Staying Salty On The Road

“Evening in Ephesus” Destination Discovery Event.

On select itineraries that call on Kuşadası (the gateway to Ephesus), Windstar Cruises takes all guests off the ship after hours—once the park has closed to the general public—for an exclusive, complimentary 5-course white-glove dinner and live classical concert right among the illuminated 2,000-year-old ruins. It was incredible! Forgive me for posting all these pictures. This blog serves as a memory book for me and this was an evening that I want to remember every joyous moment.

Arriving along the Harbor Road of Ephesus.

In front of the Celsus Library. Do you think I was a bit excited!?!

Dinner with our new fun friends from Chesapeake, VA.

Our dining table. Note the 5 piece orchestra set up on the upper stairs of the library.

Back at the ship but still aglow after an incredible evening.

Ephesus, just incredible

On Tuesday I joined a tour of Ephesus and the Terrace Houses offered by Windstar. Ed chose to stay back in order to conserve energy for the evening event. He is still recovering from a recent surgery and though much improved, he is not back to full steam yet.

Ephesus is simply amazing. I am not going to try to recant its history. There is so much information readily available that there is no need for that. What amazed me most was the fact that the entire ancient city was left in ruins and buried after a series of earthquakes. It was not until the mid 1800s that excavation of the BCE site began. The site is vast and to date only 20% of the ancient city has been excavated.

The concentration of artifacts is astounding.

The Goddess Nike. Note the swish in her skirt. It was the inspiration for the iconic symbol of the brand.

An alter for sacrifice within one of the terrace houses.

The frescos on the walls and the intricate mosaic floors were indicative of the wealth of the terrace home occupants.

Ancient latrines! The terrace homes had private ones!

Named for Governor Celsus, a wealthy Jewish man. Note the discrete menorah carved into its steps.

And the discrete Christian symbolism found in various places throughout the site.

The amphitheater that sat 24,000 people! They still have concerts here but only classical ones. The rock concerts were banned after one made the ancient stones tumble because of the vibrations!

It was a fascinating tour but it was very crowded. The throngs of people made me anticipate the evening event even more!

The fabulous island of Samos.

An early start in the village of Pythagoreio.

The cats remain forever hopeful as the fishing boats arrive from their morning venture.

A striking monument honoring Pythogorea, born on the island of Samos.

We had a spectacular day celebrating my birthday with Dimitris, our private guide for a day of wine tasting and touring Samos. This was arranged through Samos Outdoors. I highly recommend this group. Goirgos, the owner was so easy to communicate with, and Dimiitis was so knowledgeable and passionate about his island.

Domain Vikakis was the first winery of Damos. The building that houses the tasting area was where the family was lived and where the wine was made.

I have a new birthday buddy. We shared the tasting with a lovely Swedish family celebrating the father’s 70th birthday. What a delightful coincidence! Yamas🤗

The next tasting was at the year old organic winery of Kostaki. It is an organic winery stated by a young couple. They met at Oenologist school, he is German and she was born on Samos. They have nursed her father’s vineyards into a lovely winery overlooking the sea.

He demonstrated the removing of the lees with the methodé traditionnelle table side.

Samos is a gorgeous island, much more lush and mountainous than the other islands we have visited.

We enjoyed a fabulous lunch of small plates and further wine education at Orizontas, overlooking the mountains and the sea.

Greek cheese with phyllo and local honey.

We returned to our cabin to a fun birthday surprise!

Last night was the dockside barbecue. Such a fun festive event.

We ended the evening with a fun birthday serenade 🤗. What a way to celebrate!

A rainy day in Naxos

We had our first foul weather during our port of call in Naxos. Unfortunately, we did not get to explore the village as we had planned but we traversed the picturesque lanes in between squalls.

Even the cats tried to find refuge from the rain.

A description of the Portal from AI:
“Begun around 530 BC by the Naxian tyrant Lygdamis, the sanctuary was intended to be the grandest and most magnificent temple in all of ancient Greece. [1, 2]
**The Abandonment:** Construction halted permanently in 524 BC when Lygdamis was overthrown, leaving the complex unfinished.” Tyrants don’t deserve to be memorialized!

After a warm shower and a cuddly nap we were treated to dinner in the specialty restaurant “Candles”. It is normally a candlelit dinner outside on the upper deck but the winds were about 30 knots. We were happy to retreat inside. A lemon drop martini seemed appropriate to celebrate this dream come true trip.

Folegandros

Another day on a boat circumventing the entire island of Folegandros. This tour was an official WindStar excursion. It was interesting and very fun to interact with other passengers from our small ship.

There are 3 small towns on Folegandros, making up a permanent population of just over 700 residents. Many of the coves and beaches are inaccessible except by lengthy hikes or by boat. We loved the feeling of practically having the island and its beautiful waters to ourselves!

A peaceful start to the morning.

The Windstar Spirit anchored for the day. The sails are up for stability.

Another beautiful day for swimming in the remarkably clear, chilly waters. When you ask the boat captains the what the temperature of the water is the set response is “refreshing”😉. It doesn’t matter to me. The water is too beautiful to resist.

Just beautiful scenery in every direction.

Milos

Yesterday we spent the day cruising around the volcanic (inactive) island of Milos. The landscape is otherworldly, formed by the interaction of magma flows and the sea. The water was spectacular!

Note the juxtaposition of the black next to the white. Both are formed by magma. The white is formed by the interaction of dead plankton, the magma, and the cooling sea.

The sea is just incredibly clear. It is also very salty. It is delightful for someone like me who is not a super strong swimmer but loves being in the water.

All in all it was a really nice day though I think we would choose a power boat tour next time around. That way we could likely circumvent the island.

We have boarded the lovely Wind Star Spirit

A beautiful, classically fitted vessel holding 150 passengers. It has not disappointed!

The unfurling of the sails. So exciting!

Our small but efficient cabin with plenty of storage!

Today is an eight hour sail tour around the island of Milos. Stay tuned🤗

Athens

We arrived in Athens late on Tuesday evening. We are staying in the Attalos hotel, which is both reasonable and close to many of the main attractions.

The next morning we hopped in a “FreeNow” car for transport to the National Archaeological Museum. It was fascinating to see all the artifacts and realize the age of them.

A gold death shroud for an infant found in Mycenae dating back to 1600 BCE.

“Artemesion Jockey” found under the sea and dating back to 160 BC.

A helmet made of tusks. We found the artifacts fascinating. Just recently, in 2015-2018, ancient Tholos , 3,500 year old beehive shaped tombs of very wealthy families were discovered, untouched by modern man. Amazing!

This morning, September 24, we took an early morning walk before this frenetic city woke up. It is just fascinating that you can walk around the city center and just happen upon Before Christian Era ruins. We ended up walking the perimeter of the Ancient Agora, which was the center of life in Athens dating back 5,000 years. Active excavation is ongoing. Just incredible.

All this on a 1.6 mile walk from our hotel. Athens is fascinating, but a little too crazy for my taste. Today we are off to the Pireaus to board the Windstar Spirit for the “Off the Beaten Path Greek Island” cruise. Sooooo excited!

Exploring Provence

We have spent a good deal of time hanging out with our friends from college over the last week, but we did manage to fit in some exploration of the surrounding are. We thoroughly enjoyed walking the lanes in La Cadiére d’Azur.

The view from above.

The sweet lane running through the village.

The next day we drove about 1 1/2 hours north to the Verdon Gorge, a Natural Regional Park. The bright aqua water was stunning. We rented little electric boats to cruise the gorge. FUN!

The water was a chilly 65* so there was no easing yourself in.

But we got used to it enough that we could enjoy a little frivolity. Kathy was a synchronized swimmer and she insisted!

Today is our last day and we have filled it with more exploring and, of course, a final wine tasting.

The picturesque medieval village Le Castellet. It has been declared one of the Beaux Villages of France.

We visited Château de Pibarnon. It is a high end winery with a beautiful vista. The wine was delicious but the drive up was precarious. The proprietor chuckled when we got there saying we went the farm way, the old GPS way.

A view of what they call their amphitheater of vineyards.

The collection. Unfortunately, it was our last day so none of us purchased any wine and the tariffs make it too expensive to ship home.

We decided to cook steaks at home since we had an early departure in the morning.

Three Little Sisters and an honorary
one!

Cassis and it’s Calanques

Yesterday we spent the day exploring Cassis. It is a lovely seaside village surrounded by the stunning Calanques of Cassis. we took a boat tour along the coast and traversed in to several of the the deep inlets that define the Calanques.