Travel and Adventure by Various Travel Authors

By Molly Arost Staub

"My husband and I wanted our children and grandchildren to see how Crystal Cruise Line treats its guests, so we brought our family of 18 along for this cruise," said Mary Monaco of San Antonio, Texas. She and her husband, Sam, have cruised with Crystal 20 times, and with their offspring on other lines. "This was their first time in this part of the world (the Mediterranean)," she said. "We wanted them to see the difference with this line." Crystal has consistently been voted the world's best large-ship cruise line by readers of Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler for 15 consecutive years.

I also chose to bring my granddaughters Cydnie Staub, 17, and Marti Freudenberg, 13, on this Mediterranean itinerary as gifts for their respective graduations from high school and middle school. I was delighted to share some of my favorite places with them as they learned lots of history while having great fun.

I added an extra day in Barcelona before sailing, since I knew the girls would love it.

There we explored the wonders of the Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum and La Rambla. But after bedding down overnight, the girls couldn't wait to board the ship.

Each time we returned from sightseeing or spent a day at sea, the cousins enjoyed themselves with the junior activities directors and other youngsters. They also dined elegantly, experimenting with caviar and exotic desserts, along with standard favorites.

We visited Monaco's glamorous Monte Carlo, where the highlight for the girls was the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium. Marti and Cyd loved the tanks of Mediterranean and tropical marine life. We also checked out the austere Gothic Cathedral and the upscale boutiques, but we weren't permitted inside the Hotel de Paris.

We arrived at the Princely Palace in time to watch the changing of the guards. Touring the palace, we noted its wealth of silk brocade-covered walls, crystal chandeliers, frescoes and marquetry furniture. Also on display was the Throne Room, site of the 1956 wedding of Prince Ranier III and American film star Grace Kelly. In a serendipitous moment the guards moved everyone aside as one of the princesses zipped out of the palace in her convertible.

Porto Venere, Italy, is a pretty port, its buildings lining the harbor like pastel colored Necco Wafers. Its main claim is as a gateway to the Cinque Terre. We walked through town, past Lord Byron's Grotto (where it's said he swam when he visited) to the small St. Peters Church, completed in 1277.

In Rome we strolled through the Roman Forum, where some columns and arches date from 500 years B.C. This was the city's commercial, political and religious center. Our guide, Aldo Fino, pointed out the Arch of Titus, which was built between the second and first centuries B.C., commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem. We visited the Colosseum, built, he said between A.D. 72 and 80. Today athletic stadiums use the same structure with an outer ring. He said Christians and Jews were not forced to fight animals, but previous guides have said otherwise. We also visited the lovely Piazza Navona featuring its three fountains, including Bernini's powerful Fountain of the Four Rivers.

From Sorrento we traveled to Pompeii, touring the fascinating remains of a city buried in 25 feet of stones and ash in A.D. 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Most of its inhabitants suffocated or were claimed by boiling mud on the second day. Excavations only began in 1748, said our guide Luisanna Palumbo, and one-third yet remains unexcavated. But so much beckons, including a second-century B.C. theater, incredible original red paint on wall frescoes, mosaic floors, at least four public bath houses and even graffiti about a citizen who had been running for mayor. About 30 casts of humans in various positions were made from the hollowed-out mud left by the people, Palumbo explained.

In Taormina, Sicily, the Greek theater, built in the third century B.C.

At Kusadashi, Turkey, before touring Ephesus we drove to the Virgin Mary's house. The ruins of the two-room house were discovered in 1891, our guide Ayse Durak said. The house was reconstructed, along with a road, in 1951. Some believe that St. John brought Mary with him to Ephesus, although many think she died in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, many Christians make pilgrimages here.

Ephesus was the biggest harbor in Asia Minor after the Romans overtook the colony 10 centuries after its founding. The earlier Temple of Artemis — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — had boasted 127 marble columns; only one remains. The city was second only to Rome itself, and its vast ruins stun visitors. Here St. Paul preached in A.D. 54 in its theater, which seated 23,000. The beautiful facade of its library, then the known-world's third largest, was built about A.D. 125 and reconstructed between 1970 and 1978, Durak said. (Its books were scrolls.) Since building materials were often recycled from earlier buildings, one of the marble steps bears a carved menorah or Jewish candelabra. This is now marked off with a metal enclosure, attributing the menorah to the Roman Imperial Period. Apparently this had originally decorated an earlier synagogue or Jewish family's home.

Visitors pass along Curretes Street, the main street for shops and restaurants, and pass two- and three-story houses. They note remarkable original mosaics on some floors, evidence of running water and central heating. At the Ephesus Museum, displays include original medical and cosmetic utensils from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, gold jewelry, intact glass bottles and the multibreasted (reproduced) statue of Artemis.

The girls were excited to see that our next port, Mykonos, Greece, the quintessential Greek island, was exactly as they expected, its squared-marshmallow white buildings accented with marine blue doors and windows and churches capped by blue-domed roofs. Narrow, winding stone-paved streets led to town, where many shops awaited.

Our last port was Athens. The fabulous new Acropolis Museum opened in June 2009. Visitors enter over a large glass-covered walkway, viewing an excavated ancient Athens neighborhood beneath their feet. Dating from the fifth century B.C. to the ninth century A.D., the remains even include a mosaic floor. The modern, air-conditioned building boasts three floors of marble statuary and tools from the Acropolis, some dating back to the 16th century B.C. A movie shown on the top floor demonstrates how the Parthenon was originally painted, and fragments from the Parthenon's frieze can be seen, although the Elgin Marbles remain in London.

The Parthenon sits atop the crown of the Acropolis. Considered by many experts to be man's most perfectly created building, it was built between 447 and 438 B.C. Close inspection reveals built-in curves and tapers meant to convey a straight-edged building and columns when viewed from below. What is particularly noteworthy is that it was created without today's engineering equipment and methods. An elevator now makes it easier to ascend than climbing the steep marble steps.

IF YOU GO

Crystal Cruises has expanded its Junior Activities Programs and shaved its prices, making it possible for families to visit wonderful ports of call in style. Kids sail free on some cruises. For information, 1-888-722-0021 or www.crystalcruises.com. travel agent.

We flew on British Airways from Miami to London's Heathrow Airport and then on to Barcelona. Contact 800-AIRWAYS or www.britishairways.com.

Molly Arost Staub is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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