Quiet?

I've been quiet since we arrived home, but things around here have been anything but.

I'd already agreed to teach on Monday, in Devon, which was fun and the Spring weather made the drive rather more enjoyable than it might have been. Even the M5 looks great in sunshine! Tuesday was set aside for a full day's commitment to work - always good to be amongst colleagues, especially in such comfortable surroundings. So it was Wednesday before I even opened my suitcase!

A charity lunch meant that the middle of the day was a sociable affair and I'd planned to spend morning and late afternoon sorting out the washing, putting things away and all of those post-holiday jobs which result in piles of stuff which need to be dealt with. A phone call soon denied me that pleasure!

To cut a (very) long story short, a TV channel wanted to do a report on the new "make do and mend" - could I gather some friends together to darn socks and so on. Sure I could - but for tomorrow morning? A challenge I could have done without but being a "say yes, wonder why later" kind of person, I agreed. Then immediately regretted, because the rest of the day was taken up by making phone calls, calling in favours and trying to rally the troops. Not easy at less than 24 hours notice.

After a restless night and panicky morning, I got a call to say they'd decided not to run the story after all. Thanks.

Why do we do it?

Somewhere in there, too, I agreed to participate in a mammoth knitting project for a TV company as well. Will I never learn?

Once I'd settled down yesterday morning, I took a walk around the garden. Though the sun was shining and it looked glorious, it was freezing cold, so my walk was a brief one. Not too brief to miss an amazing display of self seeded primulas which have been flowering since Christmas but seem to be coming to the most glorious finale right now.

It's good to be home!

Athens Out-takes

 
As soon as we realised we were "there", we dashed out for our last breakfast with a view - to find a chap waving his arms about and looking a little frustrated (understatement!) Perhaps this was the clue to the way the day would progress for us, too!

 

Having got our things together and had the call to disembark and collect our bags, we joined a morning city tour to fill in the time before our flight, which wasn't till 7pm. We began by driving around the old port of Piraeus.

Along the way, we saw plenty of evidence left behind from the 2004 Olympics, though the city was quiet on this Sunday morning.

From time to time we passed a ruin or two, but sadly we were unable to catch any details. Most of the time, we couldn't even catch the ruin!

We didn't really get a feeling for the city at all as we seemed to go in and out and around the same parts over and again and breathed a sigh of relief when we were taken for coffee to a "room with a view".

Around 1pm, we arrived at the airport, clearly far too early for our flight but hopeful of dropping off our bags and heading for the lounge to catch up on email, snoozing and easing ourselves back into real life.

No such luck. All pleas to get through to "the other side" fell on deaf ears and we faced a three and a half hour wait in the noisy checkin hall, even though we'd checked in online the previous night. Might we be able to squeeze onto the earlier flight, leaving in just two hours, perhaps? Probably not, for it was overbooked already.

We sat and waited, grumbled and muttered to one another. Mark returned to speak to the supervisor to make one more plea if someone didn't turn up, could we have their seats? A grudging agreement was given - there were three people remaining who hadn't arrived yet.

As we sat there, one woman came up to the desk. There was one gone. But amazingly, by the 2.15pm deadline, no-one else had arrived, so we hot footed it over, smiled sweetly (through gritted teeth) and were grudgingly given boarding passes!

As we flew over Switzerland, we had a fine view of the Alps. So clear, we could pick out favourite places. We even flew directly over Mark's hero's birthplace - Lachen. We had a very entertaining pair of chaps as cabin crew and were delighted at the prospect of arriving home a little earlier, since I had teaching commitments on Monday.

But then things began to happen. People came to the front of the plane to use the loo, but then turned around and went back after having spoken to the steward. The loos were out of action. Looked like someone had forgotten to empty the tank at Athens and the Captain was unwilling to fly on to Heathrow with no functioning loo, since the weather was bad and it looked like we'd be stacked for an hour or more. Typical, we thought - why hadn't we stuck with our original flight?!

So, we had an unexpected diversion into Geneva, where the tanks were emptied, everyone on board seemingly did their best to fill them again (!) and off we set once more in surprisingly jolly mood. Drinks all round again - oh heck, get the G&T now, never mind the good intentions ("Oh good girl!" said the steward, "It's Happy Hour so have two!")

We arrived at Terminal 5 about two hours earlier than we would have done on our original flight. Guess whose luggage was first off the plane?

What a great baggage system they've got there!!

Note about the photographs: throughout our holiday, I've discarded very few "duds", even though many have been taken through bus windows and been snapped quickly in passing. The photos in todays post are typical of those taken today and believe it or not, are unedited!!

To Ephesus

One of the highlights of this itinerary was Ephesus, only a stone's throw from Kusadasi, last stop of our trip. We'd heard of the place before - Edna and Gordon, my parents, had enjoyed a stop here and warmed to the Turkish people as a result of mooching around the town some years ago and people we'd met along the way spoke warmly of their previous experience of being here.

We arrived early this morning. In fact, as we woke and opened our curtains, we found land right outside our window and after a quick breakfast, we went ashore to meet our guide for the day - Tuba. For once, we got her name correct, for she explained that it was indeed the same as the musical instrument!

We were a small group, only 10 of us, so our sightseeing was more efficent than usual. Straight to the site, then, and before 9am there we were, gobsmacked from the off. Who wouldn't be, when such treasures were at our feet, so unspoiled and ready for us, some of the first visitors of the season.

We were so fortunate to visit in comfortable temperatures, for Tuba explained that, for much of the tourist season, the heat is overwhelming and the site is nowhere as green and lush as we saw.

By the time we reached the library, we could hear the sounds of a string quartet, a fine accompaniment to our visit, thoughtfully arranged by the cruise company for our enjoyment. Those who had been here previously had not been able to access this fantastic structure at such close quarters, so we all shared the delight in discovering the fine architectural details and marvelled at the fact that we were able to be here and appreciate it first hand.

Sadly, time was short, there was more on our schedule, and we must move on

past the advertisement for the brothel

to the Theatre and back to our vehicle for further stops on our tour.

Firstly, to the museum in Selcuk, where some of the original components of the ruins were kept, since in some cases, the reconstruction had involved the use of replicas.

Next, past the site of the Temple of Artemis, another of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, to St John's Basilica, his burial place, where we had a short lesson in some ancient Christian symbolism. Interesting.

By now, we were getting towards lunchtime but there was one more important site to visit

This small building was said to be the last house of the Mother Mary, place of pilgrimage and scene of several miracles, according to local history. Once again, we were fortunate to have the place (almost) to ourselves. What a privilege.

To lunch then, in a local garden which just happened to be alongside a carpet making school. No hard sell here, though, just a delicious "picnic" from a local hotel and then a chance to see some of the processes involved in the making of a Turkish rug of the highest quality.

We saw the double knotting, on silk and wool carpets

and then went next door where the dyeing process was under way and a few large pots bubbled. Gasps of amazement were to be heard when the yarn was pulled from the indigo vat - truly magical even when one knows what happens!

The "evil eye" was never far away as we sped back into town and were set free to roam the streets of Kusadasi in search of bargains. But the salesmen had to work hard, for their colleagues had already sold us Indian gemstones, gold in Dubai, Arabian pashminas and fine Egyptian cotton. But here there was leather...

Having spent up, we changed and went out on deck for our last sailaway, waving goodbye as the last rope was untied and we sailed off toward Pireus, from where we fly home tomorrow.

An Afternoon in Rhodes

I felt this to be a small bonus in addition to all the "big" destinations of the trip. We'd decided to spend the time pottering about rather than go to one of the historic sites and as it was our first time in Greece, we looked forward to a few hours there.

We "parked" very close to the old town and were fortunate to be the only ship in port today so the place wasn't overwhelmed with tourists. First thoughts were how quiet it was after Cairo and Alex, how clean, how comfortable...how European! Wandering about the empty, narrow streets was a joy and we were happy to mooch in and out of shops, along little passageways and forego any plan.

We loved coming across little details like this

peering through open doors

and wandering up little cobbled streets.

We loved the Street of the Knights too - a pity the museum closed only last week for refurbishment.

A final surprise on our way back to the ship was this delightful corner, where the little church was open and we were encouraged to go inside and take a look. Icons, richly painted walls and Orthodox chant - what atmosphere to absorb as a memory of this lovely Friday afternoon.

On to Alex

Today in the Alexandria museum, we came close to observing "Guide Wars" or "Who can outshout whom". In this case, it was French 1 - English 0, but really the whole scene was lose-lose all round. After all, time was short and a little co-operation on all parts would have won through. But our guide, Eternity, wouldn't let us roam free, such is the tight rein on tourists here, and we were compelled to remain as one group and be addressed in the loudest possible voice the whole time. Of course, if that's how things are done, then it's only to be expected that when three or four large groups are in the same confined space at once, speaking different languages, then it's going to sound something like tuning a radio station in. A morning of this left us all exhausted.

But, lets rise above it and instead, focus on the fantastic things we saw here. Firstly the museum, where the exhibits were beautifully displayed - sharp contrast with Cairo yesterday, we felt. Here, there were rather different things from the classic Egyptian artefacts we'd seen yesterday, and we enjoyed getting to hear about another aspect of Egyptian history. Roman coins and sculptures, Coptic treasures and stelae, glassware and pottery, all beautifully lit and begging to be photographed - ok without a flash.

To be honest, even though we had only an hour or so here, we'd had enough by the time it came to leave - though the exhibition was worthy of much longer, the assault on our eardrums was simply too much. But the message came through from ? that our time was up and we were moved on, through the busy streets to the new Library.

Here we were faced with much the same situation, unbelieveably, for everyone was taking the same route. Not only that, but there were many local schoolchildren here too and it seemed as though the only way to see these places was to be with an organised group. It made the idea using the library for its principal purpose rather a joke - how to study with coachloads of sightseers trooping through this showcase?

The building is remarkable, however, and well worth the niggles to see it. Built around ten years ago as an attempt to reinstate Alexandria as a principal city of learning and with a good deal of international support, the architecture alone is fascinating. Cleverly, the roof design allows for daylight but no direct sunlight, and the result is an airy and functional space.

The side walls, made of concrete, are designed with rectangular holes to minimise the echo of such a large space. These also pay tribute to the niches in which papyrus scrolls would have been lodged in earlier times, we were told. We enjoyed a demonstration of the online resources being compiled by the library at http://www.bibalex.org/ too.

Finally, we took a look around a couple of extra exhibits, one of which was of manuscripts and ancient books. I particularly liked the "Kiswa of the Holy Kaaba" - a kind of altar cloth, embroidered in metal thread on a dark linen background - though not especially old, was shown to best advantage, I thought.

So that was that. Back to the ship and time for lunch!

On the way back, we drove along the Corniche, to see the site of the former Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Sadly, one of the wonders of the modern world was blowing in the breeze too...

Our views on our brief Egyptian experience? Perhaps best summed up in the photograph I took as we arrived back in the port, of a stall selling tourist souvenirs.

Of course, you'd get a free plastic bag with any of those.