EUROPEAN VACATION – WEEK 6
First impressions are based on the view of the city
from the ship as it comes into the harbour and arrives at the dock. Here, we have no doubt that passengers would
be very impressed by what they see. The
cruise terminal itself is a rather drab building, but most of them are.
By the time the ship ties up, passengers have
decided what they’re going to do for the day: excursion, self-guided tour, or a
local guide hired on-site. Excursions on
the Island include the visit to Green Gables and the National Park, the
Confederation Bridge, and perhaps a visit to a beach. Others that would interest me would be a
matinée at the Confederation Centre, a round of golf, a trip out on a lobster
boat, and a farm tour. Another interesting
cultural experience would be a trip to Abram-Village, including a lunch featuring
Acadian cuisine, and a performance by local artists.
Since excursions organized by the cruise line tend
to be quite expensive, in the $150 range per person for a full day and $90 for
a half day, passengers often opt for a self-guided tour. For a small city like Charlottetown, the
prospect of walking around is certainly attractive. So, what would a visitor like to see, and
what is needed to make the day interesting?
Well, for starters, we need to find the Tourism
Office. It needs to be open when the
shop arrives, be staffed with helpful, enthusiastic people who aren’t wishing
for the tourist season to end, and the staff need to be knowledgeable about
their city. We found, for example, that
staff tend to stereotype cruise ship passengers, assuming we are old and
decrepit, and that we have mobility problems.
Next we need to be able to find a good Wi-Fi
connection. Our cruise line, Holland America, offers an on-board
internet service, but it is expensive, slow and unreliable. So, we wait until we get ashore. While many cruise terminals advertise their
Wi-Fis, none we’ve tried was much good.
The better option is finding a café, ordering a drink, and asking for
the password. Usually, this works fine,
but in Capri, a coffee and a tea cost us $15!
We wonder how many businesses in Charlottetown offer Wi-Fi?
There need to be public washrooms available; clean
public washrooms. While I wouldn’t
hesitate to walk through the lobby of the Delta
Hotel in Charlottetown to find my way to the washroom, hotel staff in the
cities we’ve visited are on the lookout for people who try to do this. I don’t know if public washrooms are marked
on the city map given to passengers visiting Charlottetown, but they should be. When travelling, I always bear in mind the wise
words of Jack Nicholson from the movie Bucket
List, when he recited his three rules for older men: “Never walk past a
bathroom; never waste a hard-on; and never trust a fart!”
Finally, people need to have nice places to just
hang out. Here, Charlottetown is in very
good shape, with its abundance of parks and public places. However, recent attempts to create
‘café-style’ spaces by extending patios out into the street just don’t do it. Only Victoria Row and the restaurants with a
view of the harbour offer the kind of experience cruise passengers expect.
This week started with a visit to Kotor,
Montenegro, the third port we visited on the east coast of the Adriatic
Sea. Kotor is a small city, probably
about the size of Summerside, the perfect size for walking around. The harbor is spectacular, framed by
mountains, and its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As soon as we stepped on the dock, we picked up a
map and headed for Fort Saint John, the fortress guarding the old town. We’ve learned through experience that the
best way to get the true sense of a city is to see it from above. This time, we had to climb a tough and
winding staircase to the partially-restored fortress which sits at 260 metres above
sea level. But it was well worth it!
The view was spectacular, and I even captured the
flag of Montenegro! From our vantage
point, we could trace the fortress wall from the summit, down into the old
town, and around to the seafront. It’s
the best example we’ve seen of a fortified town. The old town itself is spotless, featuring a
host of cafés, shops, and restaurants with reasonable prices. We found the people there very friendly and
accommodating, and we hated to leave.
Next, it was off on an excursion to a country
visited by few North American tourists, Albania. This small country lies on the Adriatic Sea,
between Montenegro to the north, and Greece to the south. We boarded a hydrofoil on the island of Korfu
for the trip to the small port city of Saranda, on the south coast of Albania. Saranda was a small fishing village until
about twenty years ago when the money and the tourists started rolling in.
Albania was governed by a repressive and paranoid
régime, not unlike North Korea’s, from 1945 until 1990. For much of that time, the country was
completely isolated from the rest of the world, its closest ally being
communist China. As a result, the people
suffered greatly and are just now emerging from a long nightmare. A good annual salary is $10,000, about
one-third the European average. Yet,
these people pay twice what we do for fuel!
Officially, we were there to see the ruins of
Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which features four distinct periods of
occupation: Greek, Roman, Venetian, and Ottoman. While I had some interest in the ancient
history, I was more curious about what has happened to the country since 1990,
and how things are today.
Fortunately, we were accompanied by a very
knowledgeable guide who explained that the country is trying to attract foreign
investment and build a tourist industry similar to that of its Adriatic
neighbours. It’s clearly got a good
start on things, judging by the pace of new construction in and around Saranda,
but the 2008 recession has resulted in many projects being delayed or
cancelled. As a result, the place has a
half-finished look to it. I’d like to
visit again in ten years. At this point,
I feel things could go either way; boom or bust.
We sailed south along the Adriatic coast to the
town of Katakolon, gateway to Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games. While most people opted for a visit to the
ruins, we went to Magna Grecia, an agriturismo featuring home-grown organic
olive products. After receiving a
detailed explanation of how the olives are harvested and processed, we had a
delicious lunch, complete with Greek music and dancing.
Next, we rounded the Peloponnese, the large
peninsula that forms the southernmost part of mainland Greece, and landed at
the port of Nafplion. Most of those who
took the excursion route went to Mycenae, the golden city referenced in Homer’s
epic poem, The Odyssey, or to Corinth
to visit the Temple of Apollo or the Tomb of Agamemnon.
While I do know the difference between Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, and Apollo, I confess that the Greek gods don’t do much for me interest-wise. As for ruins, one set looks pretty much like the other to my eyes. My impression of Greece is that people here are too focused on the past. Because of the country’s chronic economic problems, infrastructure is falling into disrepair.
Nafplion’s beautiful seaside promenade is lined
with expensive streetlamps, most of which have been smashed, and there’s
graffiti everywhere. The same is true of
the stairway leading to Palamidi Castle: all the spotlights have been smashed
as has the electric panel. It’s a shame,
because the town’s setting is beautiful.
I took advantage of a pretty little pocket beach to go for a swim.
Next, it was off to Athens, capital of Greece, and
the birthplace of democracy. We only had
a short time to spend in the city, but did get to see the Acropolis and its
centerpiece, the Parthenon. This major
tourist attraction is absolutely crawling with people. The Parthenon is perpetually under repair, so
there are scaffolds and cranes everywhere.
It’s hard to make head or tail of the various temples located on the
Acropolis, and without a guide, the whole thing is mass confusion.
A major demonstration was underway in the centre of
the city the day we were there. People
are unhappy with the drastic measures taken by the Greek government to keep the
country from being kicked out of the Euro Zone.
I understand their frustration, but they’ve been living the dream for
too long; now it’s time to get real!
We then sailed across the Aegean to Kusadasi,
Turkey, the port closest to the ancient city of Ephesus. We took a tour and visited the site of a
house where Mary, mother of Jesus, is thought to have lived for a time. From there, we went to visit the ruins of
Ephesus. The iconic image of the city is,
of course, the façade of the library. But
there’s much more to see: a theatre which sits 15,500 people, various temples,
the marble streets, and even a brothel.
Our guide told us that only 10% of the city has been excavated to date. Imagine a city of 200,000 souls at the time of
the Roman Empire, 2,000 years ago!
Elva and I took a ‘selfie’ in front of the library
façade. For those of you who haven’t been to
this part of the world, prepare to encounter many stray cats and dogs, some of
them living in pretty pitiful conditions.
But not these three; they were as snug as could be, sleeping in a sink
in the men’s washroom in Ephesus! Finally, I couldn’t resist snapping this sign, which shows that the Turks are nothing if not honest.
After the history lesson, our guide took back to
Kusadasi to visit a store, a co-op actually, that retails carpets made in
villages in central Turkey. We were
treated to a demonstration of how silk is made from cocoons of the silk worm,
and how the carpets are made. Next, our
host and his staff rolled out at least thirty carpets of all sizes, colours,
and patterns. Amazing! The most expensive ones were over $20,000…
Yesterday morning, as we were having breakfast, who walks by our table but Cheryl Stead and John Cox of Charlottetown. Imagine! Actually, they're the second couple we've met on the MS Rotterdam from the Island. We also ran across Ted and Gail Lewansky from Stratford last week in Split.
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