Author Archives: Serene

Our first day in Athens started poorly and ended well.  We disembarked with approximately 200 other passengers for our Athens extension with Holland America.We boarded the provided transportation and were shuttled to their contract hotel. Any excursions or activities were on us … Continue reading →

On our tour, we learned that the earliest humans in Greece are from six millennia BC.  Christianity grew out of this area.  The 1204 crusades took Constantinople and split the empire. The Ottomans came in 1453 and ruled for 400 years. … Continue reading →

When we woke up and looked outside there were three other cruise ships anchored near Santorini!  One of them, The Odyssey of the Seas, was huge. (It has a maximum capacity of 5500 people.)  Hmmmm, that’s a lot of people on an island. … Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →