Arches National Park

The following was taken from The Human Landscape in "Arches; Where Rock Meets Sky" by Nicky Leach. This well expresses my feelings about being out in nature:

"Studies in Canyonlands have recorded an acoustic level one notch above that found in a soundproof recording studio. Ambient sound levels and crowds in national parks have increased to such a degree that the National Park Service now manages silence and solitude as a resource. Canyon Country's silence is truly rare, one of its greatest resources. Caught up in the busy-ness of civilization, perhaps we don't notice noise pollution anymore or the effect that our expanding global population has on our nerves. Airplanes buzz across the Grand Canyon. Idling vehicles sit at overlooks. Larger numbers of hikers on popular trails means more talk and socializing. Campgrounds have the look, as my friend Jeff commented, of refugee camps, which perhaps they are, as we increasingly flee our stressful urban lives.

Even the shortest hikes outdoors can strip away the armor of culture and lay us bare to ourselves. We begin to speak in the language of the heart, not the mind. There is a fellowship in nature that is lacking in our man-made environments, which, for all our ingenuity, are limited by a human view of the world. For me, true diversity embraces other life forms as well as different cultures and requires a reciprocity we still seem unable to envision. I doubt that nature minds, but I sense that it is we who are diminished.

A small hawk flies directly in front of me, oblivious to my presence. A cottontail bolts from behind a rock and disappears into a clump of dark-gray skeletal blackbrush. Stink beetles crawl slowly across sand, then disappear into holes in the ground. There is a rustling in a stately old juniper, the ear-splitting squawk of a jay, then silence. To the northwest are jointed cliffs that have been weathered into odd fins. They are tilted at almost a 45-degree angle. I marvel that they can stay upright at all. Like so many other features in the park, the redrocks seem choreographed to geological perfection, graceful, soaring, bending, leaping. Everything seems to be in motion, sliding out of view in a long slow freefall."

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 9) - Venice

Enjoyed a beautiful day in Venice; even went for a gondola ride.

 
St Mark's in Venice

 
From our gondola

 Lot of pictures to share when we get home. Tomorrow we de-boat and begin the trip home. All-in-all, it has been a great trip. The only down side was the large crowds. Glad we didn't book this trip for July or August.

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 8) - Athens

The Acropolis hasn't changed much since I saw it in the early 1970s. The only major difference is that today there is a lot more scaffolding in place and restoration work is in progress; not very conducive to nice photographs. Restoration work was on-going at several of the places we visited. It sounds like some of the restoration work takes longer than it took to originally build the structure.

The Erechtheum on the Acropolis in Athens.

We also took a ride along the Aegean coast from Athens to the Sounio peninsula and visited the temple to Poseidon. Sunny skies and the temperature in the 80s. I feel like I got too much sun again today.

Temple to Poseidon

The show in the Stardust Theater tonight was a tribute to the Beatles. The theater was packed and we enjoyed listening to all the old songs; not so much listening to the oldsters singing along.

Tomorrow is a sea day prior to our last stop in Venice on Sunday.

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 7) - Izmir and Ephesus

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is also a much more modern city than Istanbul. Ephesus is about an hour's drive south from Izmir through hilly terrain composed mostly of metamorphosed marine sediments. In Ephesus, we saw a couple theaters, some temples, a fountain, and a stadium. My favorite was the library, at the time the third largest in the world after Alexandria and Pergamon. Peggy took a picture of me sitting on the steps. The columns that formed the facade of the library are composed of brecciated marble with white chunks of marble sitting in a fine grained black matrix. I imagine these columns were quite beautiful when polished. Had I lived here at the time, I can see myself having spent a lot of time here at the library. There is a lot of beautiful marble in Ephesus; even the streets are paved with  marble.

The Library at Ephesus

Saint John the Baptist is reported to have died here in Ephesus. Where he was supposedly buried, a Basilica was built. However, we didn't have time to see the remains of his church. Also, the Virgin Mary is rumored to have lived here. Our guide pointed out a small house on the hill above Ephesus as the supposed house of Mary. The only evidence for this seems to be a revelation that a woman at the end of the 18th century had that was confirmed by a local priest (not sure what that means). The house has been visited by three of the popes and has become a pilgrimage site for Catholics.

The large theater at Ephesus

The skies have been clear and sunny on this side of the Mediterranean and the temperature today probably got up into the 80s in Ephesus. Similar weather is forecast for Athens tomorrow.

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 6) - Istanbul

We docked this morning at 9AM in Istanbul, across from the old city. From our ship we could see several mosques that we were able to visit later in the day. The small boat, ship, and ferry traffic in the Bosphorus was amazing to watch; it's a wonder no one runs into each other. Some of the very small boats look like corks, bobbing wildly up and down in the wake of the larger boats. From the rear of our ship we could also see the suspension bridge over the Bosphorus that connects Europe with Asia. Apparently there is also a tunnel that connects to two continents.

Hagia Sophia to the right and the Blue Mosque to the left in the background.

Most everything we saw today was within walking distance of the center of the old town. We visited the Blue Mosque, where the ladies had to wear a scarf over their head and we all had to remove our shoes. We also visited the Hagia Sophia Mosque, which is now a museum. Many of the Istanbul mosques started out as Christian churches that were built by the Romans. Later when the Ottomans pushed the Romans out, they converted the churches to mosques.

The Blue Mosque

After visiting the mosques we went underground to see a large cistern built by the Romans to collect and store water. Apparently, a scene from one of the James Bond movies was shot down there.

Today was a national holiday in Turkey, so there were a lot of people out and the traffic was very heavy. Skies were sunny and the weather was just cool enough to require a sweater most of the day.
I had hoped to get some pictures of the ship passing through the Dardanelles. It was dark early this morning when we passed through on the way in to Istanbul and it will be dark tonight before we get there on the way out.

Tomorrow, Izmir/Ephesus.

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 5) - Mykonos

Yesterday was a day at sea so many of us were sitting out on deck enjoying the sun and reading. I've noticed during the cruises that we have been on that there are usually a lot of readers on board. Yesterday, probably about a quarter of the people on deck were reading. It seemed there were probably about the same number of people reading e-books as were reading paper books.

I also purchased my first bucket of beer yesterday (buy 5 and get one free); so it was a very pleasant day. I overheard someone say, "It's not a cruise without the booze." Peggy enjoyed the hot tub and lying in the sun. Although we have a small balcony outside our stateroom, we spend most of our time topside near the back of the ship. It is more out of the wind than the larger area amid-ship with the larger pool, more outdoor chairs, and another outdoor bar. We enjoy our personal balcony in the evenings with a glass of wine.

We arrived in Mykonos, one of the Greek islands, about 8AM this morning, and had a small boat ferry us to the island of Delos, a short distance south of Mykonos. The entire island of Delos is an archaeological site and is covered in Greek ruins, mostly from the 2nd to 4th centuries BC. It is also the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. I was surprised to see that the country rock is mostly metasediments and granite; I guess I was expecting more volcanic rock. There is a lot to see on Delos and we just saw a small portion of it. It is a fascinating place.

Delos

Again, we are having beautiful weather. Although I was wearing my hat, my face got slightly sunburned today.

We left Mykonos around 3PM this afternoon so that we can arrive early in Istanbul tomorrow morning. I sat on the aft section of the ship and took video of us leaving the island. All the houses in Mykonos are white. Because they have sun almost all year, the white helps to deflect the heat. We enjoyed lunch at a small white outdoor cafe and enjoyed a Greek salad with a half liter bottle of wine; very nice.

Enjoyed a delicious Greek salad with wine here. (Love their olives)

We have had some great tour guides and have been informed so much about the places we are seeing. Because it is impossible to remember everything, I try to purchase a summary book with pictures about the places we see. So far, I have one for Florence, Pompeii, and Delos.

Mediterranean Cruise (Part 4) - Rome & Naples

Yesterday near the Coliseum in Rome, we met a couple who live about 2 miles from us in Littleton. They also know people we know. Small world.

The Coliseum

The weather was great in Rome (70˚ F) but the crowds were bad. I thought we had planned our trip early enough in the season to avoid crowds and heat; I guess there are always crowds these days. The new pope must have had the day off; he didn't make an appearance to bless us.

Fontana di Trevi

When we left Rome, the seas were a bit rougher than we have experienced up to now, and a lot of people were looking drunk, without feeling the buzz.

When the ship arrived in Naples today, Peggy and I broke up again and took different tours; although we did have a common stop in Sorrento. Peggy got lost there but ran into a nice gentleman (with a cowboy hat) who helped her find her bus. From Sorrento, Peggy went by boat along the Amalfi coast while I went to Pompeii. My Pompeii guide explained that volcanologists had sensors all around the mountain of Vesuvius and he sounded confident they could give warnings of an eruption up to a month in advance. I didn't voice my skepticism, but imagined these volcanologists could become the target of a lawsuit similar to the one that imprisoned some seismologists here in Italy not long ago.

Pompeii with the volcano Vesuvius in the background.

 

One of the many bars in Pompeii.

The weather today was a little cooler and the crowds were not nearly as bad as Rome. Tomorrow is a cruise day and we have no shore visits until Mykonos, Greece, on Tuesday. Both of us are looking forward to a day of rest.