Taking Life by the Horns...
Whew the last few days have been exhausting and fun at the same time. Our friend Paul Dabek has been on board. He brings a youthful and playful spirit to the cast as a fellow performer so we all tend to party more and go out more when people like him come on board. Now we have another friend of ours coming on who plays the oboe and she's got that same zest for life. Here we go again, lol.
In other worldly adventures I took a tour in Antalya, Turkey to get a view of the outer city limits. As much as I enjoyed the sights and the countryside I kind of wished I stayed in town and partook in the fun beaches that were available since it is a resort town for the Turks. I made the choice at the beginning of the cruise though not knowing about these things and later learning how much fun everyone had at the beach. Live and learn.
I started off my day on a buss full of lively passengers. I'm not quite used to these tours anymore as I was in my first contract with Holland America. I had such a blast the past 3 years with just the cast and seeing the sights independently that tours have become sort of passé unless I really don't know what to do in port. Like the day of Antalya. Our guide was great. She's from Kusadasi and has worked on ships before as a Photo Manager. She knows what guests like and how to run a tour. We headed out of port learning that Antalya is the largest city in Turkey mostly bringing in income with textiles and food processing as well as tourism. We had about an hour's drive to Aspendos where she spouted off history and culture differences galore as well as city politics. I, like in most of my history classes in school, dozed a bit. Aspendos was a major port city of the Roman period and the theatre there (the main sight) is the most preserved theatre from its time. It's about the only thing standing there. Also found here are remains of the ancient aqueducts where the water was brought to the city. The town was built in 333 BC and made famous by Alexander the Great as with most of the other places. He used it as a base because of the fortifications around the city. The theatre we got to see was in amazing condition. 
All the seats and the stage were still in tact. Most of the entryways and stairs were also in tact. The acoustics of that time were unbelievable. You could be standing on stage talking in a normal conversational voice and the people in the back row can hear you just as if you were standing 5 feet from them. Of course I walked in with the tail end of the line and the guide asked if anyone wanted to sing. The guests all knew who I was and asked me to do a ditty. Reluctantly I got up and sang a short piece from the previous night's show. It was 10:00 am and I was doing this and on 3 hours rest! Oy! It rang through though and the passengers were very happy. The theatre itself can seat about 20,000 comfortably and that's what they seat today when they have concerts and operas, but back in the day the people would cram in 40,000. Whew!! I can't imagine. After exploring here we took another bus ride to Perge. This was the focus of the tour dating back to 1000 BC. The ruins there are in relatively good condition. The problem with the ruins of Turkey including the ones in Ephesus as well was that it passed through so many hands in politics and rule. It was ruled by tribes to start before being overtaken by the Greeks with Alexander, then the Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and finally the Turkish Republic. 
Perge was the first in Turkey to be introduced to Christianity and where you can find the remains of the Basilica built there. We wondered in and stopped first at the Roman Baths where I learned about the ingenious plumbing systems. Water was brought down from the springs on the mountainside. Cold water was pumped through underground clay piping and this kept the water cold. With the hot water, pipes were placed on top of the earth so the hot Mediterranean sun could heat up the clay piping and provide warmth for the water. That's an amazing revelation.
The pure architecture of this city and the engineering needed to complete such a large city is amazing to think about. There wasn't electricity and oil machines to carry large tons of marble and concrete rock from the port to the city. It was done using animals and pure human strength. Cities took thousands of years to get the size a small suburb is today. There was sewage, baths, hot & cold water, and places to congregate and shop as well as places to worship. The city of Perge mostly praised Artemis more than the other Roman Gods so they even made their own currency with Artemis on it. These cities outlasted, for the most part, thousands of years of earthquakes and territorial changes as well as other natural elements from being abandoned. Yes, it was just another pile of rocks, but you learn different histories and new things from each pile. I left there exhausted and had a catnap on the way back to the ship. I went out briefly in the city to explore and found tons of hip little stores and places to eat much like it is in Istanbul. It looks like some time in my life I'll have to do a Turkish holiday.
The next day was Rhodes. This day I totally took as a relaxer to enjoy my favorite Greek port. Santorini might overtake that with its scenic view of the sea, but this is still in the top, as I've not spent more than 20 minutes in Santorini so far. Tomorrow is the big day for that one. We stopped at a local café for some Greek delights and then headed off to the pebble beach just outside the walled city.
The sea here is really cold and stony so I didn't do a lot of swimming. Just relaxing. It was nice to head back to the ship feeling at ease and not rushed to do everything. We partied for a bit that evening since our friend was leaving the next day (today) and I turned in at a decent hour since we have a show tonight. Whew.
Today is also a day of celebration since I've FINALLY paid off my entire debt. My student loans are clear and my credit cards are always back to zero by the end of the month. Woo hoo!!! It feels so amazing. I'm starting a new chapter in life where I'm trying to get as much in while I can do it and live life to it's fullest. It's a scary thing since I felt I've been doing it, but really haven't. Always in the back of my mind was this annoying debt thing and now it's gone. I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a few weeks after this contract finishes and take an unplanned and unscheduled trip through parts of Europe. I'm giving myself a few weeks and I'm just going to do it. It's kind of unnerving to think about, but when am I ever going to get this opportunity again. I'm right here in the heart of it all. Carpe Diem!
In other worldly adventures I took a tour in Antalya, Turkey to get a view of the outer city limits. As much as I enjoyed the sights and the countryside I kind of wished I stayed in town and partook in the fun beaches that were available since it is a resort town for the Turks. I made the choice at the beginning of the cruise though not knowing about these things and later learning how much fun everyone had at the beach. Live and learn.
I started off my day on a buss full of lively passengers. I'm not quite used to these tours anymore as I was in my first contract with Holland America. I had such a blast the past 3 years with just the cast and seeing the sights independently that tours have become sort of passé unless I really don't know what to do in port. Like the day of Antalya. Our guide was great. She's from Kusadasi and has worked on ships before as a Photo Manager. She knows what guests like and how to run a tour. We headed out of port learning that Antalya is the largest city in Turkey mostly bringing in income with textiles and food processing as well as tourism. We had about an hour's drive to Aspendos where she spouted off history and culture differences galore as well as city politics. I, like in most of my history classes in school, dozed a bit. Aspendos was a major port city of the Roman period and the theatre there (the main sight) is the most preserved theatre from its time. It's about the only thing standing there. Also found here are remains of the ancient aqueducts where the water was brought to the city. The town was built in 333 BC and made famous by Alexander the Great as with most of the other places. He used it as a base because of the fortifications around the city. The theatre we got to see was in amazing condition. 
All the seats and the stage were still in tact. Most of the entryways and stairs were also in tact. The acoustics of that time were unbelievable. You could be standing on stage talking in a normal conversational voice and the people in the back row can hear you just as if you were standing 5 feet from them. Of course I walked in with the tail end of the line and the guide asked if anyone wanted to sing. The guests all knew who I was and asked me to do a ditty. Reluctantly I got up and sang a short piece from the previous night's show. It was 10:00 am and I was doing this and on 3 hours rest! Oy! It rang through though and the passengers were very happy. The theatre itself can seat about 20,000 comfortably and that's what they seat today when they have concerts and operas, but back in the day the people would cram in 40,000. Whew!! I can't imagine. After exploring here we took another bus ride to Perge. This was the focus of the tour dating back to 1000 BC. The ruins there are in relatively good condition. The problem with the ruins of Turkey including the ones in Ephesus as well was that it passed through so many hands in politics and rule. It was ruled by tribes to start before being overtaken by the Greeks with Alexander, then the Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and finally the Turkish Republic. 
Perge was the first in Turkey to be introduced to Christianity and where you can find the remains of the Basilica built there. We wondered in and stopped first at the Roman Baths where I learned about the ingenious plumbing systems. Water was brought down from the springs on the mountainside. Cold water was pumped through underground clay piping and this kept the water cold. With the hot water, pipes were placed on top of the earth so the hot Mediterranean sun could heat up the clay piping and provide warmth for the water. That's an amazing revelation.
The pure architecture of this city and the engineering needed to complete such a large city is amazing to think about. There wasn't electricity and oil machines to carry large tons of marble and concrete rock from the port to the city. It was done using animals and pure human strength. Cities took thousands of years to get the size a small suburb is today. There was sewage, baths, hot & cold water, and places to congregate and shop as well as places to worship. The city of Perge mostly praised Artemis more than the other Roman Gods so they even made their own currency with Artemis on it. These cities outlasted, for the most part, thousands of years of earthquakes and territorial changes as well as other natural elements from being abandoned. Yes, it was just another pile of rocks, but you learn different histories and new things from each pile. I left there exhausted and had a catnap on the way back to the ship. I went out briefly in the city to explore and found tons of hip little stores and places to eat much like it is in Istanbul. It looks like some time in my life I'll have to do a Turkish holiday.
The next day was Rhodes. This day I totally took as a relaxer to enjoy my favorite Greek port. Santorini might overtake that with its scenic view of the sea, but this is still in the top, as I've not spent more than 20 minutes in Santorini so far. Tomorrow is the big day for that one. We stopped at a local café for some Greek delights and then headed off to the pebble beach just outside the walled city.
The sea here is really cold and stony so I didn't do a lot of swimming. Just relaxing. It was nice to head back to the ship feeling at ease and not rushed to do everything. We partied for a bit that evening since our friend was leaving the next day (today) and I turned in at a decent hour since we have a show tonight. Whew. Today is also a day of celebration since I've FINALLY paid off my entire debt. My student loans are clear and my credit cards are always back to zero by the end of the month. Woo hoo!!! It feels so amazing. I'm starting a new chapter in life where I'm trying to get as much in while I can do it and live life to it's fullest. It's a scary thing since I felt I've been doing it, but really haven't. Always in the back of my mind was this annoying debt thing and now it's gone. I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a few weeks after this contract finishes and take an unplanned and unscheduled trip through parts of Europe. I'm giving myself a few weeks and I'm just going to do it. It's kind of unnerving to think about, but when am I ever going to get this opportunity again. I'm right here in the heart of it all. Carpe Diem!
posted by Chris | 8:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home