April 2020 – A Traveling Fool

April 26, 2020

The Met & Richard II

When I found out that the Royal Shakespeare Company was bringing Shakespeare’s King Cycle to New York with David Tennant playing Richard II, I started planning. David Tennant is my favorite actor and this was my chance to see him onstage. I quickly joined the Brooklyn Academy of Music (where the King Cycle would be playing) so I could hopefully get a ticket immediately after they went on sale.

The season tickets went on sale first. Since I don’t currently live in NYC, that wasn’t an option. I needed to wait about a month before the single tickets went on sale. BAM members still had an advantage over the general public, however. As soon as I was able to purchase a ticket, I also booked my airfare, hotel, and the rest of what I had come up with while planning.

Since I had lived in New York City for several years back after university graduation, I planned four nights in NYC followed by six nights in Edinburgh and six nights in London. Being able to investigate and book everything online is an enormous plus. I got all of the air travel, train travel, and airport transfers, all three hotels, and several day trips booked as planned.

This was April of 2016 and several of the presidential hopefuls were in NYC, which tied up traffic considerably. It took two hours to get from LaGuardia to the hotel at Times Square. I was so glad that I had booked a shuttle transfer instead of a cab. I was also glad that I didn’t have anything important planned for that first day.

As I was checking in, I asked about a car service for the following night when I would be going to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Harvey Theatre to see Richard II. They said they would get something arranged and let me know. When I got to my room, I called and confirmed my Super Shuttle to get me to the Newark Airport in four days. Although the plane wasn’t leaving until 8pm, they said they would be there at 2:35pm.

Then I spent some time walking around the neighborhood and getting re-acclimated. I hadn’t been back to NYC for several years and a lot had changed.

Breakfast was included at the hotel. So the following day after breakfast, I took the subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before entering the museum, I went around to the park and found the statue of Alexander Hamilton that one of his sons had placed there. I had also tried to get a ticket to Hamilton, but had been unsuccessful.

After grabbing a map of the museum, I set off to see the Egyptian Art. I am a huge fan of ancient Egyptian art. The Met also has a temple that they moved in pieces to the museum and reassembled it. I spent a lot of time in the Egyptian section.

Then came Byzantine Art, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Arms & Armor, and Medieval Art. The Arms & Armor included Middle Eastern and Asian as well as European. The dagger second from the bottom in the photo was similar to one that I bought while in Jordan, though mine was without the gold and jewels.

After lunch (which was in the museum cafeteria), I had enough energy to tackle Greek and Roman Art. There was a bust of Alexander the Great, which I thought resembled Brad Pitt. They had a very intact statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa that I really liked and some cool Roman armor. Then I took the subway back to the hotel. I never did get to any of the paintings.

The driver who was taking me to the Brooklyn Academy of Music had felt that we needed to allow for quite a bit of time to get there. So he picked me up at 6pm for a play that began at 8pm. He was right. It was a little after 7:30pm when we arrived at the theatre. The play went for three hours. He would be back to get me when it finished, but we exchanged phone numbers just in case. Good thing. He had some traffic to deal with to get back to the theatre and I needed to wait a bit.

The seat that I had managed to get was on the end of the second row and essentially on the stage. I was often very close to several of the actors in the play, including David Tennant. I was absolutely mesmerized by the entire production. The acting by all was superb.

The photo I have included here from the play was not one that I took myself. In NYC, it is illegal to take any photos inside the theatre itself, even when nobody is on the stage. I just include it to give an idea of the play. It was said at the time that this was the other production, besides Hamilton, that was completely sold out.

Next time – a Hop-On/Hop-Off tour of Lower Manhattan and a harbor cruise

April 19, 2020

Return to Athens

After spending the morning in Chios, we returned to the ship for cocktails and lunch. We were supposed to go to Mykonos in the afternoon. But when we arrived, we encountered a storm which wouldn’t allow us to take the tender from the ship to the port. Like Santorini, the harbor couldn’t handle large ships and the sea was too choppy for the tenders. I took a photo of Mykonos as we went by.

This was the start of a big storm, so the ship’s captain decided to just head back to Lavrion. Our little group had signed up for a tour of Mykonos plus dinner for our last night on the cruise. Instead, the ship changed both the dinner and the show to two seatings each. They advised women not to wear high heels and everyone to stay away from the open decks. It soon began to rain heavily, so nobody wanted to be out on the open decks anyway.

Although the ship was a little rocky, I didn’t think it was as bad as the storm when on that overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm a few years earlier. I just stayed near the walls where I could grab a railing when needed. Fortunately the rocking was not too violent and I wasn’t tossed around during the night like I had been on the ferry. So I slept well.

We arrived in Lavrion earlier than planned. Lavrion is itself an interesting location. It was the site of the oldest silver mine in the world, dating back to prehistoric times. The silver from that mine financed the Athenian fleet that was victorious over the Persians in 480 BC. It also financed the buildings on the Acropolis in Athens.

We headed for our hotel in Athens (the same one as when we arrived), but they weren’t ready for us. They also didn’t have any place to lock up anyone’s luggage. So we were stuck with sitting in the lobby and waiting as one by one our rooms were made ready. Yep. You guessed it. Mine was one of the last.

By the time I got into my room, everyone else had already departed for whatever they had planned for our last day in Greece. I had a list of options, but only really had time for the Acropolis Museum. I have included here a photo of the museum that I took from the Acropolis when we were there at the beginning of the tour.

This museum was built to house the artifacts found on the Acropolis and on the slopes. It replaced a much smaller museum that had been built on the Acropolis itself back in the 19^th century. Because it was being built over some Roman and Byzantine ruins, it was perched on top of pillars with glass floors and some open areas through which the ancient ruins can be seen.

Once inside, the first space has a sloping glass floor through which parts of the excavation below can be seen. Displayed on both sides are artifacts found on the slopes of the Acropolis. This leads to a staircase representing the ascent to the Acropolis. There were a couple of Athena Nike statues along the route as they would have been at the Acropolis itself.

Once up the hill and stairs comes a very large hallway of statues from the Archaic period. This would have been from the 7^th century BC through the end of the Persian Wars (roughly 480/79 BC). The statues were scattered around on pedestals so they could be viewed from all angles.

From there you are supposed to go up an escalator to the Parthenon Gallery and see the other items on this floor on the way down. But I was very anxious to see the Caryatids from the Erectheion, so I sort of jumped the gun, moved out of the prescribed order of things and visited the ladies next. These are the originals. The statues on the Acropolis are copies.

I rejoined the plan from where I left off and went up to see the statues and friezes from the Parthenon itself. The level on which these pieces were housed, had floor to ceiling glass walls. Views of the Acropolis and the Parthenon from there were amazing. I kept taking photos of those views as well as of the beautiful art.

On the way down, the last grouping was from the 5^th century BC to the 5^th century AD. There were some great statues and pottery from that era as well. There was one bust that I thought had a very pleasant, gentle-looking face. They actually knew who he was — Tiberius Julius Sauromates II. He was a Roman Client King of the Bosphorus Kingdom (which was just north of the Black Sea) from 174 to 210 AD. Not much else is known about him other than that.

I had a good view of the entrance from up there when I went over to the windows to sit down for a bit. Somewhere along the way my left foot had begun to hurt. I reconnoitered with my museum map, deciding to have some lunch at the cafeteria one floor down and then check out the shop before heading back to the hotel.

On my way back to the hotel, I encountered Barbara, Roberta and Chris. Chris wasn’t feeling well and wanted to return to the hotel, so I escorted her back. The four of us planned to meet up in the hotel lobby later to go to dinner together. In the meantime back at the hotel, I pulled out an ace bandage and my folding cane. My foot was really hurting.

We had a delicious Greek dinner at a café near the Acropolis Museum. We toasted our time in Greece and headed back to the hotel to get everything ready for our departure the next day.

When I returned home, I found that I had a stress fracture in my foot and ended up in a big, black boot for the next couple of months. It matched the sling I got in another week from planned surgery on my left shoulder.

I didn’t take another trip for a couple of years until I flew to NYC to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Richard II. From there I flew to Edinburgh and then took the train down to London. That trip begins next time.

April 13, 2020

The Greek Islands of Symi & Chios

We left Rhodes at about 3pm, arriving at the island of Symi around 5pm. Symi is a mountainous island known for shipbuilding, sponges and a very tiny shrimp that is pan fried and eaten whole, shell and all. During the Trojan War, Symi fought on the side of Greece. It’s king, Nireus, was considered to have been the most handsome man in the Greek forces other than Achilles.

An optional dinner had been offered on Symi, but Chris, Barbara, Roberta, Maureen, Mark and I had all opted to dine on the ship instead. So, from arrival in the port of Symi to our dinner time of 7pm, we wandered around taking photos. It was such a beautiful town with colorful houses perched on the mountainsides. We each had a favorite or two picked out.

The next day we arrived at the island of Chios. Our first encounter with anything on Chios was with Mastik trees (I have a somewhat fuzzy photo of one here, taken while on a moving tour bus). Chios is famous for Mastik (or Mastic), which is used as a gum and as a sweetener in many foods, including Turkish Delight. It is also used to make a rather tasty liqueur.

Other than Mastik, Chios’ main claim to fame was as the birthplace of Homer. He was the author of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Both of these works were long considered to be fictional, but in more recent years, archaeological discoveries have proven that some parts of them (such as the Trojan War) were based in fact.

Chios had a very big problem with pirates. They were raided regularly during both Byzantine and medieval times. Several towers were erected around the island to alert the inhabitants if pirates were spotted. It that happened, a fire was lit at the nearest tower. As the people manning other towers saw the fire, they lit one at their tower until all of the towers were lit and all of the inhabitants of Chios knew they were about to be raided.

Many of its villages were built and fortified specifically for protection against pirates. We visited two of those villages.

The first one was Mesta, which was built in the 12^th century during the Byzantine era. It was built as a maze with only one way in and one way out. The houses were built up against one another. Animals were housed on the bottom floor while the actual house was one flight up and accessible via a retractable ladder. Many of the streets were vaulted over with roof gardens at the top of the houses. People could travel from house to house over the roofs without ever going down into the street.

The village had a small Byzantine church called the Church of Palois Taxiarchis. Taxiarches are archangels (such as Gabriel and Michael). The photo I have included here is a wee bit fuzzy since I was taking it in a somewhat dark indoor space without a flash and didn’t hold the camera still enough. A lot of these old places will allow flashless photography, which my camera allows nicely. But sometimes I just need to take more time on getting the photo.

Mesta also had a newer church they call the New Taxiarchis (or Big Taxiarchis), which was built in the 1800s and is quite ornate. It is also very well lit. No shaky photos there. This church was just off of the Village Square in the center of town. It had been built where the central tower of the town once stood. I thought that Mesta was really a cool town – very cosy. I am definitely not the only one as it is still quite inhabited and vibrant. Mastik and tourism are its main sources of revenue.

We next drove along the West Coast of the island and could see several of the pirate alarm towers along the way. We also passed or drove through many medieval villages. We were heading for Anavatos.

Anavatos was built high on the top of a rocky precipice and blended in so well with its surroundings that it was difficult to see it. It was also built in the Byzantine era.

Chios is very close to Turkey, which made it very susceptible to raids from Turkey as well as from pirates. When the Ottomans took over in Turkey, it was only a matter of time before they would take a look at nearby Chios and decide they needed to conquer it as well.

After the Ottomans took over, they allowed Chios a certain amount of autonomy due to the importance of Mastik. This was up until the Greek War of Independence in 1822. Chios’ close proximity to Turkey made it the perfect target for the Ottomans to make an example of what happens when you mess with them. Over several months, roughly 40,000 Turkish troops arrived in Chios. They were ordered to kill all males over twelve, all women over forty, and all babies under three. All others were enslaved.

In Anavatos, the decision was made by much of the population to take their own lives rather than be brutally massacred or enslaved. Those who didn’t commit suicide were slaughtered. Here and there someone has moved in (at least for the tourist season – there was a café and a little shop) but, for the most part, it is quite literally a ghost town.

Next time – Return to Athens

April 5, 2020

The Island of Rhodes

I have been fortunate to visit the sites of five out of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Only one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, still exists. It was so cool to be able to touch it and even climb on part of it. Also in Egypt, I have been shown where the Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood. There is a fort there now built with some of the stone blocks from the lighthouse.

At Ephesus in Turkey, I saw the few remains of the Temple of Artemis in 2011. During this 2014 tour of Greece and the Greek Islands, I saw where the Statue of Zeus used to be at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia.

At Rhodes, we were shown the entrance to the harbor where it was believed the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. It was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios that was erected in 280 BC and stood about 108 feet high. But nobody knows for certain if it stood on the side of the harbor, or straddled the entrance. It collapsed during a 228 BC earthquake. However it was standing, it wasn’t standing long.

It was said that it snapped at the knees and fell over onto the ground. The Oracle at Delphi told the Rhodesians something that made them feel they had offended Helios by building it, so they decided not to rebuild. It is said that the remains of the statue lay on the ground for over 800 years.

Since the remains fell over onto the ground, and since building it straddling the harbor would not have been too likely (since the harbor would have had to have been closed while building), and since it was made of bronze which would most likely have collapsed under its own weight if built with its legs spread apart, most of the experts don’t think it straddled the harbor. Although its location is still being debated, a fairly prominent possibly is where the Fortress of St Nicholas currently sits. The very large, circular platform on which it sits is much older than the fortress (which is 14^th century). Also this site would have allowed the statue to lie on the ground without blocking the harbor.

We passed the harbor entrance on our way out of town. Instead of touring the medieval old city, we set off for Philerimos . We would tour the old, walled city of Rhodes later.

Philerimos (or Filerimos) was once the ancient city of Ialysos, which dates back to the 3^rd millennium BC and was one of the Rhodesian cities that participated in the Trojan War. Ruins of ancient temples to Zeus and Athena lie just outside of a church of the Order of the Knights of Saint John Hospitaller (14^th century). A monastery belonging to the same order stands on the other side of the church. We toured the church and the monastery.

One of my favorite parts of the visit, involved the peacocks. There were a very large number of them. It was mating season, so they had a lot to say. The males were especially noisy and aggressive. We had to keep our eyes open as to where they were the entire time. They were large and could be fallen over or bump into you, especially when they flew by.

I have a photo of a gorgeous male who posed for me (I did not zoom in; he was that close), followed by another who was spreading his tail feathers. As I was taking that photo, another flew right past me, brushing me with his tail feathers as he did so. I took a photo of him sitting up in a tree.

On our way back to the city of Rhodes (both the city and island have the same name), we passed a Hellenistic (5^th – 3^rd centuries BC) Temple of Apollo on the Acropolis of Rhodes. It was on the other side of the tour bus, so I couldn’t get a decent photo. But I have included a fuzzy one that shows it still had three columns standing.

In 1306 – 1310, as the Byzantine period ended, the Order of St John Hospitaller took over the island. They went on a building spree, most of which still stands, including the Fortress of the Order of St John and the Palace of the Grand Master.

They withstood attacks by the Sultan of Egypt and an Ottoman siege, but finally fell to the 100,000 strong (to 7,000 knights) of Suleiman the Magnificent during a six month siege. The Ottomans retained control for roughly 400 years. They didn’t destroy what the knights had built. They just moved in. The Order of St John made their new headquarters in Malta.

We entered the largest medieval town in Europe (population of about 6,000) through the Gate d’Amboise. We viewed a number of fortifications on our way to the Palace of the Grand Master, also known as the Kastello (the castle).

The building was originally built by the Byzantines in the 7^th century AD and greatly enlarged by the Hospitallers. In 1856, there was a large ammunition explosion in part of the Palace that destroyed a portion of the first floor. Once the Italians took over, the Palace was renovated and used as a holiday residence first by the King of Italy and later by Benito Mussolini.

The Palace was very large. Several mosaic floors had been taken from their origins on the Greek island of Kos (which was also under the control of the Hospitallers) and re-laid in the Palace. There is one from the 2^nd century BC of Medusa. I took a photo and have included it here.

After we left the Palace, we headed back towards the harbor down the Street of the Knights. This was where the knights themselves lived. There were seven inns – one for each of the seven countries from which the knights originated. They are all still in great shape. The most spectacular of them all is the one built for the French knights, to which the majority of the group belonged. This inn was built in 1492 and was being used at a French Consulate as of 2014.

Once we reached the main square, we had a little free time before heading back to the ship. I chose to get ice cream (no surprise there) and sit and do some people watching.

Next time – the Islands of Symi & Chios