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March - July 2011 - (Venice and Greece Cruise)
In July we escaped the British rain for a week and went on a Mediterranean cruise with NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines), which left from Venice, stopped at Dubrovnik, Athens and Katakolon (in Greece) and returned back to Venice. After a sunless British summer, the warm weather was a welcome friend.
In Athens, we went to see the famous Acropolis and the old city, with its charming small streets, shops and taverns. It is amazing how, in spite of the bad economic situation Greece is in, life goes on as normal with business as usual. The photograph below was taken from the acropolis and is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is still used today for live performances.
All photos by Valeria Lo Iacono; Paul Symonds - 2011
Below at the Acropolis: (Paul) in front of the Parthenon, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, and on the right a view of the Erechtheum a temple dedicated to the Greek hero Erichtonios.
After Athens, the next stop was Katakolon, a small tourist port, near the remains of the old Olympia, where the first Olympics were held from at least the 8th century BC (the first recorded event was in 776 BC) if not earlier (it is thought from as early as 13th century BC). On the left Paul, on the archaeological site of the ancient Olympia, in front of the Philippeion, a memorial dedicated to Philip II of Macedon. On the right, a photo we took from a ferry in the romantic city of Venice at sunset.
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Our visit to Greece was not only about old temples and archaeological sites. We also went to see a vineyard in a farmhouse near Olympia, where we tried the local wine as you can see in the photo below. In the foreground, Canadian grandmother and granddaughter who were cruising together; behind them, apart from Paul and Valeria, a couple from Perth (Australia) and our Greek guide Dimitri (who talked so much that he could have won a Gold medal in the Olympics for talking!).
On the right, Valeria on ‘our’ boat the Norwegian Jade.
Below Valeria in Venice, while we were waiting for the ferry from the airport to San Marco Square and, on the right, Paul and the Norwegian Jade (the boat that was our home for 6 days).
In spring we had a short break in Haarlem and Amsterdam (Holland), where we went to see the Amsterdam Arena. On the left Paul, sitting at the highest point in the stadium, trying not to look too worried about the height. On the right Valeria, sat in the Press Conference seats in the football manager's seat.
Last but not least, we went to Sicily at the end of April, for the Easter holidays. While in Sicily, we went on a short tour on the Etna Volcano and went as far up as 2,000 metres (the Etna stands at about 3,000 high). In spite of being from the area, with her parents living on the slopes of the Etna, there were areas where Valeria had never been, so we went to take a look. The landscape on the Etna was interesting, alternating black volcanic rocks with areas of greenery and trees, in the places not touched by the lava for a while. We also went hiking on top of old craters, such as the one where Paul is standing.
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