Edit: There are some new posts listed on the appropriate days now. I’ll post links to photos in the gallery as I get them uploaded.

What is now left is just simply beautiful. I mean gorgeous. The original round island is now a collection of 5 islands in a circular collection, with Santorini being the largest by far and with the original volcano in the center by itself. The water left between them is far deeper than one would expect. Apparently the water in between the islands is more than 5000 meters deep. This is perhaps one of the deepest places on the earth. Jacques Cousteau once attempted to traverse to the bottom, but was unable to, as has been every other person or organization to attempt it.

We dropped anchor at around 8:00am and began tendering to shore shortly afterward. Santoríni is somewhat unique in how you get from the dock to the town proper. You see, the town, Fira, is on top of the island, which is pretty much up a 75 degree hill from the harbor. This leaves three options for getting up to the top: walk a switchback trail; ride a smelly donkey up a switchback trail; take the freakin’ cable car. We took the freakin’ cable car. At the top we wandered around for a bit before finding a car rental place with an English speaking guy out front. This guy we found was awesome. He’s a Canadian-born fella with a Greek father and a German mother. Go figure. He mostly sounded like a “light” Greek, but occasionally he’d let loose with an “eh”. Talk about a life change. He was raised in Edmonton where winters get to -30c. Now he lives in Santoríni, Greece where the average temp is more like 30-40c. *Shrug* I can see why someone might do that.

So Nikos (the guy at the car rental place) worked there as a rental agent and as a tour guide as well. So we decided to do a 2 hour tour of the island with him that went really well. He went out back of the business (which in Santorini means below the place since the area on top of the island is so narrow, garages are under buildings or in caves it seemed) to get our ride, a Land Cruiser. I gotta say, the new Toyota Land Cruisers are fairly decent vehicles. Too bad Toyota just started making them as SUVs are going out of favor. Niko took us through Fira and our along the hill top roads on a visual tour of the island. The roads are incredibly narrow and constantly switch back and forth. One section in particular was barely wider than the Land Cruiser, but Niko said that full size buses use that same road. Nuts. On our way to our first stop we got to see some incredible views of wine grape fields and the ocean. Purely breathtaking.

Our first stop was at a church near the very top of the island. There are over 300 churches on this island. Let me repeat that. Over 300 churches. The population of Firá, the largest community on the island, is just 2000. The total population on the island is about 8000 (I think). That’s an average of around 25 people per church (if they actually went to church). However, they only have like 6 or 7 priests for the island. Total. Apparently they just travel around the island constantly doing ceremonies all over the place. According to Nikos, everyone has a saint that they are “affiliated” with, and instead of celebrating their birthday, the islanders, celebrate their saint’s day. Nikos’ saint is Saint Nikolas, whose day is December 6. Wow, side tracked there. So, the church we went to: This church (I don’t know the name) is apparently right near the top of the island and is a white building with a blue dome and blue trim painting. It also has a stack of three bells on top. Nikos told us that it is often used by celebrities and the fabulously rich for their weddings thanks to the view and the surrounding communities. Most recently former Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his niece’s wedding there.

After our stop at the hilltop church we moved on to the next town on the island, Oía. That’s pronounced eeeee-ah. Yay Greek. I don’t really have much to say about Oía except that it’s spectacularly beautiful. There are a number of hotels and restaurants in this town that are cut directly into the hillside. So if you get a hotel here you’re more than likely to have your room essentially be a cave. Some of the more expensive ones even have indoor pools that sometimes connect to the outdoor pool. Apparently some of those rooms cost up to 2000 euros per night. Ouch. I think I’ll keep my money for something a little more useful. I mean seriously, I could build a badass gaming system for that kind of money.

After Oía we headed back to Firá, walked around some shops for a bit, grabbed some lunch at a café with a spectacular view of the bay, and headed back to ship to relax for the rest of the day.

We arrived in Rhodes, Greece at approximately 9am. Unfortunately we missed the Colossus by a couple thousand years. Bummer. Well, at least there was still the city and the acropolis to see! We started off by walking through and around the harbor into the old city. The old city of Rhodes is surrounded by a fortified wall in order to help fight off seaborn invaders. According to an inscription I read in one of the museums, the original Rhodeian wall was a meager thing built hastily. But after an attack in the 3rd century B.C. (?) in which the original wall was little to no help, the Rhodesians rebuilt it quite impressively, after which point it was hailed as one of the most remarkable fortress walls in the Mediterranean region. Of course, this doesn’t mean they never got sacked again. To the contrary, Rhodes fell again to the Goths in 269 A.D. and was then brought under the influence of the Byzantine empire 28 years later. It was alternately ruled by Crusaders, Ottoman Turks, and Italians over the centuries until about 1309 A.D. It was at this point that the Knights of the Order of St. John took the city and led it into it’s “renaissance”. Apparently the Knights got lucky 3 years later when the Pope outlawed the Templars and gave all their money to the Knights of St. John. This gave them the means to fortify Rhodes.  It was only after World War II that the country of Greece gained rulership over the island. [Mostly cited from Celebrity's "Port Explorer" notes]

Our first stop upon entering the Old City and wandering the streets a bit was to visit “The Hospital of the Knights” which is now host to the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. It contains a large collection of pottery and sculpture from the ancient times, including some famous statues of Aphrodite (which my Dad kept pronouncing Afroditty). I got pictures of the smaller of the two famous ones, but unfortunately there was a set of huge tour groups in the way which kept me from getting close enough to take a good shot of the larger of the two. There were also huge cannon balls in the courtyard which were apparently leftover from the wars of the past and a great deal of recovered pottery, weapons and statuary scattered throughout the entire place.

Our next stop was the Palace of the Grand Masters (also known as the Palace of the Knights of St. John). This place is freaking giant. It contains over 300 rooms and a massive courtyard and contains another huge collection of pottery, sculpture and artifacts. But the best part about this place was the building itself. It was clearly a major military center and a home to many knights and their followers. Much of the indoor areas are studded wall and floor with mosaics and artwork. There is also a great deal of intricate woodwork. Many of the rooms had lovely chairs and tables constructed of very impressive mahogany and other hard woods. Unfortunately I didn’t get as many photos of it as I would like because they were prohibited in the majority of the “museum”. I’m not sure why. It could be because of the safety of the artifacts (flash light can be degrading to some types of artwork), or just because they don’t want people taking away photos that might decrease their revenue.

We wanted to visit the Mosque of Suleyman (Suleiman?), but unfortunately it is closed to the public. It is opposite the Palace of the Grand Masters and was constructed after Sultan Suleyman the “Magnificent” captured Rhodes in approximately 1522.  So instead we headed to lunch at a café that didn’t have a roof but rather a latticework covered in leafy vines. We had a “traditional” Greek lunch. Which is to say that I had a plate of gyros (no pita, just the contents and a fork) and my family all had pizza. *Shakes head in shame…*. I also had some Greek ouzo. For those who haven’t heard of it, ouzo is the traditional Greek drink, like vodka to Russians and wine to Italians. It’s nearly 100 proof (50% alcohol). *choke* <strained voice> Good stuff… </strained voice>.

I actually skipped one of the places we visited. Technically, the first place we visited was the Temple of Aphrodite. I forgot about it simply because it is almost entirely gone. What little is left is simply ruins, and resembles nothing so much as a temple.  Supposedly it was completed in the third century B.C. but there isn’t much left to distinguish such by.

Finally, we took a long walk (a very, very long walk uphill) to visit the acropolis of Rhodes which contains the Temple of Apollo as well as a stadium. All that is left of the temple is three columns with a cross beam, but even that was sufficient to demonstrate the incredible majesty that was once the ancient Greek world. Down the hill from the temple is an ancient stadium which is mostly intact. It includes a small amphitheater (which we have a picture of me “orating” in) ((get your mind out of the gutter)), and a large chariot (I think…) racing track. We got a great picture of my brother doing a one-handed hand stand in the amphitheater.

After this last we trekked back downhill from the acropolis (which took quite a while, though not as long as to get up there) and caught a cab at the edge of the old city to take us back to the cruise ship. That’s pretty much it. We just relaxed after that.

I know this is late, but for a day we had a really slow internet connection and then I was just having too much fun to post anything.

Peace out.

A view from a height

Picasa Album: Mykonos

Today was our first day in port (aside from the embarkation in Rome of course). The Galaxy (our Celebrity cruise ship) made port in Mykonos, Greece at around 1:45-2:00pm today. This of course means we had the morning to ourselves and I used that time to get my rest in. It’s truly amazing how easy it is to oversleep in complete darkness. The absence of any light but that of my computer’s charging cord meant that even though my brother got up at 6:30am for a run and a massage appointment I was able to fall instantly back to sleep and stay there until 9:30 when my alarm went off.

Feeling much refreshed after the previous days relaxation in transit and the full nights sleep, I embarked upon a quest. A quest for lunch. Yea, verily I went unto the omelet station and tasted of a mushroom, onion, and white cheddar omelet. It was nigh delicious. Perhaps a little too much cheese, though seriously, can you have too much cheese?

Upon sating my hunger I went in search of my family and lo, there they were lounging around the pool. Yes, I realize that right about now all of you working the two weeks I’m away are just about starting to hate me for all this talk of relaxing, but hey, we all get our turn, right? We lounged about until the cruise weighed anchor, at which point we made our way down to the tenders to get onto the first Greek soil our feet have ever touched.

I suppose I should describe it. Mykonos is a small island off the cost of Greece. My “Port Explorer” sheet from Celebrity tells me that the island is just 33 square miles and is thus one of the smallest in the Cyclades group. It has a population of 5000, which is pretty decent for a bare 33 sq mile island when you consider how “barren” the land is. It’s a very dry little island, balmy sea breezes notwithstanding. The population is dwarfed by the incredible 900,000 tourists and visitors that the island hosts each year. Clearly this is no small farming island, its pure tourism to it’s core.

The island is administered from Mykonos Town, also known as Chora. This is a really neat town from a historical perspective because of the layout of the town. Most modern towns and cities are planned very carefully for maximum people flow. Not Chora. This place was designed from the beginning to resist invasion, though not in the typical way. While many European towns are practically fortresses in their own right, Chora is open to the world. Pretty much any invader could get in if they wanted to. The problem then would of course be getting out. You see, Chora is designed as a trap. The narrow, twisting streets have no signs and no decipherable pattern. The only people who actually seem to be able to navigate the place reliably are the true natives, those born there.

We can certainly attest to the efficacy of this plan. We were trying to find a certain particular store for an hour or two, but apparently just kept on barely missing it. Apparently my family managed to walk from one side of Chora to another before we finally found it after coming halfway back. After that crazy walk we decided to head to a small café and grab some ice cream to cool off. Oh, did I not mention the heat? Good lord it was hot. It was supposed to reach a high of 78f and have a nice breeze coming in off the harbor. No dice. Zero wind and it felt like 100f in the sun. Fortunately it wasn’t too humid, only 80-90%. So anyway, back to the narrative. We stopped at this little café on the water and went up to the second floor balcony to enjoy some delicious strawberry ice cream. Yum yum.

After the ice cream it was most definitely time to head back to the ship. While we had originally planned to eat in a restaurant on the water at sunset, we were still a couple hours from said dropping of the solar sphere and didn’t really have much left to do. Chora is definitely a shopping and relaxing town. Not a lot in the way of historical sites or fun activities besides beach lounging.

All in all, I’d recommend it for anyone who wants to get in some solid relaxation. There are dozens of small cafés, restaurants, bars and shops to wander through in a visit and the beaches, while small, face out on a beautiful view.

Tonight we’re going to do some more relaxing, maybe hit the bar tonight. It’s actually fairly hoppin’, though there aren’t nearly enough people my age. Even those few people about my age aren’t really available to hang out with because they’re either on their honeymoon, or with a large group of friends and family. Cést la vîe. I say that phrase a lot lately. Oh well. I think I’ll manage to enjoy myself nonetheless.

P.S. Tomorrow we’ll be going to Rhodes, Greece, which I was just handed the info packet for by our stateroom attendant. How serendipitous!

P.P.S I realize I’m kinda skipping over the first few days of the trip with this first full-length post, but I’ll get around to writing that soon.

P.P.P.S My family and I were just sitting at the dinner table on deck at around 9:45pm when something amazing happened. So we had all sat down for dinner a few hours ago and have been lounging at our table on desk after dinner waiting for the disembarkation party for our next stop Rhodes. We’ve all had a bit to drink and we’re having fun. So someone behind my Dad starts to get up and he starts to stand up, turn, and pull back his chair at the same time. This twists the chair legs and he falls back into the chair which immediately starts to break. He fell in what I swear was ultra slow motion, grabbing for my brother sitting next to him, the table, anything at all to stop his fall. Of course this was witnessed by the other 300 people on deck. A sizeable contingent around us start laughing and clapping as my Dad struggles to his feet. To add insult to injury (and a great deal more amusement to our evening) a fellow walks up behind Dad and gives him a doubled up seat. Then another guy walks up with a sturdy wooden deck chair. All in all, it was immensely amusing.

Peace out.

Fed Uncertainty Principle:
The fed, by its very existence, has completely distorted the market via self reinforcing observer/participant feedback loops. Thus, it is fatally flawed logic to suggest the Fed is simply following the market, therefore the market is to blame for the Fed’s actions. There would not be a Fed in a free market, and by implication there would not be observer/participant feedback loops either.

Corollary Number One:
The Fed has no idea where interest rates should be. Only a free market does. The Fed will be disingenuous about what it knows (nothing of use) and doesn’t know (much more than it wants to admit), particularly in times of economic stress.

Corollary Number Two: The government/quasi-government body most responsible for creating this mess (the Fed), will attempt a big power grab, purportedly to fix whatever problems it creates. The bigger the mess it creates, the more power it will attempt to grab. Over time this leads to dangerously concentrated power into the hands of those who have already proven they do not know what they are doing.

Corollary Number Three:
Don’t expect the Fed to learn from past mistakes. Instead, expect the Fed to repeat them with bigger and bigger doses of exactly what created the initial problem.

Corollary Number Four:
The Fed simply does not care whether its actions are illegal or not. The Fed is operating under the principle that it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission. And forgiveness is just another means to the desired power grab it is seeking.

This is a fascinating article on a “new” technology that could solve a lot of problems. Worth a quick read.

I’m setting a new goal, which I’ve already communicated to my Masters Commitee; I now plan to be finished with my capstone by the beginning of Fall Quarter 2008. This would still have me finished well before the university guideline of within two quarters of walking at graduation.

In addition to this timeline resolution, I am also announcing my intention to write at least one post on my capstone blog each week, regardless of progress. I am hoping that this will assist me in keeping my resolve to finish fresh and lively. This particular idea owes it’s life to my recent decision to use the Nutrisystem meal plan to help me eat right for awhile. On said plan you are required to track your foods in a booklet or on their website. It isn’t a calorie counter, it’s more of a food blog. I think it’s helped in exactly the way I hope the capstone blog helps. In fact, over the last week I’ve lost 9 lbs. That’s probably way too much, but I’m chalking it up to the first week effect. At least I’m fairly certain it’s not water loss since I’ve been drinking tons of water every day. I suppose it could partially be muscle loss, but I doubt it’s too much of that.

If anyone is currently still reading this blog (something I’m not certain of), please feel free to help keep me on track on both my diet and capstone. Email/txt/IM are all good ways to poke me with a metaphorical stick.

For awhile I’ve been talking about possibly starting a job here in town at a leading RIA development firm. Well, it finally happened. Two weeks ago, January 14th, I began my employment as a Consultant at Cynergy Systems, Inc. For the foreseeable future I will be a Flex developer with Cynergy and am already very happy with the job. The office, the people, the culture, they’re all great. The work is a fantastic experience and I’m already learning new things as well as sharpening the skills I already have.

Some may ask, “What about your capstone!?”, and that is a good question. I haven’t forgotten it. I just put up a note on my capstone blog detailing my current plans for the project and where I currently am in my progress. I am still on track to finish before I walk the plank at RIT’s graduation ceremony and therefore will be officially graduated come summer!

As for the weeks before I started work, I was spending that time with family and getting set up to “officially” move to Rochester. This past Christmas apparently my family decided to acknowledge my oenophile status and purchased me a boatload of wine paraphernalia, including a wine cellar (a small specialized electric cooler with racks). I enjoyed spending time with my nieces and the rest of the family and even managed to hang out with a number of friends on New Years. Once I got back to my apartment I started setting up my own life here. I’ve got my own drivers insurance, renters insurance, new license, etc. all lined up and ready to fall like dominoes. Even managed to register in time for an absentee ballot to vote in the primaries.

Looks like I’ll be going on a cruise to the Mediterranean again this year and this time I plan to get a really nice DSLR camera with good flash, zoom lens, and tripod and will be spending as much time as possible taking amazing photos. I’ve been to Spain and Italy enough now that I can relax on the sightseeing and do more time relaxing and working on getting great pics.

Alright, that’s enough for one post. See ya in another month or so. Maybe less.