Yummy Kool-Aid

2 April 2012

My days always begin very early. By very early, I mean that I usually awaken by 3:45AM. Being on vacation is typically no exception. This morning, however, I slept in a little. I stirred at about 5:30. I looked out the window and saw the most glorious thing: a bright orange disk on the horizon illuminating and reflecting all things around it. I thought to myself, "Golly. That is the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen... I really am very lucky...." I stayed in bed another few minutes, wanting to savor this beautiful sunrise. After about five minutes, I decided to get up and grab my camera and take a photo of this miracle of nature. But, as I got closer to the window, I realized that the orange disk on the horizon was not the sun. It was a street lamp attached to the embarkation terminal of the port at Piraeus. I felt like a complete dumbass... Why am I sharing my "duh" moment with you on this blog? Well, even though the the miracle was not really a miracle at all, it still made me remember I am very lucky to be on this trip. It may not be what I thought it would be, but it was something totally worthwhile and I needed to suck it up and acknowledge that.

So, today we had an epiphany. When we came back from breakfast first thing (it was first thing because we had an announcement on the PA that said that breakfast was from 6-7:15 and we jumped up in a panic lest we miss...) I looked at Maureen and said, "Listen, I think we (and by we I mean me) I think we have been a little bratty about this cruise. I mean, we are on a ship in the Greek islands. We should try and make the most of it." Maureen replied, "Yeah. You are probably right... we just need to drink the kool-aid and be done with it.." So, that's what we did. Today, we drank the kool-aid.

After breakfast and our workout in the gym, We got a latte in the Riveria Lounge, (think LIDO Deck of the Love Boat, where Isaac mixed up yummy cocktails for Charro and where Kristy MacNichol and Scott Baio frolicked in the pool....) and pulled out a copy of the cruise news in order to look over all the days events. "9AM-Noon Spa orientation; 1:30 Friends of Bill W. (AA); 3:00 Greek lesson; 3:30 Greek Dance Class; 4:00 Yoga; 5:00 Greek Mythology Trivia Quiz; 6:00, Mykonos; 7:30 Dinner..." So much to choose from, I am not even going into the origami, teen get-together (more on that to follow), scavenger hunts and walk-a-thons...

"God, this cruise is so Kellerman's!" (A prize to the person who can name the reference...) "Let's choose what we are going to do today. I vote for a spa orientation and let's book some treatments... then maybe the Greek lesson, yoga, the trivia quiz..." So, we did. We booked in to the spa, one treatment today, two for tomorrow. At 10:30, we had to participate in the life boat drill. The "emergency siren" blasted at 10:30 AM and we headed up one deck to the back of the ship wearing our orange life vests. For future reference, we have been assigned to boat #9. When we finished there, we had our treatment, a lipoactive massage which was meant to massage away cellulite. Not sure whether it works, but by virtue of it being European, it has a lot more credibility that what you get at the Red Door.

After the spa, it was time for lunch. There are several different dining options on this cruise. You may eat by the pool from a pasta and pizza buffet. Or, you may eat off of one of two cafeteria style buffets consisting of hamburgers and hotdogs. There is one buffet which is what I would deem healthy, adult food. Mthis is where Maureen and I have been eating. When we got to the buffet of healthy options, we were turned away: "no seats, go to another buffet.". We asked if the food was the same on the other lines, as we hadn't seen the others. "Oh, yes. The same.". So,mew headed across the way to option number 2. It was the most revolting looking crap I had ever seen. Kid friendly food. We went BACK to the original line. After standing for just a few moments, we were permitted entry. Thank God for it. We had a lovely meal of spiced lamb meatballs, peas and cauliflower and salad. All very nicely prepared. On our way out, I said to the man at the door who originally told us all the lines were the same, "just so you know: the lines are not all 'same!'". The S.O.B. wanted to argue with me! "Yes, they are all same!" "Are not!" "Are too!". The conversation had officially degenerated into a playground squabble. We walked away and went to the 'Welcome Aboard' orientation since we has missed the one the day before.

Later, Maureen did the Greek lesson, we did the trivia quiz (I got 11/15, beaten by a table of high school kids by one point...) and then we went in to Mykonos.

Mykonos is an island that appears to be largely abandoned by any sort of productive trade. Instead, it seems to depend soley on tourists for its revenue. I said to Maureen that I thought there must be a real love-hate relationship between the indiginous people and the American tourists. "I'll bet they see that cruise ship coming across the horizon and the entire town heaves a collective 'oh, shiiiiiit...'" Maureen agreed, saying, "I'll bet it is like Fantasy Island: the mayor comes out and announces, 'Smiles, everyone, smiles' and the town idiot comes running out shouting 'da sheeep, da sheeeeep!" And, sure enough, it was just as we expected: street after street of tatty crap being sold to the highest bidder. Not quite as bad as San Marino, but close. It was picturesque, to be sure. However, there were TONS of storefronts and houses that were boarded up, and not just for the season, I fear. We walked every inch of the town, snapped some pics and then headed back to the ship.

Once we were scanned back onto the boat, we went to our cabin, which I haven't described heretofor. So: this is where we are staying: cabin 4226 is a spacious room with two twin beds, an oversized love seat and a refrigerator. There is a 36 inch flat screen and plenty of closet space. The bathroom is the only negative about the cabin: there is no real hot water, and the bathroom floods when you take a shower since it has no pan. Just a drain in the ground. There is a squeegie provided to rake the excess water to the many drains in the floor. But, I digress...

We sat and watched a few minutes of L'eredita'. When the dinner bell (figuratively) rang, we headed up to the restaurant for dinner. We were seated with a very sweet young couple staying in Athens for the semester. They are students enrolled in a bible college in Arkansas (?). We had a very nice conversation with them, nice even though the young man kept calling me 'ma'am...'
As a side note:
The cruise is inhabited by group after group of college, mostly, high school aged student tour groups. They are mostly EF, but was have on this leg some Explorica and ACIS groups. They are mostly underage barefooted kids buying alcohol at the many bars. Tonight on the phone, my dad suggested that Maureen and I should be in our element on this vacation. Maureen suggested that we had gone to the other side of he world to GET AWAY from high school aged kids. I reminded my dad of the concept of a busman's holiday. For those who don't know, or have never heard the term: a busman's holiday is when you do the same thing on your vacation as you do when you work, e.g. When a man who drives a bus for a living goes to his destination, on a bus.

Anyhow... After our dinner of Greek mezes, we retired to the Rendez-vous Lounge where we each had a pina colada and a banana mocha latte. The hits were not so widely attended, which was disappointing since last night, she had us standing in the aisles. But, if tonight was supposed to be quieter since we have to be up with the chickens, then that explains why we were two of about 6 people in the audience, I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the hits myself. We stayed through one set and then decided to call it a night.

So, the theme of today: make the most of every day. As WHAM said in their seminal hit of the early 1980's "Make the most of everyday/ don't let hard times get in your way/ give a wham, give a bam/ but don't give a damn..." Never have truer words been uttered...