Katakolon, (Olympia,) Greece, Day 12, June 30, 2009

The original Olympics were staged here. The site was covered by sediments for several centuries which protected many of the mosaics and other building details. Unfortunately most of massive structures fell during earthquakes. Multiple buildings housed spas, gyms, and barracks for the athletes and spectators. Every four years, the athletes gathered to seek athletic fame.

The original starting lines and finish line are still in place. A marble threshold with groves provided footholds for the runners. The entire field is dead flat oval surface surrounded with a bowl shaped mount for spectators to sit. It is amazing how well the stadium is constructed. The builders even included drainage to divert run off away from the field of competition.

All were naked when competing. Married women were forbidden to witness the events for it was deemed immoral for a married woman to see a man, other than their husband, in the nude. However, virgins were welcome. Go figure?

Yes, that's me making Olympic fame in the moon walk competition.

This must have been a beautiful place. Gardens, spas, lodging, temples covered the property. It may have been the most elaborate resort in ancient history. No one, other than a few caretakers, resided here after the competitors left.

Athens, Greece, Day 11, June 29, 2009

After Egypt, Athens Greece is next most significant site in western civilization. The Acropolis sits on a high mount in the middle of it all. Just like all ancient structures, we moderns marvel at the size and magnificence of these structures.

Even though the building are fragments of the original, there is no doubt that these were overwhelmingly impressive structures in their day.

When you look at the building, you wonder just how much has been lost of the ancient world if this is what we find after 2500 years.

A visit to the museum reveals piece after piece of ancient art. These people had all all worked out. They were masters at sculpture. We have added very little to the art form since the Greeks.

Mykonos, Greece, Day 10, June 28, 2009

Mykonos was the next stop.
Mykonos is said to be the birthplace of the Greek civilization; however, we took off to the beach instead of exploring ancient ruins or museums.


The island is populated with white buildings. Apparently, a plague struck the island over a hundred years ago and white was considered to be sterile and therefore believed to ward off contagious disease. The sand was courser than we see in New Jersey and brown. The water was cool but tolerable.
It was a good rest stop.

Ephesus, Turkey, Day 9, June 27, 2009

Ephesus was once the eastern capital city of the Roman Empire. Unlike Rome, many of the ruins are in better condition due to its remoteness. The city was originally a seaport town; but over time slit closed the harbor and killed the economy. The mosquitoes from the developing marsh chased all remaining stragglers.

Much of this structure was reconstructed by archaeologists.

Since Home Depot or Lowes were not in business at the time, many of these ancient cities became sources of building materials. All of the fine marble and statuary have been removed by others over time. I guess they didn't care about our touring pleasure. Earthquakes have done their damage as well. Nevertheless, the splendor of the city can be envisioned through the remnants. The amphitheater sat 25,000 people which was about 10% of the population. Plays and public meetings were held here. St. John spoke here around 50 AD. Imagine, they did this without any construction equipment. Even here the marble for the seats have been quarried and carried off to other cities.

Early Christians were underground in the first century. The stone above shows ancient Christian graffiti. The Greek letters Iota-Chi-Theta-Psi-Sigma spells the Greek word for "fish". The pie circle is a composite of the five letters. OK, Why Fish? It's an acronym for Jesus Christ Son (of) God - Savior. Cool, eh? So the next time you see one of those bumper stickers, you know why its a fish.

Romans were pros at plumbing. Many of their storm water systems are still in use today. The above multi-seat toilet is built directly over a trough with running water. This public "sit" station was part of a transit station for travelers.

Cruising-Santorini, Greece, Day 7,8, June 25,26,2009

Today was the day off that we welcomed. It's nice to have nothing to do except for pool side drinks and an evening of dining and dancing. Today, I also consumed about two hours just walking the decks and taking photographs of this incredible ship. 4 large swimming pools and about 5 hot tubs decorated the upper decks. Food of various cuisines available everywhere. The pizza near the pool was a good as home.

Notice the perfect weather. Everyday was like this. Bring your sun block.
Our favorite pool on the eighteen deck looking down from the 19th deck

Santorini is a Greek Island that just littered with splendid elevated views. The cliffs fall into a harbor that is so deep that the ships can't anchor. Instead they use their thrusters to hold a GPS position.

To the top of the island, we rode cable car to the top of the island where 98% of the buildings are. We did brave walking down the switchback to the dock. The primary hazard is the Donkey poop.

Many of the buildings are stucco painted in beautiful pastels. Santorini, beautiful for one day, time to move on to more ancient ruins.

Naples, Italy, DAY 6, June 24, 2009

On this day we made three stops, Isle of Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii. Even though we were at the port of Naples, we didn't tour there. Naples is a working man' s town much like Detroit. It has a higher unemployment rate than many other cities in Italy and more social problems than most.

We started with a boat ride. It was a high speed catamaran that slowly rode up and down with the waves. The cabin was like sitting in a theater. The lack of windows amplified the motion's effect on the brain and stomach. For a least a half an hour, the crew passed out plastic catch bags for the lesser heeled sailors amongst the passengers. Many were glad to place their feet on solid land again.

At Capri, the show was the scenery. You must take an inclined plane car to the top of the island. This is a very upscale place. Gucchi, Rolex, and other notables were represented on store fronts.
Perfumes, jewelry, high end fashion were available. We bought three postcards.
On to Sorrento, an excellent lunch which was included in the tour, window shopping, and back on the bus to Pompeii.

Pompeii is the legendary city that was covered with volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius around 95 AD. It was rediscovered in the 1800's. (If I recall correctly.) Frozen in time it is a very interesting place. Unlike Rome, the ruins have not been abused by centuries of pillaging and weathering. In one ancient residence, the murals on the walls and tile work on the floors were nearly perfect. You really got a feel for the daily life of these people. This was the highlight of the trip so far.

Leave it to me to have an uncharged battery in my camera. Fortunately, Linda brought her camera. I'll post some photos later.

Florence, Pisa, DAY 6, June 23, 2009

Florence & Pisa were on the schedule today. Lots of Renaissance history to absorb. Bus #A3 was ready to hurry us to Florence. We walked and saw some beautiful buildings, statuary, and tombs of the contributors of the city's golden age. David is the big draw. Michelangelo touch is everywhere throughout Italy. Unfortunately, we only had time to see the copy of "David" on the Piazza. The original was moved from the Piazza to protect it from damage due to pollution and general weathering. Quite frankly, if I was told that what we saw was the original, how would I have known the difference?

This is the Basilica of something or the other.

From there, more beautiful churches, more sculptures, and more more.

Back on the bus, then to Pisa.

Yes, the leaning tower really does lean. It's then that you realize that if it wasn't for bad engineering, nobody would come to Pisa. That tells you something about human nature. Screw-up and it's a story. Do it right and everybody walks by without taking notice.

Pisa was more to an a American's expectation of a landmark site. plenty of mown grass around the building and everything was steamed cleaned. more like a park than an ancient church.

After seeing these buildings, you realize that the people in the 15th century just had nothing better to do than show-off by building magnificent structures.

Monaco, DAY 5, June 22, 2009

Monaco: Scenic Overkill. Country of millionaires.


This place is no more than a playground for the idle rich. All of the "real" people commute to work from France or from Italy. Even our tour guide was from Italy. It simply cost too much to live in Monaco. Since the rich don't sweep there own floors, the real people have to come from somewhere. We appreciate their tolerance of folks like us.

A view of the Mediterranean.

Diane checks out the royal family villas.

We took a short tour of the castle. A more modest place than you would expect. Beautiful furnishing, antiques, and grand portraits of Grace Kelly and the royal family.

Prince Albert reviews the changing of the guard. The prince had a guest for lunch on the day that we were there, consequently, the ceremony was delayed until noon. The band played and the small platoon of soldiers marched. I'd give it 3 of 5 stars. Buckingham Palace on a budget.

Prince Albert (out of the can.) He's the one on the right side. Wow! He waved at us. OK, It was pretty cool.

The marching band played three tunes while the guards marched by. The whole ceremony lasted about 15 minutes.

Pick your yacht. You can't believe how big these things are. It was nice to see some 20 foot boats in the marina next to the mega-yachts. I feel grounded by the experience.

Ok, back to the boat, we hear that they're giving Cha-cha lessons in "Club Fusion". Party on....

Civitavecchia, DAY 4, Sunday, June 21, 2009

Arrivederci Roma.

This was boarding day for the cruise. Rome is about 50 miles or 80 kilometers from the port of Civitavecchia. I have no idea how to say Civitavecchia correctly.

There are two basic choices to get there form Rome: Private limo or public train. Since we are loaded with money, we choose the limo at 140 Euro or $210. It' s much like going to Atlantic City from Philadelphia. Going by train required schleping luggage to the local train station and twenty minute walk from the train station to the ship at the other end. At 6 euro per person, a great bargain. This is another reason to bring just one piece of luggage.

The Mercedes was fast and comfortatble so probabaly worth it, I guess?

At the hotel in Rome, we met several couples that were cruising with us. These folks proved to be good company during the entire trip. There they were waiting in line with 3000 other passengers eager to board the ship on the dock.

The ship is beautiful. As the Ruby Princess is only eight months old, everything is sharp in appearance. No nicks or scratches that develop over time were evident. With of 3150 passengers and a crew of 1200, it is one of the biggest out there. On the cabin TV, they were continually playing episodes of “Love Boat”. They made a reference that the LoveBoat served 600 passengers. That was in the 1980’s. (I think.) Things change.


Six thirty, 1830, we pushed off. With one tug boat on the port bow line and bow thrusters surging, we were underway. Once the Ship was away from the dock, the tug dropped off and Ruby was under way. Next port Monte Carlo, Monaco. Prince Albert is waiting.
Tonight, we sail to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Prince Edward is expecing us.
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Lessons learned:

1. Carry a wardrobe for 6 days. you can always get things washed. The ship had multiple laundryomats. One medium-large(>50 lb.) roller suit case per person will do.
   
2. Don't be afraid to use the trains. It may be wise to avoid the city subway (Metropolitano); but, the train will get you between cities at low cost and quickly. We met several people that enjoyed their train ride from Venice to Rome and other points.


3. Everything in Italy is expensive for tourists. Water bottles can be as much as $3-5 Euro or as little as 50 cents. We ate several meals by filling up on snacks and free drinks at the Hotel's Hilton Honors Courtesy Lounge. The room fee included breakfast which was excellent. A dinner at Harry's Bar on Via Veneto rang-up at $128 Euro.


4. No matter how much you want to absorb from the tours, you will get saturated. Be sure to see the big tourists spots and maybe you will get to the secondary places.

Rome, DAY 3, Saturday, June 21, 2009

We took a guided tour to Ancient Rome. After a short bus ride, we walked the coliseum. The coliseum was built some time around 200 B.C. and was in service for 600 years. It seated about 80,000. Not unlike Philadelphia's’s Veterans Stadium except that it was in service 20 times longer. It had a complete system to house animals and mechanisms to lift the animals and gladiators to the arena floor. Once again, many of the adornments of marble were removed for other architectural projects. The cathedral builders found it much cheaper than quarrying new marble.

The Roman Forum was the next stop. Caesar walked the same streets as us.

The Arch of Triumph through which the Romans marched their conquered victims was still in nearly perfect condition. There were several illustrations of their newly captured slaves with chains & shackles on the Arch.
One of the structures columns had deep scars where a pope attempted to destroy the pagan artifacts by pulling them down. The Romans just built things too well.

Rome, DAY 2, Friday, June 20, 2009

This was the day to visit the Vatican. The advice to take the guided tour was graet advice. There is quite a crowd waiting to enter. The guided tours get preference. Our guide was amazingly knowledgeable. The museum is full of Greek art and other fine items. The Sistine Chapel was everything that was promised. Michelangelo does noce work. The chapel was wall to wall people. Guard shush the crowd trying to maintain some reverence to the sacred space. There re signs and all tourists are told no pictures allowed. Flash is forbidden through the museum. Despite the rules, people were snapping multiple shots some with flash in the Sistine Chapel. The tour continued to Saint Peters Basilica. Endless art, history, and relics fill the space.
In the evening we decided to walk through Rome starting at The Spanish Steps. The historic significance is minimal. The steps were built just to connect two churches. From there it’s a short walk to the Trevi fountain. (Three coins in the fountain.) This place attracts a crowd. Everyone fights their way up to the rail to get their photograph with the fountain as a backdrop.
Our last stop was the Pantheon. Now this place is something. It’s over two thousand years old and is still one of the largest dome structures in the world. We caught a free tour. The guide was an American around thirty years old. He told the story of the structure from the Romans to the Catholic Church to the Italian Monarchy. The Romans built this without anything but manual labor and concrete.
The top of the dome is about 300 ft to the top. The designer used decrease the all thickness and density of materials from the bottom from the top. So after 2000 years there are no visible cracks in the sphere.
The Romans and later the Italians stole from the ancients. The columns the support the portico in the front came from Egypt making them 3000-4000 years old. They are made from on solid piece of granite. How did they make these columns? Each is 40-50 tall, one piece, perfectly round and smooth. Amazing! Just cutting the rock from the quarry is a feat. The front was once decorated with bronze until a pope needed it to decorate the Vatican. Later to protect the Pantheon, another pope converted in to a church. This was the practice which also halted the stripping of the coliseum. The lions and Christians story was created to rationalize the founding of the coliseum as a holy site.

Rome, DAY 1, Thursday, June 19, 2009

Our flight departed Philadelphia at 6 PM and arrived at Rome at 8:30 AM. Immediately, I set my watch to Roman time in attempt to convince myself to sleep during the seven hour flight. Any sleep would help to synchronize our mental clocks. A seven hour difference is hard to overcome. Diane had some over the counter sleeping pills that did nothing. We both were wide awake for the duration. The non-rest gave us time to read rick Steve’s guide to Rome and help us set some priorities.

Arrival at Rome was a non-event. All signs were in Italian and sub-titled in English. I don’t know why but an Italian speaking couple kept asking me which way to go for baggage, etc. Despite my “no compisco Italiano”, they continued like I could read their minds and had some floor plan of the airport in my head. I was more lost then they were. We followed the herd to Immigration. Since we sat on the last row of the airplane, we were at the end of the line; however, we were at the front in 5 minutes. A quick glance at our passports and we were on to baggage claim. Not even a souvenir stamp in the passport.

The good part of waiting in lines before arriving at the bagagli carousel is that your bags are usually waiting for you. All those other passengers that managed to get there early do their waiting at baggage, whereas we had completed our duty to line-waiting. Well, that is all good theory.

Rome’s baggage claim has all of the glamour of Detroit’s baggage claim when I was there in 1990. It must have the efficiency that makes Philadelphia look like a leader. We waited at least an hour. We amused ourselves by watching the same four bags do the circuit 50 times, then suddenly, one of our bags appeared. Another ten minutes elapsed before the next three appeared. On to customs.

Follow the Red or Green signs, so we did. The Red line was fro declaring at customs. The Green line was if you had nothing to declare. We chose the Green. The door opened and we were in open space. Where are the custom inspectors? Who cares? The people in the Red line must honest beyond belief.

The sign said use only the white taxis. I guess that they pay for an access license. So we followed the taxi signs to the door where a man with an ID tag around his neck says, “do you need a taxi?”. I say. “Yes.” He starts by grabbing my bags. I pulled back, then he said no I take them. I grabbed my computer bag and let him lead me to the cab stand. He stated down the corridor, walking faster and faster. He kept passing the doors to the curb. This was not what I expected. At the end of the terminal he exited with me on his heals well past the last “white” taxi. We followed him into a side parking lot where a gray car was parked. When I saw the car, I said, “NO”. He pointed to his ID and a metal tag affixed to his license plate. I grabbed our bags an walked back to the airport taxi stand. He was just gypsy taxi trying to steal a fare. Of course the chase through the airport almost killed me. ,,,,Boungiorno, Roma.

Off to the Hotel Cavalieri. This place is on a hill on the northwest side of Rome. Taxi fare: 50 Euros or 75 Dollars. This is a really nice five star Hilton-Waldolf Hotel. Our room has a super view of the city. We can see the Pantheon and Parliament.
By noon, we crashed. Jet lag had claimed its victims.

In the evening, we took the hotel shuttle to Via Vento at Barberini Plaza. Dinner at Harry’s Bar left us 140 Euros ($210) lighter.

European Vacation

This Wednesday, Diane and I will be traveling to Rome. Rome is the first stop on our cruising adventure. No sailboats this time. We will be cruising on the Ruby Princess, a new ship in the Princess Cruise Line fleet.

We will start our trip with three days in Rome at the Hilton Cavalieri Hotel. Those Hilton Honors points came in handy.

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Our friends, Joe and Linda, will be joining us on Saturday.
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On Sunday, we board the Ruby Princess for 12 days. The ports of call include: Monaco-Nice, Florence, Naples, Athens, Ephesus, Mykonos, Olympia, Santorini, Corfu, and finally Venice.

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We will be staying three days in Venice at the Hitlon Molino Stucky. Our return flight will be on July 6.

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I fear the overdose of culture and history.

~~~

I don't know what access that I will have to the Internet. If I can, I will post some quick updates.

Arrivederla, Sono en vancanza!

George & Diane

Tanzer 22- Sparrows Pt. to Cambridge, MD

While still dry at Sprrows Point. Fresh bottom paint.

Well John, my son, and I moved the boat from Sparrows Point near Baltimore to Cambridge over the Memorial Day weekend. We had postponed the trip previously due to weather. We decided that this had to be the weekend. Anything short of a gale wouldn't stop us. The weather called for cloudy skies with possibility of showers. There was a chance of small craft warnings; but, there always are warnings.

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The forecast was for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 for both Saturday and Sunday. The south wind was our concern. Why? because we wanted to go south. It meant that we would need to tack all the way. All that zig-zagging would mean much more time.

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We left Lansdale around 5:30 AM. We were on the Chesapeake heading toward the Annapolis Bay bridge by 8:00 AM. I figured that we would get to the bridge by noon. Bad guess! We were still 10 miles away. The wind was from the south but light all morning.

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At first, I was cautious so I rigged the working jib; but, after an hour of nothing, I switched to the 135% Genoa. We got a little more speed; but, the wind was just to light to get going. Our tacking angle to the wind was about 50-60 degrees to the wind or worse. If it wasn't for the GPS, I would have thought that we were not making any southerly progress. At last we did what all modern sailors do, we started the motor. We motor sailed to a point about a mile north of the bridge and the wind started to develop again. OK, The fun begins.

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At the bridge, we started our tack from the east. We approached a large block of concrete that supports the main structure of the bridge. I noticed that the water was smooth behind it, a sure sign of no wind. As we got closer, I felt that I was about receive an unrequested sailing lesson. When wind goes around a large object, the back side will be calm; but, the wind will whip around its sides to relieve the pressure on the windward side. OK, back on the boat. we got behind the block of concrete and the sails started to flag. Just as quickly, we were hit with a quick gust of wind. It filled our jib quickly and spun us around. As gracefully as possible, we sailed with the wind and away from the bridge. On our next approach, we started the motor just in case. Of course, we avoided the concrete block all together.

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Now, we are south of the bridge. The bridge marks a point that's about one fifth of our total trip. We had the feeling that we would never get there. Originally, I thought that we would get to Tilghman Island at the end of the first day; but, now, It was 5:00 PM and we had to decide where the day would end. I had no interest being on the bay at night.

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After studying the map, it was evident that Queen Anne Marina was the place to put-in for the night. This marina was the last refuge on Kent Island. I checked the GPS only to discover that we were only one mile away. We radioed to the Marina with no response. We tied-on to the end of the dock and discovered that the marina office was closed but so was everything else within walking distance.

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After a dose of bug repellent, and an apple for dinner, sleeping on the boat proved to be a new adventure. It was really easy to get up at 6 AM to set sail. Oh, yes, we escaped before the marina opened so, we evaded the dock fee.

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On Sunday, the wind was steady the waves were variable as we cut across the bay. We covered the width of the bay twice on our four tacks. I was glad to have figured out the proper way to rig the jib sheets. It made our day much easier. Our last tack took us directly into Knapp's Narrows. I was thankful that our three foot draft would not be an issue.

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Memorial Day weekend at Knapp's Narrows was busy. We were happy to find a spot to tie-off at the restaurant to get a good lunch. Fish and chips tasted super after an apple for dinner and a granola bar for breakfast.

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We motored out to the channel only to find two motor yachts and a 45 foot sailboat in line for the bridge to open. When the bridge opened, we motored out in a hurry to get a lead on the large boats immediately behind us.

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Out on the Choptank, we stayed close to the channel. I was surprised to see some larger boats breaking out of the channel before us. I guess that they don't have any special memories of the shoals that lurk below and out of sight. With sails up, we continued east on the Choptank. The wind was a little stronger than it was in the morning on the bay. I was also surprised at the rough water. This area is reasonably sheltered. On previous trips, we always had smoother water with good wind.

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The wind on the Choptank was from SSW. That put us on a broad reach, starboard tack all the way. It was great to making good speed and on a rhumb line course. Tacking just eats too much time. We now had 16 nautical miles to Cambridge.

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The beam to broad reach, that we held, gave us a chance to see what this Tanzer 22 can do. While tacking on a close reach, we saw speeds of 4-5.5 knots with 15 knots winds.. On the broad reach we enjoyed 6-7 knots. Hull speed computes to 6.0 knots. Despite the physics, we saw 7.5 on the GPS once or twice when gusts caught us. The boat was riding waves and in transition to plane. Pretty cool.

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We sailed right to Cambridge Creek Channel before going to motor. I always enjoy requesting a bridge opening. How many times have you had to stop for a draw bridge? It is fun to be on the other side on the event.

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Continuing down the creek and into the marina slip concluded our adventure. John had to be relieved. He started with no sailing knowledge and became much more comfortable as the weekend progressed. We had a few back-winded jibs which forced us into a 360. Everybody seems to get screwed around with a tiller in the beginning. Push left. The boat goes right. It just ain't natural.

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Our trip had us sailing for two days, approximately 26 hours of travel time. We sailed 73 nautical miles even though the plan was 53 NM. All that tacking added 20 nm. What surprised us was how dry the boat was. Despite some good wave action, we never had any spray. Also we had no surprise blow downs with the gusts.

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If you got this far, you've earned a boat ride with Captain Stuckie, himself. I'm looking for crew. There are some weekend racing events that should be fun.

Come on down!

Captain Stuckie

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THE BIG SAIL: Some more photos

The Crew clears the bar at Solomons.
Yes, Joel did finish that tankard of Ale.
Snappers Restaurant. A party every Friday night.

Sailing is easy! Ask John. "Where's my sun screen?"

"Is this the weekend? When you're retired it's hard to tell."

"BEER -HO! "

The galley crew samples the beverages before serving.

Joe: "This lager will compliment the Gateau de crepes au fromage well."

Paul also known as the sailing duck.

"Give me wind, big wind. Give me rain and mist. Give me waves, large waves.

I'm in my element. Aaaaarrggh! Life is good!"


Rememberances by Captain Stuckie.

The BIG SAIL May 1-4

Some photos of the Big Sail of 2009. Selene embarked from Annapolis on Friday Morning around 8:00 AM. Tacking on the close reach until the turn at Tilghman Island , the crew made good speed. After rounding Tilghman Island, the steady wind allowed us to sail on a broad reach until the entrance of Cambridge Creek. We arrived around 7:30 PM. The drawbridge welcomed our passage. We slipped past Snapper's and Portside restaurants and tied off at Deep Harbour Condos Marina.
Diane joined us at Portside for a fine but slow dinner. It was a long day filled with fine sailing and camaraderie. It was good to see the crew back together again.

The Crew at Cambridge

The long view of the Maryland Ave -Cambridge Creek Bridge

The view from #408, 900 Marshy Cove

The Drawbridge opens on demand.

Selene at Annapolis Landing Marina.

Joel advises Jeff on the proper preparation of Lox. Jeff explains beam reach.

Selene, bow first. Our biggest Yacht to date: 45 feet of sailing pleasure.

Frank checks the windex.

Joe C. acclimates to the 70 degree weather. brrrr!

More to follow.. ~~~~~/)~~~~~

Captain Stuckie