Our itinerary was: Istanbul, Turkey (3 days at the Istanbul Hyatt Regency Hotel); sail down the Dardanelles; Kusadasi, Turkey; Rhodes, Greece; Santorini Island, Greece; Athens, Greece (3 days at the Athens Intercontinental Hotel). Our pictures are available at PhotoWorks if you would like to view them. Look under "My Rolls" in the Photo Manager frame on the right side of the page. Each roll is captioned with the general contents. You'll probably have to click the "Next 10" button to see all the rolls.
Istanbul's rich history offered us a varied texture of architecture, cuisine, and landscape. As we explored this majestic city, we witnessed Istanbul's greatest influences — the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. We were enveloped by three thousand years of history.
We had the delectable foods — from kofte (spiced meatballs) to kadayif (shredded pastry dough filled with nuts and drenched in syrup), and kahve (Turkish coffee). We found the hotel buffet offered a great way to try many different foods at one sitting.
For nearly three millennia, Istanbul has been the crossroad of two continents. We began our tour of this fascinating city at the Hippodrome where 3rd century Roman gladiators battled to the death. Next up was one of the architectural wonders of the world, the famous Blue Mosque (named for the beautiful blue Iznik tiles that decorate the interior). It has withstood more than 20 earthquakes in its 400 years of existence.
Next on our tour, a short walk away, was the Hagia Sophia (built in 537 AD). It boasted the world's largest dome prior to the construction of St. Peter's in Rome, and was Christendom's most important church until Constantinople was conquered in 1453. Now a museum, Santa Sophia contains many extraordinary mosaics of religious figures and Byzantine emperors.
Our next stop was the Topkapi Palace, where an endless array of interconnecting apartments, halls, gardens and courtyards lead to the Royal Treasury — four rooms of jewels that include eight-pound emeralds and the 84-carat Spoonmaker diamond. There were expensive, lavish gifts from the monarchs of most countries. The tour ended at a Turkish rug merchant's shop, where we found out about how Turkish rugs are made and valued.
On our last day we went to the Domalbache Palace, the "new" version of the Topkapi. It was a palace in the Versailles tradition - lavish, ostentatious, overwhelming.
We boarded the Renaissance cruise ship, and quickly settled into our spacious cabin. It had a sliding glass door to the balcony, a real tub in the bathroom, a huge bed and large sitting area. We were reluctant to leave, until we found out the rest of the ship was beautiful, and non-smoking too. And the food was great!
After leaving the Golden Horn (after which the Golden Gate Strait of San Francisco is named) and the Bosphorus, we entered the Dardanelles. Connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, the swift waters of The Dardanelles (the ancient Hellespont) have been synonymous with mythology and war for 5,000 years, and have been part of the Roman, Byzantine and Turkish empires. The mythical Leander drowned on one of his nightly swims across the Hellespont to rendezvous with his love, Hero. Just over a hill on the Turkish shores are the ruins of Troy, where Paris fled with his abducted bride, Helen, instigating the Trojan War. Alexander the Great crossed these straits in 334 BC in his conquest of Greece. When Winston Churchill tried to seize this strategic during World War I, Allied forces were destroyed by the Turks on the beaches of Gallipoli. The commander of the Turks, Ataturk, became a national hero and the founder of modern Turkey. The history that I had read in school was coming alive.
Built on the shores of a glittering turquoise bay, Kusadasi boasts blue waters and golden sand, dozens of discos and delightful shops, ancient artifacts and majestic temples, and plenty of exotic and tempting delicacies. The ship left before we had a chance to thoroughly explore this interesting town. We did take an interesting excursion, though. We explored fascinating historical sites such as the Temple of Apollo, the Basilica of St. John, and the Great Theater where St. Paul preached to the masses. We didn't have time to visit the Archaeological Museum in Ephesus, where we could have seen the familiar head of Zeus, but we spent several hours in the ancient city of Ephesus, exploring its fascination ruins. On our way to our next stops, we passed the mountain on which recent evidence is the site of the Virgin Mary's retreat, where she lived after the Crucifixion. Apparently it has become a revered stop on the Pilgrim circuit.
Then it was on to Three Ancient Cities: Priene, Didyma and Miletus. First stop on our tour was Priene where we visited the magnificent Athena Temple, built by Alexander the Great nearly 1,900 years ago–but just ruins today, suggesting past glory. We also saw the ruins of the oldest theater in Anatolia, which seated over 5,000 spectators, as well as the gymnasium, the stadium and the agora (marketplace).
Then, it was a journey back in time to Miletus, an ancient city that was once linked to Didyma by a 10-mile-long Sacred Way. We explored the ruins of Miletus, including the theater, thermal baths, and stadium (built by the Greeks and later enlarged by the Romans to hold 15,000 spectators seated on elevated tiers!).
In Didyma, we explored the oldest part of the city, and saw the ruins of the majestic Temple of Apollo, one of the great monuments of antiquity.
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, The Colossus, was thought to have once stood at the entrance of the Mandraki harbor to Rhodes. Depicting Helios, the Sun god, this 131 foot bronze statue heralded visitors to Rhodes, some of whom outstayed their welcome. Invaded, occupied, and passed through the hands of Knights, Turks, Italians, and Germans, Rhodes was finally returned home to Greek rule in 1947. There is no trace of the Colossus today; apparenly , it was recycled, probably into weapons used in the various invasions.
With its line of sandy beaches, cypress and pine forests, and a well-preserved fortified Medieval town constructed by the Knights of St. John, Rhodes is a joy for sightseeing. The Old Town of Rhodes is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe. Entering through the magnificent Gate D'Amboise, we visited the fully restored 14th-century Grand Master's Palace containing beautiful alabaster windows, French and Venetian furniture, and beautiful floor mosaics representing scenes from Greek mythology. The floor mosaics were especially impressive.
Then we walked along the narrow Streets of the Knights, and viewed the Inns of Nations built by the knights in the 15th century. We were fascinated by the wandering, twisting alleys.
Santorini used to be an island; 3500 years ago, the center of the island was blown away by a tremendous volcanic eruption, leaving a crescent-shaped remnant. Recent archeological findings suggest this was the home island of the legendary Atlantis, destroyed by the eruption and tidal wave. We found Santorini to be the stereotype Greek Island—it looks just like a picture postcard. We really enjoyed walking around Thera, the main city, and visiting the many shops open for business.
After docking in Athens port, we first visited Corinth. We rode along the coast, where 2500 years ago,off Salamis, the Athenians defeated the Persian fleet under King Xerxes. We drove near the site of the battle of Marathon. Then we saw the majestic Corinth Canal, cut through miles of solid rock — an engineering triumph many centuries in the making. Then it was past the plains where the Peloponnesian War was fought, and on to Ancient Corinth, a city where in its later days St. Paul lived and worked for 18 months. We saw the Bema (platform) where the courageous Saint was tried by the Roman governor. We admired one of the most striking ancient buildings of Corinth– the Temple of Apollo.
Next was a walk through the remains of the Market Place, a colonnaded square once surrounded by many small shops. We saw the celebrated Fountain of Priene, which has produced water from earliest times, as well as the Lechaion Road that was the ancient road to the port of Lechaion
The focal point of the city is the Acropolis. After lunch at the picturesque Attalos Restaurant at the foot of the Acropolis and walking around the base of the hill, we walked up the road and entered this legendary ruin through the Propylaea, the sacred gates guarding the sanctuary of Athena. With elegant Doric and Ionic columns standing attendance, the magnificent Parthenon appeared before us. We admired six lovely maidens (Caryatids of the Erechtheion Temple) delicately carved into the columns that support the Caryatid Porch (copies; the originals are protected from acid rain and dirt in the Archaeological Museum). We also experienced the graceful Athena Nike Temple. The view of Athens from the Acropolis is fantastic, because at the elevation you can see for miles in every direction. Everywhere you look are remnants of past glory. Walking to bottom of the Acropolis, we found two theatres etched into the side of the hill; the large Theatre of Dionysos, and the smaller theatre, Odeon of Herod Atticus, where open-air productions are still held today.
The wonderful National Archaeological Museum is considered the best of its kind for the study of Greek civilization, one of the richest in the world, displaying major works of ancient sculpture, ceramics, and frescoes from Greek archeological sites. Here we could follow the evolution of Greek sculpture from its earliest beginnings, and got a whole new perspective on "new" and "old". It was interesting that most of the statues were missing their noses–apparently victim of soldiers' swords during the periodic lootings. Among the numerous exhibits are the golden artifacts recovered in Mycenae by the famous German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. One of the most magnificent is the beaten-gold mask of a man with a beard and moustache, which Schliemann claimed to be the face of Agamemnon. There are also classical masterpieces in marble and bronze dating back to the 2nd millennium BC (that's up to 4000 years ago!). On view were delightful frescoes that once graced the walls of Akrotiri in Santorini. The frescoes are alive with colorful representations of birds, monkeys, dolphins and elegant figures of youths and maidens. Then we walked through the Old City of Athens, called the Plaka. Situated at the foot of the Acropolis, we could visualize the Athens of long ago. We spent some time wandering around the winding lanes of this area that has been inhabited since prehistoric times before returning to our hotel.
On our last day, on the way to the airport, we visited Cape Sounion. Our journey into the past began with a scenic drive along the Saronic coast. As we approached Cape Sounion, the Temple of Poseidon stands majestically on a jagged spur atop the Cape. The ancient Greeks built their Temple of Poseidon at windswept Cape Sounion, at the entrance to the bay that leads to Athens harbor. The view from within the temple is spectacular. The temple was the first thing returning sailors saw to let them know they were safely home.