Tag: Greece

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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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

Cafe view of Mouse Island

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.

Farewell Corfu

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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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 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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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

Rhodes Town Square

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:

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

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”.

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

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

A Two Week Mediterranean Cruise Ahead Of Starting At Alleyn’s School, late August 1973 – Context, Itinerary, Links & Day Zero: Porto di Rimini via Luton Airport

The first port of call and day of touring was Athens.

Temple Of Athena

Dad’s pictures and cine suggest that we basically spent the day at The Acropolis looking at the various temples and The Parthenon.

Mum and Me at the Acropolis

View of Athens from The Acropolis

This was my first ever day of serious sightseeing tourism away from home. I remember feeling hot during it and very tired at the end of it. In truth I don’t remember all that much about it.

Thank goodness, then, for the pictures and 140 seconds of film, between 2’30” and 4’50” in the cine.