By Bob Sparrow
On Tuesday of this week I’ll be heading to the Mediterranean. No, I have not been called back into the Navy and sent to the Straight of Hormuz to settle that little spat. Rather, Linda and I will be meeting up with the Budds, Helmles, Reddys and Sagers in Rome. Some folks are getting there a few days early to hang in Rome, which is one of my favorite cities in the world, but we’re getting there just a day before we jump on the Oceana cruise ship, Allura, in the port of Civitavecchia.
We’ll cruise several miles south to the beautiful Amalfi coast and visit the towns of Amalfi and Positano. Then back on board for a short cruise to the east side of the island of Sicily, where we’ll do a walking tour of the town of Catania. From there we were supposed to go to Corfu, but that was scratched from the itinerary, so I searched to see why and only found some general information like port congestion, maintenance work, and the need to reduce fuel consumption. So goodbye to seeing the unique blend of Venetian, French, and British architecture versus the typical Greek, white-washed houses. We’ll also miss the millions of olive trees but may see the three U.S. aircraft carriers that have now been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean. Yikes!!
Hopefully avoiding that little disagreement, we’ll next hit several Greek islands:
- Katakolon – this is the only Greek island that we have previously seen on an Adriatic cruise several years ago. It is the site of the first Olympic games. where the first organized marathon was run. The first organized marathon was run in the modern Olympics in 1896. Perhaps we’ll see the laggers just finishing.
- Santorini – known for its beautiful sunsets; it is a popular honeymoon destination. That ship has sailed!
- Milos – known for its stunning beaches, volcanic landscapes, and the Venus de Milo, the famous sculpture was discovered on this island. Perhaps we’ll be on a tour that searches for her arms.
- Mykonos – apparently, it’s known for its great night life, but we’re there from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. I guess the cruise lines know that night lift for us old fogies ends around 4:30!
We’ll then hit the Port of Piraeus and disembark in our destination city of Athens, where we have a golfcart tour of this historic city. Fellow traveler, Chuck Sager was stationed in Greece during his time in the service, so I’m sure he’ll have a few stories to tell us and perhaps he’ll get to visit with some of the children he didn’t know he had.
That’s the plan. If you want to come along, I’ll provide some up-dates on our adventures next Monday.