Still playing catch up here, so this will be a big post for the Antiquities Cruise we did last Christmas (2023). This was a bit of a wild card – we had not thought we would go again and definitely not on a sea cruise as the ships are so much larger. That said, the Viking ones are smaller than most at around 900 passengers, and our Back of the Boat buddies had booked onto this trip so we thought why not!
When we arrived at Piraeus port in Athens and saw the Viking Venus we wondered if it had been a good decision as it looked huge to us. However, it turned out to not be as overwhelming as we thought and in the end we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The excursions were carefully managed with us all split into groups to avoid “inundation” of the sights and as on the river cruise the guides were excellent.
So, lets get on to the photos as they tell the story. First visit was to the Acropolis and then the Plaka district of Athens which sits below that famous site.
As you can see the weather was lovely – unusually so for Athens in December apparently. We learned a lot about the engineering involved and the use of geometry to counteract the optical illusion which can make you think something is not straight.
I just threw in the third image above as a juxtaposition – a modern glass sculpture we passed on the drive around the embassy district of Athens on the way to its polar opposite!
And here are a few images of the buildings in the Plaka district where we ended up randomly with a plateful of doughnuts, Greek style.
Our next stop was Kusadasi in Turkey, in order to visit the famous archeological site of Ephesus.
Another lovely day and we had quite a long time looking at this amazing site – columns everywhere.
But of course the majorly famous sight at this site (!) is the Library of Celcus…
And in between a few of the smaller details which we saw along the way.
The writing was interesting as there are recognizable words there illustrating the roots of some of our language.
I have obviously just given the overview – its a vast and stunning place to visit, highly recommended. Of course, being Turkey, this excursion could not be over without the compulsory stop off at a carpet shop! We were shown details of how the silk “worms” are farmed and the silk harvested and spun. We also saw a demonstration of the hand knotting used to make all their carpets. It is an incredibly slow process, such that when you find out the prices it is easy to believe in their value. And yes, of course, we bought one – but only one…. others did get more carried away 😉
After that it was a couple of days cruising the Mediterranean over Christmas and Boxing Day.
Speaks for itself really, some lovely details, more great weather and (not shown) a bit of carollling before dinner. Then we were off to Messina in Sicily.
The beach shot shows how close this part of Sicily is to the mainland which is in the background.
The clock tower in the main square is famous for its daily performance at 12 noon. It takes about 15 minutes – a long one to video as we found out. Different things happen in the various windows and statues above, including a roaring lion and a cockerel. It all relates to the history of Messina – its worth looking up on Wikipedia if you want the details.
Some interior and exterior details of the church you can see next to the clock tower.
After checking out the local drink specialities it was back to the ship to head for Naples. That evening we passed by Stromboli as it gave one of its performances.
The next day we were docked in Naples and treated to a stunning sunrise.
Here we had the choice of visiting either Pompeii or Herculaneum – sadly not enough time to do both. We opted for Herculaneum as I had previously been to Pompeii. Unlike Pompeii, which was buried in ash, Herculaneum was buried in lava. Due to the construction of the buildings this means that many were beautifully preserved within this tomb, with even wooden parts still remaining.
The roadway in these 2 shots is at the previous level of the sea. The lava flow eventually covered all this and pushed back the coastline by a kilometer. The bones are replicas, showing what was found of the people who huddled here waiting to be rescued by boats.
These vaulted buildings were very strong. Many mosaics and wall paintings remain and we were told how fashions changed so the predominant colours indicate different periods of decoration.
It is quite amazing to see the quality of the art painted directly onto the walls, and to walk down the same street that the original population of this mostly rich persons resort town.
We did also get a bit a time in Naples town and found the modern day equivalent there – a huge shopping centre built in Renaissance style with grand spaces and more mosaics.
And then it was all over, we docked near Rome for our transfer to the airport and trip back home.
