Final Thoughts

It's been a week since I disembarked the MV Explorer and I have to say, I miss that ship and the voyage an awful lot. I keep finding myself flipping through the many photos I've taken and collected from the voyage, I've been browsing through the NY Times reading up on the latest news from the Mediterranean world, and I've even been on SAS's website looking at the itinerary for upcoming voyages (Summer 2013 looks awesome!!!). It's funny, when the shrinks and the deans were saying that coming back to the States would be tough emotionally I kinda laughed and shrugged off the thought. I figured it would be like any return to real life after an awesome summer, just have to take a few days to get back into the grove of classes, practice, and work...no big deal. But, if I'm saying being in New England for a summer is "awesome" then SAS for a summer would have a be described as a first-class phenomenal summer...and maybe an understatement. I don't want to sound like I'm whining or acting spoiled, I probably am though, but after such an experience, after traveling to parts of the world I never thought about going to, after being at sea for two months I feel like I no longer fit in my niche. For the past year I thought I had everything planned out perfectly. I would go to school and get my AT degree while running; go to grad school in Boston; become the Athletic Trainer for the Sox, and live a happy life. Easy. Now though I'm unsure if that is what I want to do. I guess when to put it simply (but dramatically) I'm unsure of how I am. ***I'm literally just writing everything that is coming to my head now. This is probably all ridiculous and over dramatic but I'm going to write it anyways.*** I have no idea what it is I want to do now. Part of me wants to stick with the plan. Another part wants to add some variation, and the other just wants to get on the next plane out of the country. These are my final thoughts on the voyage. This voyage has changed me in ways I never realized until stepping off the ship. It has opened my eyes to a new world view, one in which the good guys (old uncle Sam) is not necessarily as great as many believe. I've learned that there is more in life than the house with the white picked fence, and that you should never take (this is going to sound stupid) the "man's" word for granted. People have been asking how my journey was and I've responded with many adjective describing greatness. I've also have said I've learned a lot usually referring to the world, but I now think that can mean I've learned about myself. That there is something else, something else that doesn't want to go on the path that I thought I had set in stone. Something that want to continue to explore and learn. If it was up to it I would probably do something really stupid...but I maybe I can learn from this twist pain in my stomach, this burn to be doing something else then send emails and prepare for class. Maybe I can use this to drive me to achieve more a find my new stone path...not stone though, just dirt. Because nothing is ever set in stone, even identity. I'll just end this all with a quote to sum everything up...because this rambling could probably be a short story if not.

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place fro the first time. -T.R. Eliot

Just a quick update on the running...

Legs are feeling very good, no ache or pains (which should be expected). Achilles, hip, hamstring, and all aliments I’ve experienced in the past are either nonexistent or so minuet of a problem that a quick stretch or roll resolves it. I’ve been doing the best I can on this voyage. Been squeezing in every mile I can while at the same time juggling school work, ship life, and experiencing the Mediterranean. Anyhow here’s my training since the start of the voyage along with a couple of stats…

6/18 to 6/24

Monday (6/18)

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Tuesday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Wednesday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Bike = 16.5mi (35min)

Weight

Core

Leg Circuit

Thursday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Friday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Bike = 16.5mi (35min)

Weights

Saturday

Bike = 60min (29mi)

Core

Leg Circuit

Sunday

Bike = 30min (14.5mi)

Run = 4.25 (30min)

Weights

TOTAL

Run = 25.5mi

Bike = 76.5mi

6/25 to 7/1

Monday

Run = 4.5mi (30min)

Tuesday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Wednesday

N/A

Thursday

N/A

Friday

Run = 7mi (49min)

Saturday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Sunday (double)

Run1 = 4.25mi (30min)

Run2 = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Weights

TOTAL

Running = 29.25mi

7/2 to 7/8

Monday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Tuesday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Wednesday

OFF (All day in Rome)

Thursday

Run = 8.5mi (30min)

Friday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Saturday

Run = 4.25mi (30min

Sunday

Run = 7mi (48min)

Weights

Core

TOTAL

Run = 36.75mi

7/9 to 7/15

Monday

Run = 6.5mi (45min)

Tuesday

Run= 5mi (35min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Wednesday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Thursday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Friday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Saturday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Sunday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Weights

TOTAL

Running = 42.75mi

7/16 to 7/22

Monday:

Running = 4.25mi (30min)

Tuesday:

Running = 8.5mi (60min)

Wednesday:

Running = 4.25mi (30min)

Thursday:

Running = 5mi (35min)

Friday:

Running = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Saturday:

OFF

Sunday:

Running = 4.25mi (30min)

TOTAL

RUNNING = 30.5mi

7/23 to 7/29

Monday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Tuesday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Wednesday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Sile Hacili Village Hike!!!

Thursday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Friday

Run = 5mi (35min)

Saturday

Run = 4.25

Core

Leg Circuit

Weights

Sunday

Run = 5mi (35min)

TOTAL

Running = 41.25mi

7/30 to 8/5

Monday:

Run 1 = 4.25mi (30min)

Run 2 = 4.25mi (30min)

Tuesday:

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Wednesday:

HIKING IN MOROCCO  

Thursday:

HIKING IN MOROCCO

Friday:

HIKING IN MOROCCO

Saturday:

HIKING IN MOROCCO

Evening Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Sunday:

Run = 4.5mi (31min)

Core

Leg Circuit

TOTAL:

Running = 21.5mi

8/6 to 8/12 (this week)

Monday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Tuesday

Run1 = 8.5mi (60min)

Run2 = 4.25mi (30min)

Wednesday

Run = 8.5mi (60min)

Thursday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Friday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Weights

Saturday

Run = 7mi (49min)

Sunday

Run = 4.25mi (30min)

Core

Leg Circuit

Weights

TOTAL

Running = 45.25mi

Total miles run thus far = 272.75miles

Avg. Miles per Week = 34miles

Number of Days of doing core, leg circuits, or weight lifting = 17 (31.5% of total days on voyage)

Lisbon

Ah Lisbon, the return to western civilization. I was happily surprised to find Lisbon to be a cool, upbeat, easy going city. Reminds me of San Francisco…never been to San Fran, but I bet it would be something similar to Lisbon. Very relaxing port, so this post will be short.

Day1: Today I had my Field Lab for my Public Health class. We listened to a few lectures on the Portuguese Health Care System, toured a clinic, and visited a hospital. I was hoping this would be cooler, but it turned out to be really boring. I learned a lot, the Portuguese have a lot of problems with their system, but there doing a lot better than we are in the states statistically and financially. I got make to the ship around 5pm, went for a run, and then met up with the gang for a nice dinner on the coast. We ate with Keenan and Chelsy’s marine biology class, it was fun and the food was solid, got the salmon risotto and Nick, Kindle and I shared a bottle of Vinos Verde and Vinos Rosa…very good. After dinner we walked along the coast, had some drink…it was a fun night, maybe too fun haha.

Day2: Went for a good AM run and then was off to my visit of Sport Lisboa Benfica’s stadium. It was a cool stadium, had a great lunch in the stadium’s restaurant overlooking the futbol field. Got to walk on the field, see the locker rooms and AT room, it was a worthwhile trip and now I get to say I’ve been to a legit European futbol stadium. After the tour I went for another run, and met up with Keenen and Chelsy for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner in the Baro Alto in a small brick restaurant. Got the salmon with broccoli and potatoes…very good. After dinner we just explored.

Day3: Got up relatively early to go to Sintra on my own. I hoped on a train having no idea what stop to get off of…only knowing it should take about 40 minutes to get to the right station. So, at 40 minutes I hoped off at Estalio, a nice town right on the Atlantic. I then went to the bus station, saw a bus with a sign flashing Sintra, and after a 30 minute ride got to Sintra…worked out surprisingly well.

                Sintra was gorgeous! The town center was amazing, the palace had great views, and the Moorish castle was so cool! I didn’t have time to go to the Pena Palace, but from afar it looked really pretty. After touring around I made the long trek back to the ship, picked up snacks for the 8 day trek back to Boston, and then went for a run. The last two nights were long, so I just stayed in this night…had dinner with Mark which was cool.

Day4: Went on a bike tour with Nick and Kindle today. Rode the bikes for a mile down to the ferry dock to take the boat to Caparica beach, very nice, very relaxing…more laying on the beach and napping then biking haha. After the tour Nick, Kindle and I had a nice lunch in the city, looked through a few shops, and then walked back to the ship.

Morocco

WOW!!! This is the port were I experienced the greatest amount of culture shock. It was incredible to see how a religion dictates how a country runs, how people dressed and acted, and how life in general seemed to run on to a different beat.

Day1: We ported in the industrial port of Casablanca at 8am (cranes and crates everywhere) but were not allowed off the ship until about 11am. The reason for us disembarking late was due to the fact that the Port Officials had to see every passenger face to face before the ship was free to let people off. This was extremely annoying and pointless. Because of this, my SAS trip missed its train to Marrakech and we instead had to take vans to the city. In the end this didn’t cause any problems for our trip, but I know of a few trips that had to be canceled because of the ship be late to allow people off.

                Anyhow at around 11am our vans left for CAS03 Berber Villages of the High Atlas Mountains. It was about a 3 hour drive from Casablanca to Marrakech, along the way we got to see the Casablanca for the first and last time. It looked like any rundown city. A lot of beat up old cars, ratty motorbikes, crumbling buildings, ignored infrastructure, etc. As we got on the highway we began to see how vast and desert like Morocco is. A lot of hot dry dirt, cacti, shriveled up trees, and mountains. However, although it may sound bad, the landscape was beautiful and surprising. It was so hot and dry, this particular day it was 40 degrees Celsius, but there were farms everywhere! A lot of olive, fig, melons, and cacti fruit farms…it’s shocking that anything can grow in that kind of heat!

                We taking a short break along the way, we arrived in Marrakech around 3pm. Our tour guide Muhammad, who you will later learn in The Man, gave us a few hours to explore the city before dinner. A group of us got together and headed to the Medina, the shopping and cultural heart of Marrakech. It was about a 2 mile walk to the Medina, along the way we got some gelato to cool off and watch a group of kids play in a public fountain. Once at the Medina we just explored the shops, got snakes wrapped around our necks, had people try to sell us monkeys and turtles, and got heckled to buy ridiculously cheap stuff. 1USD = about 10Dirham, and prices were not equalized. So a nice futbol jersey was going for about 150dirham, 15USD…not too bad at all. Of course though you had to barter, but it was a lot easier to do here than in Turkey. All you had to do in the Medina was to start walking away from the sale and the guy would cut the price in half instantly. It was a lot of fun.

                In the evening we went back to the Medina for a wonderful dinner and belly dance show. We ate a 5 course meal:

1.       Salads (tomato, cucumber, olive, pepper, eggplant, and potato salad)

2.       Bread with cheese and olive oil

3.       Rice and meat dumplings with power sugar – AMAZING!

4.       Meatball dish in a red spice sauce with cheese and eggs

5.       Dessert Platter

6.       Mint Tea

After the an amazing meal, music, and a belly dancing show we headed back to our hotel, watched some Olympic weight lifting, and then went to bed.

Day2: After breakfast we left the hotel, around 9am. We had an hour and a half drive to the beginning of our hike that day. Along the way I was amazed to see golf resorts in Morocco, if you ever want to go golfing abroad go to Marrakech for a cheap stay. We got to the start of our hike around 11am, loaded our donkey’s with water and threw our night packs in a van that was going to meet us in the village we were staying in that night. The hike would be a 3 hour one this day with a hour lunch half way through the trek. It was hot and dry, but the views were amazing. So beautiful - I will have plenty of photos in the slide show.

An hour and a half into the hike we stopped in a field of olive trees for lunch. There we met our three chefs that were going to be with us for the rest of the trek to cook us food. For lunch today we had a large and amazing salad, bread, cheese, rice, and mint tea (I must have had 4 liters of mint tea by the end of our stay in Morocco…so good). After an amazing lunch we went on the second half of our trek, and ended in the Berber village where we were spending the night. We explored the town, talked to locals (all of whom are related to each other. It turns out that each village is a large family) and played soccer with the kids. It was a blast, the kids were so cool. They took us on a short walk to a field of olive and fig trees. They climbed the fig trees and picked figs to eat. We learned that the best fig is a yellow one, there so sweet! One little girl loved to steal our cameras and take photos of herself and others. It was so funny; I swear that because of us she’ll go on to become a professional photographer.

After the fig adventure we went back to the house we were staying in to relax and to have more tea with a fried dough like pastry. We played cards, read books, and hung out until dinner. Dinner was about the same as lunch but with lamb, it was really good. Knowing then that we had to wake up at 6am to start our 7 hour hike tomorrow, we went to bed early on the roof. Slept under the Moroccan night sky…nbd. Sleep was hard to come by though. We kept being waking up to the call for prayer. It was cool, but annoying haha.  

Day3: We woke up at 6am to an army of flies attacking us. It was annoying as hell but did get you up and going. After breakfast we set off for the hike that we had all been waiting for. I could write a novel on what I witnessed on this trek, but as you have seen by now I am not a writer so I’m going to let a couple of photos explain my trek. It was a really cool. I should make the point now to say that our two guides, Muhammad and Ya-ya, along with the cooks and our donkey boy were the best. They were kind and funny, very lay back and very knowledgeable. And, since it was Ramadan, they were doing the same 11 hours of hiking (over 30miles) in 40 degree Celsius weather, without eating a single crump or a drop of water during sunlight. It’s simply amazing that they were able to do this hike without water…

  

                We arrived in the next Berber village around 3pm, hung out and took in the view, had some tea, exchanged riddles, played cards, ate dinner, and again slept under the stars

Day4: We were supposed to be up at 5:30am to get ready for our hour hike to the vans to make our way back to Marrakech, but it was so fricking cold that I was up at 4:30am and stayed up finishing a book for my Public Health class (“The Healing of America” by T.R. Reid, very good, a must read). After breakfast, our last meal by cooked by our chefs, we head off to the vans. It was a very short trek, but a nice way to end the trip. At the end we hoped on to the vans again, and headed for Marrakech. We went straight to the train station, where we ate lunch (Moroccan McDonald’s! haha) and waited for the train. On the train we had a little cabin that held six; we played cards for the whole three and a half hour trip. It was a long but awesome trip. Defiantly the best SAS trip I’ve done, and easily one of the top five best things I’ve ever done.

Istanbul

Merhaba from Istanbul! This city is amazing! So much to do, so much to see, and so different than any other port we’ve been to so far.

Day 1: Today was pretty long. My psychology class had a field lab today so the entire day was spent sitting in lectures both on and off the ship (the ships blogger wrote about it: http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyage-blogs/summer-2012/)The lectures dealt with women’s rights in Turkey today and during the Ottoman Empire. It was all very interesting and I learned a lot, but I much rather have spent my day exploring the city. However our teacher, Professor Medora, was kind enough to take us to the Grand Bazaar at the end of the lab and gave us an hour to explore. The Grand Bazaar is like a mall…but bigger, much much bigger! There are over 4,000 shops in the Grand Bazaar, most of them selling Turkish souvenirs like shirts, tiles, glassware, hookahs, etc. There are some name brand stores though selling designer clothing and jewelry, and a few cafes as well. I spent most of the time exploring the place, which was hard to do as the place was absolutely packed and every time you walked by a shop a man would be yelling at you trying to get you buy something. There were some great pickup lines: “how can I take your money” “how can I rip you off today” and my favorite “how can I make you buy something you don’t need”. It was pretty funny. I ended up haggling for a tile painting and a small lamp. The tile painting was originally 120 lira, got it for 60, and the lamp was at first 25 lira but I got it for 10…not a so bad.

                After the Grand Bazaar we stopped at a really nice jewelry/rug shop and got to watch rug show. We went in to this large room that was lined with a cushioned bench and rugs hanging all around. We sat down and were explained why Turkish/Ottoman rugs are the best and most durable in the world (it’s all about the double knot) and showed us how they make them. Next we were served Apple Tea, kinda tasted like apple cider but better, and watched as they began to unroll rugs all over the floor as they explained the differences between each one. All the rugs were very beautiful, but very expensive. A simple one foot by one foot rug cost $158…so I unfortunately was unable to purchase an Ottoman rug.

                Our field lab got back about around 19:00 and I immediately went to my cabin to meet Keenan and Chesely to go out for dinner and drinks. We took the tram to Taksim square, the equivalent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona but much better. A lot more interesting shops, better restaurants, and cheaper beer (Efes is the staple beer around here and is very good but cheap, only 8lira for a liter).It was a good evening and overall good day.

Day 2: Today started early with my SAS trip to Topaki palace and the Harem. The palace was home to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and was like a small city. Parts of the 007 movie From Russia with Love were filmed there, our tour guided pointed out the roof that Shawn Connery ran on. There were a lot of cool displays of Ottoman documents, weapons, armor, clothing, jewelry, gifts, etc. The Harem, where the Sultan housed his some 300 wives, was also really cool and beautiful. The Sultan and his wives lived really well.

                After the tour I met up with Keenan and Chelsey to tour the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque. All were really cool, but the winner was the Blue Mosque. We go to sit in on a sermon which was the visit I ever go to witness in person. The priest (I don’t know if that is actually his title) sits a story above everyone in this tower like structure. The men sit around him on the floor, barefoot and kind of just lounging back as they listen to the priest talk. The women sit in the back of the mosque behind a white fence that you can barely see through. All very…different. The mosque itself was breath taking. Words can’t describe it and a photo won’t do it justice.

                After that we rushed back to the ship to get ready for dinner that evening. We were meeting Burak around 19:30, my Uncle Conal’s roommate from college who is a native of Istanbul and lives there with his wife and two sons. We walked to the Galata tower and then to Taksim square. Along the way we learned a bit about the city’s history, what there is to see in and around the city, and what there is to do at night in Istanbul. Just before sun down Burak took us into a nice little restaurant by Taksim square on a side street. Side note: right now it’s Ramadan and since the majority of Turkey’s population practice Islam, a lot of people can’t eat until sundown which right now is around 20:40. Anyways dinner with Burak was amazing. So much good food, great conversation, and an overall wonderful time…thanks again Burak for an amazing night. Below is a list of the food we ate. All of which were fantastic:

-Tomato Soup

-Kahn

-Olives

-Spicy Tomato Salad (amazing!)

-Eggplant Salad

-Diced Chicken/Meat with onion, peppers, and tortilla wrap

-Meat Kebab (great spices!!!)

-Turkish Coffee (very good, pretty strong)

-Raki (the drink of Turkey…tasted like black liquorish…pretty awful)

                After dinner we wandered around a bit more with Burak. He got us to try Kokorec, after which we learned was wrapped lamb intestines diced with spices and severed in a roll with onion, tomato, & pepper…kind of gross sounding but actually not that bad of a snack. After a bit more wondering we said goodbye to Burak and thanked him for a wonderful evening. We then proceeded to meet up with Nick and Kindle to go to a roof top bar on by Taksim square. We spent the rest of the night drinking Efes and playing cards.

Day 3: Last night was a late night so I slept a lot today…more than I would have liked. I woke up at 11:00, got some work done on the ship, went for a nice run, and in the evening went with SAS to see a Sufi Dervish Ceremony. It was a very interesting thing to see. The music was great, and the Dervishes were amazing with all there whirling…almost looks as if they were in a trance when doing it. Anyways it was a very interesting and nice thing to do. Defiantly felt more cultured after attending the ceremony.

Day 4: Today started early with my Bosporus by Boat trip. We took a quick bus ride to the port and hopped onto a small boat. We travelled up the Bosporus to the Black Sea. Along the way our guide pointed out the Mosques and Palaces that lined the water, saw the amazing Yasis (mansions) that were all along the water each costing upwards to $25 million, and got to glimpse a family of dolphins heading towards the old city. It was a nice relaxing ride and great to see the city from the water. We got off the boat just before we hit the Black Sea to visit the Sadberk Hanim Museum, a really cool private museum that had all these artifacts from Turkey since the 5^th millennia BC. Pretty sick stuff.

                I got back to the ship around 13:00 and met up with Kindle and Nick to go to the Spice Bazaar. The Bazaar is similar to the Grand Bazaar, but instead of lamp shops and clothing shops the Spice Bazaar has a bunch of spice and tea shops…it’s really neat and it smelling awesome in there. Got some great apple and love tea leaves and a thing of olive oil spice…can’t wait to try it when I get back to the States! We explored the Bazaar for a few hours, got back to the ship around 17:00, went for a good run, ate dinner, and then rested up for my the hike I was going to go on to tomorrow.

Day 5: Another early day. Woke up at 6:00 to go for my hike…glad I didn’t go out last night haha. It was a two hour long bus ride to the start of the hike. We hoped out on the side of some road in the middle of nowhere are just started walking through a cow pasture and headed for the trail. It was an amazing hike! Great trails and incredible sites, it was just awesome! It was a good 5 mile hike. We got back to the ship around 16:00, I went for a good run, and then started writing this post as we sailed away from the port of Istanbul. Next stop Morocco.

P.S. Other very good food in Turkey: -Simit (circluar bread with seaseme seeds) and Nokul (cinnamon pastry)

ATHENS

Athens = olive trees, democracy, Greek salad, gyro, wine, sandals, Olympic Games, and history. It was an amazing city but one that is experiencing economic and political woes. It is dirty, scary, and sad in many parts, but the history and the people make up for this. I <3 ΑΘήνΑ.

Day 1: Chelsea, Keenan, Tyler and I disembarked the ship at 8:00 to take a bus from Piraeus to go on our “Athens by Bike” trip. Driving through Piraeus reminded me of Napoli. It had a beautiful coast line, but you could tell that the city had seen better days. We arrived in Athens, just by the Temple of Zeus, at 9ish and started our tour. We went through Plaka (the center of Athens), the Acropolis, and around some old Greek and Roman ruins. It was a nice tour and we learned a lot about how Athens was founded and the building of the Acropolis. After the ride, Keenan, Chelsea and I went around the shops looking for souvenirs before grabbing Gyros and beers for lunch. Surprisingly you don’t get a lamb gyro in Athens; instead you get pork which was ten times better than any lamb gyro I got in the States.

After lunch we headed to the Acropolis, only to find out it closed an hour ago due to the unbearably heat that had stricken the city (was around 45 degrees Celsius the entire day…just awful). Unable to see the Acropolis, which was supposed to be the highlight of our day, we just bummed around Athens the rest of the day. I took the Metro back to the port around 16:00 to give myself enough time to go for a run and then to meet my Mom, Charlie, and Maddy, who made the trip to visit me, for a nice dinner. We ate on top of the Electra Hotel which they were staying at and had a fantastic/elegant dinner with a marvelous view of the Acropolis. It was a good time and really nice to see them. Afterwards I took the metro back to the port, was attacked my stray dogs (nipped at but lucky wasn’t bit), and then passed out in my cool AC cabin.

Day 2: Today started early. Chelsea Kennan and I were walking off the ship at 7:00 to get to the Acropolis right when it opened at 8:00. It was a much cooler day with hurricane gusts! The sand on top of the Acropolis was flying into our eyes and stinging our skin. It was a challenge just taking a photo with the wind being so strong it would throw me off balance causing the camera to go out of focus. Still though, the Acropolis was beautiful and amazing. Afterwards we went to the Acropolis Museum which was pretty cool, grabbed a small bite to eat, and headed back to the ship as Keenan and Chelsea had a SAS trip to attend. We got back to the ship just before noon. I went for a run, rested, and then rushed back to the city to meet my family as we were heading off to go swimming and then Poseidon’s Temple to watch the sunset. Both were a lot of fun. The water at the beach was cool and clear, the sunset was beautiful and breathtaking.

Day 3: Another early morning. I met the family at their hotel at about 7:30 for our journey to Delphi. It was a long but worthwhile drive. We had the same driver who took us to the beach and Poseidon’s Temple. He was a nice man, very knowledgeable, and very proud to be Greek…too proud when you’re in a car with him for 6 hours “you know”. Anyways halfway through the 3 hour journey to Delphi we stopped in a small village that suffered a massacre during the Nazi occupation. Our driver, Marcus I believe, was took us to this nice little bakery in the center of the village that has been around for around 100 years. He bought us spinach pie, a flaky pastry filled with spinach. It was delicious. ***I’m tired writing this post write now and need to finish it before a meeting I have to go to so the rest of this will be short and to the point. We then sat down in the village square for a few minutes, talked a retired Chicago Godfather, and then got back in the car to finish our journey to Delphi. Delphi was gorgeous, so historic and so beautiful. Saw the Temple of Apollo, the Treasuries, and the stadium. We then went to the Museum and grabbed a nice lunch that had bread, olive oil, greek salad, stuffed grape leaves, lamb, and an eggplant dish. We then made the long journey back to Athens. I went back to the ship to run and then met the folks again for dinner (donuts with greek honey for dessert = amazing) and to say goodbye. It was a long but wonderful day.

Day 4: Slept in, took the Metro to Athens, saw the Parliament building, the Presidential residence, walked through a nice park, and saw the Panathenaic Stadium. The stadium was beautiful. I sat wear the founder of the Modern Olympics sat, walked through the tunnel that past athletes walked, and ran a lap of the track that so many great athletes ran before. My heart was racing haha. Afterwards I met Keenan in the Plaka to grab a quick bite to eat, and then we took the metro to the sad 2004 Olympic complex. The games were held their only 8 years ago but today the stadiums are in disrepair and to be blunt are disgusting. It’s sad and is a disgrace. We both agree through it was worth the 30minute metro ride to see.  We then went back to the Plaka to spend a few euros. Keenan got a traditional Greek string instrument, and I got some greek olive oil and honey. We also each got a nice pair of Athenian sandals.

                Athens was awesome. Istanbul tomorrow

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia = Gorgeous. The nice stone house with red tiled roofs, the mountainous coast line, and the clear blue water just makes you want to sit outside, drink an espresso, and soak up the view (which I did today on my last day in port). This port was a relaxing port for me. My days here consisted of sleeping in, going for a run, seeing a site or two, exploring Old Town (Dubrovnik is split in two main groups: Old Town is inside the city walls and New Town is the newer part that is outside the walls), and then having dinner and going to bed. It was a much need break after the non-stop ports of Barcelona, Civitavecchia, and Napoli.

Day 1: We ported at 08:00 and were allowed to disembark at 09:00. I slept ‘til around 09:00, went for a good run, did some core and leg exercises, worked on one of my two essays due tomorrow (just completed the second essayJ) and then headed off for my City Wall tour at 13:00. The tour was fun with great sites and very interesting info from our guide…but it was very VERY hot. It was about 35 degrees Celsius in Dubrovnik, even hotter when inside the Old Town as it is surrounded by a mile and a quarter limestone wall. Any who the tour was on top of the Old Town walls which date back to the 14^th century during the Dubrovnik Republic when the city was basically its own country. From the top of the wall you can see all of the Old Town its harbor. I took about 70 photos, all of which are now gone as I accidently deleted them…very sad but my memories will do. The walls have held strong over the years going through a number of attacks from the people of Venice, the Turks, and the Serbs during the Balkan War. It was a fun tour after which I got to try some Croatian gelato, almost as good as Italy’s, and I had a chance to buy a nice piece of Croatian street art. All in all a good day.

Day 2: Day two started the same way. Slept in, ran, worked, and then left the ship at noon. Today I decided to take a cable car up to Fort Imperial on a hill (a big hill) overlooking the Old Town and the port. The fort was constructed in the 1800s when Neapolitan conquered Dubrovnik and was a key in defending Dubrovnik during the Balkan Wars. The view of the coast from the fort was amazing and I made up for the photos I lost from the City Walls haha. The view behind the fort was even more amazing. There were mountains for mile extending into the far boarder of Bosnia. Just beautiful and awing. Someday I want to go back up there with a mountain bike and some camping gear to explore and sleep under what I know would be a beautiful array of stars. In the fort there was a museum that should how the people of Dubrovnik defended themselves against the superior Serbs during the war. It was very interesting and sad.

In the late afternoon Keene, Chelsea, Nick, Kindle and I (yes the fifth wheel haha) got some surprisingly good 30 Kuna ($6) Croatian champagne and sat on the rocky Old Town beach to watch the sunset and celebrate Nick’s birthday. It was a good time. While watching the sunset and enjoying
Champagne we meet a few people from the UK. We spent a good hour make fun of each other’s country and accents, it was really fun haha. In the evening we went to a restaurant in the middle of the town and got some good authentic Croatian food. I had some homemade sausages, very good. After that we roamed around for a bit before we made our way back to the ship.

Day 3: Couldn’t sleep in today as I had Kayaking!!! We left at 09:00 to go on a 5 to 6 mile Kayaking trip around an island called Lokrum, just off the coast of Old Town. Beautiful and very fun time. Got to do some snorkeling too, not much to see but the water was fabulous. Got back to the ship around 02:30, went for a run, hung out with Keenen and Chelsea before they went off for their anniversary dinner (7 months) and then passed out. It was a lazy but enjoyable night.

Day 4: Slept in ‘til 08:30, went for a good run, and then went into old town for a mission to find an old map (picture to come) and to get rid of the rest of my Kuna. Found a café that had wifi, sat outside, had an espresso, did some emails, got work done, and wrote this post. That was Croatia. Up next Greece!!! Will defiantly be more active and will have a much longer post haha.