Quests

Storybook Places

How to visit a multitude of them throughout the Mediterranean? Right up this gangway, mesdames et messieurs!
by waynette goodson

MY HUSBAND and I had never been to Europe. All the storybook places we’d read about—Venice, Athens, Istanbul—were only that to us: storybook.

Then we found out about a cruise that would start in Italy—Venice, in fact—and end in Barcelona, Spain. In between we’d stop at Athens and Mykonos in Greece; Istanbul and Ephesus in Turkey; Naples, Rome and Florence in Italy; and Marseille in France. It was a lot, we knew, since these were nothing less than the greatest cities and sites of Western history from the Classical Age through the Renaissance.

But we were game.

Looking back: Was the cruise exhausting? Yes. Was it exhilarating? Yes. Was it mind-numbing? Yes. We saw the Parthenon one day and the Vatican practically the next. How did we keep track of all the ancient ruins, architectural wonders and artistic masterpieces? We kept a journal, and forced ourselves to sit down every night no matter how tired we were to describe what we could. Here’s a peek inside the pages at a few of our most memorable days:

DAY 1: A Sunset Gondola Ride in Venice

At first it seems impossible to climb into the sleek, black gondolas bobbing wildly in the wake of passing boats in the Grand Canal. Meanwhile, the gondoliers, in their bright striped shirts, tiptoe along the edges as gracefully as gazelles. Once we’re seated in the red velvet perch for two, we’re struck by all the boat’s details: A large silver blade slicing through the water at the stern, and silver embellishments down the sides in the shapes of stallions and exotic fish, all strung together by thick silver-and-black cords with large tassels. We’re toasting with chilled prosecco and soaking up all the romance, enveloped in a passionate rendition of “O Sole Mio” belted out by an opera singer. And all the while we’re pinching ourselves—we’re actually in a gondola in Venice! As we turn from the Grand Canal toward the city’s inner maze, the passageways appear so narrow that it doesn’t look as if the gondola can squeeze inside, and the murky water smells of moss and algae. Once inside, though, sunlight breaks through, revealing colorful buildings with wrought-iron balconies bursting with flowers. We wish the ride would never end.

DAY 4: A Climb to the Parthenon in Athens

There’s a light rain, and we’re slipping and sliding our way through one of the greatest ruins in the ancient world—the Acropolis and its crown jewel, the Parthenon. What you don’t understand from just seeing the Parthenon in a history book is that it’s on the highest hill in the city, and you have to climb 80 steep marble steps to get to it. At the top, we can see for miles and miles, and we try to take in all the white buildings of Athens, which appear stacked on top of each other, blurring into a mass of white specks. You simply can’t prepare yourself for the Acropolis’ beauty: purple jacaranda trees in bloom, as well as ornamental trees our tour guide calls “narange,” a sweet scent in the air, pepper trees laden with edible bright-red fruit.

Our tour suddenly takes a turn through a busy intersection of this modern city, and the Temple of Zeus looms ahead. Originally boasting more than 104 columns, it’s now reduced to just 15 standing and one on the ground, toppled by lightning in the 19th century. The original temple was finished in the fifth century B.C.—the Golden Age of Greek civilization, when 92 sculptures depicting an epic fight crowned the Parthenon and a three-story, ivory-and-gold-covered statue of the goddess Athena stood within it. Our world back home seems so small, and so young.

DAY 6: Palace-Hopping in Istanbul

A day in exotic Istanbul is like no other. It’s a bustling, dense city, with a population of 12 million, divided between Asia and Europe. It’s also a cultural and religious stew, but on the streets, everyone blends together going about their day: Women covered head to toe in hijabs stroll babies alongside women in designer clothing doing business on their cell phones. On one block there’s a McDonald’s, and on the next there’s the Blue Mosque with its sparkling domes and six singular minarets. Inside, the more than 20,000 Iznic tiles have faded, but to our eyes they’re still a magnificent blue.

After touring the famous mosque, we stroll through Topkapi Palace, a sultan’s palace–turned-museum, and visit the harem, where the sultan kept 400 women; the treasury, with its 86-carat Spoonmaker diamond; and the kitchen, displaying the sultan’s green dishware that changed color in contact with poisoned food. We have a lunch of tender lamb at a palace-turned-hotel, the Cirigan Palace, overlooking the Bosporus, and then head off to the Grand Bazaar. It’s total chaos, crowded with shoppers literally being pulled into the various stores by vendors who serve cups of thick Turkish coffee and flaunt their wares: leather, handwoven rugs, jewelry, even belly-dancing costumes. We leave Istanbul with our pockets empty, our jaws dropped and our hearts content that we’ve experienced one of the world’s most intriguing crossroads.

DAY 7: Living the Fabulous Life in Mykonos

Houston, we have a problem. Every port of call is our new favorite, and every night at sail-away we vow to return.

The best thing about our journey? Thanks to Princess Cruises, we have to unpack only once, and we get to refuel nightly in our posh mini-suite with fully stocked bar, two flat-screen TVs and a cozy sitting area. Our nightly sail-aways on our private balcony with champagne toasts and chocolate-covered strawberries will be among our favorite memories—as will sailing through the Greek islands.

Mykonos is about sunlight and wind. It’s as if the tiny island has one giant homeowners association, and every home has to be white. Why? To deflect the sun’s rays. Temperatures in the hottest months of July and August reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But there’s a constant breeze off the Aegean to keep it fabulously pleasant. The wind powers the famous windmills, once used to grind wheat and today a beautiful symbol of the island. Other than the sugar-cube houses, the island is nothing but rocky outcroppings, barren of any grass except for small patches enclosed for pigs, horses, cows and sheep. The modest island was virtually unknown until the 1960s, when Aristotle Onassis brought his new bride, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, to stay and the parties started. We ditch our tour long enough to have a traditional Greek lunch at Restaurant Alexandrafka, overlooking the windmills and Little Italy. Our salad of succulent, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and kalamata olives topped with quarter-inch-thick slabs of feta cheese makes us realize that we’ve never had a real Greek salad before. Afterward, we wind our way through narrow, cobblestone streets, painfully passing to-die-for boutiques to get back to the ship in time to sail for Naples, Italy, and then Rome. Onward!

DAY 10: Rome in a Day

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it’s impossible to see it in a day. But we give it our best shot, starting with Vatican City, the smallest country in the world with what must be the most people per square feet. (There’s a three-hour line to get in.) Tourists and pilgrims flock here to worship and to see the most famous art in the world. Our guide, Max, tells us that standing in front of each piece of art for 40 seconds would take 10 years. So we proceed immediately to the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s fresco The Creation of Adam. If you’re claustrophobic, the chapel is not for you. It’s shoulder-to-shoulder with people, all of whom are staring up at the ceiling, mouths agape, at the 25 panels that make up Michelangelo’s depiction of the creation of man. Guards at the front constantly hush the chattering crowd.

Afterward, we tour the Colosseum, where the gladiators fought the lions, and then make our way to the center of the city, where we sample a homemade gelato and admire the blue-green waters of the Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that standing with your back to the fountain and tossing in a coin over one shoulder means that you’ll return to the Eternal City. So we dig through our pockets, because we know we’ll have to come back, and for much longer than just one day.