Heraklion (Crete) - Wednesday 2 October

We were up very early today, to join our Princess tour to Knossos Palace and then the older section of central Heraklion (the main city of Crete, and named after Hercules). Crete is technically part of Greece, but has its own, special place in history and culture. It is the birthplace of Zeus, and the Minotaur. The Minotaur, with its bull head and giant human body, was said to have lurked in the ancient labyrinth of the palace.

The short bus ride brought us to the Knossos Palace (or palace of Minos), the ruins of which were discovered in 1878 by British archeologist Arthur Evans. It is the oldest palace in Europe. Evans began excavating in 1900 and attempted to rebuild parts, based on his interpretation of how it would have looked (some people disagree with his interpretation). There are replicas of the famous frescoes that show the daily life and sporting activities of the Minoans. The actual frescoes and other artefacts are safely inside the Heraklion Archeological Museum.

Knossos was the main palace and the cultural, political and economic heart of the Minoan empire, based mainly in Crete. The palace consisted of a vast maze-like series of interconnecting rooms, hence the stories about the labyrinth and the mythical Minotaur. A lot has been learnt about the Minoans from this excavation, but no one yet has been able to decipher what little remains of their language.

The peace-loving Minoans ruled Crete from some 5000 years ago, their peak being around 1500 BC. They were recognised as having great business skills (keeping detailed spreadsheets in a Cretan script called Linear A), a sense of social equality between the sexes and across the levels of society (women could have businesses and take part in sporting activities (eg bull-jumping). They loved art for the sake of its own beauty, and took care of their natural environment. The Palace of Knossos had its own plumbing and drainage system, and sewerage pipes did not drain into streams.

But it is thought that they were effectively wiped out (and very suddenly), probably by the Santorini eruption 3,500 years ago (around 1450 BC), which caused tsunamis, earthquakes, ash-falls and an almost world-wide volcanic winter. Their culture was then overrun by the more warlike Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland.

The Saracens officially founded present-day Heraklion in 824, but over the centuries the area has also been under the control of the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman Empires. Our bus trip took us to central Heraklion for just over an hour. Not long, but enough to get a feel of the atmosphere, and we quite liked it. We saw some of the old Venetian landmarks, including Lions Square and the Fontana Morosini Fountain (built in 1629), the Venetian Loggia, and the Koules Fortress sitting guard out on the waterfront by the marina of this walled town. The deep moats around much of the town's fortifications have been filled in and are now pleasant park areas. We walked down the length of the main street and along the shore, and then back uphill into the market area. Then it was back to the ship for a quiet and relaxing afternoon in the 31C heat.

We were lucky to get a table for two again in our favourite waiter's section of the restaurant. This time we were right next to a table with two women who had apparently caught a local bus into town, looked out the window, didn't like what they saw, and didn't even get off the bus but headed straight back to the ship! I felt bad enough, not going into the renowned Archeological Museum, and not seeing more of this huge, mountainous and beautiful island that also saw a key New Zealand role during World War 2.

We went to the 8:30 pm concert by a very glamorous British violinist (Claire Gobin), who played a great range of music from across all genres.

Kusadasi (Turkey) - Tuesday 1 October

Last night I finished the book I've been reading on my Kindle app on the iPad - Dan Brown's 'Inferno'. I mention this because it was great timing to be reading this book which is set in Florence (places we visited in 2009), Venice (still very fresh in our mind from a week ago) and the key sites we have only just visited in Istanbul - fantastic! Others on our tour in Istanbul had finished the book recently, and were careful not to give any spoilers.

The forecast for our day in Kusadasi, Turkey, was for it to be cloudy with rain and a high of 24C. This was accurate, with the rain starting around 1 pm. We headed off the ship at around 9:45 am, and it was very pleasant with the light overcast sky.

We went to a Princess-recommended shop, and looked at some leather bags, eventually Skyping directly with Michelle to determine her preferred colours. That was cool! With purchases in hand, we wandered around the other shops in the bazaar area for a couple of hours. In the end it's just a repetition of identical shops, one after the other. But it was pleasant walking around before it got any more crowded.

We got back on board at 11:50 am, and took the opportunity to have a swim before the crowds returned. Everyone else would have been touring and seeing the sights at the wonderful Ephesus (that we saw in 2009) and so the ship was very quiet. The water in the pool that we tried by the Sanctuary was a bit cool (as I'd found the other day in the Terrace Pool), so we had a nice spa pool to ourselves for 45 minutes instead. This was the most relaxed I've felt all year - very peaceful, and soothing on the aching joints. We noticed the weather was deteriorating as we soaked, getting quite windy, then drizzling lightly, and we could also hear thunder and lightning as the sky darkened.

At 1 pm we had just sat down at the Horizon Court buffet and we noticed the boat had tipped a fair bit to one side - very odd. Next thing, the Captain came over the speaker system, shouting for the staff down in the boarding area to close and secure all exit doors immediately! Then he repeated the instruction moments later. The ship slowly levelled up again, and shortly after that he announced what had actually happened. A strong gust of wind had caught the ship and blown away from the dock, snapping the mooring ropes, causing the ship to drift right away from the dock! One of the large gang-planks that we use to step on or off the ship had been lost, another was ok. And the miracle was, no one was on either at that moment! We were then anchored securely in the harbour until the snapped ropes were repaired(!!) and then we carefully docked again. This all took almost 2 hours, and in that time a lot of passengers were stuck on shore, sheltering from the weather in the nearby shops.

Some coming back on board reported that the downpour of rain had been so sudden and torrential in the bazaar that drains had flooded, with raw sewerage ending up on the streets. Rain was pouring off stall roofs and onto scarves and leather bags on display. It sounded like quite a mess. Apparently, some people had also panicked when they saw the Ruby Princess had left the dock, thinking it had left early, without them.

We settled ourselves in an inside lounge area for the next 3+ hours, and David read his book, and I typed up yesterday's and today's blog and downloaded photos. Sail-away was nearly two hours late, because of the problems earlier in the afternoon.

We had dinner at 6 pm with a table for two, enjoying conversations with the couples on either side - one couple from Australia, the other from Florida. Jerry, our favourite waiter, looked after us well, and sold me a glass of Lemoncello, then snuck me a second glass later to convince me to buy the glass with it. Murat, our Head Waiter, was able to organise a copy of the recipe for the gorgeous gluten-free coconut layer cake we'd both enjoyed at lunchtime.

After dinner we headed for the 8:30 pm Princess international Crew production show in the Princess Theatre. We're finding you need to get there early to get a seat. This time, while we were waiting for the show to start, there was great hilarity, people letting their hair down batting balloons up in the air and around the theatre - amazing what simple fun can entertain us for 20 minutes! The last 5 minutes was also hilarious, with a 'Kiss Cam' zooming in on members of the audience and projecting their image up on the big screen. If your image was projected, you had to kiss your partner in front of everyone. David and I escaped that bit of fun. Then the show started, and Dan, the Cruise Entertainment Director, had us all in stitches of laughter. I can't remember when I've laughed so much - he is such a wit. He came on stage with a roll of thin rope, reckoned it was as thin as the toilet paper on the ship, and said they weren't worrying about tying up to the dock with ropes the next day, the Captain was just going to run the ship up onto the beach for us and we could walk off that way!

We headed straight for bed after the show, with an early start coming up for a Princess tour the next morning. The alarm was set for 5:45 am, for the meeting at 7:15am. Nevertheless, we had quite a disturbed night as the sea was reasonably rough - I was grateful that we were right in the middle of the boat. Others said they were listening to it smashing against the sides of the ship. I was lying awake wondering if I would start to feel sea-sick, but it was ok.

Rhodes - Monday 30 September

Our ship docked right beside the Old Town and port of the ancient town of Rhodes. Of course, there was no sign of the ancient Colossus of Rhodes (honouring the sun god, Helios), and historians are sure that it would not have stood astride the sides of the port entrance, as depicted in pictures and souvenirs because it would have been insulting to sail between the legs and look up at the naked body of the bronze statue. It only stood for 56 years, before being toppled in 224 BC by one of the many earthquakes to strike this region.

We started the day quietly and walked across to the medieval town's fortified walls and through one of the gates. We strolled along the streets that were similar to Santorini, but a bit wider. Many shops were also selling the same sorts of items - bags, clothes, souvenirs, jewellery, and there were lots of outdoor cafes etc.

We saw the tall minaret of the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent (a powerful sultan who had conquered Rhodes in 1552) as made our way along the main street (Sockratous), and then turned off towards the Palace of the Grand Masters (the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem).

The Knights of St John were founded during the Crusades as a nursing brotherhood, caring for the sick and infirm. They eventually evolved into a military order to also protect the pilgrims. The Knights took control of the town in 1309, rebuilt it, and strengthened the fortifications. The town prospered for 200 years. But the Knights and the town were eventually defeated by Suleyman after a huge 6 month siege. The Turkish troops and reinforcements numbered 200,000 (90,000 losing their lives) against only 700 Knights and 6,000 locals. Eventually there were only 180 Knights and 1500 helpers still alive, and the Sultan proposed a truce - the fighting ended and the Knights were allowed to leave the island with the respect of their besiegers. The Knights re-established themselves in Malta, and continued to sail around the area, harassing the Turks.

The Palace itself was actually destroyed in 1856 and rebuilt in 1939, but not like the original. As we walked through here, we couldn't help but hear a tour guide of one of the large Princess groups talking about earthquakes in the region, and how there had been a big one two years ago, but how that meant there wouldn't be another one for at least 30 years. Also, that all the buildings were linked or joined together across the town, so this meant they would hold together in another quake. What a load of bulls...t!

We made our way along the Avenue of the Knights (Ippoton Street), a cobbled lane where the Knights of St John had lived in seven separate language groups, each one assigned to defending a different section of the wall. They lived in inns that reflected their country of origin. There were sections/inns for the Spanish, German, Italians and others.

The Archeological Museum of Rhodes was of the most interest, as this huge, sprawling complex is housed in what had been the Order's former hospital. There were lots of vases, artefacts, floor mosaics, tombstones (of some of the Knights), and small statues (including a replica of the 3rd Century BC 'Rhodes Venus'. There were courtyards and gardens, and one part had been used as a Turkish residence and now displayed some of the furnishings typical in Ottoman times.

It was a very hot day, again around 30C, so we headed back to the ship to cool off in the air-conditioning and have some lunch.

Soon we were back up on deck, relaxing. Later, it was another Formal Night so we dressed up, and caught up on the events of the past two days over dinner with Jan and Steve.