Rome, Part II

Our cruise ended in Rome and we had made plans to fly back to Zürich late in the evening so we could see a little more of Rome, and in particular, the Vatican. Here are some of our photos from the last day of our vacation.

Stromboli

After Crete, we had another day at sea before returning to Rome's Civitavecchia port. We were relaxing and reading on the deck when we noticed lots of folks heading over to one side of the boat. We were passing the small, volcanic island of Stromboli--quite cool!


Far away


Zoomed in

Crete

After our day in Turkey, the ship sailed to Heraklion in Crete. We visited Knossos Palace, which dates back to the Bronze Age.

Didyma

Our last stop on our tour of archeological sites near Kusadasi was Didyma, where we visited the Apollo Temple.








I loved the detail and decoration at the bottom of the pillars








I'm so tiny next to these pillars.

We had such a great day seeing these archeological sites in Turkey and I would love to visit again, but for a longer time!

Miletus

We continued from Magnesia to Miletus, where the ruins include a huge theater.

Magnesia

The second archeological site we visited on our day in Turkey was a lesser-known site called Magnesia. There hasn't been as much restoration here. Nevertheless, it was quite impressive.

Ephesus

Our first stop on our tour in Turkey was the ruins of the city Ephesus.


Housing areas




View of a large part of the ruins


Mosaics


Temple of Hadrian


Celsus Library


Another view of Celsus Library


Gate of Augustus


Gate of Augustus and Celsus Library in the background


Theater

Kusadasi, Turkey

Our next stop on the cruise was Kusadasi, Turkey. Here, we took a tour of archeological sites in the Kusadasi region. We visited Ephesus, Magnesia, Miletus, and Didyma. These sites were absolutely incredible and we have lots of photos from each place, so I will be posting photos from each place we went. In the meantime, here are some of our photos from the port town of Kusadasi.

Athens

After a day at sea relaxing and reading, we arrived in Piraeus (the port for Athens).


View from the port

In Athens we went on a tour of the city. Our first stop was the Acropolis. There we visited the Parthenon and had beautiful views of Athens. As we left the Acropolis, we stopped at a limestone rock called Areoplagos where St. Paul preached to the Athenians.


Erechtheum


Another view of the Erechtheum


Parthenon


At the Parthenon


View from the Acropolis


Aeroplagos


View of the Acropolis from Aeroplagos

We then took a tour of the city and one of the sites we stopped at was the Olympic Stadium.



Finally, we spent a little time walking through the Plaka neighborhood, visited the New Acropolis Museum, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.


Temple of Olympian Zeus

All in all, it was a great day in Athens!