All Greeced Out
I've been back for about a week - and I'm still getting over the wee jet lag. A 7 hour time difference really kicks a girl in the ass, let me tell you.The trip was amazing, I had a blast. Greece is stunningly beautiful, Turkey is fascinating, Elisa and I had a great time together, we met some very cool people (shout out to the Contiki Crew!), and had many many good times. Greek and Turkish men are very aggressive, but similarly amusing; "oh look, it's Charlie's Angels!"; "I want to lick your shoes"; "Not to be too personal, but I'm not married"; and so forth.
Greek food is orgasmically delicious (saganaki + kebabs = so bad for you, but so fucking yummy), even though the food on the cruise ship was fairly horrendous.
The weather was spectacular. It was slightly grey and cloudy in the morning when we were in Istanbul, but after that it was hot and gorgeously sunny. I have a pretty impressive tan, faded to a nice golden brown after the lobster-girl redness of the sunburn. And it did rain for about 30 seconds on my last day in Athens before I left - but we chalked it up to Greece mourning my loss; "Greece is crying for Jo!".
And now it's picture time, boys and girls - just click the link for a view.
The Cruise
- The ship itself, The Perla.
- The amusing life-jacket drill on the first day.
- Our wee room.
- A pretty sunset from the deck.
- The Blue Mosque, famous for it's blue-tile lined interior.
- The stained-glass windows inside the Blue Mosque.
- A washing station outside of the Blue Mosque
- Hagia Sofia, a 6th century Church constructed by Constantine and later on converted into a Mosque.
- Inside Hagia Sofia.
- A 3,540 foot suspension bridge - the only bridge in the world to connect two continents, Europe and Asia.
- Elisa and I, behind us is a view of Istanbul and the Bosphorous (a straight separating the two continents).
- A view of the city.
- Little Venice.
- A gorgeous restaurant on the water.
- A typical narrow road in Mykonos.
- Paradise Beach (the sight of Old Naked Shrinkage... shudder).
- The famous Mykonos windmills.
- A stunning sunset.
- Petros the Pelican.
- Best baklava ever.
- The Contiki Crew at dinner.
We unfortunately didn't get to see much of Kusadasi, mainly because we were only there for a few hours and we spent the entire time shopping in the Grand Bazaar.
Patmos
- The stunning view from atop Patmos.
- Me and said view slightly less stunning.
- The Monastery of St. John the Theologian -where some say St. John wrote the book of Revelations.
- Inside the Monastery.
- A mural in the Monastery.
- A quaint stone staircase in Patmos.
- The blue blue water of the Aegean as we're about to dock.
- A gate in the wall of Ancient Rhodes.
- The pillars that represent where the feet of the Rhodes Colossus is reputed to have stood - this is one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
- Elli Beach in Rhodes.
- A road in Rhodes... teehee.
- The Palace of the Grand Masters.
- Elisa in a fire place inside the Palace.
- Roma and the dog we nicknamed Rhodes, who followed us around for about 30 minutes.
Crete
- Ruins at the ancient Palace of Knossos.
- The Queen's quarters at Knossos.
- A skeleton of a Crete woman displayed in the National Archeological Museum in Crete.
- Me and the ruins.
- The winding road to get up to Fira and Ia.
- A stunning view in Santorini.
- A typical blue-domed Church in Santorini.
- The active volcano at sunset.
- A fantastic perspective on the view.
- The donkeys that take people up and down the winding road (it's over 600 steps).
- The Acropolis.
- A great view of Athens from atop the Acropolis.
- The Parthenon.
- A long pillared temple in the Agora.
- The Temple of Zeus - another of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
- The Plaka.
- The National Archeological Museum in Athens.
- Elisa and Monica next to a statue inside the Museum.
YAMMAS! (A toast to your health).
posted by Joanna @ 3:28 PM
9 Comments:
Wow! Those are some great photos. Looks like you had a great trip. I'd love to take that trip and see the things you saw, I bet you learned alot about the history of those places.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
OH MY GOD, it looks like you had a fabulous time! I am so jealous. I just finished a class on ancient Mediterranean history, which was fascinating - as a result, more so than ever, I want to visit that area!
I drooled as I looked through your photos. Did I mention I am jealous?
melantha
http://melantha.kallure.com
Ahh Greece..I went when I was 17, but I never made it to Turkey. Would do just about anything to get back.
I was drooling too, and not just at the ones with you and Elisa in them ;P
Looks like you had an amazing time! Glad you enjoyed yourself
I am glad you had a great time in my country (100% Greek here).
Men ARE really aggressive with foreign women.. I dont know what gets into them lmao.
I've been to Turkey as well and yes it is very beautiful. BTW did anyone mention to you that Istanbul and Kusadasi used to be Greek cities that were conquered from Turkey many many years ago? In fact Hagia Sofia (Means Saint Sofia) used to be a Greek orthodox church.. maybe the biggest in her time.
I am jealous now !!!
thanks for the comments, everyone :)
Jenny: actually, Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom", refering to the Holy Wisdom of Christ. And I'm not sure about it being a Greek orthodox Church, I haven't read anything about that and our tour guide didn't mention it. I know a lot of the Catholic mosaics were painted over when it was converted into a mosque, though.
History is so interesting :)
Just came here by way of blog explosion and lucky for me!
The pictures are gorgeous!
You must have had a wonderful time.
Hey, congrats on your fabulous trip! The photos are really pretty, the sunset/beach view ones especially. I'm glad you learned some fun history facts, too! Welcome back.
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