Greek Islands Cruise Part 1

The 2010/11 school year was complete and we had had a few days to recover and set things up before departing for the summer. Stella was going to be looked after by our cleaner, Nikhil, and everything was organized. Our flight leaving Doha for Istanbul was at 2:15am so we ordered a taxi for 11pm giving ourselves a lot of time in case there were any problems with traffic or crowding at the airport. We were dismayed that it was late but at 11:18 it turned up and it was a good trip with very little traffic. Our journey through the new section of the Departures terminal (which used to be the Arrivals) was very smooth. Once inside and at the final gate before boarding we were pleased to see another member of staff (Mokhtar Badri with his family) and a family of some of our students (the Oganesyan’s) were on the same flight to Istanbul.

This initial flight was relatively smooth, taking about 4 hours. We woke at one point to a beautiful beginning of the sunrise, the sky outside our window was a variety of gradated colors and a couple of photographs were taken. Istanbul Ataturk International Airport was large and busy but we only had a relatively short wait before the next flight to Venice. So we sat at a café to watch the world pass us by. There was a very interesting mix of nationalities and peoples, including a very cute young girl, who had clearly just learned to walk, attempting to escape from her mother while not straying too far from comfort.

Only two elements of the airport frustrated us. When we first arrived we checked the gate from which our next flight was to leave and found it was, not entirely surprisingly, at the far end of the airport. When it was nearly time to check in at the gate we walked the majority of the way, only to find that our gate had been changed. It was now at the opposite end of the airport. No doubt this had been announced but, as our Turkish is somewhat limited, we had not noticed that announcement over the loudspeaker. When we finally got to the gate we found one of the security personnel to be very officious. While he let us through with very little scrutiny, people of Indian background had their papers passed over with (literally) a magnifying glass. Although we did not understand the language it was clear that he was speaking in a very rude way to people.

We were feeling quite tired by this time, having had very little sleep, so each of us spent much of the flight to Venice dozing. Once again we were served breakfast, so this did not bode well for our diets during this trip. Although there had been a significant amount of cloud during the flight, this had all cleared by the time we approached Marco Polo International Airport and we found ourselves back in Europe once more. Customs and baggage collection were relatively straightforward and, as we passed through immigration, there were Royal Caribbean Cruise representatives waiting through the gate. Even though we had not booked transport from the airport to the port (it was a little on the expensive side) they were happy to organize a taxi for us. Davide (the taxi driver) had recently returned from Australia and was very enthusiastic in his approach to life. With some interesting information about Venice and the surrounding areas we were dropped right where we needed to be in order to board the cruise.

Getting on board the ‘Splendor of the Seas’ was the next order of business. Our baggage was swiftly dealt with, we had our photographs taken to remember the cruise, and we were ushered to a desk to fill out the necessary paperwork. At this point we discovered that Quinn’s wallet was missing which meant that he had no photo I.D. other than his passport, which had just been collected. The increased scrutiny that this brought to us meant that, for the first time, our relationship with Quinn was called into question. Fortunately we keep electronic copies of all sorts of documents on a hard drive so we were able to convince the security people that he was our son and allowed to board.

The port of Venice is on an artificial island (Tronchetto) to the north of the city, just near where the bridge from the mainland (the Ponte della Libertà) meets with the first of the over one hundred islands that make up Venice proper. There were four other cruise ships, three of them larger than ours, also in port and we later found out that there were approximately 12 000 visitors in Venice just on the cruise ships alone. We could also see the industrial area of Venice from the deck, as well as the bell tower of the basilica in Piazza San Marco. We spent some time getting acquainted with the ship before deciding to take a nap to recover from some of the rigors of the day before our evening meal.

One of the highlights of the cruises we have been on so far has been getting to know some of the staff on board. The company employs people from all over the world who speak a variety of languages to cater for as many different guests as possible. This ship had moved, from doing cruises around South America, across to Europe a couple of months earlier, in readiness for the summer cruising schedule in the northern hemisphere. Our regular waiters for evening meals are a Filipino man named Rosanno and a Brazilian lady named Adriana. Because our regular dinner companions, a family from California, were not yet aboard, we received the full focus of Adriana and Rosanno’s service and they showed themselves to have both a good sense of humor and a keen interest in us and our backgrounds. Even the nap had not fully solved our sleep issues, so an early night was in store before venturing into Venice the next day.

We had intended to wake early and get some exercise before breakfast, but a failure to set the alarm on any of our clocks meant that we woke at 7:40am with less than an hour before we needed to meet with our tour group for our Venice tour. Consequently, it was quick showers and dressing before a reasonably rapid breakfast (although not so rapid that we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to eat real bacon, and pork sausages). Our tickets for our tours had not yet been delivered when we ventured to the theatre, however Wayne went back to the room quickly to grab the battery for the camera, which had been recharging overnight, and the tickets were under the door.

It had rained over night, and it was still somewhat overcast, so the seats on the top of our tour boat were slightly damp which deterred some of our companions from joining us, however the sun was starting to emerge and we braved the deck. Our tour guide was a retired Venetian lady who was extremely knowledgeable and there was an enormous amount of information to tell us about the history, economics, and current position of Venice as we made our way among the islands that make up the different areas of the city. Because of the size of our boat we had to keep to the larger rivers and canals, however we were still able to see many of the sights for which Venice is famous, including the gondolas and some of the nearly 500 bridges that cross the smaller canals that run through many of the islands.

Initial settlement of the islands of Venice took place in approximately 500 CE and it has had a fascinating history, including being a major empire building power during the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Indeed, a number of the other places that we were going to visit during the remainder of the cruise had been part of imperial Venice. However, due to limitations of space and constant difficulties with the amount of water in the city, there is very little which could be called modern. The tallest buildings are the church steeples and bell towers (of which there are over 80 still standing) and the most recent ‘new’ buildings are from the 1950’s. From a population high of nearly 200 000, the population of Venice today is closer to 60 000, and our guide lamented the fact that the average age of the inhabitants is close to 60 and that there are very few young people. Partly this is due to the cost of living in a city that grows increasingly expensive, especially if you do not own your own home.

The first part of our journey took us through the Canale della Giudecca, with the island of Giudecca on one side, and that of Dorsoduro on the other. Here we learned that Venice has long had a history of sheltering refugees (there has been a sizeable Jewish community here for hundreds of years, hence the name of the island). For much of it’s history, different islands of Venice served different purposes (for example Isola di S.Michele serves as the cemetery for much of the city) and we went past islands which have served as hospitals, as nunneries, as the centres of vegetable growing, and as places of segregation for those who had the plague. With tourism having become the focus of much of Venice in most recent times, many of these islands have now become devoted to hotels and there are some very beautiful places to stay or to study.

Our guide explained which islands, or parts of islands, were for sale (although the difficulty is in determining who one might actually purchase them from) and also pointed out some amazing boats that were for sale. We went past the Lido (one of the few islands in Venice on which cars may be driven) and had the history of fashions in health and their impact upon residence of different areas related to us. In the latter part of the tour we went past the Isola di Murano, which has long been famous for glass making and which still uses the same methods today as have long been used (and jealously guarded). Another lament from our guide was about the encroachment of inferior quality glass into the souvenir market without correct labeling. We also saw the Arsenale and the Stadio P.L. Penzo before returning to the main island, San Marco.

From the more recent ‘The Tourist’ back through other movies, books and plays (Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Othello’ spring to mind) Venice has been a favorite setting for all sorts of media. Consequently, the Doge’s Palace was very familiar (although somewhat disfigured by advertising) as were many of the other buildings in the background. This is the main area where you might find the traditional gondolieri, and we were informed that the first female gondolieri has relatively recently begun working, while another is in the process of applying. We speculated as to whether this might have been the lady that we saw rowing earlier on in the tour. St Mark’s Square, so our guide related, is the watery section in front of the palace, but most people associate it with the land next to it. This area, too, was very familiar as well as very, very crowded.

One of the issues from which Venice suffers is regular flooding. This is so regular that, apparently, the land known as St Mark’s Square is flooded on 200 days per year. Much of the city is sinking and needs constant upkeep in order to maintain its position above the water. A new series of artificial islands are being built near the entrance to the Adriatic Sea at a cost of many billions of dollars to try and alleviate the impact of tides and rising water because of high storms, however it is not known if this will be at all successful. This work is intended to be finished by 2015. We reached the end of the tour, not far from the ship, with a couple of hours to spare before the ship was due to leave Venice and commence the travelling part of our cruise.

The ship’s muster (where we go through the procedures in case of an emergency) took place as we were leaving the outer islands of Venice behind us, and moving into the Adriatic Sea. As muster finished we stumbled across a mask-making workshop to prepare for the masquerade ball that was going to take place that evening and spent an hour or so meeting other guests and making masks. Meg had run short of her favorite perfume (Chanel’s Allure, if any of you ever feel the need to pick her some up as a gift) and so a visit to the various shops was in order to see if any was available that we could pick up any at a discounted price (there was and we did). Dinner that evening was a much more formal affair and so, after some time relaxing and reading, Quinn and Wayne suited up (thanks to ‘How I Met Your Mother’ for the phrasing) while Meg donned one of the formal dresses she had had made by our tailor in Qatar.

If it is Wednesday, this must be Milan

There is a legend that has passed into European lore of a group of travellers whose coming heralds the start of the rainy season. No one seems to know when they are coming, but their arrival brings what the Italians call, the ‘aqua vitae’ - the water of life. In Spanish they are said to be from ‘en el marco de’; in Dutch it is ‘omlaag onder’; in Italian their home is ‘sotto terra’. Sometimes their stay might be only for a day, at other times 3 or even 4. They are … the drought breakers.

There is something about deliberately getting up early (as opposed to waking up early and being unable to get back to sleep) which automatically raises a level of excitement. That we were going back to Heathrow for the first time since we had been to Madrid only served to increase this excitement, although not enough to stop one of us from taking an unusually long time in the shower. Still, we were away by 4:45am and the lighter traffic at this time meant that we pulled into the parking at 6am ready for our transfer to the airport.

All of our standard things happened; the boys had no idea where we were going until we checked in, when Brock did find out he had no idea which country Milan was in anyway, and there was trouble with our passports which meant that we had to check in at a counter rather than use Lufthansa’s little self check in booths (to the consternation of the staff who were there to make sure we did use them), Most notable was the woman in the line in front of us who had two over packed suitcases, and another item the size of three fully stuffed bean bags wrapped together in a large amount of clear plastic, which she wanted to take on the plane as carry on baggage (how she would have possibly got this into an overhead locker no one seemed to be entirely sure). She was crying that she was already running late for her plane but, given the baggage situation, the staff was not being overly sympathetic. Other than that we moved rapidly through to Customs.

After the speed of check in, there were only two x-ray machines open at Customs which meant a queue. This would have been more bearable had Meg not had a group of three Manchester United supporters (flying to Portugal for that nights Champions League match) standing behind her. One, in particular, kept pushing Meg, complaining about the length of time it was taking to get through Customs, and making statements along the lines of, ‘this isn’t how we won the war’. Their disgruntlement grew to complete outrage when two things happened simultaneously; a new x-ray machine looked like opening, but was then delayed, and the lady from check in walked completely past the queue and attempted to go straight through the scanner in front of everybody who had been waiting. When Meg heard the people behind referring to a ‘princess’ she thought they might have been talking about her and was ready to open a can of whoop ass upon them. Fortunately (for the Manchester United supporters) at that moment we reached the front of the queue and Wayne was able to explain to whom it was really referring.

One of the comforts of Heathrow which Meg had been anticipating was the presence of a Harrod’s store. Because we had quite a bit of time until our plane was called for boarding we were off to have a look around, then it was an opportunity to browse some more. At this point we noticed the young lady from back at check in, sitting and looking very relaxed. Perhaps unsurprisingly we also saw the Man. United crew sitting at the Weatherspoons pub having a few drinks before boarding the plane. Apparently all the angst wasn’t about catching a flight but about downing a few before doing so. Meg and Brock tried going up to our gate to wait there but were sent back because it was too early.

Eventually the time came to board the aircraft and we were pleasantly surprised. After a few trips travelling with the ultra cheap airlines it was nice to have allocated seats. What was even nicer was that they were quite roomy (both for leg room and side to side) and, of course, they served us some food. Our flight was about an hour and a half, taking us over Geneva, and it seemed that we were very quickly on the ground at Malpensa Airport. Unfortunately, we had to exit the plane down on to the tarmac and then catch a bus to the terminal itself. Quinn was almost the most excited at this point, because although he had been to Italy skiing earlier in the year, this time he was going to get a stamp in his passport. Sure enough, we were through Customs in record time and outside Terminal 1 at Malpensa waiting for the courtesy bus to our hotel.

While checking with a member of staff from where the bus would leave we were referred to ‘the lady over there’ who was going to the Novotel. When we got over to her, although slightly taken aback that people seemed to know where she was going, we were delighted to meet Val from Townsville (the Australian accent was a bit of a give away). She and Meg had a delightful time sharing tips about Milan and about shopping while in Europe generally. Sadly, she and her husband were right at the end of their time in Milan and were off to Florence and Rome before heading across to the UK. Even more amazing, when we first met Val, she was chatting with an American couple. Meg and Wayne don’t know many people who live in the USA, so imagine our surprise when these people turned out to be from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where our friends Christine and Ian and their children live. We were able to chat about their home town before they were taken to their own hotel.

The Novotel Milan Malpensa is actually in the town of Cardano al Campo, only 2 kilometres from Malpensa Airport but at least 35 kilometres from Milan. We checked in to the hotel, took our baggage up to our room and then went back to the lobby to enquire as to where we might best acquire some lunch. Obviously the hotel staff recommended the hotel restaurant, but we were also informed of a restaurant in the forest just a short walk away. It was a beautiful sunny day and a restaurant in the forest sounded like fun, so we decided on the walk. This proved to be a better decision than we could have imagined.

‘Nel “Buco del Mulo’ is a ristorante and pizzeria set in the midst of the Nature Park of Torino, to the north of the town and within easy walking distance of many of the hotels. The lady who seated us spoke excellent English and we felt very welcome from the get go. Meg and the boys ordered pizzas, while Wayne chose a ‘calzone’ (one of his favourite things to eat) and we sat back and waited, chatting about the things we might do in Milan over the next few days. Our drinks came rapidly and the food arrived not long after and we were overwhelmed by the size of the portions and the quality. In particular, Wayne’s calzone was so impressive that he lost it to Meg while the boys both tasted it as well. Brock and Quinn struggled to get through their pizzas and all in all we were very impressed. The waitress was attentive and helpful and we quickly decided that we would be back there again before the end of this trip. If you find yourself in Cardano al Campo and want some really good and inexpensive food, don’t miss the opportunity to dine at ‘Nel “Buco” del Mulo’. We would like to find out if they deliver to the UK.

After lunch we decided to head down into Cardano al Campo (the town is named after a historically significant local family and had the name ‘field’ put at the end by King Vittorio Emanuele II, in 1864, to avoid similarities with other towns in Italy) in order to buy some groceries. As we soon discovered, there were two tiny problems with this plan. The first was that Meg had not changed her shoes with a consequence that, as it was a reasonable distance into the centre of town (and we didn’t take the most direct route) her feet became quite sore. The other thing which we had not counted upon was the fact that everything closes for lunch and siesta around 1pm and doesn’t reopen until 3:30pm. Thus, even when we did find the supermarket it was closed and we were going to have to wait for a while.

Cardano al Campo has a population of 13 800 people, of whom we saw less than 100 during our walk (they take siesta seriously in this part of Italy). There is archaeological evidence of a settlement on the site since Roman times, but the first written reference to the town doesn’t come until the twelfth century. Later it was hit by various plagues which had a serious effect upon the population although the Church of St Peter in the centre of town often provided support. During World War II it was taken by the Germans, but an active resistance was organised among the local townspeople, a number of whom are commemorated in street names. The main street of the town, however, is named Via XX Septembre in commemoration of the date that the Kingdom of Italy captured Rome in 1870. It was on this street that Wayne and Quinn discovered a traffic sign displaying the speed of passing vehicles. Because it also clocked the speed of pedestrians, they had a competition to see who could achieve the fastest speed on the sign. Wayne won with 23 kph to Quinn’s 21.

Once 3:30pm came and various purchases had been made we all set out back to the hotel, this time taking a significantly shorter route. Once back it was decided to go and hang out by the swimming pool. Having been assured that the water was freezing, both Meg and Wayne decided to stay out. Brock and Quinn played a game of table tennis, with the foolish proviso that if the ball went in the pool then Quinn would have to go and get it. While Brock was making every effort to get the ball into the pool, in the end it was Meg who managed it and Quinn ended up swimming. At this point we were informed that the pool was actually closed until next month. As the weather grew cooler we retired to our room, some reading up about what to expect the following day and watching of DVD’s followed before we all drifted off to sleep.

The following morning saw us arise in dribs and drabs before heading down to the restaurant for a buffet breakfast. Having looked out of the window we were dismayed (but not entirely surprised) to see that it was raining. Once again, as in Madrid, we had arrived on a beautiful day only to see it turn cold and wet the following day. We got ready and went downstairs to catch the bus up to Malpensa but missed the first couple that came along. Finally a member of staff gave us a lift in their own car (helpfully providing us with an umbrella when we reached the airport) and then we boarded the shuttle into the city.

We pulled out of Malpensa Terminal 1 at 10am and then back into Terminal 2 at 10:03. Then it was underway into Milan. Initially there was lots of farmland and industry, with turn offs to Torino, Genova and Bologna. As we proceeded down the tollway watching the power lines push off across the largely flat landscape into the distance it, gradually became much more suburban, still flat but broken up by large apartment blocks, church towers, and various industries. We knew we were getting close when we pulled up alongside the San Siro Stadium (the home of both AC Milan and Inter Milan, two of the top football teams in Italy) and passed the home of the Media Conglomerate owned by Sylvio Berlusconi, the Italian President.

At last we drew up alongside the, somewhat misnamed, Milan Central Station. This station is quite a distance from most of the major tourist sites which are largely considered to be the centre of Milan, but is one of the places where the overland line meets the Metro. Rather than put ourselves under the ground and miss some of the sights we decided to walk in toward what all the guidebooks assured us was the highlight of a visit to Madrid, the Duomo. Avoiding the taxis (all white, just to make a contrast to many of the other countries which we have visited) we set off down the Via V. Pisani toward the Piazza della Repubblica which is surrounded by large hotels and mirrors similar Piazza’s in other major Italian cities.

The map which we had brought with us labelled the Giardini Pubblici off the Bastioni di Porta Venezia as being the zoo. Somewhat excited by this we walked into the gardens only to discover that the zoo, as such, doesn’t really exist anymore. The Giardini Pubblici does however feature many, many statues, and we saw quite a significant number of Milanese walking their dogs (which in Meg’s mind became lions, zebra, bears and other assorted animals).

Having quite enjoyed our walk in the park, even if we were a little disappointed at the absence of any real zoo, we next found ourselves at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna. As the rain had started to become heavier no one was really adverse to going in and having a good look. The building itself was designed by architect Leopold Pollak in 1790 and over the years, it became the official residence of Napoleon III and of Marshall Radetzky. In the gallery there was a sizeable collection of paintings and sculptures from 19th-century Italy including works by Appiani, Canova, Hayez, Cremona, Medardo, Rosso, Ranzoni and Segantini. One of the most impressive things was a collection of tiny miniatures which showed amazing detail. Despite some misdirection by the guides, and a sense that we were a little underdressed, it was a very interesting time.

Emerging from the Galleria we found that the rain had lightened off a little and as we set off down the road we noticed what looked like a Museum down the next street, the Corso Venezia. As it turned out, this was the Museo di Storia Naturale which was founded in 1838 when a young man, Giuseppe de Cristoforis (1803–1837), died donating his collections to the city. It has just a fabulous collection of skeletons, dioramas and stuffed animals displayed in really interesting ways (although just a tad more English would have helped). We had a drink in the café on the top floor first, where Wayne managed to make friends with a young child (she was apparently teaching Wayne how to put his fist in his mouth and found it hilarious when he attempted it) before looking through the museum itself.

As we were leaving the building after an excellent visit (well worth the €6 it cost us), the front entrance was extraordinarily crowded with teenagers. It was only as we squeezed out of the doors that we realised that this was because the rain had got even heavier. At this point Wayne became geographically challenged and started heading toward the Viale Majno, rather than in the opposite direction, which did two things; firstly, it made him grumpy, wet and cold, and secondly, it allowed us to see some of the most beautiful buildings we had yet seen. The apartments in this area of Milan were tall and elegant and through wrought iron gates we could glimpse gorgeous internal courtyards. One of the buildings was covered with creepers which have obviously been climbing for a long time.

After some misdirection, an aborted attempt to catch a bus, and Wayne being completely unreasonable, we finally found ourselves walking through the Corso Victor Emmanuele II and up to the Duomo il Milano. If you have never seen it then it is hard to describe the magnificence of this cathedral. We were approaching it in the rain, from the back (where scaffolding was obstructing some of the view) and with Wayne struggling to overcome his own frustration with himself, and yet all of us were amazed at just how impressive a construction it is. Mark Twain [in Innocents Abroad] wrote of it,

“What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!... The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself...Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond. ... (Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street... They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.”

These days it is only the third largest cathedral in Christendom (as they say) with one in Seville having surpassed this one, however that does not detract from Twain’s words. We spent perhaps an hour inside, with all agreeing that it could have been a week and we still would not have seen everything there was to see. Despite the commotion outside in the square, and the number of people actually in the Duomo itself, it was tranquil and serene. There is the option to pay some money and catch the lift up to the roof but we opted not to. Instead, knowing that we would be back again during our stay in Milan, we headed back outside.

At last the rain had started to lighten, which was handy for the crowds packed into the square staring up at the balcony on one of the nearby buildings. We discovered that some famous pop star (or model, or actress, they all seem to be interchangable these days) was being interviewed by the Italian MTV with the square forming the background. Consequently, Brock and Quinn have now appeared live on Italian MTV (we could see the telecast on the enormous television which stood on the other side of the square). After looking around some more and being amazed at the number of stalls which filled the walkways around the square (let alone the shopping opportunities which completely surrounded us in the buildings) we adjourned to McDonalds for a traditional lunch/dinner knowing that we would only have a light supper when we arrived back in Cardano al Campo.

To make our trip back to the railway station just a little easier we caught the City Sightseeing bus (at a significantly reduced rate, thanks to the guide) which was also a good preparation for one of the things we had planned to do the next day. It gave us both an opportunity to see where some of the sights we would visit the next day were, and also demonstrated where the stop closest to the station was, as well as providing a timetable so that we would be able to catch it. Now that the rain had subsided it was much easier to view lots of the things around the station and we were able to grab some drinks from a local supermarket before reboarding the shuttle bus back to Malpensa.

All that remained was a quick transfer at the airport from the shuttle bus down to where we had met the courtesy bus back to the Novotel. At this point our major problem with the hotel emerged, as yet again we had trouble catching the courtesy bus. It arrived three times, with the first two seeing the driver resfusing to take us on. There was some confusion about whether there was another Novotel near the airport (there isn’t but there is one near Linate [the other airport] and another in the city itself). The next time he appeared we insisted that we get on the bus and took the journey back. By this time Meg was fuming and made her feelings about the situation very clear to the staff at reception. Then Wayne and Meg headed up to the room to remove wet clothes and have showers, while the boys went downstairs and spent time on the computers that were provided in the foyer. When they returned after their allocated 20 minutes we all had some cheese and crackers. Then, feeling significantly more tired than we had the previous evening (and the boys had slept on the shuttle bus on the way back) we all retired for the night, hoping that the weather on the following day would be an improvement.

NB. The ‘drought breakers’ from Down Under are available to visit you. All you need to do is pay for our flights and we can be with you to bring the rains almost anywhere in the world.