The Honeymooners, Day Nine: Izmir-ely a Brief Stop

After nine non-stop days of heavy vacationing, and understanding that our next stop would be an overnighter, we decided to take it easy in Izmir.  All excursions would have involved travel outside of the city and there wasn't anything we were dying to see anyway, so we opted to sleep in a little and then leisurely stroll the town.  

Prior experience had taught us not to expect much in a port town if you haven't planned an excursion, but Izmir proved to be the exception to that rule.  

Izmir, the third most populous city in Turkey, turned out to be a bustling beach town full of restaurants, cafes, and high end fashion boutiques.

We disembarked and headed for the nearest coffee shop that also offered free Wi-Fi, then promptly disconnected from any and all conversation for approximately 30 minutes.  After a strong Turkish coffee and the tastiest chocolate pastry in the history of ever, we walked into a Starbucks where I purchased a coffee mug but avoided all consumables.  I may be a tacky tourist, but I wasn't feeling that tacky on this particular morning.

We walked along the beach for a while, where we found, in what I have since learned was Gündoğdu Square, the Republic Tree Monument, which commemorates the 80th anniversary of Turkey becoming a republic.  

Leaving the beach, we headed into the heart of Izmir, and found what appears to be the entrance to Universal Studios Turkey.  We searched high and low, but couldn't find the ticket booth.

We also stumbled across the Yalı Mosque and the Izmir Clock Tower, both located in Konak Square.  Here is the obligatory photo to prove that we were actually there.

Moving along, we found the Devlet Opera and the Salepçioğlu Mosque.

And then we went back to the boat.  It was a quick, uninformed walking tour, so I'm making this a quick, uninformed blog post.

Despite the lack of an agenda and the absence of photos in front of famous landmarks, this turned out to be one of my favorite days, in that it was the most relaxing.  I saw enough of Izmir to know that I wouldn't mind going back some day to explore further, and I suppose that's the highest compliment you can ever pay a dot on the map.  

The Honeymooners, Day Eight: Athens, Superheroes, and Hamburger Knock-Offs

Our day in Athens began much the same way our day in Olympia had: hopping on a tour bus and being handed an audio receiver that was sure to function just well enough to not allow me to demand a refund.  That was fine.  I had learned quickly to just ignore the tour guide and merely use her as a means for reaching my destination. 

Our first stop was the Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.  Reconstructed from the remains of another ancient stadium, it is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble.  As mentioned in my Olympia post, a special ceremony is held here just prior to the torch relay every Olympic cycle.  This was but a short stop in our day's journey, just long enough to snap a couple of photos.  Then, we were off to the Acropolis!

View of Athens from the Acropolis summit

The Acropolis is  an ancient fortress located on a rocky outcrop

overlooking Athens.  It contains the remnants of several ancient buildings, most notable among them being the Parthenon.  Adding to our collection, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Archaeological findings suggest that the hill has been inhabited since the fourth millennium BC, but it wasn't unit the fifth century BC that construction began on the major structures recognized today.  Significant structural damage befell the hillside during the Morean War when, in 1687, the Venetians launched a barrage of cannonballs at the Acropolis.  The Parthenon was being used as a storage house for gunpowder at the time.  It was hit.  The results were not pretty.

Having been a huge fan of the Graeco-Roman pantheon of gods as a child, this vacation was a dream come true.  Prior to January, though, my biggest exposure to such things was Hercules, Xena, Wonder Woman…and my friend Dan Williams, who participated in Stan Lee's SyFy Channel reality show "Who Wants to be a Super Hero 2."  He used the code name Parthenon.  I met Dan right before his season began airing through Sunday brunch with a mutual friend, and my inner geek demanded that I befriend him.  Random trivia, he designed the logo I use for my blog.  Thanks, Dan!

Anyway, back to the vaycay.

The Parthenon is a temple that was dedicated to the goddess Athena, after whom the city of Athens was named, and whom the citizens of the period considered to be their patron.

Our guide told us a rather ridiculous story about how Athena and Poseidon lobbied the people of Athens over who should be the city's patron.  We were told that all of the men voted for Poseidon, while all of the women voted for Athena.  There were a few more women than men, so Athena won.  Poseidon flooded the city in a fit of rage, causing much property damage.  Because of this, men took the right to vote away from women...a punishment that lasted until 1952.  Isn't it charming when religion is used as a justification to persecute a subset of society?  #UmNO.

The Parthenon is "the most magnificent creation of Athenian democracy at the height of its power," according to the official website.  Doesn't that sound impressive?  Construction began in 447BC, and it replaced a previous temple to Athena that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480BC.  The temple has had many purposes throughout its existence:  treasury, Christian church, mosque, and tourist trap.  The temple was severely damaged in the aforementioned 1687 assault.  London's British Museum purchased many of the surviving sculptures in 1816.  The Greek government has spent the last 32 years trying to get them back.  No luck thus far.

Other scenes from the day…

After our tour of the Acropolis, we had a "generous" 20 minutes to wander the area by ourselves before we had to be back on the bus.  I took the opportunity to seek out the Hard Rock Cafe, where I planned to down a Hurricane and buy the mandatory shot glass.  I entered the gift shop and had the following conversation:

Me:  One shot glass, please.

Cashier:  We don't have any.

Me:  That's not possible.  This is the Hard Rock.  

Cashier:  We don't have any.

Me:  Fine.  Can I order a shot at the bar, and then buy that glass?

Cashier:  No.

Me:  What do you mean, 'no'?  You love doing that.

Cashier:  We don't have any to sell, even at the bar.

Me:  Okay.  Bye.

Upon returning to the ship that evening, I promptly logged onto the Internet and researched the matter.  Cruise ship Internet is expensive, but some things are worth paying for, dammit.  Apparently, the Hard Rock Cafe in Athens, Greece has been operating without a license since March of 2013…a fact that is not interesting to any of you, but this is my blog and I want to remember the fury when I'm old and gray.

Our next stop was the National Archaeology Museum of Athens, which, between the ruins and the museum, makes our day in Athens pretty much identical to our day in Olympia.  As we were entering,

we ran into this older gay couple that we had met on the boat.  They were leaving, on their way somewhere fabulous I'm sure, and had been having a grand old time all over town.  Seasoned cruise goers, they had opted out of the organized tour and instead found a cab driver that was willing to drive them around all day and wait for them while they did tourist stuff for about $50 USD.  Sounds like a good idea, but I can't get past the fear of being abandoned and unable to find another driver in time for departure.

The museum is the largest in Greece and was originally founded to provide a secure environment for items found during the 19th century excavations in and around Athens.  It grew to become the country's central archaeology museum, and features a large collection of sculptures, vases, and metallurgy.

On display in the central gallery is the alleged "Mask of Agamemnon," a gold death-mask depicting the imposing face of a bearded man.  It was found covering the face of a body located in Mycenae in 1876.    Modern research suggests that the mask if from 1550-1500BC, earlier than Agamemnon, who commanded Greek forces during the Trojan War, is traditionally thought to have lived and died.  Is is but one of several such masks on display in the exhibit.

Also of note was this bronze statue, described as begin either Zeus or Poseidon.  I'm not sure where, but I know I've seen it before.  It was discovered in the sea of Cape Artemision and is though to be from the early Classical period, circa 460 BC.  I'm not sure why there is uncertainty about who it is supposed to be, as it looks quite Zeus-y to me.

TJ geeked out over the Antikythera Mechanism exhibit, which contains 82 fragments of the mechanism, discovered in 1900 among the ruins of the shipwrecked Antikythera.  A century of research has established that it is the oldest known astronomical and calendrical calculating machine, resulting in the moniker of "World's First Computer."

Other interesting pieces below...as you can tell, I'm an unapologetic fan of sculpture.  

We scoured the gift shop, looking for something that we liked even half as much as the Narcisus we had chickened out of buying at the Vatican, but to no avail.    

And with that, as with Olympia, it was time to head back to the ship.  

The dawn would bring with it another port, and another country.  

[EDIT]:  TJ has advised that the reason the statue of Zeus/Poseidon looked so familiar is because there was a replica of it at Walt Disney World's now defunct Adventurer's Club.  It was a themed club located within the much-missed Pleasure Island nightclub complex at Downtown Disney.  The setting was 1937, and the gist was that world travelers would gather here to tell tales of their explorations.  The sculpture, fishing pole held in the casting position, was entitled Zeus Goes Fishing.  Located in the club's Main Salon, the sculpture provided irrefutable proof that this is indeed a sculpture of Zeus, not Poseidon.  Who needs archaeologists when you have Disney Imagineers?

The Honeymooners, Day Seven: Olympia Has Fallen

Our first port of call was Katakolon, Greece.  According to the Norwegian Cruise Line website, "This quaint little seaside town on the Ionian Sea is the gateway to Ancient Olympia, where Greek mythology was born and the first Olympiad was held. You may still be able to hear the distant echoes of the ancient Greeks cheering as you tour the ruins of one of the most important and exciting sanctuaries of antiquity."

That whole echo thing sounded a bit cray-cray, but we awoke early that morning and hopped aboard an Olympia-bound tour bus all the same.  Olympia was added to the registry of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1989, and ya'll know I love to collect those.  I'll spare you the suspense: No echoes were heard.  I did hear static, though.  Lots and lots of static.

This was the first tour I had ever done (outside of a museum setting) that used wireless transmitters and receivers to provide a tour to a large group of people.  I must say I wasn't a particular fan of the technology.  Drift too far away from your guide,  and you are rewarded with and earful of static…which a shutterbug like myself will do without without fail.  I spent the majority of the tour snapping photos until I heard static, running ahead to reunite with the group…snapping photos until I heard static, and repeating.  As tours moved quickly to keep up with their guides, I found myself weaving in and around crowds of people just as rushed for time and static avoidance and perfect photos as myself.

A particularly troublesome spot was the Altar of Hera.  As you can see, this is the most boring photo ever taken.  As the static grew louder in our ears, a dozen tourists clamored for space around this thing trying to find an interesting angle.  I don't think any of us found it.  So why is it so important?

It is from this altar that the Olympic flame is lit.  The tradition began in 1936 during the Berlin games at what is considered the start of the contemporary Olympics.  The torch is ignited months before the opening ceremony via sunlight and parabolic mirror.  The torch travels around Greece on a short relay and then begins its journey to the host city following a ceremony at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens (which we will see in the next post).

The altar stands at the east end of the Temple of Hera, a Doric-style temple featuring a single row of columns along each side (six on the narrow sides, sixteen on the long sides).  When it was  originally constructed, the temple contained wooden columns, but they were eventually replaced by limestone.  The temple was build around 600BC and was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th century AD.
Legend tells that the disc of the Sacred Truce was kept within the confines of the temple.  The disc contained the text of a truce agreement made between all of the Greek cities that suspended hostilities for a specific period of time so that competitors could participate in the games without fear for their safety.

Pictured here is the Stadium,  which was estimated to have a capacity of 45,000 spectators.  Many tourists like to take their shoes off and run the length of the track.  They looked silly, but appeared to be having fun.  We were content taking photos.

Some other random pics from the day that did not have useful plaques from which to lift information follow…

TJ apparently found is name on this stone, but it's all Greek to me.

Hera may have had her own house of worship, but her husband was not to be outdone.  The Temple of Zeus featured six columns on the narrow and thirteen columns on the long sides.  The labors of Hercules, Zeus's son, were depicted on the twelve interior slabs.  The temple was destroyed by the earthquakes of 522 and 551AD.  

Inside the Temple of Zeus, one used to be able to find the ivory and gold statue of Zeus, sculpted by Phidias, which was lauded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  It is said that the statue resided at the western end of the temple and stood over 40 feet tall.  The Olympics were abolished in 392AD by the Christian Emperor Theodosius I of Rome, who saw the games as a pagan rite.  It is theorized that the statue was moved to Constantinople (present day Istanbul) at this time, where it was ultimately destroyed in a citywide fire in 475AD.  Another school of thought says it remained in Olympia, where it perished by fire in 425AD.  Either way, Zeus went out in a blaze of glory.  To the left is a conceptualized rendering of what the statue may have looked like that can be found in The Archaeology Museum of Olympia, which we also happened to be our final stop of the day.

The Archaeology Museum of Olympia's permanent exhibition contains finds from the Olympia excavations dating from prehistoric times to the Early Christian period.  The museum features a noteworthy collection of sculpture, bronze, and terracottas.

Although there were many fine pieces in the museum, we were in instantaneous and mutual agreement

that the showstopper was Hermes of Praxiteles, a marble sculpture depicting the messenger of the gods carrying the infant Dionysos, god of wine and madness.  The statue captures the duo in the middle of a journey to the Nymphs, to whom Hermes had been tasked by Zeus to deliver Dionysos.  It is speculated that the missing arm held a bunch of grapes, a symbol associated with the future god of wine.  Reproductions of the statue could be seen throughout the remainder of our travels in Greece, and have even popped up in archaeological sites we have visited in Israel.  None hold a candle to the original.

The statue was discovered in 1877 during an excavation of the Temple of Hera and is attributed to Praxiteles (4th century BC).  A noticeable lack of historical replicas indicates that, despite the statue's prominence in the modern day gift shop circuit, it probably wasn't one of the artist's most revered pieces at the time.  Even so, and I'm sorry, but...

The Nike of Paionios depicts a winged woman leaning forward, her cloak waving behind her, wings open, right foot resign upon an eagle - a symbol of Zeus.  This imagery gives the impression of her flying descent from Olympus to proclaim victory. The statue was an offering to Zeus from the Messenians and the Naupactians for their victory against the Spartans in the Archidameian war, circa 421BC.

The main gallery featured sculptured ornaments from the Temple of Zeus.  There were 42 figures decorating the two temple pediments.  This collection is one of the best surviving ensembles of ancient Greek works and are dated circa early 5th century BC.  The eastern pediment depicts the chariot race between Pelops and Oinomaos, with Zeus featured as the dominant figure.  The western pediment depicts the abudcion of the Lapith women by Centaurs, and Apollo takes center stage.

And now, some random museum shots…

It's apparently a federal offense to the photos of yourself posing with sculpture inside museums, because everywhere we went in Greece, people yelled at us for trying.  This is most devastating Managed to sneak a couple though, just because we're hard core.  (Also, if it actually IS a federal offense, we were framed.)

And with that, it was time to get back on the bus.  It was a great day overall.  We were able to check a city off of the bucket list and saw some amazing museum pieces that we weren't expecting at all.  I wasn't a fan of the audio tour and do feel that the tour scene in general really detracts from one's enjoyment of an experience from a time management perspective, but for cruise ship vacationing, it really is the safest option, as excursions booked through the ship insure you against missing your ride due to late arrivals back at the docks.

We returned to the ship that evening exhausted and in need of refreshment, so of course we stopped at at the bar.

Bartender:  "Did you go on any excursions today?"
Me:  "Yeah, we went to Olympia."
Bartender:  "And?  How was it?"
Me:  "Very poorly maintained.  Everything fell down."
Bartender:  "Hah.  Olympia has Fallen."
Me:  "That's a terrible movie," and then, turning to TJ "He just named my blog."
TJ:  "I know."