My Cruise to Greece and Turkey: Part 4: Kavala, Limnos

Sat., July 15--Kavala

Kavala's idea of public transportation.
At least it was free.

This was a down day, meaning no strenuous activity. It was just too hot as all of Europe became a pizza oven. All the news reports gave the temperature in celsius so it doesn't sound too bad. But when you convert it, the mercury reaches triple digits and to quote Cole Porter, it's too darned hot. We went shopping in the town of Kavala and bought several shirts, then had a snack at a coffee place of which there are hundreds. Jerry went back to the ship and I wandered around the seafront, eventually finding a cute little train for free. There is not narration or tourist information, it just climbs the steep, narrow streets up the mountain. Locals use it for public transportation to get to their home high up. I caught the last one at 1300 or 1 pm in American time. The whole ride was 20 minutes up the hills and back to the town square, with stops at the usual castle, fort, amphitheater, etc. No guide, no context, just up the winding, twisting streets not much wider than alleyways. It was something to do and I saw some great views but too may other people blocked me for a good picture.

My Cruise to Greece and Turkey: Part 3: Izmir, Chios and Karfas

Thurs. July 13--Izmir, Turkey

The clock tower in 
the main square of Izmir, Turkey

The main attraction of Izmir is 45 minutes away--the ruins at Ephesus and the home of the Virgin Mary. We had seen both the last time we were in Turkey, so this port of call was not a highlight. Izmir itself is a large city with a massive labyrinthine bazaar and a cruise pier a few miles from the center of town. Jerry stayed on board and I took the shuttle bus in. I wondered around the boiling city until I found the tourism center and acquired a map which led me to the agora of Smyrna, an ancient metropolis founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. I trudged pass souvenir shops, restaurants, and fish markets to emerge at the ruin with its columns, running water, headstones, and archways (including the Faustina gate, named for the wife of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who rebuild the city after a devastating earthquake.)

Oddly enough, the highlight of the agora for me was browsing in the tiny museum gift shop. Amid the magnets, postcards and reproductions of busts and statues was a display of classics in English for 69 and 79 Turkish lire--the equivalent of $3 or $4 dollars US. The titles were off-beat, second-tier works by major authors--Jacob's Room and A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf, A Tale of the Stone Age by HG Wells, The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, several short works by Stefan Zweig, etc. I was suddenly transported to the Strand Bookstore. They were all cheap and had simple, attractive covers. All published in Turkey in English. I don't know why I wanted to but I took a picture, maybe to capture this unexpected island of rare English literature in a remnant of the ancient world. I wound up buying two postcards, a magnet that said Turkey with pictures of different cities in each letter and Chess by Zweig, a slim novella I'd never heard of before with a preface on Zweig. I will have to read the other titles at some point.

My Cruise to Greece and Turkey: Part 2: Crete, Marmaris, Bodrum

Mon. July 10--Crete

Our guide Karen at the Phaestos Palace site

We rose at 6am to get to our excursion for the archeological site at Phaestos from the Minoan era (12th century BC). The trip to the number one ancient palace Knossos was full, so we had to take number two, Phaestos. We docked and took abus for 1 hour and 15 mins. to the site. Our guide Karen was very informative. She is originally from the Netherlands and has lived on Crete for 30 years. She gave us lots of information about Crete and its occupation by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Venetians, the Ottoman Turks and finally their union with Greece. She also gave us her thoughts on the current Greek economy, the European Union, etc. 

We were too tired to do anything after the four-hour tour including the long drive back to the boat. After lunch and lounging on the pool deck, I played Team Trivia, scoring 12 out of 15 (I correctly guessed that Elizabeth Taylor had been married 8 times to 7 different husbands). Then high tea on the Horizons deck. The string quartet played unusual selections like "Three Little Maids from School" from The Mikado and The Beatles' Yellow Submarine as I sipped Earl Grey and munched little salami sandwiches and sweet pastries, just like at Harrod's. 

My Cruise to Greece and Turkey: Part 1: Athens, Santorini

The view of the parthenon from
our hotel in Athens

For my fourth cruise trip, we decided to go with Oceania Cruises, based on a recommendation of a friend who said the intimate, medium-sized ships allowed for better service and less crazy crowding getting on and off the ship. A ten-day cruise of the Greek islands and Turkish seaside cities worked out best for our schedule during the summer. It's been a delightful and relaxed trip. I haven't felt pressure to rush around and see ruins or historical sites. The important thing is to escape and take it easy. Here's a rundown of the trip:

Thurs. July 6--Athens
After our flight from JFK to Zurich to Athens, we checked into our hotel at the Greek capital, the Great Bretaigne (overlooking the Acropolis and the Parthenon) and had dinner at a local restaurant (very good). The flight was SwissAir--watched the first episode of Season 2 of The White Lotus (what's all the fuss about with the entire cast nominated for Emmys?) and Season 5 of The Handmaid's Tale (I'd lost interest after the first four seasons, but thought I would catch up.)

Book Review: Lincoln in the Bardo

Bought at the Strand (I think): Purchased several weeks ago to read while on a ten-day cruise in Greece and Turkey, so I can't recall exactly where I got this poetic bizarre novel. After reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven and The Lovely Bones, it seemed natural to follow up with a depiction of the journey of Abraham Lincoln's little boy Willie in the after life. Saunders imagines a nebulous in-between land as a bridge from life to death. Willie Lincoln perishes of typhoid in the White House while his parents host an elaborate ball and the Civil War rages. Willie's spirit is ensnared by souls of the damned as other departed spirits try to wrest him free. Saunders employs a strange technique--each short chapter is composed of quotes and sources as if this were an historical document. Sections pertaining to events on earth use excerpts from memoirs and histories while those dealing with events in the spirit realm are attributed to the ghosts who speak them. A slew of characters come to life (or death) as Saunders depicts how they passed and their limbo-like status as they await a final judgment. A hunter must spend eternity comforting each animal he mercilessly slaughtered. An African-American enslaved woman repeatedly raped while alive can no longer speak. A repressed gay man is all noses, mouths and eyes since he pushed down his senses in life. Much spookier and more frightening than either of the previously mentioned books on heaven. Fascinating view of 19th century American life as well as a thoughtful fantasy of death and redemption and a searing portrait of Lincoln and his troubled state of mind during the worst part of the war.

Reconstructing the Carol Burnett Show: Part 38: Carol in the 1990s

A new batch of episodes from Carol's early 1990s period--encompassing the anthology series Carol and Company on NBC and her short-lived 1991 CBS rebooted variety series--have cropped up on YouTube.

Carol and Company (NBC 1990-91)

Season One:

May 12, 1990: Myna and the Messenger
Guest Star: Howie Mandel

Carol and Howie Mandel in
Myna and the Messenger

A neat little morality tale written by playwright Mark St. Germain who had some success Off-Broadway with plays such as Camping with Tom and Henry and Ears on a Beatle. Carol plays Myna, a deeply religious woman who prays for a miracle to save her church which is set for the wrecking ball. In walks Mandel (After St. Elsewhere but before Deal or No Deal) as regular-guy angel Steve. 

Steve persuades Myna to go to Atlantic City and gamble her life savings in order to save the church. Much of the comedy derives from the straight-laced Myna coming up against prostitutes and bikers. But after a few Harvey Wallbangers, she begins rolling sevens at the craps table and forgets her Sunday School morality. The twist ending is unexpected as Myna discovers she was betting on the wrong angel. Dennis Burkley has a nice guest turn as a burly biker who turns out to be more than his scary exterior would indicate.

Book Review: The Lovely Bones

Found for free in the basement bookcase of a neighbor (residents put their unwanted books down there.) Another one of the 100 books the BBC says I should read before I die. Coming almost right after The Five People You Meet in Heaven, this provided a more palatable version of the afterlife for me than the previous Hallmark Card version written by Mitch Albom. Alice Sebold's best-seller imagines a 14-year-old girl looking down on her family, friends and her murderer after she is raped and killed. There's less sugary sentimentality here, plus the Pennsylvania locale is familiar to me having grown up in Norristown (though I can't remember any cornfields.) The format is that of a police thriller, but it's more about our relationship with the dead and how they live inside us as long as we remember them. That's Sebold's metaphor for heaven. The murdered girl lives in an idealized version of her hometown and the high school she never got to attend. She watches her family on Earth as they adjust (or fail to adjust) to her absence. Their complex stories form the backbone if you will and the metaphysical speculation is thankfully kept to a minimum. The police thriller aspect, is not stereotypical with a false Hollywood TV ending. With all its spiritualism and visits from the dead, The Lonely Bones is more realistic than The Five People You Meet in Heaven. The subsidiary characters are as finely drawn as the dead girl and her family, especially the alcoholic, but supportive grandmother. I liked the neighbor mother, Mrs. Singh, and her Dunhill cigarettes.