper. I’m thinking this new game is a way for airlines to save money. It must be cheaper to drive your customers across the airport and have them climb stairs rather than just walk down a jetway or we wouldn’t have been doing so much of it on this trip. Whoever dreamed up this game should be punished severely.

Friendly Seatmate

For this leg of the journey, we’d opted for the last row of the plane. It gave Bill a window seat, we could sit together and it was close to the bathroom. Worked for us.

Then a guy sat next to me. Very friendly and helpful. Confessed to being military and knew a lot about the plane. We chatted a bit and I felt as if he were a little evasive about some innocent questions concerning his assignment and location. I was a little surprised by how often he seemed to travel, but it wasn’t my business.

Then I as the flight proceeded, it seems he was rarely in his seat and often could be found chatting up the flight crew. Later I decided he was some kind of air marshall, but I didn’t put it all together until long after the flight was over.

Honestly, I wasn’t very impressed with the Friendly Skies of United. The entertainment center was almost useless and the food was awful, but I slept through most of the flight, so it wasn’t a big loss – just disappointing.

And Then There Was Frankfurt!

I had fond memories of the Frankfurt Airport! I’d been through German airports a few times before Mr. Bill, but it seems as if those trips had been through Munich. The first time I remember going through Frankfurt had been in 1994 and I had been impressed with it. The shopping area was out of this world and I recalled a great little English pub.

We were back in 2016 for a layover, but it had been a rough Transatlantic flight and I spent most of the layover asleep in Bill’s lap. None of my fond memories played out in 2025.

The first frustration I will lay at the feet of Viking. They had a guy there to point us towards our next flight, but he pointed us in the wrong direction. We must have spent at least an hour wandering helplessly through the airport.

We finally found the right gate and chatted with an older couple who was supposed to be on our cruise. Some one showed up to take them in wheelchairs to another gate and I asked if we should move, too, but we were told they were being moved to better accommodate their wheelchair status and assured we could stay where we were.

Bill made a bed for himself across several chairs and I read the one of the books I’d brought along. The time of the flight was getting closer, but I wasn’t seeing much activity that looked as if that were true. I had been expecting to see more Viking passengers and that wasn’t happening either.

I’d turned off the wireless network to save money, but something told me I should get on wi-fi and see what was up. Good thing!! Everything had changed. Our flight number had been changed and our flight was delayed AND now the flight was leaving from a completely different terminal

I woke up a sleepy Mr. Bill to catch him up on things, none of which he was very happy about. We gathered up our belongings and began the trek to the next terminal. That was interesting and it was a trek. By now I was hungry and there hadn’t been any cute English Pub. The beautiful displays of German pastries, which were all over the airport didn’t do much for my gluten-free state. When we finally found the gate, I did a little exploration and there was nowhere decent to eat. I found a sandwich store for Bill, but I had to make do with a meat and cheese snack from a convenience store, which I topped off with potato chips. Gluten free is not necessarily healthy.

This gate was a lot more promising. There was more activity that resembled a flight and yes, there were other people with Viking paraphernalia. This looked good. I kept my phone on and watched for more activity, but none occurred.

Finally, they started boarding the plane, but like Newark, we went down the stairs to a bus first and that bus wandered around forever. I thought they were driving to Athens! Then they parked and herded us off the bus. It was cold and rainy outside as we waited to climb the stairs to the plane. I lamented the days when Lufthansa was the gold standard for international travel. Now it was the armpit!

On to Athens

Once we were on the flight it was unremarkable. In a few hours we landed in Athens and Viking personnel were all over the place. At baggage claim we were happy to discover our bags had made it, but before I realized it, they’d already been whisked away by Viking. We kept getting pointed in another direction and finding Viking personnel who wanted to know our name, which they would then check off a list. I don’t even recall how many times we went through this ritual, before and after baggage claim. Eventually, we were pointed in the direction of a bus, which after a while, had a chirpy Viking employee welcoming us to Athens and letting us know why we would be on the bus for at least another 45 minutes.

I was beyond tired, so I leaned back and tried to relax. It had been a very long travel day – two travel days, in fact. The calendar had turned a page since I left DFW, but after awhile I noticed a familiar glow in the distance. There, rising above the dark city of Athens was the Acropolis, with floodlights causing the Parthenon to glow in the night.

I felt like I did at Butchart Gardens and on the porch at The Grand Hotel. Mom was with me. She never made it to Athens herself, but she was thrilled I had. I couldn’t hold back the tears. And to think, the very next day I would be walking up there, where Aristotle, Pluto and other Athenian luminaries strolled.

Embarking on the Viking Vela

The bus pulled into the port and we were ushered off. The check-in process was ridiculously easy. We barely had time to set everything down before they were pointing us towards the gangway! As soon as we stepped on the boat, we were offered champagne and sent to life boat drill, which was actually just a quick lesson on wearing the life vest. We found our cabin and made our way to the buffet for some real food. Something we hadn’t seen in a while.

When we returned to the room, our bags had been delivered. I unpacked and put everything away in the generous storage of our cabin. Afterwards we went to what they called The Living Room and listened to some great music – a pair of string musicians playing popular music in a classical style. We had an early shore excursion the next morning, so we went to bed fairly early.

We’d made it. The journey had been frustrating and exhausting, but I was in Athens, Greece! Exciting, but hard to believe. Join me next week to visit the Acropolis. It was a great shore excursion!