Mykonos, Ephesus and Kusadasai Turkey

More pictures on .mac at: http://web.mac.com/betterthan_nothing/Site_4/Photos.html

On November 8 we were in Mykonos Greece to witness the truth about those white and blue buildings on the rocky slopes. Yes, it's a beautiful contrast especially with a bright blue sky.

According to Greek mythology, Mykonos was named after the half god half man Myconos who was the grandson of Apollo. The rocks around the island were thought to be the petrified bodies of giants that were destroyed by Poseidon and Hercules. Many different peoples ruled these islands including the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Cretians, and Ionians. The Spartans conquered the island in 393 BC and then the Romans absorbed Mykonos into their empire, eventually the Turks landed in the 1500's and made fishing a strong part of day to day life. During the push for independence during the 1820's Mykonos again became part of Greece.

Mykonos has an area of 33 square miles and a population of 5000. During the tourist season some 900,000 visitors invade the island certainly more than any conquering armies from its past.

Ephesus is one of the most facinating archeological sites on the eastern mediterranean. The findings at this ancient city are the remains of one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. The ruins from the Roman and early Christian era are so extensive and well preserved that it is easy to imagine the daily interactions of the 250,000 people who used to live here. This area grew to be the second largest city in the Roman empire and the site of the Christian shrine thought to be the one-time home of the Virgin Mary. Ephesus flourished as the center for worship to the fertility goddess Cybele. The Arcadian Way was the main street and the ampitheatre held over 25,000 people. The Temple of Hadrian, the Celsus Library, the Marble Way, and the Fountain of Trajan are under constant restoration but are in amazingly good condition.

Since the 8th millenium BC Turkey was home to the oldest human settlements on earth. During the 3rd millenium BC (old Bronze Age) an early Hittite nation settled in the central plains. Following the migration of "Sea People" from Greece the Hadrian Empire collapsed. Alexander the Great marched his army into Asia Minor two centuries later and defeated the Persians. After Greek rule came the Roman empire and it became a political core of the Roman province of Asia Minor.

People like Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, The Virgin Mary, St. John and St. Paul all walked these streets AND SO DID WE!

This was a very sophisticated city with clay pipes for heating homes and aquaducts for water supply. The library housed 12,000 scrolls which were documented on the marble walls of the library. Unfortunately we all know that the contents of those scrolls were lost when the library was destroyed by the Visigoths. Imagine how much knowledge existed back then that we had to recreate later! Science, history and physics - all lost.

Eventually the harbour silted up and is today three miles inland. Earthquakes destroyed so much but today they continue to excavate and what they are finding under those lumps or hills is enlightning - a human treasure. We can only imagine what life was like.

We shopped in Kusadasi and learned about the art of weaving. A tradition that has been part of the Turkish culture for millenia. We're very happy to now own a couple of these treasures - works of art. The government subsidises the weaving cottage industry as a way to preserve this traditional way of life. Only women do this work.

Today was a very special day for so many reasons - seeing such ancient sites, participating in traditional Turkish customs and last but not least, celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary. Seems like only yesterday we met at the University of Regina - but actually that was in 1979! (We went to University when we were 10).

Hey, how about that Sask Party!

It's interesting to think that so many things will be different upon our return home.

Today we are in Mykonos, Greece and tomorrow we head for Turkey.

Have a great day! We miss you all.

The Heucks

The French Riviera

(Scroll down to the very bottom to adjust the music volume, and to listen to other tracks.)

We're not at a posh hotel where people like Tom Cruise typically stay during their visit to the French Riviera. 1100 euros per night just isn't in the budget this year. Our apartment is quite nice and very kid-friendly with an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court and in walking distance to the sea (about a 10 minute walk).

I can understand why so many people want to flock to this location with it's gentle weather, sunny skies and NO WIND!

The boys have been catching up on homework and have been practicing their tennis and running off some excess energy.

Georg and I have finally figured out how to make a cup of coffee that we find palatable. The trick here is that sour cream doesn't work and although some of us claim to speak french, there are still things that are lost in translation. I'll never live this one down.

The pictures of Portugal on to Barcelona are on the website listed below:

http://web.mac.com/betterthan_nothing/Site_3/Photos_1.html

This site has Photos , Photos 1 2, Photos 3 and Photos 4

Leg One of the Journey remains in the first site we posted earlier from Orlando.

Yours in sunshine
The Heucks

Barcelona, Spain to Cannes, France

We arrived in Cannes and somehow we feel at home here. Our ability to communicate in French allows us to connect with people on a personal level which creates a feeling of family and community. Georg doesn't really speak French but he does communicate using broad arm gestures and animation oh, and like sister Diane, he also gets creative and pronounces English words with a French accent. If nothing else, he makes people laugh or smile.

The weather here is about 20 - 25 degrees although today it's overcast. Because we're so close to the Pyranees (mountains) the air smells like Banff. We especially love the tranquility as the population is considerably less dense than Barcelona par exemple.

We've had considerable difficulty trying to keep our blog updated because the menu and instructions have all been in Spanish. And even now, the internet disconnects us if we take too long composing messages on the blog. As a result, we have relied on our dear friend Wes Stevenson to post our messages to you. Wes (and no doubt Kristy has been involved as well) have tidied up our messages and posted them from their home in Kelowna, British Columbia Canada. Wes is also responsible for the creation and maintenance of that map, detailing our travels AND they added the terrific music to our blog too! When we're so far from home and the world seems, sometimes cold and sterile, we especially appreciate YOU, our friends. Your warm thoughts and kind wishes are like warm blankets on a chilly night.

I'm sure this appears unusualy sentimental today and it is. We had a very bad experience yesterday and are grateful to have learned an important message at a small cost. Today we are different people than we were yesterday.

Yesterday morning during our breakfast at Aparthotel Guttenburg in Barcelona we met a lovely couple from Sweden: Kirsten and Kenneth. I recognized the Scandinavian singsong in their dialogue and Kirsten resembled very much my Scandinavian relatives. As I'm always seeking any opportunity to use one of my few Norwegian phrases, I told them "Ja ike svense, ja i norske." As my father taught me I told them - I am not Swedish, I'm Norwegian." We were not surprised to hear they'd toured around Barcelona on foot the previous day (yes, this is a typical stereotype that the Swedes are the most physically active people in the world, but in this case it was true). We were happy to provide them with our unused DAY 2 for the double decker tour bus.
Note: this was another of our language faux pas. We were actually trying to buy a pass for 2 adults and 2 children for one day but ended up with passes for 2 days! The list of language inadequacies continues to grow! Anyway, we exchanged addresses with our new friends and hope that one day we'll see them again. We were kind of basking in that happy euphoria of meeting almost relatives in Barcelona. Their warm smiling faces and laughter just made us feel good.

We checked out of our hotel and thanked and said goodbye to Malcon from Argentina, who worked at the hotel. Malcon is the reason we chose to stay another night in Barcelona. Our first night arriving in Barcelona pre-cruise was less than positive for the children and we think they'll need counselling as a result of our ordeal where we were lost for 3 hours in downtown Barcelona. When we told this to Malcon he was a good listener and tried to be as helpful as possible. In the end, he told us great places to eat and things to do. He was attentive to all our needs for parking and even printed off directions on how to get to our hotel in Cannes for us. We were touched by his kind offer to have us stay with him in his apartment if we ever return to Barcelona. What an exceptional human being that Malcon!

So with all those warm feelings we left the big city of Barcelona (population 1 million and with greater Barcelona population is 3 million). We drove out of Barcelona towards Cannes.

Driving along highway AP7 just before La Rocha Des Vallees, around 2:30 p.m. we were passed by a Black Audi station wagon. The passenger drove up to our car and pointed frantically towards the undercarriage of the car. It took us awhile to realize he was trying to tell us something. Finally we got the message and pulled over.

Remember we're travelling on a freeway with 3 lanes and a speed limit of 130 km. It's noisy and the traffic is frighteningly FAST.

Georg got out of the car and went around to the passenger side. The man banged loudly on my door causing me to open it and see what he was pointing at. He was shouting loudly in arabic and we couldn't understand him.

The next thing I knew Erik shouted HEY in a very loud voice that I didn't recognize. When I turned my head I was face to face with another man who had a hold of my purse and was trying to pull it out of the car. Luckily I had a lot of clutter by my feet: a bag of toiletries, a garbage bag and my backpack-type purse (which was tangled in my feet).

The sound of Erik's LOUD voice - I keep thinking about this..

The man had his arm across my legs and was reaching by my feet but I never heard or felt it because I was too distracted by the banging and the shouting and the sound of the traffic.

Both men fled and the car sped off and it was over within 30 seconds.

Georg got back in the car and it took Erik and I 15 minutes to explain what we realized had happened. Georg was completely oblivious to the whole thing and really couldn't comprehend what we were telling him.

The reality of what might of been will haunt us forever.

Our passports and everything were in that bag.

Our friend Chris would have seen this coming but he's a trained RCMP officer. We did not see this coming at all.

To combat the stress we did what any self-respecting people would do. We stopped at the next garage to buy chocolate and strong coffee.

We did see the car on the highway a few km down the road and we do have the plate number and have documented the incident. Right now we're not sure what to do with this information.

As we reflect on the whole unbelievable incident we realize that those highway hijackers were professionals and we were typical targets - tourists. We know that if there had been anything wrong with our car, a light would have ignited or we would have heard something clanging.
We know NEVER to stop for anyone. We know WHERE we need keep our passports and identification AT ALL TIMES (even during travel in the vehicle). We will be extremly cautious about all stops including stops for gas.

Thankfully the children are fine. We still have all our documents. Nobody was injured.

Our pride is maybe damaged as we thought we were smarter than that.

Later in our trip I saw an elderly man stopped on the side of the road and his wife, in the passenger seat, looked troubled. I worry about those other unsuspecting tourists and hope they don't fall victim to this sort of incident.

Today we are in our lovely apartment in Cannes. We intend to take it easy today because our spirits are slightly wilted. We're okay and we will be fine because we learned something - a cheap lesson.

Our friend Wes has an e-mail "Spirit helpers" and today I think it is truly indicative of what he/and you - our friends - are to us.

The Mediterranean Cruise (Oct 22 - 29)

Hello Everyone,

(To control the volume of the music, scroll down to the bottom.)


Today is Halloween and we're in Cannes, France. We'll be here for five days, leaving November 4th for Rome.

Sorry we lost touch with you while we were at sea, however, here are some of the highlights of the cruise.

In Tunis, Tunisia - North Africa we toured the old Roman port and saw camels, Arabs smoking opium and toured a palace with an amazing history. We went to a market and Erik practiced bartering. He loved it and wants to do it more. (We´ve created a monster!)

In Messina, Italy we went on to Taromina and tried to imagine the Greek theatre as it was in all its glory. The view of the sea and the tranquil environment as it is tucked back in the mountains made us realize that they were pretty sophisticated back in 700 BC when they constructed it. We also thought it would have been cool to hear Elton John perform in the stadium as it is today - hosting many contemporary artists.

For Georg´s birthday we ate gelato (ice cream) and toured the narrow streets shopping in the unique market boutiques and listening to the rain. YES it poured all day when we were there. By the time our tour was over it was flooding in areas which caused a mud slide. Our bus was trapped in a tunnel for 4 hours and the traffic was halted for 16 km. Several tunnels were blocked!

We finally made it back to our ship and we heard the next day that after our bus had passed through a narrow road, the asphalt caved in, causing the other buses behind us to be over 8 hours late getting back to the ship! I guess Tunis had experienced similar flooding the week prior to our visit and 16 people lost their lives due to the floods.

We took a tour to Pompeii from Naples. Naples is quite a dirty city with a lot of crime and it´s not the kind of place you want to walk around in. There are many people living in cardboard boxes and begging on the streets. We were quite happy to head to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii.

Our stop at a traditional cameo factory was a pleasant surprise. We learned how the craftsmen make cameos out of seashells and were compelled to purchase a couple of those treasures to keep.

Pompeii is the settlement that was founded in about 700 BC and wiped out in 79 AD after Mount Vesuvius erupted. The village was frozen in time and excavations have been done to three fifths of the city, revealing a sophisticated culture where they had bakeries, gymnasiums, several theatres, restaurants, plumbing, and, YES, 20 brothel houses. The pictures - frescos on the walls tell quite a story! We will post the pictures when we have internet with our own computer. It´s truly amazing!

Erik made friends with a lovely lady Susie´and despite the magnificent history that we witnessed, he reported that the best part of his day was meeting Susie. This only proves that the travelling is really about the people you meet and not so much the things you see. I guess we knew it but Erik articulated it for us. Our whole family was quite taken with Susie and were all a little sad when she disembarked the ship a few days before we did. Erik was especially sad. He also was THRILLED to learn that Susie´s brother is John Hyatt (sings Slow Turnin). This is a favorite musician of both Georg and Erik so somehow Susie has been elevated to sainthood for Erik and we will never hear the end of this great story.

Our next stop was Florence, Italy. We took a full day tour so we could see Florence in the morning and Pisa in the afternoon. Florence is as wonderful as we thought it would be. We had fun shopping at the markets and enjoyed all the sights and sounds of the city.We´re still in a state of disbelief that we have actually seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa! We learned about Galileo (this was his hometown where he went to school and discovered the earth was round - using a pendulum). We have great pictures to add to our blog when we get a chance!

The stop in St. Tropez, France included a tour of a few villages in Provence. The countryside is full of vineyards and olive groves and the bay in St. Tropez is home to yachts with lovely ladies onboard (of course). We walked through the narrowest street in the world and toured a lovely castle and old romantic town where life seems untouched by modern influences. Oh, this is also where Brigitte Bardot was proposed to (maybe her third marriage?)

Barcelona was our final stop on the cruise and although we were glad to be back we were sad to say goodbye to our new friends, the Jones family - Pete, Pauline, William and Peter Jr. from Manchester. We said goodbye and promised to see them again in Saskatchewan or somewhere. Again, it´s who you meet that makes you really love a place!

We also hope to meet up with Emma, from South Africa in South Africa in the new year. Perhaps in the spring, and we hope she will come see us in Saskatchewan too!

We will be in Barcelona October 29 and 30th and then leave for Cannes where we stay for 5 days (‘til November 4th) and use it as home base to travel around to some of the other sites.... Venice etc.

Then it’s on to Civitavecchia, Italy where we will take tours of Rome and area and then, after two days, we will go on to catch our cruise leaving from Rome.

Here’s the itinerary:
Nov 6 Rome
Nov 7 Cruising
Nov 8 Mykonos
Nov 9 (Our anniversary) Ephesus and Kusadasi Turkey
Nov 10 Rhodes
Nov 11 Limassol
Nov 12 Cruising
Nov 13 Alexandria Egypt
Nov 14 Cruising
Nov 15 Athens Greece
Nov 16 Cruising
Nov 17 Naples and Capri
Nov 18 Back to Rome

We are planning to go skiing in the Alps after the cruise and we´ll be in Portugal from Dec 1 - 7 and then near London Dec 8 - 10 to see Stonehenge and a few other sites.

Last days in the Algarve

We're looking forward to our last few days here. Sunday we leave for Barcelona to catch the MSC Melody for a seven day cruise. The following is our itinerary:




October 22 Depart Barcelona
October 22 Arrive Ibiza
October 24 Tunis, Tunisia
October 25 Sicily (Georg's birthday!)
October 26 Naples
October 27 Florence
October 28 St. Tropez, France
October 29 Return to Barcelona

We've really enjoyed our stay in the Algarve. Dieter has adjusted to spelling in the sand and using seashells to do work on his multiplication and division skills >mathematics with a twist!

Ladies - my feet have never looked or felt this good! All the visible signs of running are gone from my poor old feet. Walking on the beach is a workout and gentle on those feet. I highly recommend it!

If possible we would like to work the Algarve into our return leg of our European vacation.

Another day in paradise

We have enjoyed settling into and becoming familiar with this place. It has given us a moment to reflect about the past year that brought us to this place and the routines we have left behind. The boys have adapted well and are now more trusting of the logistics of us moving them around.

We do look forward to hearing from you particularly if works sucks or if the weather is miserable.
This brings us more joy!!

Sorry.

Spain is Next.