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| Santorini |
The hour of truth came yesterday when it was time to admit I
really didn’t have my last presentation prepared. It was time to spend the day aboard ship and
fight with the slow download speeds of the ship’s internet to cobble together a
lecture, one which was relevant to our upcoming stop in Delos. I spent most of the day with my laptop in
Horizons, the top of the ship bar/coffee shop; one can’t complain about being
anchored in the Santorini caldera, one of the most beautiful locations in the
world. I finally finished (more or less) about happy
hour time. Back in our stateroom, I got
a call from Dottie, our Cruise Director.
It seems that the scheduled call in Delos was being cancelled because of
a strike of guides at the National Historical site. Go figure.
Someone’s always striking in Greece.
Anyway, they wanted me to eliminate all mention of Delos in my talk so
as not to rub salt in the wounds of the passengers who would miss the island. (In case you haven’t noticed, Dottie is never
going to be my new best friend.) Back to
the drawing board.
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| The Library at Ephesus |
When we arrived next day in Kusadasi, I was determined to
enjoy the day and forget about the afternoon talk. That talk had been dogging me for months
already. Dwight and I had arranged a car
rental. Since he had stayed on the ship
in this port last year, I thought he deserved to see some of the beautiful
countryside. We headed toward Ephesus
with the idea in mind that we would visit either the Temple of Artemis or the
House of the Virgin Mary. I turned off
at the Ephesus turning on the bottom of the hill thinking Dwight may be able to
catch a glimpse of the theatre or Library if we entered at the bottom. We were offered a ride in a horse carriage;
both of us interpreted the driver to say we would drive to the top of the hill
and from there be able to overlook the ruins.
Not so. We were driven to the top
and dropped off with instructions to walk down to the car. Ooops!
From last year, I remembered a steep and uncomfortable climb down the
hill, but the driver insisted there was a fully accessible ramp leading
down. We gulped and bought tickets. We toured the upper area which was sandy,
flat and accessible, but when the path started down, we quickly realized that
Dwight would not be able to manage it.
No problem—he got an idea of the layout of ancient Ephesus, some fallen
stones and columns, and then he returned to the entrance shops to sit in a café. I continued down the hill, picked up the car
and drove up to pick him up. He was feeling no disappointment after an ouzo (or
two?) and a nice spell of tourist watching.
What crowds!
By this time I was getting a little anxious about the
time. My talk was schedule for 4:00 p.m.
and I needed to get back on Marina in time for lunch, shower and nap. I’ve gotten used to using my cell phone as a
watch, but that no longer works here. So
I bought a “genuine, fake Rolex watch,” and learned that it was close to noon
already. By the time we got back to
Kusadasi the watch had stopped. I asked
in a jewelry shop about a battery and the storekeeper told me the trouble was
that I had not bought a GENUINE fake, I had bought a FAKE fake. Such is life on the tourist trail.
Back on the ship, small crowd at the talk, dinner on the
fantail…all in all, a successful day and my tour as Guest Lecturer is
over.
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