BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

For the past week I've been thinking about how in the world I am going to describe the feelings of finally visiting the two places I've most wanted to see in the whole world – The Acropolis in Athens, Greece & the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus near Kusadasi, Turkey. The only word that comes to mind is “WOW!” I know, I know - pretty trite, but true.

I saw them on consecutive days & it rained both days, of course. It was the only rain on the whole trip. We were quite rushed on the Acropolis & a little rushed in Ephesus since we were on guided tours. BUT you know what? I didn’t care because I was there, I saw them both & they were spectacular!

Seeing a picture of something is great. I've seen countless photos of the Parthenon on the Acropolis. But when you actually see the real thing, there is something magical about it. Athens is a huge city but you can see the Parthenon perched atop the hill from all over the city where it dominates the landscape.

The weather report for Athens showed partly cloudy & highs in the 70s, but while we were in the New Acropolis Museum the skies opened up. Our guide assured us the rain would pass soon, but she was wrong. It kept raining. We had brought our umbrellas but left them in the bus while in the museum. Our jackets were in the bus, too. The bus was now about 3 blocks away so I put my camera under my shirt & took off running. The stone walkway was slippery & I immediately decided that I needed to slow down & not fall or I’d never climb the Acropolis. I resembled a drowned rat by the time I made it to the bus.

Armed with our umbrellas & cameras, about half the people on the tour trekked up the Acropolis with the guide, the others remained in the bus. As I climbed over the rubble from the ruins & entered the area of the Parthenon, it kind of took my breath away. There has been so much destruction to the temple over the years yet it is still a regal fortress presiding over the city.

We only had about 20 minutes of free time after the guide's talk. I circled the entire Parthenon taking photos from every angle. The wind was whipping, my umbrella was hard to control, & my hair was dripping. I was holding the umbrella, keeping my camera dry & doing my best to get some good shots between the crowds. But I didn't mind at all – because I was right there, gazing at the Parthenon, the crowning glory of the Acropolis, just like I said I would be back when I was a teenager. Whoa!

I would have liked some more time to just sit & contemplate it all – preferably not in the rain – but that wasn't to be. I chose to make the most of it. The rain, the puddles, the slick footing didn't matter. For about five minutes I just stood & stared at it, not really thinking anything, just taking it all in. I made it! I was standing next to the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece! Oddly, it was far less emotional that I had anticipated but far more awe-inspiring.

Me, in front of the Parthenon, looking like something the cat dragged in.

The next day we journeyed to Ephesus where Paul preached & wrote his letter to the Ephesians. Where Antony & Cleopatra traveled down Harbour Way to the Great Theatre & sat among the 24,000 spectators. I literally walked where they walked. The ruins of Ephesus blew me away! It was incredible & actually EXCEEDED my expectations.

Beginning at the top of the hill, your guide describes things as you descend through the city. It gets better & better as you pass through the marketplace, down the Curetes Way, past temple after temple, even the ancient bathroom was amazing. Using the toilet was a social event in the outhouse that could seat about 30 people side by side.

The Library of Celsius has been partially reconstructed around ruins that were uncovered & it is an imposing site. The Great Theatre is near the bottom of the city & it, too, was breathtaking. The first of the ruins of Ephesus were discovered in the late 1800s. The library was unearthed in 1958 & the ancient city opened as a tourist attraction about 30 years ago. Now, upwards of 20 million people a year visit.

I tried to imagine the city in it's hey day, full of people in togas, laughing & drinking. The structures must have been magnificent. It would be incredible to be a fly on the wall & travel back in time to quietly observe their everyday life. But, alas, I had to do my daydreaming with masses of other tourists.

Me, on the Curetes Way in Ephesus, about to visit the Library of Celsius in the distance.

I'm pretty sure I've done a lousy job of trying to convey my thoughts & feelings after visiting these places. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so you might want to check out my “Travels Near & Far” blog: http://www.kat-silver.blogspot.com/ to see a few more photos of what I'm attempting to describe. 

TRIP OF A LIFETIME

As a semi-retired travel agent, I often heard clients refer to “the trip of a lifetime” when discussing big vacation plans. I never cared for that term since I love to travel all the time & have gone on many trips all over the world which I plan to continue doing for a long time to come. I never wanted to differentiate between trips by labeling them, BUT that being said, this trip we are leaving on tomorrow just might be “the trip of a lifetime” for me.

Way back in the dark ages, in the mid 1960s, when I was a high school student, we studied Greek mythology. In the 1990s I recall my son taking a history class in his high school titled “America in the Sixties”. “Oh, good Lord,” I remember thinking, “I lived them, that’s not history!”

But I digress, back to my point. In my high school history class (or maybe it was English, I don’t remember) I was captivated by the stories of the Greek gods & goddesses of Mt. Olympus in ancient Athens. My fascination with Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, Poseidon & Ares, among others, made mythology my favorite subject in school.

Although I have long since forgotten most of them, the stories of the gods & goddesses whose legendary temples were built on the Acropolis intrigued me like none other. The most famous is the Parthenon, erected almost 2500 years ago & dedicated to Athena, the goddess of Wisdom & War. I vividly remember telling my 15 year old self that someday I would travel to Athens, climb the Acropolis & see the Parthenon with my very own eyes.

Well, that “someday” is less than two weeks away! Almost 50 years after first thinking I would love to visit the Acropolis with its ancient temples & rich history, it will become a reality for me. One of the last stops on our cruise of the Black & Aegean Seas is Athens, Greece, where I will finally realize my high school dream. How frickin’ cool is that?

The term “bucket list” is a fairly new one. It was popularized in the 2007 film “The Bucket List” starring Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman. The story follows two terminally ill men who are exact opposites but set out to do as many things as possible on their respective “bucket lists” before their demise.

A “bucket list” is defined by the Urban Dictionary simply as a list of things to do before you die. It comes from the term "kicked the bucket" which is used to say someone died. If I had a “bucket list” (which I don’t) visiting the Acropolis & the Parthenon would be at the top.

Second on that list would be visiting the ruins of Ephesus (the city where the Ephesians of Biblical times lived) in what is now the country of Turkey. Well, as luck would have it, this cruise also stops in Kusadasi, Turkey, which is the closest port city to Ephesus. For the past 30 years, I’ve wanted to explore the ancient temples of Ephesus. And I will get to do that, too!

It sort of takes my breath away to realize that I will be seeing the TWO absolute top of my list travel destinations! I can’t even imagine what it is going to be like to actually stand there, gaze at the sites & take it all in. BUT now at 63 years old I’m going to find out. I kind of want to jump up & down, wave my arms & scream really loud.

I love to travel & have devoted a lot of the second half of my life to seeing as much of the world as I can. Fortunately, I found Lou who had a pretty big head start on me with all the places he’s already visited. Together we keep finding more & more places to explore. This cruise will also visit Odessa, Ukraine, where Lou’s grandmother was born, which is high on Lou’s travel bucket list. The cruise makes three stops in Ukraine & also visits Bulgaria & Mykonos, one of the Greek Isles.

In the weeks to come, I will do my best to describe the thoughts, feelings & emotions I experience when I finally see the Parthenon, in all its ancient glory, right in front of me.