It has been over a week since we returned from our trip, but I am just beginning to feel settled since we are also in the process of James attending a military training class and moving the family.  But, we are in a makeshift apartment for the next week at least, so I feel like I can finally reflect.  Here are the things that stick out in my mind most from our recent trip:

1. Waiting in the rain for a restaurant to open in Bologna because we were starving and in Italy, restaurants don't open until at least 7 for dinner.  We crouched under awnings, raced across streets with ankle-deep puddles and were soaked to the bone by the time we reached the restaurant, which had barely opened.  Good thing meals in Italy take so long, so we had plenty of time to dry off!  We were rewarded with fresh tortellini and other delicacies that were definitely worth waiting for.

2. Wandering around Piazza del Duomo in Florence by myself while James climbed the dome early one morning.  I studied the art on the church, the Baptistry doors, and even gave some tourists directions.  Someone asked me if I was local, and I almost felt like I was. I attended church in the Duomo and just soaked up the city.

3. My beautiful evening in Ferrara, where we finally took it easy and strolled the streets like the locals.  We admired the pink confection of the Duomo, bought candied nuts and listened to street musicians.  

4. Touring ports with Joann and Calvin, our tablemates.  They were the perfect companions for us: Joann, always armed with optimism, her camera and the willingness to ask anyone anything and Calvin, a man of few words, but who could actually put James in his place.  

5. Our amazing Greek lunches by the water which lasted for hours and featured excellent conversation with wonderful people. The first, with Maria from Katakolon Express, and the second with our other tablemates, Mike and Debbie.  I've never enjoyed al fresco dining as much as I did eating fresh feta by the sea.

6. Winning trivia with Jeannie and Paul, our brilliant teammates who made us the winningest trivia team I've ever been a part of.  They became great friends, and we learned so much from them. We aspire to travel like they do one day.

It's funny. As I look at this list and think back, it occurs to me that none of them revolved around a single monument or piece of art.  Of course we saw amazing things that I will never forget, but the more we travel, the more it becomes about the people and the authentic experiences.  I would never have believed it before we first visited Europe, and I know that I will always be filling our days with museums and churches in the future, but now I understand how important it is to leave room for those impromptu experiences.  They are what travel is all about!

Kusadasi, Turkey is hands down, one of the best stops in the Mediterranean. You don't like to see sites, just shop? Well, you won't find it cheaper or more fun than here. You like Biblical sites? Got those too: Paul likely wrote 1 Corinthians here, Ephesians was written about here, John was buried here and Mary lived here. How about ancient sites and one of the original 7 wonders of the world? Yep. Good food? Check! Nice people? Absolutely! Seriously, there was nothing about today that I didn't enjoy.

We had hired a private tour which, after doing I never want to go back. Our guide was Orcun, co-owner of Barel Travel, a travel agency and tour company. He picked us up at the port with our names on a sign and a Mercedes minivan, and we were off to Ephesus. He provided information about his country, people, history, and details of everything we saw along the way. Ephesus is only about 13 percent excavated, and while it does have some signs, a guide really helps this place come alive. One section of the site which costs a little extra, but was absolutely great was the Terrace Houses which are pretty well preserved Roman houses of the rich. You walk on plexiglass walkways above mosaics, by ancient bedrooms, kitchens and courtyards. Having recently watched the HBO show, Rome, it was easy to imagine real Romans lounging around these houses.

The library of Celcius is the top attraction at Ephesus, and for good reason. It is stunning. We were also quite impressed with the Grand Theatre, where Paul preached and a riot broke out. City officials contained the riot and hid Paul on a nearby hill, where he probably wrote 1 Corinthians while in hiding. What were the people all stirred up about? Well, Paul was preaching against idols and false gods and Ephesus is right next to one of the most important pagan pilgrimage sites which made them a lot of money in idol replicas: The Temple of Artemis. 

The Basilica of St John was ordered to be built by Justinian and Theodora of the Byzantine Empire because of a long standing tradition that the apostle John was buried there. It was enormous and, if standing today, would be the 7th largest church in Christendom. But, an earthquake took it down and only ruins remain. We did see the altar which is above the tomb, the Baptistry, and columns which gave us an idea of the layout. 

If you think that is all we had time to see, you would be wrong. Orcun also wanted us to get a feel for some of the handicrafts of his people, so we visited a pottery shop and a Turkish rug guild. We weren't pressured to buy, but did get considerable information about the crafts, and I even got to try my hand at rug making. Oh, and we got Turkish coffee and tea as well. (Very strong!) A great lunch at a local place was squeezed somewhere in the middle: fried zucchini, dolma, green beans and broccoli, with lamb kebabs and spicy meatballs. 

Our other stop was a little village in the mountains which had locally made products, cheap knockoffs, and amazing prices. Looking back, I wish I had shopped more, even though we did buy a few things. We won't see prices like that again. And, we won't likely see a place like Kusadasi again. (Until we come back!)

After our exceptional time in all our Greek ports, we had high hopes for Santorini. It is supposed to be the most beautiful of the islands with postcard perfect views, and it is pretty. But, it is a pain in the butt to get around.

The first problem is that Santorini is a tender port, meaning that you have to take a smaller boat from the ship to the dock. All tender ports are somewhat frustrating, but once you get on dock, the headache is usually over. Not in Santorini. Here, you have to then either take a cable car or a donkey to the top of the cliff where the town is. Since each tender boat lets off about a hundred passengers, you can imagine that the lines for the cable car back up pretty quickly. Can you guess what we did? Yep, we took the donkeys.

It was actually pretty fun, although smelly and at times, scary when they got close to the edge. Definitely an experience we won't forget! Once in the town of Fira, many people recommend taking the bus to the picturesque village you see in all those Greek postcards, Oia. So, we found the public buses and made the trek.

Oia is about 20 minutes away, and is very beautiful, but can get overrun with tourists easily. It is also a very expensive place to have a meal, which is what we were looking to do. We couldn't find any little gyro places, only more expensive restaurants. All I can say is that I am glad my new friend, JoAnn, is an amateur photographer and has agreed to share her photos. I'll post them, and we can all enjoy Oia through her eyes.

As for James and I, we headed back to Fira and completed the many modes of transport it took to get back to the ship: bus, cable car and boat. For me, Santorini is not worth the trouble. Corfu and Mykonos are far easier and almost as beautiful. 

Back on the ship, we enjoyed Indian food that they made especially for us. (You can request this on Princess in the main dining room) We saw a show, played a game and went to bed. Typical cruise night, but atypical for real life. Is it any secret which I prefer?

If the title didn't give it away, today we docked in Mykonos. We had originally planned to take the shore excursion to the island of Delos, which was a major trading hub, then religious site in ancient times. But, after our long day in Athens, we decided to save Delos for another trip and to just enjoy a relaxing day on Mykonos. It is super easy to get from the ship to the main town of Mykonos; you just take their shuttle which is 7 euro round trip. I would not recommend walking it to anyone; there are very steep cliffs and there is no walk path.

Immediately, Mykonos is not quite as picturesque as you might imagine. But once you get on the little back alleys, you will find the beautiful white and blue houses of your Greek dreams. The problem is: if there are a lot of tourists in town, it gets overwhelmed and you are constantly competing with people for photo shots. A couple of times we did get off on our own, but the hoards were never far away. This is absolutely one of the worst places I can think of to do a shore excursion.

The only "attraction" on Mykonos is a set of five windmills by the sea. They are pretty, and that is about it.  Shop prices are higher here, but if you had a Gucci or Louis Vuitton fetish that just isn't getting fulfilled, you'll find the real thing here. Souvenirs are cheaper in neighboring islands or Athens.

After we'd had enough wandering, we began to look for a place to eat. Luckily, on our way back toward the ship, we found one of our tablemate couples already dining in a perfect location. They invited us to join them, and we had a wonderful lunch so close to the water that every once in awhile, it would splash up on our ankles. Olive oil, bread, feta and Spanikopita filled our table, and we munched and talked for hours. THIS is my Mykonos memory that I will conjure up when having a bad day.

Other highlights of the day:
1. Pastries for breakfast at the International Cafe: chocolate almond croissants, creme filled beignets and much more.
2. The comedian/singer from Wales, Diane Cousins, whose singing typified a cruise ship performer, but the comedy had us rolling.
3. Chatting with some of the crew about what they did in Mykonos when we docked at 1:00 am the night before. 

I was a little skeptical about today and our trip to the site of the Ancient Olympics. I had heard that there wasn't much left out there, and that it was really difficult to visualize the games etc. Well, I don't know if our Rick Steve's walking tour was the reason, or if maybe I have a great imagination, but I was totally impressed by and enjoyed the site of the ancient games.

Starting at the beginning: the port of Katakolon. Katakolon is about 40 km from Olympia, but the transport is very easy. We found out about a transfer service that was significantly cheaper than the cruise line tours, that still guaranteed your return to the ship. It is called Katakolon Express, and they were great. I'll write a full review later, but the buses were very nice, and we were back to the port with a couple hours to spare.

Olympia has two major sites: where the ancient games took place, and the accompanying museum. Both are worth seeing, and come in a combo ticket for 9 euros. We started with the site, and it was so cool to walk among the columns which had been arcades that surrounded the training courtyards. They still have a bathtub which they used to clean off the layer of olive oil and dust which covered their bodies to protect from the sun and injuries. We saw the workshop of the man who created one of the wonders of the ancient world: the statue of Zeus. Then, we saw the site of the real thing. I don't know about you, but standing on the ground which ancient philosophers like Plato visited and people from around the world renowned is pretty crazy to think of. That 40 ft statue must have been a site to see which his ivory, golf and gemstones glittering in the reflective pool in front of him. I guess when the Greeks came to the games, it was sort of like our vacations today, mixed with a religious pilgrimage. They certainly were rewarded for their efforts in getting there.

After walking down cheaters lane, where early drug dopers (animal blood and herbs) had their names engraved on statues which they paid for, we walked through the grand tunnel, out into the stadium. This stadium had no seats, only hillside, except for the judges who were known for their fairness. The marble starting and ending blocks are still there, and James just had to run where many, many others had run before. I myself, got a snazzy photo on the starting line. The ancient games ran for several centuries before being banned by the new Christian rule. Think of that: our modern games have only been going since the 1890's, barely over 100 years. How many people must have visited and competed at that ancient site?

Upon returning from Olympia, we spoke with and had lunch with one of owners of Katakolon Express. She took us to this little seafood restaurant on the water, where all the tables were reserved and she knew the owner/ cook. I have to say that my favorite part of traveling and doing the show is meeting the people and having experiences like this. She told us of Athens and mythology as we munched on fresh feta, tomato salad with amazing olive oil, little fried fish and beautiful grilled shrimp. We didn't even order, Andre just kept bringing us things he thought we should eat. The water was gorgeous, Maria was a great storyteller, and the food was so fresh, you could swear it had been caught or picked that morning. Greek music played in the background, and it felt like a scene from one of those romantic Greek movies. 

We could have had no better introduction to Greece, and I can't wait to explore further in Athens tomorrow!

Back on board, we relaxed on deck, played a little trivia and prepared for our dinner at the specialty restaurant steakhouse, Crown Grill. I have to say that at $25, the Crown Grill must be one of the best values at sea. The food looked and tasted great. I started with scallops with pancetta, black and blue onion soup, and James had a lobster cake and shrimp bisque. Our steaks were cooked perfectly, juicy and flavorful, and were excellent cuts of meat. The vegetables are served family style, and you can order as many as you like. By the time we got to dessert, we were practically forcing ourselves to eat bites of the chocolate soufflé and berry cobbler. This is the type of food we were hoping to have at the chef's table we visited on a previous cruise: elegant, beautiful and delicious.

After losing a 50's music trivia, we hit the sack, ready for a full day at the site of the Ancient Olympics!