August 1973 – Ian Louis Harris

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Thirteen: Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik From the City Walls

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The tenth and final port of call (before the return to Rimini) was Dubrovnik.

Mum, Dad & I all really liked this place. Indeed, we returned to Dubrovnik a couple of year’s later, so we must have liked it a lot. I also have a feeling that the touring time for Dubrovnik was quite limited, so we felt that we hadn’t had a chance to take a good look at the place.

*Beside Orlando’s Column (right of picture)*

*Me On Main Street With Orlando’s Beyond*

There’s also two or three minutes of cine, from 15’30” until around 18’00” or so.

It seems my young friend joined us in touring Dubrovnik – possibly her mum wasn’t feeling good or just didn’t fancy touring that day. You can see my mum buying a plaque facsimile, which ended up on the dining room wall at Woodfield Avenue for nearly 40 years. I think it depicts the Exodus or something of that kind.

In the remaining minute or two of the film, you can see us back on the boat, at one point speaking with the girl and her mother. The film beyond the 20 minute mark is of the following year’s holiday.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Twelve: Corfu

Corfu Town

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The ninth port of call was Corfu.

It looks from the photos and the cine footage that we toured in a fairly relaxed manner.

*Achilleion top, Governor’s Residence bottom*

Dad had clearly “fixed ” his cine camera, even though that meant losing some of the footage that had got jammed within it. He took a lot of cine on our last two stops, presumably because he had a lot of film left!

There is four whole minutes of film from Corfu, between 11’30” and 15’30”. I very much remember the sweet girl you can see between 15’00 and 15’30” – we became good friends towards the end of the cruise. I cannot remember the girl’s name – unfortunately we don’t have stills of her – mum was very good at labelling up the stills.

Actually I failed to keep in touch with any of the friends I made on that cruise. I started Alleyn’s a few days after our return and I suppose the experience felt like ancient history very soon after it ended.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Eleven: Katakolon

Our Ship Delphi At Katakolon

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The eighth port of call was Katakolon.

I remember almost nothing about this day and the only photo we have that proves we went there is the headline photo above.

I think we were all toured out at that point and it was another hot day. I suspect we went for a walk and meandered around the nearby shops, but apart from that we used it as a rest day ahead of our last two ports of call.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Ten: Crete

Knossos – Corridor Of The Magazines

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The seventh port of call was Crete. I have a feeling this was another very hot and humid day. I also have a feeling that it was here that the film jammed in dad’s cine camera, leading to the loss of several minutes of film from Baalbek, Jerusalem and Knossos.

I don’t remember all that much about Crete, other than exploring the Knossos at some length. Dad had a bit of a thing about Knossos. We had a painting of dad’s at home, Theseus and the Minotaur which Dad had imagined from that legend. The main action in that legend supposedly took place at Knossos.

I think I had some difficulty imagining Theseus and the Minotaur from the ruins at Knossos, not least because Dad had rather built this one up in my mind.

I don’t think we toured all day, though, as it was too hot. Nor do I think we explored the Phoenician castle in the harbour.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Nine: At Sea

All At Sea – Nigel & Me

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

I think this was the only day, after the initial days at sea, when we spent two nights and an entire day at sea, wending our way from Israel to Crete.

The pool was nowhere near as crowded by that stage. But I think I had been put off dipping in it by then.

In truth I only vaguely remember my friend Nigel, but he finds his way into a couple of pictures from that day at sea. I think we were both resisting the swimming but I do recall enjoying playing some deck games, such as quoits. I also remember being disappointed by the absence of deck cricket.

I have no idea whether my parents dined at the Captains Table on one of those “at sea” nights, but I’ll place the snap of that momentous evening here.

Similarly, I don’t know when the costume parties were held, but here are a couple of pictures from one of them. I apologise unequivocally to any indigenous American people who might feel culturally appropriated by the costume my mother made for me and by my juvenile attempts to depict the traditional war dance.

A relief to see the life boats sign above my head and no surprise to see my Mykonos sandals strapped to my feet day and night. T’was thus for years whenever we were away and/or there was good weather.

Hmmm. The dance is supposed to look and sound like this:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Eight: Jerusalem

Dome Of The Rock

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The sixth port of call was Israel (presumably the Port of Ashdod), from whence we went to Jerusalem for the day. Our visit was just a few weeks before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, which must have put a stop to such touring for some while.

Still, several stereo photographs, some “monos” from which are shown below.

I remember little about this day, other than being super excited (to use the modern phrase) ahead of it and super exhausted (I’m SO modern) after it.

No surviving cine for Jerusalem, as the film was spoiled, as I described in the preceding piece, much to our (especially my mum’s) dismay.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Seven: Lebanon

By Jove! Temple Of Jupiter At Baalbek

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The fifth port of call was Beirut, in Lebanon. Our visit was just a few weeks before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, which must have put a stop to such touring for some while.

I returned to Lebanon, more than 20 years later, with Janie, with hilariously predictable results at Beirut airport:

I remember the coach journey from the Beirut port to Baalbek being a long and mostly tedious one. Dad took the street scene below twixt the two places.

Baalbek was nestled amongst some permanent refugee camps which I imagine might still be there – they were still there when we visited in 1997.

I remember being wowed by the ruined temples there – finding them in many ways more awe-inspiring than the Athens ruins, not least because they were less crowded and we were able to scramble around the ruins more comprehensively. That might well no longer be the case.

*Some crumbling old ruins (and us) scrambling around the Temple of Jupiter*

I was especially struck by the Temple of Bacchus, depicted below. I remember dad saying that Bacchus was his kinda Roman God. Hard to disagree now that I know a bit more about him.

*Me and Mum Before The Lion Head Capital*

There is just over a minute of cine, between 10’25” and 11’30”, until you start to see the invasion of light damage on the cine and the film jumps from Lebanon to Corfu, several days later. Dad lost almost a whole reel – I think the film got stuck in the camera at Crete and he had no changing bag with which to rescue the reel before most of it, including his Jerusalem footage, was destroyed.

Mum was very upset. I don’t think dad ever travelled without a changing bag again and I certainly never travelled without one…until digital photography came along.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Six: Cyprus

Me Propping Up the Temple of Apollo, Limassol

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The fourth port of call was the island of Cyprus. Our visit was less than a year before the Turkish invasion and partition of the island.

*View from Kolossi Castle – not one of dad’s best*

I vaguely recall our day on Cyprus being especially hot, humid and bothersome, which might explain a rare example of poor framing by dad, excluding half of me from the above picture. In stereo as it happens.

The one below, of the stables, is better.

*This view from Kolossi more stable – did you see what I did there?*

The headline picture is of the Temple of Apollo, also in the vicinity of Limassol, as was the Roman Theatre depicted below. Once again, I’m in the starring role. Born for it, I was.

85 Seconds of film, between 9’00” and 10’25” adds little to our record on this place, other than the presence of our own guide. I don’t think that educational tour came as standard for the Cyprus stop and I vaguely recall that we were amongst a very tiny minority of people who opted to tour that day, perhaps in part because of the heat.

What troopers we Harris’s were.

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Five: Rhodes

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The third port of call was the island of Rhodes.

Again, as with Mykonos, I remember mum, dad and I all being taken with this place.

*Me propping up the Rhodes Crusader Castle*

Dad shot, by his standards, a heap of cine there – 160 seconds (between 6’20” and 9’00”). The shot of dad strolling around the 8’00 mark is one of my early efforts with video.

The film also shows me and mum looking in a shop window which had, amongst other things, some onyx animal artefacts, one or two of which mum snapped up and treasured thereafter,

This was our view at Rhodes from the ship (other cruise ships, mostly).

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 –Day Four: Mykonos

For the context, itinerary and links for this entire holiday, click here or the link below:

The second port of call was the island of Mykonos. I remember especially liking this place. I guess I was rapidly acquiring a taste for slightly out-of-the-way places rather than the heaving crowds of very touristic places. I was charmed by Mykonos, as were my parents, who I suspect fed me that sense of charm and calm while we were there.

While I am not a lover of garments generally, I remember loving that Tom & Jerry tee-shirt you can see me wearing in the pictures and the film.

The other wearables I remember falling in love with on Mykanos is a pair of sandals my parents bought for me there, which we called my Mykanos sandals and/or my Jesus sandals interchangeably. I loved those sandals for years, wearing them beyond outgrowing them, until they fell apart from having been worn so much.

The Mykonos part of the film runs for 90 seconds between 4’50” and 6’20”.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: