travelwriter

After our recent island idyll (see below), we woke up April 25 to find ourselves in The Big City – Istanbul — the storied metropolis that bridges the gap between Europe and Asia. We were on the program that extended our two-week ship experience for two more days, but without the ship. Instead, we disembarked to go aboard the Grand Hyatt Istanbul. The essential three-part Istanbul experience was accomplished in the first morning, while our land-based staterooms …

Read moreIstanbul, home of the emerald dagger

We have carried a couple of well-respected travel books on this cruise. As a longtime guidebook writer, I believe in the important role of printed guides for foreign travel. But they’re never the be all and end all of travel knowledge. These last two Greek islands, on April 23 and 24, were both ignored by these volumes. Our visits to Naxos and Lemnos were symbolic of the Voyages to Antiquity approach to creative port calls and unusual …

Read moreNaxos and Lemnos, Cats and Dogs

  In a ocean full of islands, Santorini certainly is unique – not just unusual — it must be one of a kind. From a distance, many cruisers on the Aegean Odysseythought the island was a snow-capped mountain. Return visitors, however, knew differently. As the ship neared, it gradually became apparent that these were houses. Like most Greek off-shore settlements, the buildings are nearly all super-white, often with blue roofs, or a few other pastel colors, all …

Read moreSantorini – Living on the Edge

What did in the Minoans? That is a great debate among academics today. It’s a conundrum that may not be solved in a lifetime. Today, April 21, Voyage to Antiquity cruisers have been visiting the most important archeological site on the island of Crete, the Palace of Knossos, center of the Minoan civilization. All were happy to be here. Yesterday we were supposed to have visited Monemvasia, another Greek island featuring another Venetian fort. However rough seas …

Read moreSaved – My tour of Knossos

It’s late afternoon, April 18, and the Aegean Odysseyis heading almost due south at 14 knots. For the first time on this cruise some of us are feeling some uncomfortable rolling and pitching as we head from the relatively protected Aegean toward the Ionian Sea and the main body of the Mediterranean. This has been a busy day. The morning featured a whirlwind exploration of the walled city of Dubrovnik, accomplished in less than three hours. The …

Read moreDubrovnik, Kotor Bay and Southward