Blog Four: MSC Fantasia, Athens, Greece, Ephesus, Turkey

MSC Fantasia [24-26 September]

One thing that has struck us on this longer cruise with its multiple stops is the weird feeling of being in Italy one day, Greece the next and Turkey the day after. We are “parachuted” into these amazing locations one after the other, equipped with a smattering of phrases in a different language, sometimes a wad of a different currency, and always different kinds of people, customs and atmospheres.

No guided tour for us in Athens – a shuttle bus takes us up from the vast port of Pireus to the old district of Plaka, both of which we last visited 42 years ago in 1980. The MSC woman in charge of making sure the right numbers of people get on and off the bus is English, and she is certifiably insane. She greets us warmly in a Southern English accent, as she confesses that she prefers British people, though she now lives in Athens.

Though she is not a guide, she tries to be helpful by pointing out points of interest on the 30 minute bus route, in English (with, for some reason, a strong Greek accent) and Italian. This incurs a complaint from a Spanish gentleman up the front, who is unhappy that she doesn’t speak Spanish. Instead of dealing with this diplomatically, she gets into a running verbal battle with the man, which carries on for the duration of the drive up to Plaka, and on the way back some hours later.

It’s with some relief that we get off the bus and head into the historic district of Plaka to wander about on our own. We are assured that since our last visit Plaka has been fully pedestrianised, and so it has, apart from the cars and motorcycles. However, the area has that inimitable chilled feel special to Greece and it is lovely to be back on Greek soil, for the first time since Kefalonia in 2009.

The ambient temperature is hot and so our wandering is punctuated by stops for coffee, great baklava, and lunch in a traditional taverna. Souvlaki and a Greek salad, with a Mythos beer, rolls back the years. I mention to the owner of the taverna (Mr. Zorba?) that we cannot get Greek salad like this back home in Scotland. He observes “The ground is different here,” and ambles off to glare at the jam-packed modern cafe across the road.

We happen across beautifully reconstructed Roman baths in a back street, which look like they may/could be functioning today. The attendants let us in with no charge, but then follow us around as if we are going to steal a half-ton font or a hole in the ground toilet.

Back to the bus and the ship, and the next port of call is Izmir in Turkey, from where we can visit the massive site of Ephesus. Sunrise on any city tends to show it at its best, but as the day gets lighter, Izmir looks less and less prepossessing. The bus trip up from the port onto the motorway to Ephesus confirms the view that Izmir is not really a tourist trap.

As we approach Ephesus (again no guided tour) we discuss how we’ll spend the 2.5 hours we have signed up for before the bus brings us back to the ship. A short way from way from Ephesus, the charming young man who is today’s bus monitor – he doesn’t speak Spanish either but seems to be forgiven – tells us we will have an hour on the site and then perhaps be taken for a little shopping.

Fiona immediately objects forcibly from our seats well back in the bus, saying that we’ve signed up for 2.5 hours at Ephesus and definitely no shopping – we’ve been caught out with that one before. A bossy German woman a few rows up, who has apparently decided that she runs the bus, and has already had the general air conditioning turned off because she is too cold, decides that Fiona cannot understand what the Turkish guide is saying. She starts to try to explain, slowly in English, the information he has just imparted. She is fixed with a glare that would reduce most recipients to stone and a barked “I’M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU!!” Sensibly the woman regains her seat and faces the front.

The scene has now begun to resemble a cross between Monty Python and Faulty Towers. The argument continues at the entrance to the site and the MSC guide tries to dissuade the ticket office from selling us anything but the most simple ticket. We have researched what we want to see, so we buy extra tickets for that – the recently excavated Roman mansion houses.

Eventually, we are grudgingly awarded 1.5 hours on site, so we whizz round in high dudgeon, great heat and, at times, arduous underfoot conditions. Ephesus is undoubtedly a hugely impressive site, with some fantastically preserved areas, for example the facade of the Library of Celsus. The site’s sheer size alone is astonishing, and excavations are still progresing.

It has been a long term ambition of ours to visit Ephesus – we had a whole 3 week trip to Turkey planned in 1987, when Fiona decided to leave work and open Angles, so the visit was shelved for 35 years. What today teaches us is that a part day stop from a cruise boat is not necessarily the best way to see something you are very keen to see – going under your own steam for as long as you need is infinitely preferable.

Shopping falls by the wayside. We hope that the German lady was looking forward to it.

My dozen favourite images from our third and fourth ports of call on the MSC Fantasia are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image. If you’re using a mobile phone, turn your screen sideways to see the bigger image to best effect.

Image Gallery