In March 2006, I traveled to Greece on a 6-day Aegean Sea cruise that was focused on a 4-minute total solar eclipse scheduled to happen during that week in that part of the world. I flew to Athens, spent one night there, then boarded the cruise ship the next day and the trip began. We visited Mykonos, Crete, Santorini, Patmos, Kusadasi (Turkey), and then finally back to Athens (actually Pireaus, the port area) for the flight home. As much as I have waxed eloquent about the joys of other trips, I will not mince words here: this was a difficult trip, and I felt thoroughly exhausted after arriving home. The cruise ship had excellent food (like all such ships seemingly do) but the boarding process was chaotic and stressful, and it was extremely noisy, depriving me of much needed sleep. My original cabin was located right beneath the dance floor, and I could see the floor vibrating to the thump of activity and blaring music extending into the early morning hours. This obviously wasn't conducive to sleep, so I begged for a room change. I was granted one, to the deep beneath-water levels of the ship where crew normally slept, thus subjecting me to the endless whir of engine noise. As bad as this was, it was highly preferable to the din of the previous cabin. In this way, I managed to get some sleep, though not enough. I got the cruise ship down to a science, eventually: depending on where I went on the ship, I could have my choice of either cigarette smoke or diesel fumes. The latter were overpowering at times. My fatigue was such that I only made two excursions onshore during the entire cruise: Mykonos and Crete. My fellow passengers, many of which were dedicated "solar eclipse chasers", really helped me get through the worst aspects of the trip.
On arriving back to Athens, my ordeal on arriving back in Athens was far from over, in fact in some ways it was just beginning. After the ship's arranged transfer to the airport, we learned that our airline crew had gone on strike. A horribly chaotic and stressful 12-hour period ensued as the airline tried to find another airplane and crew. We were herded back and forth through customs a few times, and we endured endless rebooking lines filled with screaming, angry would-be passengers. During one such episode, I came frighteningly close to losing my passport. Eventually, all attempts to rebook us failed, and at 12:30 in the morning I accepted a room at an airport hotel (fortunately, they had rooms available, and the hotel staff were kind and understanding of the situation). I arose at 4 in the morning, after a few hours of fitful rest, and went over to the main terminal and started asking for options to get home (begging was more like it). Attendants at check-in booths had started to arrive for the day. I got lucky and got on a 10-hour flight to Montreal, to leave in the late morning. Fortunately, this flight did leave (it was an hour delayed, but that seemed minor in comparison to what I'd been through). I eventually made it home, 24 hours later, after arranging further travel home (Montreal was not my originally planned connection city). With just 10 hours of sleep in 7 days, I was too tired to drive home from the airport, and I called family to pick me up. I could not walk in a steady fashion on the way out of the building.
As bad as all this was, a couple of things went right. The scenery on Crete was absolutely amazing. And I got to see the solar eclipse in all its splendor (it was a clear day, and cruise ships usually have an easy time positioning themselves away from any cloud cover). Also, I did arrive home safely, and had a very interesting story to tell. I vowed never to travel overseas again, but as any reader of these posts can see, that didn't last long.
Hotel Titania in Athens, where I stayed the first night prior to the cruise.
Myself in Athens, along the Leof. Eleftheriou Venizelou street, near the Panepistisimo metro stop.
Typical street in Athens.
Myself on the cruise ship, as fellow passengers wait on the deck behind me and prepare for the solar eclipse (setting up telescopes, filters, tripods, etc.)
Myself standing next to a classic white church on the island of Mykonos.
Absolutely spectacular Cretan scenery. This picture really can't do it justice. The countryside has an expansiveness, openness and detail which I can't really relate to anywhere in the U.S. You can seemingly see a zillion villages, farms, roads, and orchards all at once, not to mention the rugged mountains in the background.
More Cretan scenery.
More Cretan scenery, showing numerous olive tree orchards.
View of Kusadasi, Turkey, from the docked cruise ship. By this point, I was too tired and disspirited to go on an onshore excursion, even though one was offered here.
Myself sitting on the desk of the cruise ship, with one of the Greek isles in the distance.
View of Santorini. An onshore excursion was offered which featured donkey rides from the base of the cliff, up the winding road visible in the photo, up to the top of the cliff and the principal city, Fira. This trip was taken advantage of by some of the cruise ship passengers - but not me. I was in no shape for anything arduous.
On arriving back to Athens, my ordeal on arriving back in Athens was far from over, in fact in some ways it was just beginning. After the ship's arranged transfer to the airport, we learned that our airline crew had gone on strike. A horribly chaotic and stressful 12-hour period ensued as the airline tried to find another airplane and crew. We were herded back and forth through customs a few times, and we endured endless rebooking lines filled with screaming, angry would-be passengers. During one such episode, I came frighteningly close to losing my passport. Eventually, all attempts to rebook us failed, and at 12:30 in the morning I accepted a room at an airport hotel (fortunately, they had rooms available, and the hotel staff were kind and understanding of the situation). I arose at 4 in the morning, after a few hours of fitful rest, and went over to the main terminal and started asking for options to get home (begging was more like it). Attendants at check-in booths had started to arrive for the day. I got lucky and got on a 10-hour flight to Montreal, to leave in the late morning. Fortunately, this flight did leave (it was an hour delayed, but that seemed minor in comparison to what I'd been through). I eventually made it home, 24 hours later, after arranging further travel home (Montreal was not my originally planned connection city). With just 10 hours of sleep in 7 days, I was too tired to drive home from the airport, and I called family to pick me up. I could not walk in a steady fashion on the way out of the building.
As bad as all this was, a couple of things went right. The scenery on Crete was absolutely amazing. And I got to see the solar eclipse in all its splendor (it was a clear day, and cruise ships usually have an easy time positioning themselves away from any cloud cover). Also, I did arrive home safely, and had a very interesting story to tell. I vowed never to travel overseas again, but as any reader of these posts can see, that didn't last long.
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