Captain's Blog

A three hour ferry ride landed me on the Greek island Mykonos, covered in distinctive white-walled houses topped by bright blue roofs. I had reserved an apartment at Artemoula's Studios, where the real Artemoula herself greeted us at check-in with big hugs and vigorous cheek kisses, exemplifying the famous Greek family hospitality. The rest of the day was spent exploring the stunning nearby beaches, eating an authentic gyro plate, and renting a scooter to take turns touring our area of the island. Chill out though Moms, one of my friends used to race motorbikes professionally and I refused to ride with anyone but him(mostly because he actually went fast, but that's beside the point). Deciding to get creative for dinner, we bought a bunch of hot dogs and small one-time use grills. For reasons I still don't understand, I was assigned grilling duty and it's a miracle no one caught on fire or died of food poisoning. The evening was a foray into the city center, filled with a variety of nightlife options and twisted streets meant to confuse long ago invaders. The next day and night were consumed with relaxation and enjoyment. Wandering along a coastal path my friend and I discovered a secluded beach that must have jumped right out of Robinson Crusoe. Shopping was next on the agenda, followed by an interesting evening where one Greek man tried to proposed to me and another gave me a free gyro from his shop. Obviously the man with the food won my heart, despite the fact he was balding and pushing 50. The ferry back was a bit sad, Mykonos had been the perfect escape from the nonstop hustle of our itinerary.

Our final evening in Greece was interesting for less frivolous reasons. My friend Kelby and I decided to brave the public bus system to see downtown Athens at night. Since the Greek alphabet barely resembles our own, even reading location names was difficult and somehow we ended up riding around on the same bus for about an hour before getting to Syntagma Square. Unfazed, we just viewed it as a free bus tour of Athens- overall not a very attractive or exciting city. The main square had plenty of excitement though, where a small crowd was gathered in the makeshift tent city listening to impassioned speakers. Watching casually on the far fringes were policemen decked out with riot shields and cameo. We wandered around for about 30 minutes, taking pictures and trying to interpret banner meanings. In front of the Parliament building was a demonstration with slightly more menacing undertones. A young man was tapping out a military march on a snare drum while people took turns shouting verses through a loudspeaker. After observing them for a few minutes, we saw policemen gathering together near the unintimidated group. It might've just been an intimidation move, for no one else was really reacting. We, however, were plenty intimidated and caught the next bus towards Piraeus and back to the ship.

My last day in Greece was purely educational. In the morning, four representatives from the National School of Public Health came to talk to my bioethics class about general health care topics in Greece and the impact felt by the economic crisis. I'm not going to pretend it was the most thrilling 3 hour lecture I've ever been to, but my afternoon activity was a bit more on par with my interests. Tagging along on the Marine Biology class's trip, I visited the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Center. After a presentation about their preservation and rescue efforts around the Mediterranean, we had a chance to see (but obviously not touch) the turtles currently recovering in the center. Though fascinating, some of the stories were upsetting, especially about the animals that are brought in because of intentional harm by humans.

If waking up in Croatia was like Christmas, then waking up in Greece was a bit like April Fool's- not what I expected. Piraeus, the port of Athens, was very industrial and a little on the dirty side. After a morning trek to get ferry tickets for Mykonos, I went on a SAS trip into Athens itself which proved to be at least a slight step up. We stopped at the stadium where the first modern Olympics were held, and Syntagma Square situated in front of Parliament. Inside the Square was a tent city of protestors, with large banners everywhere and ominous rope nooses hanging from the trees. As preparation for this port we discussed the economic crisis and how between huge debt, budget cuts, and pressures from the EU, no option was a good option at this point. At the base of the Parliament building I was fortunate to see the changing of the guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which occurs every hour. Similar in concept to British Beefeaters, two soldiers wear ridiculous traditional army attire and cannot speak or react to passerby's. When the guard changes, they perform a type of slow militarized ballet with much rifle stomping and high kicks. Our next stops were of a more ancient persuasion. We saw the Temple of Zeus, still relatively intact and quite impressive, followed by the Acropolis of Athens that has inspired architecture around the world. Starting at the base of the hill, we walked up through the arched Propylaea, forever the only entrance to the high city. On the right was the small, almost feminine temple to Athena Nike, built in honor of a long ago victory in war. To the left the Erechetheion stood, another temple with female Caryatids acting as columns holding up the roof. Looming in the background was the Parthenon, more imposing than I had even imagined yet still shocking to see how much had fallen away in the past 2000+ years. Though the hilltop was incredibly hot, I thoroughly enjoyed traipsing around monuments that signified the capacity of human innovation to withstand the tests of time. After a dinner of real Greek gyros, I found a theater showing the last Harry Potter movie in English AND 3D. I'm not going to lie, I definitely teared up a lot at seeing the end to one of my favorite series but eventually pulled it together to hit up a random karaoke bar where my friends and I were the only patrons. There's something to be said about the power of hilarious musical performances to bring people closer together.

Bright and early at 8:00 my friend Devin and I woke up for an Environmental History tour of Dubrovnik and one of its nearby islands. We bused to a natural harbor right outside of the Old City where a bunch of two person kayaks and guides awaited us. In one big group we had a truly epic kayak around the city walls and discussed how they were able to be built directly into a cliff using the technology available at the time. Afterwards we paddled to nearby Lokrum island, where the professor leading the trip took us on a ridiculously steep hike to an old stone fort. It was worth the sweat and tears, for the view of Dubrovnik and the island itself was breathtaking. Following a much easier walk back down we had an hour to snorkel(obviously my favorite part of the day) before kayaking back and taking the fattest nap ever. At night we discovered that the live music scene in Dubrovnik was chock full of talent and diversity, for almost every restaurant/pub/venue we visited had a traveling artist or local band performing anything from classic American rock to Spanish guitar to classical music played on glass bottles of various sizes.

The next day was also an early one. A few of my girl friends and I took a 9:00-17:00 cruise around three smaller nearby islands, with a delicious fresh grilled fish lunch included. This country could do no wrong, as the natural beauty everywhere just became more overwhelming. While overall a very relaxing day, on one island we made the mistake of renting bicycles to take us to a beach on the other side. On the map it looked like a 10 minute ride at most, but we did not factor in the steep hill in between. Suffice to say there was much more walking with the bikes than riding on them, with only 10 minutes to cool down in the water before it was time to head back to catch the cruise ship. The last night in port was a magical one, where we followed up a delicious 4 course dinner with a wandering journey through the alleys of the Old City to find Buzé, a bar famous for being built into the city walls and being tricky to locate. Enjoying a bottle of wine and the quixotic, hushed atmosphere, we chatted while a near full moon illuminated a strip of the calm ocean waters down below us. The next day was primarily shopping and internet, with a very sad goodbye to a healing city satiated with history, culture, and natural beauty.

One of the many awesome moments in my shipboard day is waking up with a brand new country outside my window, it's almost better than Christmas. My first groggy view of Dubrovnik, Croatia was no exception. The Adriatic Sea was of a clarity and striking blue color I hadn't yet seen while cliffs encircled large clusters of white houses with orange roofs. A remarkable cable bridge across from the ship gave the picturesque scene a modern element. The first half of the day was spent exploring the mostly residential area around the port and making our way to one of the numerous beaches. In the afternoon I had an SAS-led city orientation, where they bused us to the Old City of Dubrovnik. Thank goodness for my Global Studies class, because my knowledge of Croatian history had been severely lacking and touring the city was much more enjoyable with some kind of background. The Old City, built in the 15th century, is encircled by great walls built directly into a cliff facing the sea. Completely pedestrian and with only one entrance by foot, I felt transported back in time. Everything was made of white stone and the streets were dominated by little restaurants and sleepy kittens. My tour included the Maritime Museum, Aquarium, and only Synagogue in all of Dubrovnik, along with a discussion of the Balkan Wars and the tragic bombing of the Old City, despite it being a protected World Heritage Site. For dinner, my friends and I chose a traditional Croatian restaurant where I feasted on seafood risotto and a joint meat platter that left me beyond full. Our evening activities included participating(for only about an hour due to lameness) in Dubrovnik's first pub crawl and joining the now standard SAS takeover of one of the local clubs. Even after only one day, I had fallen in love with Croatia.

After a comfortable (and free) night on the ship, my friends got up early to go see the standard must-sees of Rome. Since I had been there only two years ago on my graduation Eurotrip, I stayed the day in Civitavecchia, the nearby port city where our ship was now docked. Possibly my favorite day on the voyage so far, it was great to be able to explore at my own pace and just have my iPod for company. A quaint historic town trying to boost its tourist appeal, there was free wifi everywhere and decent sandy beaches right next to the harbor. After a beach siesta, I walked through some remnants of forts and walls from hundreds of years ago and found an unlocked door that led me all the way up a tower overlooking the water. On the way back to the ship to meet up with my friends for dinner, I climbed down to the man-made rocks buffering the waves from tearing down the harbor. Along with an adorable old fisherman, I found a wealth of crustaceans and small fish hanging out in tide pools-definitely a shining dork moment. Doner kebabs and some casual beach cruising ended the relaxing day, providing a perfect respite from Italy's craziness.

On the 7th a group of us hopped on the quick train to Rome for the last full day and night of Italian debauchery. After checking into a hostel, we explored the nearby shops and had the BEST iced coffee frappe on the planet (I even went back for a second they were so good). My last official Italian meal-gnocchi with caprese salad-was in the lovely Piazza S. Maria Maggiore, with tiramisu for dessert. Later we met a large group of SASers at the bottom of the Spanish Steps for one of the infamous pub crawls, which actually ended in a club where the American rapper Jeremiah was performing. Tons of fun, but it was definitely nice to return to my bed on the ship the next day. Returning back to classes on the 9th and 10th was a completely different story though. After 12 days of traveling, even just two days of lectures, readings, and papers was a little rough.