Life's a Musical: October 2013

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Constanta, Romania

LOTS of construction going on in this city

Went to the Natural History and Archaeology Museum AND the Folk Art Museum on tours

The highlight was a traditional Romanian Wedding Ceremony, complete with fold dancers, food, wine and tuica (Romanian vodka!)

Romanian food: pickled cabbage around minced meat and a corn dish resembling polenta

Just a horse and cart. Carrying branches. In the traffic lane.

Epitome of what we saw today in Constanta...

...including more than one fixer-uppers

I had IPM today, but the very nice saxophone player gave me a few of his free hours to get out, walk around and get some wifi. The best sights, though, were of all the locals swarming the port to take pictures of our ship! Apparently ships are kind of a big deal here in Sevastopol...they must not see them very often. Parents were carrying their children and pointing out our little vessel, to them a giant. Fishermen on the wharf carried on as usual.

Hello to Becky Straight Hair

I loved this image of the little boy waving to the ship with his red balloon, people taking pictures of us, and a fisherman on the wharf.

Sochi, Russia

Back to Russia, but on the Black Sea this time, in Russia's largest resort city. Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Olympics Games! Later, the facility will be used to host the 2018 World Cup.

The 2014 Olympic ski jumping hill as seen through my bus window

The Russian government will have spent over $12 billion to prepare the modest city (population 350,000) for the Olympic Games. They have built power plants, hydroelectric plants, a high-speed rail system, two Olympic Villages for the athletes, and another whole city just for media!

1st place Winter Dancer? New sport :)

Olympic Gear for sale everywhere!

Yes, victory is sweet.

Athens, Greece

The Parthenon atop the Acropolis by night, as viewed from a rooftop restaurant

The Parthenon by day! By far one of the highlights of my sightseeing thus far! How amazing to stand in front of the symbol of Ancient Greece, a structure that was built in the 400's...B.C.!!! In this pose I dance for Athena, the mythical Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, the arts and strength, on the Acropolis of her namesake city.

How fun that our cruise coincided with Katelyn and Carole's visit to Greece! This is one of our feasts together: lamb gyros, chicken souvlaki, pita and tzatziki...mmm :)

Notice the goddess on the left....

....posing in the Theater of Dionysos

Todd took this awesome picture and I edited it to feel like ancient Greece

Todd and I are so blessed to get to share wonderful travel memories together!

Rodos, Greece

People from Rodos are very adamant that their city is pronounced and spelled as such, and not "Rhodes," as we have named it in English. The Old City is built on top of ancient ruins, which have been declared a World Heritage Site. It is nicknamed "the island of the Knights." Fun fact: the Statue of Liberty inspired by the ancient statue of the Colossus of Rhodes.

Casties' night out!

Path at Mt. Filerimos

Inside a chapel during a baby's baptism

Peacocks are a symbol of eternity for Christians, Muslims and Hindu and apparently they roam freely!

Palace of the Grand Masters built in 1936-1939, but featuring artwork from much earlier

Inside the Palace the floors are decorated with mosaics from late Hellenistic, Roman and Early Christian times

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Volos, Greece

Brooke and I went off the ship early for a Roomie breakfast and some grocery shopping. We were surprised at what we saw...broken down buildings, graffiti, lots of hardware shops, and many old Greek men reading the paper, smoking and drinking thick Greek coffee. There didn't seem to be any traditional breakfast places, and we had limited time, so we chose the first one we saw with a lot of people (old men.) Turned out: they didn't really speak English, or have any menu, or normally serve food, but this sweet lady came out from the kitchen and said, "Eggs? Oil or water?" We said yes! Eggs in oil! And they proceeded to bring us a delightful breakfast feast of fried eggs, fresh tomatoes, a fresh loaf of bread with butter and a whole glass of honey, and 2 thick, chewy Greek coffees. It was like eating in her home. The waiter assessed the table at the end and declared, "10 euros." We were more than satisfied! He also tried to explain that they don't normally serve food, it was only a coffee shop. Oops!

Argostoli, Cephalonia, Greece

Today I was on an excursion called Cephalonian Highlights.

Here is what I learned from my tour guide about the island of Cephalonia:

Cephalonia is featured in the 2003 movie with Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz called, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," based on the book of the same title. I think it is the 4th largest Greek island but sparsely populated. There are now 35,000 residents, but there were 90,000 until the 1953 earthquake that destroyed 90% of the houses. Half of the population left! Those remaining have resorted to tourism.

There is a wide Italian influence: food, older architecture and music...specifically serenades with guitar or mandolin :)

Robola wine comes from the island of Cephalonia and is made from white robola grapes. The title is protected for only Cephalonians. It pairs well with fish and is famous for not giving you any hangover!

It snows in the winter.

20 Cephalonian horses live wild in the forest. They were abandoned after retired from farming.

Greek cheese is always from goats and sheep, rarely cows. There are 4 heads of goats or sheep for every person.

Boating through Lake Melissani, cave of the nymphs

Lake Melissani

In this little beachside village, I had the best tzatziki of my life!

Kotor, Montenegro

Pronounced Ko-TOR, this Montenegrin city is nestled between mountains and sea. Driving on the one-way roads was treacherous, as only the locals know how to look ahead of oncoming traffic, then stop and slowly back up into a ditch to accommodate passing cars. I was holding my breath and elderly passengers were white-knuckling the bus seats when we drove up the winding mountain streets.

Montenegrins are known for being lazy, tall, handsome, burly, competitive traditionalists with a keen sense of humor who live on the edge. They understand Serbian, Croatian and Albanian languages, and compare them as different dialects instead of entirely different languages.

Old ladies who sit in front of house are referred to as "black boxes"...because they know everything about everyone!

A favorite local saying here is, "Fish swim 3 times: once in the lake/sea, once in the oil, and once in the stomach with wine."

Panoramic of the beautiful city of Montenegro

View of the city from the bow of our ship

The delicious feast of homemade bread, garden tomatoes, prosciutto, fresh cheeses, red wine and honey wine we devoured on top of a mountain! When asked why a Montenegrin would brave the harsh winters on the mountain, they would reply, "Why leave? We make our own bread, meat, cheese and alcohol!"