Starting from the apartment, the tram to Southern Cross was so packed, I had to wait for a second one to come along.
With the hour delay in departure, for some reason I delusionally thought I could still make my connection. The in flight entertainment did not offer subtitles but I was determined to watch season 2 of House of Dragon. I think I understood 30% of the story so I didn’t like it as much as I could have. 13 hour flight. No toilet paper by the end of the flight.
When we arrived in Abu Dhabi, chaos reigned. The customer service people were ineffectual. An Aussie kept trying to get them to announce to the whole group of us what was happening so he took over, grabbed everyone’s new tickets/vouchers and distributed them. When I approached multiple reps, they were not helpful.
The gutless charging stations at the airport required that I stand there for an hour to charge my phone with the plugs in just the right place for anything to charge. Etihad gave a food voucher “for a restaurant that accepts them.” Ha. The first restaurant said I had to go to the food court and then waved down the corridor. After a 5 minute walk, I saw a cluster of restaurants and mistakenly thought that was the food court and got another wave off. Another 10 minute walk and inquiries along the way about where the fuck the food court was, I finally arrived only to find that only 3 of the restaurants would take the voucher and then, the selection was hilarious. I got a croissant and water. I think she felt sorry for me and gave me an apple. I stayed there for another hour to charge my iPad. The gate chairs were nice at least but there was a bird trapped above us and made very sad sounds for my hours that I sat there. A man coughed continuously without covering his mouth. Yes I had my mask on.
The flight again was an hour late taking off. Guess who I got seated next to? Coughing man. Ugh. When I emerged from the bathroom, I told the attendant to refill the toilet paper and she said there was plenty and I said no there wasn’t. She pointed to the Kleenex and hand towels and I noted that they couldn’t be flushed and she pointed to the trash receptacle and I pointed that they were too full to put anything in. She didn’t think that was a problem. I give Etihad 1 star.
Immigration and baggage pick up were fine and then I walked into the chaos of the taxi strike. Uber was in solidarity so that wasn’t an option either. I could have sat at the airport for the 3 hours. A police guy was helpful and told me to take a particular bus. I wandered the throng to find the ticket kiosk and waited in concentrated ball of people for the x95 bus. A friendly British couple waiting with me talked me through options of how to get to my hotel. The bus was packed and I got to stand for an hour trying to balance over my bag while hanging on for dear life. I had a 3 minute panic when I couldn’t feel my money belt/passport but thankfully it was just jacked up around my rib cage. I did get to sit for the last 15 minutes of the ride. I didn’t know 100% where to disembark but most people got off at a stop 2k from the hotel so because I didn’t know the route of the bus, 2k seemed like the safest bet. That 2k was hard since I think I was hallucinating by that point.
After 34 real hours of travel, I silently disassociated in bed from exhaustion while waiting for sister to arrive. The Moxy hotel was nice, much like the Aloft properties. The twin beds were fun. Shower and wine were in order while I waited for sister’s arrival. We just had dips and pita for dinner and I was asleep by 9. Up at 5, breakfast at 7 followed by a hair washing and light laundry. We just noshed and went to bed early the first night.
Friday, May 16
Google informed me that the Acropolis was a 25 minute walk but sister informed me we were taking a taxi because she was not going to use her walking minutes for transportation. This should be a different experience for my travel diary. The Acropolis had too many steps so sister stayed outside while I roamed the ruins and ogled the Parthenon and Athena’s temple. We lunched at the museum, overlooking an active archeological dig, followed by exploring the museum’s rich offerings.
I can’t find the exact Philomena Cunk quote but it goes something like: why are the Egyptian pyramids in Egypt? Because they wouldn’t fit in the British museum. This became the shaping principle for our whole trip.
We had an amazing dinner of contemporary Greek food and found some sleep gummies in a pharmacy. Amen.
Saturday, May 17
Temple of Poseidon
Off we went in a private car for a 1.5 hour ride to the Temple of Poseidon. We drove along the beautiful coast and stoped by a fresh water lake created by an earthquake. The lake is said to have healing properties and it looked like a destination location. The temple was lovely up on the hill overlooking its domain of the sea. We had miscommunications with the driver regarding the logistics of our tour so that was not fun but we survived.
Sunday, May 18
Let’s start this cruise!
It was all about getting on the cruise yacht! We started at a huge cultural center for check in and the beginning of overeating for the next week. After being ushered inside the boat and getting the safety orientation, we explored the levels and eating establishments. We took to the yacht experience like ducks to water. Lunch at Mistral, evening stretch at the gym, and dinner at Memori.
Monday, May 19
The gym was better than Gold’s. Breakfast room service is magical.
Milos
Our first excursion was a Milos highlights tour where we saw ocean vistas, stark wind-carved rock, and the property where the Venus de Milo was unearthed. Growing up, we had a small Venus replica in the house and I did not understand that “de Milo” meant “of Milos” but now I do. Cool. We once again had a communication error around what was included in our excursion. Grrr.
We made friends with the bartender Norman from Zimbabwe.
Tuesday, May 20
We were on our own in Santorini and I was determined to get the classic 3 domes photo as the Greek “proof of visit” shot. I had to first learn where the domes were and figure out the steps of how to get there.
- Take the tender to shore
- Ride the cable car from shore to island top
- Wander shop walkways to find a taxi
- Hire taxi to Oia
- Walk streets to photo location
- Wait 45 minutes in line for the shot
Sister did not want to wait in line so when it was my turn, I had to rely on someone behind me to take photos of me. Sadly they did not have a photographic eye so the photos are not well composed. Such is life.
Sister did not want to explore more since there were so many people in narrow walkways so we lunched, taxied back to Firo, and sadly found all museums were closed on Tuesdays. Resigned, we just went back to the yacht and drowned our sorrows in signature cocktails.
Wednesday, May 21
Delos
We anchored at Mykonos but our excursion was on Delos. Delos was the “birthplace” of Apollo and Artemis and had been a large community before it was abandoned 100BCE. The structures and mosaics were well preserved and we were in luck with the multitudes of wild flowers that bloomed all around.
Guests were invited to a resort party so we signed up, tendered to shore, and took a 30 minute drive to the resort. I had Pacific Islands Club flashbacks. We had a great seat watching everyone arrive while servers offered us canapés and cocktails. We wandered to the beach to lounge on a chaise before we headed back. Lovely evening.
Thursday, May 22
We docked in Kusadasi, Türkiye to begin our Terrace Houses of Ephesus tour. Wow. As we walked through, our guide noted areas that had been excavated in the last 5 months, or x years. He pointed at mounds of earth and noted that those new excavations looked like those mounds of earth before the excavation so it’s probable that there are more ruins mere feet below the surface. Cool cool cool. We saw the Nike statue and the Starbucks logo inspiration. The covered houses were stunning but the steps were too much for sister. It was a hot day so we were happy to return to our luxury nest.
Friday, May 23
Patmos
On our own for the day again so after we tendered over to Patmos, we hired a taxi to take us to see the cave where St. John supposedly was inspired to write the book of Revelations and to the monastery. The religious imagery from the time all showed dark skinned people. As it should be. The Western white-skinned blue-eyed Jesus is so wrong and bothers me deeply. The museum had many interesting relics.
Saturday, May 24
A day on the sea. We did things like laundry and packing.
General sailing experience
On the yacht
Daily, I would work out at the gym on cardio machines that included virtual instructors. The weights were plentiful and well maintained. Breakfast was either in our room or at one of the 3 restaurants that were open for breakfast. We ate family style and although I entered every meal with the intention of eating a reasonable amount, I always overate. After our shore excursion, we again ate at one of the on board restaurants and sister always napped. Sleeping was really the vacation. There were 5 restaurants open for dinner and we would end the day with a drink watching the sunset. Cleaning staff arrived twice a day and would leave goodies in The evening. Staff and crew were international and very good at their jobs. We heard that the bartender Norman was flown out due to appendicitis. Yikes. I loved the luxury and vibe of the experience.
Sunday, May 25
We had to leave our rooms early so the crew could begin preparing so we breakfasted and leisurely dis-embarked. A taxi took us to our Istanbul hotel in the new part of the city.
We started a walk but heard police sirens, then noticed the police helicopter circling overheard. My Spidey-senses were tingling so when we saw a police with an AK47, I decided it was time to return to the hotel. On the road there was a tank and a line of ambulances. Yep, let’s get back to the hotel ASAP. Safely in the room, I also noticed plumes of something rising from the park across the street. Very happy to be in a safe hotel.
Monday, May 26
Rain welcomed the day so I hoped the rain would dampen potential rioters and the need for police presence. The private tour of old town was arranged through the hotel so I felt a little safer with that arrangement. The guide gave us a full political and religious history or the region. We visited mosques and shops and had an easy lunch that was packed with tourists. We were exhausted after a 6 hour tour so we just drank champagne while we packed for our trip home.
I received a text from United:
Due to a temporary catering disruption, onboard service may be reduced or unavailable, with water available on all flights but options for other beverages could be limited. Please feel welcome to bring any personal snacks or additional food items on board. We apologize for the inconvenience.
So the anxiety from this hindered restful sleep.
Tuesday, May 27
Sister’s flight was much earlier than mine but I decided to go with her to share the 45 minute cab ride thinking I could hang out in the lounge. When Turkish Airlines said I couldn’t check in until 3 hours before my flight, I wanted to cry, but rescued myself. When I could check in, i couldn’t find the lounge, I thought I’d check out the airport museum but turned away when I saw the 13€ price. I used the info panel and found 2 lounge leads so I wandered up and down the corridors. I finally found a Turkish Airlines info desk and they informed me where to go. I enough time for a salad and 10 minute rest before it was time to proceed to the gate.
My connection at Heathrow was tight so when my next flight was boarding as I was disembarking, I used my physical strength and stamina to get to the next gate. I didn’t have time to buy food along the way so I hoped that either there was going to be food service or I had enough snacks to keep me sane. I was sweating by I arrived. Thankfully there was food service and I moved back to 3 empty seats for laying down.
I rested in the United lounge at SFO for an hour before I boarded. Once we boarded with the doors closed, we just sat there for a long time. The pilot announced that their computers were frozen and had to be rebooted. The whole plane then was shut down and re-started. Oy. I didn’t get home until 11:20, so happy to be home.
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