Cruise Aboard the Aegean Pearl
We were up early the next day following the magnificent sunset at Cape Sounion to take our cruise through the Mediterranean. We passed many a grand ship before arriving at the Aegean Pearl, a decent sized vessel in my opinion but by no means a Carnival Cruiseliner. Upon seeing it, I immediately thought, “it doesn’t look any bigger than the Mauritania!” as I clasped a hand around my Titanic charm necklace, and had someone snap a picture of me “paying my respects” to the boat, as my dad insisted I “respect the boat” prior to leaving Madrid. (Do no horse around. Do not play near the railings. Do not fall over said railings. Respect the boat, Blair!)
Our room was TINY, like half the size of an AU dorm room but with four people sleeping in it! I was paired with Sarah Block, Jasmine, and Kathryn. Our luggage could barely fit in the room! I put on my bathing suit and cover up before realizing we had to do a lifeboat drill (again, thank you Titanic!). I put on my orange life preserver and headed up to the dining room with Sarah. There we encountered a Canadian business man at our table who was here “on business.” We chatted with him and told him about our program. We asked, how much business are you actually doing here? Without missing a beat, he replied, the same amount of school work you are doing! After the drill, I laid outside on the deck with Ashlee and Rachel, reading and relaxing, watching the shore slowly drift away and the wind pick up. After a buffet lunch, I got lost on the boat, read in a nice corner, ran into Ryan some hours later and we began to play cars. We learned this really bizarre game from an elderly Englishman that I totally forget now, it was so complicated.
We landed at the dawn of twilight in Mykonos, a tiny little island famous for its white buildings and villages and windmills. I swear, it looked like a Disney town resort! Madeline, Vanessa and I spent a while sitting by the bay before meandering further inwards. We found the cutest little outside restaurant where flowering trees hung over the patio roof in a pinky-purple shade, illuminated by the dancing flicker of candlelight. We continued to lose ourselves in the narrow white streets and budding overhangs. Before long, it was time to head back to the boat, and we said goodbye to the picturesque little island, illuminated by the moon, soft candles, and Christmas lights. After catching the ferry back to the ship, I ate dinner with Sam, Ashlee, Lauren Renner and Kathryn, enjoying my meal and especially the dessert. Knowing that we had an early morning again tomorrow, I went to sleep early – early being around midnight, as I had wanted to read some of my book and that one of my roommates refused to turn off the light.
The next day, we received our wake-up call at 6 AM. Breakfast began at 6:30, and we were scheduled to disembark no later than 7:30 AM to the island of Kusadasi in Turkey. This disembarkment was completely different from that of Mykonos. We walked down a plank as the sun gently rose in the eastern sky, the music of Turkey washing over us as we saw Turkish dancers. Behind them, I could see the Turkish flag, a darker red than the morning sky. We went through Turkish customs before exiting the ort, meeting our bus driver and tour guide shortly. We first went to the House of the Virgin Mary, where she supposedly lived out her last days on Earth. Her house was converted into a church, and several Popes have visited there. I was fine until I walked through the house, when upon seeing the constructed altar and the bowed heads of the faithful I began to tear up. It was like an overwhelming wave of emotion. This place was considered Holy. I wondered what my grandmother would say if she could be here; for her I took a sip of Holy water from Mary’s fountain and left a prayer there as well. But I couldn’t help but be offended by the laughs and complaints of some of the Jewish kids, especially the snide remarks of one. I couldn’t help but say and think, is it impossible for you to respect another religion? Can you not honor a place for its historical significance even though it doesn’t fit into your particular religious beliefs? I want to visit Israel someday, simply to hear and see what it is about. I am not Catholic, so this place doesn’t resonate as deeply with me as it does with others. But could they not at least leave a moment to those who truly did want to be here? This is history, or possible history. Last time I checked, we were all from American, the land of religious freedom and tolerance. It upset me to see people writing this place off, knowing how much it means to so many.
We continued on to Ephesus, an ancient city. It was constructed at total of 3 or 4 times. We visited the third site, which was abandoned due to plague and famine, I believe. But it was glorious, constructed under the influence of the Roman style. We could see the remains of the sewer system and the statues of heroes past. It was astounding to think about what the city once was only because of the remnants. What it must have been like in its glory! Statues, sewer system, constructs in honor of Nike, Hadrian and other important people. However, the most well preserved and most demanding view was that of the Celsius Library. What now is a façade resembling the front of the Temple of the Lost Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was once the 2nd largest library of the ancient world, nest to Alexandria. The destruction of these 2 great libraries meant losing all but 2 works of the ancient world – Homer’s Odyssey and Illiad. We then walked towards the stadium of Ephesus, a marvelous and humungous structure that could hold 250,000 people! It was so cool. We walked then along a road lined with empty pedestals. Madeline, Ashlee and I felt it our duty to take a picture as Roman goddesses. Jess, Sarah, and Kaitlan noticed helmets sitting on a bench on the hill behind the pedestal. Cool, they say, and start heading up the hill. Ten seconds later they turn screaming down the hill, followed by an army of Ancient Romans! It was all set up for a play … in English! What?!?! Turkish people playing English-speaking Romans? We watched for a while before realizing it was time to head back. On the way back, my bag got stuck in the X-ray machine, and none of the security guards would help me get it. So I climbed into the X-Ray machine and probably have permanent brain damage. I know my spelling has not been the same since!
We ate lunch on the ship (again, so many good desserts! Half my lunch was dessert!) before I decided I need a nap. Living in such close and rotating quarters, I had caught the disease I had coined my freshman year: “first you cough, then you die.” I was awoken at 4 in anticipation of our departure to Patmos. So, we boarded the boat to the tiny rocky island to see more ancient things in Greece. First stop – the Cave of Revelations, where God spoke to John about the apocalypse. Primarily, I was surprised at the building and stairs I had to walk through to get to the cave. I lit a candle out of respect and saw a Bible placed in a high location of honor as well as the hole God’s voice made in the wall when he spoke to John. The hole was much smaller than I thought it would be. But then again, I didn’t expect golden alter panels either. It was a very enigmatic place.
We then headed up to the monastery at the top of the island, which had a fabulous view of the sunset and the bay in addition to beautiful gothic art inside. All golden tin the room of prayer were images of Jesus, Mary, and splendor, from the floor to the intricately adorned ceiling. I left the building with Mari Carmen, Jasmine, Lauren, and Tracy, walking through the village for a good 20 minutes before realizing….we were lost! MariCarmen calls Rafa, and the conversation goes like this:
MC: Estamos perdidas!
R: Pregunta la gente.
MC: No hay gente, Rafa!
Because it was true, there was no one around. So we just followed the road we were on until we finally saw something that looked familiar on the other side of this hill. There we found Rafa and the rest of the group, hopping into taxis back down the rollercoaster of a hill to the bottom, where we were promptly escorted to the boat. Ashlee and I had a fabulous dinner which included mandarin orange salad, lobster bisque, steak, and red velvet cake. Yum! After dinner, I joined the others upstairs for a karaoke party. It was fun – Paul and Ryan sang, we all danced, and it turned into a sing off between us and a group of Australians. I went to bed (comparatively) early, and was now fully experiencing the effects of the cruise cold.
The next day we were up early and docked at Crete. It was cold and rainy, and on the island there was initially not a sight to behold – the buildings were gray, and I felt like I was in North Philadelphia, not some mythical island. We saw the old palace of Knossos, where the ancient Myceneans lived. However, due to the cold, rain, and bad health many of us were in, it was not an extremely pleasant experience, especially when Ephesus was so much better preserved. I did enjoy seeing the throne room, perfectly preserved and exhibiting paintings that we had been shown in art history. The main reconstruction was neat too – however, it also seemed a tad Disney unreal. Everything seemed unreal! Then we went to the museum before being allowed fee time, where I bought myself a beautiful Greek key bracelet that the man made into an anklet for me, a replacement for the ankle bracelet that was lost somewhere in Granada.
We soon left, boarding the Aegean Pearl once more, and I took a nap, exhausted. However, during my rest, Ryan entered the “Mr. Aegean Pearl” pageant and WON! I would have LOVED to see that – I think I would have been so amused.
We soon arrived to Santorini, the island I had been waiting to see. I could see the white buildings steeply ascending the high altitudes of the islands, which were much steeper than I had envisioned. The island jutted upward at like a 70 degree angle! We explored the lower part of the island for a bit, and then Mari Carmen broke the news – we were taking a boat out to the Caldera to see the volcano AND go swimming in the Aegean Sea! Ahhhh we were stoked! The boat trip in and of itself was so much fun, hair blowing everywhere, our group crowded at the bow, headed for the caldera. Shortly, we landed, and went trucking up the hill to see the caldera – a pit of black rock. It was pretty neat to be on a volcano! Shortly after, we returned to the ship, and Mari Carmen asked: who’s going in? a lot of the others were hesitant, but I was like, ME ME ME! I didn’t care how cold I might be in the future, because honestly, how many times do you have the chance to swim in the Aegean Sea?
I was one of the first ones in. It was brisk, at first, but soon I felt fine, like a slightly lukewarm bath. Below, it was dark. Finally about 15-18 of us were in the water, swimming and splashing. But the sun started to dip and Mari Carmen was like, vaminos chicos, it’s time to ride the donkeys!
Yes. We rode donkeys. There are only 2 ways of getting up the hill – cable car and donkey. All of us except for Tony (who thought it smelled bad), Mari Carmen, Rafa and Paul rode them. I waited my turn, breathing through my mouth, and then was put on a donkey. I was petrified! My donkey stopped off the first incline and the guy running the operation led Madeline’s donkey to mine, tied them together, tied us both to a bar and went back to the group to finish loading the others. Madeline and I were confused. He came back up the incline with a little white donkey, told me to get off, and to hop on this sprightly thing. So I did, he hit it, and the donkey went charging up the hill! Following the zig zag back and forth and back and forth he was the little donkey who could, passing all the other donkeys. I looked up from petting his main ad waved at my classmates as I rode by, seeing another beautiful sunset, reflected off the water and striking to look down upon. I was bouncing up and down, up and down, going ever higher as the sun slipped below the waves.
I rounded the last ramp and saw donkey heads. Never have I ever seen so many donkeys in my life! Someone offered me his hand to help me off, and, smiling, I petted the donkey one last time (I called him Trucker). Only a few arrived at the top ahead of me, but there was a roadblock of donkeys! Avani was a few paces in front of me, and was like, “get me outta here!” as she tried bushing a donkey and scooched around it. I waited for someone to clear a path, watching my step. I walked around with Madeline, finding a donkey charm for her bracelet and earrings for my relatives before heading back to the meeting space. We tried to find the famous blue domed buildings without success. We took a skycar to the bottom of the hill, seeing the island all lit up high above the lights of the cruise ships.
The next day, we said good bye to the Aegean Pearl at the bright and sunny hour of 7:30 AM and were greeted by Danae! We saw the excavation site of Mycenae, where the golden heads of lions over the gate were missing. Once the domain of Agamemnon, all that remain are graves and walls. We explored the top (what a view! Green rolling mountains in all directions!) and the museums before heading on to our next destination: the tomb of Agamemnon (I think). Its high ceiling was certainly impressive. We had lunch at a local restaurant (wonderful lamb and French fries) and Sarah Block accidentally broke a glass, to which the entire establishment replied “Opah!” The owner came out and starting smashing dishes with a smile, to which we responded with cries of OPAH! It was thrilling.
Next was a Greek theater, used for healing purposes and having an occupancy of 25,000. It is a great example of acoustics. From inside the center ring, your voice could be heard anywhere in the stadium without a microphone! The funny thing is, none of the other tourists seemed to realize this until our tourguide yelled at everyone to please be quiet for an experiment. She spoke, ripped a piece of paper, dropped a coin, and clapped in the circle and outside of the circle. Paul was the first brave soul to decide to sing, singing Ray Charles’ “Georgia on my Mind.” Pauline and Carenn sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” two Frenchmen sang, and several vets sang “God Bless America,” something I’m sure my grandfather would do. Deciding I would regret it either way later, I decided to sing, choosing the first verse of “Goodbye Until Tomorrow” from the play The Last Five Years. I only cracked once, and afterwards everyone was like, you have a beautiful voice! I said thank you, and I appreciated it (but I couldn’t help but thinking you should hear my sister – she’s sang in Carnegie Hall!) and I was proud of myself for mustering up the courage to sing, brief as it was in retrospect. We then headed back to Athens, in preparation for Istanbul. Outside of the Hotel Stanley, Danae wished us the best of luck in everything and a good trip. She was fabulous, and will remain an intricate part of the memories of Greece due to her spiritedness.
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