Monthly Archives: December 2023

Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Delos and Mykonos

Greece is a country of islands and the vast majority of them are uninhabited.  We would visit three islands in two days.  Santorini was next, but on this day, we visited Ancient Delos and Mykonos.  We rode a ferry to … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Istanbul Day 2

It isn’t very often that a cruise ship spends an overnight in a city allowing for tours on both days. Istanbul was one of those rare opportunities. Our tour the first day had been called Istanbul 1 and had about … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Istanbul Day 1

Istanbul is the only city in the world that is located on two continents – Europe and Asia.  It was once the center of the world as the second capital of the Roman Empire. It also has 7000 mosques!  This … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Kusadasi

This was our view of Kusadasi from our balcony. From our Kusadasi tour guide we learned that Turkey has a population of 85 million. Ninety-nine percent are Muslim, but he said only 15-20 percent are serious about it. In 1934 … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Ephesus

When booking this cruise I was most excited about the two ports in Turkey, Kusadasi and Istanbul. The primary point of interest near Kusadasi is ancient Ephesus, one of the best preserved archaeological sites in the world.  Ephesus was chosen … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Alexandria

The day before docking in Alexandria, Egypt, our cruise director put fear in all of us about going into Egypt.  She went on and on about leaving jewelry, watches etc on board.  We were told we must take our passport- … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Epidaurus and Palamidi

Epidaurus is a UNESCO site known for unique medical facilities and healing treatments with curative baths and spas.  It is dedicated to the ancient Greek God of Healing, Asclepius. Asclepius was the son of Apollo.  His rod, with the snake … Continue reading

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Ancient Mysteries Cruise: Olympia

After a sea day we arrived at our first port, Olympia Greece.   Our destination was the Ancient Olympic Grounds. The ancient games were in honor of Zeus, the father of Greek gods and goddesses. Roman mythology has similar gods, … Continue reading

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Nieuw Statendam: Departing from Rome

After our Viking cruise, we spent a few days in Switzerland and then headed to Rome. The reason to go to Rome was to embark on a Holland America Cruise. The cruise-port for Rome is in the city of Civitavecchia about … Continue reading

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Switzerland: Jungfraujoch – the Top of Europe

We were going up 3454 meters into the Swiss Alps.  We were headed to Jungfraujoch – the Top of Europe.  We were going to see, or go through, three peaks:  Eiger, Monch and Jungfraujoch.   Our first segment from Zurich … Continue reading

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