I wanted to get this written before Indy, but didn’t make it. Indy was hard for me, but I got to do color commentary with Bob Frey, which is always a lot of fun. Not racing was the hard part.

The second part of the cruise started with a day at sea. Boy, did we need it. We only had four the whole trip, but they seemed to come at just the right time. They meant sleeping late, laying by the pool, and gambling later (and sometimes a movie).

The first port was Dubrovnik, in Croatia (used to be Yugoslavia). When we read about the town before we left, I didn’t think I would like it. Was I wrong! This is a walled city that underwent a siege during the war with Serbia. You can see all the replaced roofs from up high, and see the pockmarks of bombs on buildings.  But the city has a flavor to it. Tiny alleyways, beautiful buildings and a view of islands in the sea. The first picture is of a unique house with its backyard (the sea).

Corfu was the next port. Neither of us really liked this island. There wasn’t much to see and do. The overcast weather might have had something to do with it.

But next was Olympia--the site of the first Olympic games. Although in ruins, you could see how large some of the buildings were -- not just temples to the gods, but the gymnasium and training buildings. The picture is of the starting line (marble) which had grooves in it for traction (sounds like drag racing!). I wished we could have spent more time here (instead of Corfu) because there was so much more up my alley and we only had a half day.

Santorini was the next stop (my wife’s favorite). Here, we rented a scooter and helmets, and we were off. We went from one end of the island to the other. The island itself is the edge of the caldera of an ancient volcano. It’s so narrow at the top that they build down the cliff wall, which is very steep. From the ship, you had three ways to get to the towns--walk the switchbacks in the picture or ride a donkey, or take the funicular up the face. No fools are we, we rode in the cable car. The island is incredible. It has black, white and red beaches. All the buildings are white and the church (Greek Orthodox) domes are blue. I finally got my swim in the Mediterranean. At six at night, the water was nice and warm, but the beach we ended up at was a gravel and rock beach and I had no water shoes. Feet took a beating.

Next was a port technically in Asia--Ephesus, Turkey. These ruins were some of the oldest we saw. The pictures show the library as it is today (in wonderful shape) and a Roman mile-marker (I guess this wasn’t a modern invention). Our only disappointment was that they were out of audio guides in English and no English-speaking guides were available.

Athens was my favorite place. We rode the metro to the Acropolis and walked up and down for hours. I liked how the whole site sat up on a wonderfully high hill and could be seen from everywhere. We joined up with a guide from South Carolina who had married a Greek girl and moved there. He was very good, but he did burst my bubble. I just kept imagining these great white buildings shining in the sun, but he showed where you could still see remnants of paint -- all the buildings were painted bright blue, red, yellow, etc. The new museum opened right before we got there and it is very impressive. The building is the exact dimensions of the Parthanon, which helps give you a feeling just how large the building was. And the floor is glass, so you can see the excavation being done under your feet. I have omitted pictures since I am sure all of you have seen pictures of the Acropolis.

One sea day and we were back to Sicily, where we saw Mt. Etna and an ancient Greek theater in Taormina (way overpriced).

On our way back to Rome, we passed within one mile of Stromboli (don’t think Pinocchio), which is an active volcano, last erupted in 2002, I think. It has a total of about 200 people in two villages. No roads connect them, so they must go by boat. I couldn’t stop thinking, why would anybody live there?

We returned to spend three days in Rome. I was amazed that whenever you turned a corner, there would be another statue, fountain, or ornate building. Oh, and I loved the Pantheon because of the dome. I have mentioned how amazed I was about the domes, but this one was spectacular because of the perfection (as tall as it is wide) and it has a big hole in it. And that is the oldest building in Rome!! How?

The other night, we were talking about where else we would like to go, and I mentioned that, now, I am less reluctant to go somewhere another language is spoken. My wife just smiled and said, “You know the Universal language.” I was puzzled until she showed me the final picture for this blog. I wondered why she chose that picture, but knew it showed how we felt the whole time we were gone. She said, “Do you know how you made yourself understood?” I didn’t get what she meant, and looked at the picture again. I thought about how people looked when I tried to communicate and when they tried back, and it hit me. The universal language is SMILING.

Next blog will be the trials of remembering what you did 30 years ago. We are building a nostalgia funny car.