We arrived into Athens on time (after 3 long flights- hooray!) and caught the Metro into town. It was rush hour and crowded so I tried to keep careful watch on all of our luggage. Just as we were about to get off in Monastiraki, I felt a man pushing me from behind who seemed to be in a bigger hurry than necessary. I was suspicious and turned …

We were very jet lagged and didn't sleep much last night. We both woke up at 2:30am and stayed awake for ~ 4 hours reading before napping through the morning. Fortunately, the Centrotel had a generous check out policy. We left around noon and caught a taxi to the fancy King George Hotel in Syntagma Square. This 5 star hotel was typically ~9 times …

We woke early for breakfast on the 7th floor restaurant. Most tables had stunning views of the Acropolis, though we settled for a spot with limited views so that we wouldn't have to wait.

This morning, we headed out to the temple of Brauron, dedicated to Artemis as the protector of childbirth and Ifigenia, guardian of the underworld for mothers …

Today we had a buffet breakfast on the sundeck. The spread, like all of the meals on the ship, was extensive, including most of the traditional American and European breakfast staples as well as thick Greek yogurt, a mix of local nuts, honey, and freshly dried fruit (apricots, figs, prunes, etc). I stuck to the local food and then went downstairs …

Today we arrived early to Rhodes, ancient site of the Colloseus of Rhodes, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. There are no traces of the bronze Colloseus that was supposedly destroyed by an earthquake shortly after it was built and may have been melted down for use in other projects. We took a walk around Old Town Rhodes, the largest intact …

Today we took a large tender to shore at Fethiye. We met our fantastic local Turkish guides and boarded buses up to Xanthos, capital of the Lycian Empire. The Lycian people of the 4th century BC had a republic with representatives that were one of the models for the US Constitution. At Xanthos, we saw some Lycian tombs as well as a very well …

We arrived to the port of Tasucu as one of the only tourist ships to visit the semi-remote area. The mayor greeted our ship with a large welcome sign, sweets, and flowers for the ship. He also brought a newspaper photographer and shook hands with the tour managers, urging us to return (and bring larger ships).

We boarded the buses for a drive …

We arrived pierside to the industrial port of Tartus this morning. The Syrian Immigration officials boarded our ship including three masked health officers. These health officers watched us disembark to see if anyone looked like they had swine flu. Apparantly, they also brought a thermal camera to visualize our body temperatures as we passed, but …

We had a large buffet breakfast with lots of Middle Eastern fare (salads, cheeses, olives, hummus) as well as American favorites.

We then visited the Great Collonade, agor, and palace baths of the Palmyra ruins. Ryan and I couldn't wait to ride the camels and hastily paid the "going rate" (likely more than we should have) for a quick …