Eastern Mediterranean Trip

June-July 2010, 6/13/10-7/2/10

Marty Manahan

We're back from probably our best trip ever, having returned from the Eastern Mediterranean after almost three weeks away. The tour theme was 'Voyage to Antiquities.' This is a quick summary, with a few highlights from each of the four countries visited: Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey.

Venice, Italy: We spent only two days in 'Venezia' getting acquainted with Venice, our boat, the Aegean Odyssey, our group of 67 Exploritas fellow travelers, and about 200 other non-Exploritas travelers, divided equally among British and Americans. It was rainy some of the time in Venice, but we had two excellent tours, first a morning tour of the Doges Palace, and a nighttime visit to St. Mark's Basilica. Our tour guide for both was a French lady named Sabine who was the best tour guide of the entire trip. Our group of 67 from Exploritas was broken up into Orange and Blue groups; our Orange group also had two other leaders, Michelle and Jimmy (his anglicized Turkish name) and both were excellent.

The afternoon of the first full day in Venice, still recovering from jetlag and after the rain let up, we took a two hour walk along the canals through some neighborhoods to get a feel for the real Venice. There were more canals than streets, and the public transportation system was made up of water taxis going on various routes (like a subway system).

Our ship pulled out late on the second day and we looked forward to what Croatia would offer, having tasted the charms of Venice and gotten acquainted with some of our traveling companions and the medium-sized ship (with only 300 passengers), renovated for several such tours throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. We had three classics professors on board who gave relevant, interesting power point presentations on board every other day.

Croatia. Our first stop was supposed to be Pula, but surprise! Instead it was Rovinj, a half hour up the Istrian coast from Pula. Rovinj is a very scenic town, growing in popularity among Europeans for its clean, lively, charming atmosphere. We anchored off the coast, and instead took 'tender' boats into the Rovinj harbor. We then bussed to Pula, where we visited the famous amphitheater dating back to Roman times. It was a hot day, and later we bussed back to Rovinj where we had the chance to walk the colorful downtown area and public market of this gem on the Adriatic coast.

Zadar was the next coastal city we visited and it too was a place to fall in love with. We had a delightful walking tour led by a local tour guide and visited ruins, 1500 year old churches and palaces, and had some time to walk around on our own. Other stops in Croatia included Split, where we visited Diocletian's famed third century palace, and Dubrovnik, where we walked through the historic walled city. In Dubrovnik, we encountered some more rainy weather, as well as the first wave of hordes of other tourists and vacationers. Traveling down the coast of Crotia was enthralling, with its many islands, blue waters, and colorful sunsets. Croatia is definitely worth experiencing.

Greek Islands. After six satisfying stops in Croatia, we wondered how the six Greek Island stops would compare. Well, they were equally if not more enchanting. Corfu was the first stop, and our daylong visit was a delightful introduction to Greece. We had a morning tour led by a lively local tour guide starting with the Fortress that protected the city from invaders for centuries. (Turkey never conquered Corfu thanks to the fortress.) After the tour of museums, Orthodox Cathedral and ruins, we were free for lunch on our own in the Venetian quarter. (Many Croatian and Greek Island cities had Venetian quarters, due to Venetian control in the Eastern Med. for several centuries, and these quarters were often the highlight of the town visit).

Other outstanding Greek Island visits included Crete (stops in Chania, Rethymon, and Knossos Palace Ruins) and three islands as the ship went north on the Aegean Sea. Santorini was the most exciting and scenic visit, due to the location of its towns on the edge of the crater resulting from a volcano eruption in 1400 BC that likely doomed the Minoan civilization on Crete, 80 miles away. Another fascinating island was Naxos, where we were capably led around by Eleni, who was our tour guide for three different Greek stops. At this point, everyone was looking forward to Istanbul, which was to be the highlight of the entire trip.

Istanbul. The three full, exhausting, and exhilarating days in Istanbul were a fitting conclusion to our entire trip. Each day, our tour guide Jimmy (Turkish name, Genoy Yogurtca), led us through palaces, mosques, museums, ruins, and other historical sites in this city of 15 million residents. We visited the most significant, must-see highlights of the city, and after three days, we felt we had really experienced the city in all its frenzy and historical importance. We were awed by the famed Hagia Sophia Mosque and the Blue Mosque, both huge mosques that started out as churches and later became mosques after the Ottomans gained control. (Hagia Sophia is now a museum). Turkish food turned out to be excellent, as we sampled several restaurants either as a group or on our own.

We especially enjoyed the boat ride on the Bosphorus, and the beautiful views of Istanbul from all vantage points. 0ur ship's passage through the Dardenelles Strait on approach to Istanbul took several hours and was another highlight of the trip. The visits to the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar were frenetic, interesting and fun.

We were lucky in that the weather was generally excellent for most of the trip. The food and services on the ship were very good. Our fellow Exploritas travelers were friendly, enjoying retirement aided by frequent travels, and appreciative of the high quality of the stops on the trip. Some of the Exploritas passengers had some chronic medical conditions, but they and their spouses were determined to make and enjoy the trip despite these medical issues. In conclusion, I highly recommend this and other such Exploritas (now Road Scholar) cruises and tours to the Eastern Mediterranean.