It is like deja vu all over again

It's like déjà vu all over again

My favorite Yogi Berra truism is "it's like déjà vu all over again." Every part of today felt like something we had done before, even though we were on a vacation we have never before taken. Let's begin with how the 4th of April, 2012 officially began:

At the strike of midnight, we were awoken by the stampede of teenaged feet, followed by the sound of drunken voices. Maureen and I shot up out of our respective beds, (the cabin is really comfortable, except the beds are a little like cots...) and Maureen bolted for the door. The next thing I knew, she was down the hall chewing out a bunch of 16 boys and girls: "Listen. My friend and I are both teachers. We've taken kids on these trips... We know what goes on...". She didn't have to say another word. One of the boys just said, "yes, ma'am." while the girls threw some relatively dirty looks. Regardless, we didn't hear another PEEP out of them. I wish that was all it would have taken to get Langley, Spring Break 2006 under control. I still have nightmares about the night we stayed in Siena...

Eventually, we fell back asleep until 6:15 when we got up, dressed and went up to breakfast. We eat breakfast in the same dining room each day, Asia seems to be the nicest-- a buffet. The downside is that they seat you family style with people you don't know, or care to know. There seemed to be 10 workers for every diner this morning. If one more person asked me if I wanted another coffee, I was going to scream! I even took another coffee, thinking that would keep them from asking me, and it didn't. A full cup in front of me, and I still got asked if I wanted more. The theme of this cruise seems to me more, more, more. My dad would have loved this in his heyday... It is all you can eat, 24/7. We used to joke that he could put a smorgasbord into receivership in one visit. But, I digress...

We got our exercise out of the way, early, and got cleaned up. At about 10:30, we headed off the boat and into the port city of the island of Rhodes. As I mentioned before, our organized tours were canceled due to planned strikes of whomever... I'm not sure what public sector was disgruntled today. So, we were left to our own devices. As soon as we exited the port area, we saw up ahead a hop-on, hop-off tour bus. "Hot damn! A tour bus!". For those who are new to following my travels, let me tell you one thing you need to know about how I roll: I love a hop-on hop-off bus. Thank god I travel with someone who is equally appreciative of a semi-organized tour. It was like God himself was watching over us, as the bus was just sitting there, empty and waiting for us. We paid our €9 each, and boarded. There was no brochure so we had no idea where we were going,mor what we would see. I popped down to ask for a map, and was given just that: a map of the island... Hmmm... This didn't bode well. But, we were on and it didn't matter much. We took off and kept waiting for the commentary to begin. Just music. We drove past interesting sites, still just music. We went up the hill, to the acropolis, still music. Soon, there was a little information, badly placed, about the ethnic and cultural origins of the island. Then, more music. Soon, the voice came back and thanked me for my attention, and informed me that the tour ended here. Huh. I knew nothing about the island. I would even dare to say that I knew even less after the tour than before. What was funny was that up on the acropolis, we saw another bus, from another company, and Maureen said, "Hey. I think that's the bus we wanted..." It did look much more reputable, and I'd be willing to bet that they got commentary and maps. But, at that point, in for a penny, in for a pound. Right? Soon, the bus dropped us at the gate to the old city. We disembarked from the bus and started down the road. We walked up and down each and every little side street, snapping photos along the way. We went tot the museum in the Knights' Palace, which houses some of the most beautiful Roman mosaics I have ever seen. (it reminded me a lot of Ferrara and the fortress-castle we visited last year.) After our museum visit, we did some souvenir shopping and grabbed a little lunch. Maureen ordered a Greek salad and mussels saganaki. I had some feta cheese. The feta was the smoothest, nicest feta I have ever eaten. Maureen declared her Greek salad to be the "Greek-est" she'd ever had. After lunch, we meandered our way back toward the boat. Maureen looked at me and said, "You know, it is weird that we are going back to a boat. It feels like we should be going back to the car. Today feels like it was any other day of any other vacation we have taken. It was kind of nice to have a familiar day like that.". I have to agree with her. It really did feel like a day we have already lived, but lived in another skin. The tour bus was kind of like Coimbra. The lunch, kind of like Merida. The museum, Ferrara. The souvenir shopping, like the Amalfi Coast. The difference is that those trips were another lifetime ago.

Tonight is the captain's cocktail hour and "elegant dress" dinner. We have decided to take advantage of this by booking in to the restaurant that doesn't serve the masses boarding house style. I expect we will round out the evening with some hits, a piña colada and a banana mocha latte. Because, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more things stay the same... And we are both creatures of habit, if nothing else!