1974 & 1978

(and Turkey)


 

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

Although the two Ehrlich visits to Greece cover some of the same ground in the same decade, they are introduced and presented separately as "The Nine Days Wonder" (1974) and "Forward Into the Past" (1978).

Greek place names can assume Byzantine variations, depending on how they're transliterated and what point in their history you're addressing.  Multiple versions can crop up in a single journal entry ("Will I ever settle on a single spelling of these names again?" George wonders at one point), and are annotated ad loc.

To enhance the clarity of reading these travel journals online, I have amended punctuation, adjusted paragraph breaks, and expanded most abbreviations.  "[sic]" is my editorial addendum; "(sic)" appears in the original text.

This webpage is best viewed on a device using the four fonts I employed: Courier New for itineraries, Times New Roman for George's entries, Comic Sans for Mila Jean's, and Verdana for my own.

Thanks to my brother Matthew for scanning and providing selected photos of our parents and their cruise ship for inclusion below.

left:
American Express Map of Greece (1978)

center:
Map of Athens
(courtesy of Orangesmile.com)

click on each to see a larger image

1974: THE NINE DAYS WONDER

A weeklong trip to Greece in March 1974 was offered to staff of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Kansas City Kansas Community College, by Group Travel Associates of Chicago in conjunction with Vassiliades Travel Service of Athens, who apparently wrote the itinerary in Greek and then translated it to English:

WELCOME TO GREECE, Cradle of hospitality and friendliness.  We are welcoming you to this Country with the assurance that every effort will be rendered to ensure that your stay with us will be a pleasant and memorable one.  It is our hope that while in this Country smile will never leave your face [sic].  Your stay in Greece will definitely give you the opportunity to visit and admire some of the Country's landscapes and the most interesting spots.

There is no indication and I have no recollection why George did not accompany Mila on this trip, since our recently widowed Grandmother Smith could have been imported to keep The Boys in line at home.  Academic duties may have intruded, since George still chaired the UMKC Department of Art & Art History at this time; then again, we were a poor-but-honest collegiate family and may not have been able to afford the fare ($381) for two, in the middle of what was then the worst recession since the Great Depression.  At any rate, the Ehrlichs could rest assured that Mila Jean would be traveling in the company of many friends.

She kept two records of her journey: a pocket spiral of first impressions, and a more formal after-some-consideration (yet still Mila Spirally) diary.  I present the latter's entries below, incorporating a few [bracketed] preliminary notes, interspersed with the travel service's day-by-day itinerary.  This seems to have undergone some significant changes, extending March 13th's one-day trip to Delphi to two, and evidently canceling the March 14th boat tour (since it's difficult to believe Mila would've passed up a cruise to three Greek islands without comment).

It should be mentioned that Greece was undergoing major turmoil at this time: its military junta had crushed a student uprising at Athens Polytechnic in November 1973, leading to a coup against dictator Papadopoulos by disgruntled hardliners who would go on to overthrow Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus in July 1974, resulting in a counter-invasion by Turkey.  The threat of all-out war caused Greece's Regime of Colonels to implode, with parliamentary democracy restored by the end of the year.  Mila Jean & Co. managed to thread this knotty needle without being interned, expelled, or harassed—if you don't count a lecherous headwaiter or a frustrated robe merchant.
 

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1974

MILA JEAN:  George drives Kris & me to airport.  We leave 5505 at 7:15 in hot, muggy weather.  I regret my heavy brogues & suede coat.  Feet swelling mightily—drag into terminal, absolute chaos.  Long wait, lots of walking, many people milling around.  Begins rain storm.  Kris is very nervous.  Disappears for beer in the bar.  She sends a telegram to service station offering to get her Buick out of hock.  Finally get on plane (supposedly in non-smoking section but everyone smokes around us).  Take off in gigantic storm: rock & roll.  Kris gasps & attacks her wine contained in pair of false binoculars.  I got her a Dramamine & I sip sherry also from my flask.  I am next to window, then Kris, then sweet plump blonde across the aisle [in a group of three], one who proves to be a real problem drunk.  But now he is merely good-looking & rather fun.  In back of us are Ion, Jordis, & Britt.  Back of them, Fred & some old broad, who also proves to be a problem.  Mary, Selma & Burt are across aisle from Fred.
       Free booze (I have bourbon).  Dinner—Lasagne with sausage & noodles, green beans, salad, strawberry tart & wine.  Good!  Kris brightens up, then passes out during movie.  Burt Reynolds in White Lightning.  I don't watch—try to sleep.  "Streaker" at 37,000 feet.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1974

ITINERARY:  Arrive at the Athens airport at approx. 4.45 p.m. after a special welcome greeting and assistance with the Immigration and Customs Authorities, you are requested to proceed to your coach for transfer to your "STANLEY" hotel, located at 1, Odysseos Street, Karaiskaki Square, Tel. 541-611.  Dinner at your hotel.  Balance of the day at leisure.

MILA JEAN:  Screams & yells!  Many drink & talk & yell all night long, including Fred & group across aisle.  We have orange juice & coffee after film.  Get off at Orly Airport.  1:00-1:30—41°—I get a[n Alsatian] beer with Ion.  We are frisked going back into airplane.  Search bag & [illegible] pats our bodies.
       Take off for Athens about 2:15—new TWA crew—French, including gorgeous male steward named "Jimmy" from Madagascar.  We have lunch—tournedos with [champignon] mushroom sauce, [haricot verts], pomme de terre au jus, petits pois [au beurre], fromage, gateau mocha, [individual bottles of] Bordeaux wine, then champagne!  Heaven on earth!
       Land at Athens 5:00—very strange appearing—exotic, surrounded by strange aircraft: "OK Jet & Fast Wings Airway."  Sample flower (carnation) on arrival.  Chaos in lobby & buses.  "Andy" of travel organization greets us—no customs—[illegible] through streets.  When we get to Hotel Stanley, there is a whole Greek soccer team leaning over the balcony.  We are told to leave our baggage & go up to our rooms to wash & rest.  [Kris & I] have 716A, a room & a half.  Two single beds—royal blue blankets—next to one another in largest room, night stand on each side, telephone—large closet with drawers.  Inner door closes.  Bathroom with weird shower.
       I remember nothing about the evening meal.
       We try to go out & walk but all is so strange—dimly lit streets.  All men walking around & "looking."  We finally give up & go back to hotel to bed.  Almost impossible to sleep—terribly loud—car horns, people shouting.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  At 9.15 a.m. departure for your Athens sightseeing tour, including the ACROPOLIS, the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Panathenean Stadium, the Old Palace, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and other interesting spots of the City of Athens.  Return to your hotel at approx. noon time.  Lunch at the hotel.  Rest of the day at leisure.  This tour is included in your package, so everyone is invited to participate.  In the evening, enjoy the OPTIONAL "Athens by Night" tour.  Drive through the illuminated boulevards in Athens and Piraeus with a brief stop at the "MARINA" Yacht Port for a Greek traditional OUZO aperitiff [sic].  After Piraeus, drive to the old section of Athens, the famous "Plaka" (where all the Tavernas are located) for a delicious Greek dinner and enjoy the Greek floor show with Greek songs.  Departure from your hotel at 8.45 p.m.  Rate: $12.00 per person.

MILA JEAN:  Sunday in Athens.  Pouring rain, wind & cold.  Breakfast—two rolls & coffee.  Morning tour of the Acropolis—very dangerous, slipping & sliding on marble, rocks, mud.  I am glad that I have brought my umbrella, rain hat, & heavy shoes!  Everyone else is soaking wet & lovely hairdos are flattened.  Guide "Marietta" cuts tour short.  We get back to hotel early & take cab to National Archaeological Museum (Nea, Polly, Kris, & I).  A fantastic place.  Poseidon is the most exciting thing there, also "Little Jockey."  We have a wonderful two hours.  Back to hotel for a marvelous luncheon—omelet, first course.  Red Demestica.  We rest (lying down & reading guide books) for awhile, then take a late afternoon walk down to the Plaka.  I make my first mistake in body language (smiling at a strange man).  He is very attentive—"English? American?"  Hangs in for a mile or so.  "You don't want to be alone tonight" routine.  Kris is upset.  I am not.  We see the Flea Market & two of its inhabitants for the first time—the old hustler & the old copper man banging away.  We walk back & decide to go out to Turkish Harbour for dinner.  Jean Milstead, Virginia, Nea, Polly, Kris & me, Rip Van Winkle (tall, blond & cute with Oklahoma accent) & Clarence Turpin (small, black & [illegible]).  We walk up to Omonoia Square to take subway after getting directions from desk clerk.  Rip is approached by a sailor (Hello, big boy) but it turns out to be an Australian who missed English-looking people.  Trip out at 6:00 is hilarious with all of the Greeks giving directions (3 drachmas).  Get two cabs to go to harbor restaurant—unenthusiastic waiter & expensive prices (two shrimp for 53 drachmas) but we have good time.  Business is slow this time of year—plus rain produces hysterical onrush of waiters from other restaurants as we walk by outside, hunting for a cup of coffee.  [Every other waiter almost dragged us in (finis!).]  We see yachts & boats in harbor.  In one restaurant, there are five waiters & one customer.  One restaurant filled with Greeks wouldn't serve us coffee.  [Rip & me with umbrella.]  We find an espresso bar & have coffee & pastries.  Hilarious time.  Rip tells story of his seeing Some Like it Hot.  Nea's story about turning Bill Ryan in for a bad check passer because of the shape of his ears.  Long walk up twisty streets.  Back to hotel via subway & bus.  Walk back to hotel.

MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  At approx. 8.30 a.m. departure for your o p t i o n a l [sic] tour to ARGOLIS.  This interesting tour include driving up to Corinth (brief stop at the Canal), visit the Ancient Corinth, Mycenae (visit the Tombs of King Agamemnon and Cletemnestra [sic]), then proceed to NAPLION (first Capital of modern Greece) and also the ancient Theatre of EPIDAVROS, which is well-known as the theatre with the best acoustic [sic] in the world.  Enjoy the "GREEK FIESTA" lunch and the delicious "Herculus blood wine" at MYCENAE.  Taste some of the Greek specialties, such as skewered lamb, the high light [sic] of this tour and it is a lots of fun [sic].  Return to your hotel at approx 7.30 p.m.  Dinner at the hotel.  Rate: $16.00 per person, all included.

MILA JEAN:  Chill & cloudy.  Trip to Argolis.  Leave at 8:45.  "Harry" is [entertainment] coordinator par excellence.  Drive through cruddy suburbs to highway on way to Corinth.  Stop at Canal for photos & rest-stop (Mobil) [many johns].  We buy souvlakia [on stick] because we're so hungry.  Ancient Corinth quite interesting.  We still have Marietta as guide.  Fantastic lunch after [seeing] Mycenae.  Groaning tables of macaroni, whole roasted lambs (one placed before Eric) on each table.  Many bottles of wine.  Dancing afterward & our driver throws a plate.
       Mycenae is mindblowing—very windy, cold, rocky, high.  I loved it.  [Tombs, Lion Gate.  Climb, climb, climb!  High up!]  We climbed as high as we can go, Rip observing that there will be a lot of earaches tonight.  [Beehive Tomb.]  Observe Naplion from bus.  On to Epidaurus.  Interesting museum but big treat is the theatre!  It's everything I thought it would be.  I go clear up to top & can hear everything the guide says.  Back to hotel for dinner.
       Niko (maitre d') first makes the scene.  Wrong body language again (I lick my lips after a glass of wine).  Down to Plaka "Taverna" suggested by Mich[a]elsons.  Amplified bouzouki, organ, drums.  [Incredible noise!]  Jean Milstead, Virginia & Kris are horrified & leave.  I am left with the Shill, Nea & Pat Lawson.  He [Niko] is really closing in with all sorts of compliments & questions—"Where are you from?  Nea says "Acro-Corinth.  Don't you remember?  We went to school together."  He says "Your eyes lie."  She says "So do my lips."  [I merely shake hands.]  Program—girl singer—man throws a plate that doesn't break [in a bored fashion].  Two tall men & two women dancers.  Nea & Pat dance [with them].  Boy singer—so cute & earnest [& adorable].  Hangs onto belt in an intense way.  Smiles after each number.  We go outside where others have been waiting.  More conversation.  Three of us go home.  It's cold.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  Rest of the morning at leisure.  At 3.00 p.m. departure for your OPTIONAL tour to Cape Sounion.  Enjoy the beautiful driving along the new coastal roadway and the lovely scenery, the wonderful beaches of Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni and Varkiza with countless coves, and then proceed to SOUNION, the Southern part of ATTIKI.  While there visit the Temple of POSIDON [sic] (in English "NEPTUNE" the God of the Seas) and admire the panoramic view of the Saronic Gulf an the sun-set [sic].  Return to your hotel at approx. 7.00 p.m.  Rate: $5.00 per person.

MILA JEAN:  Kris, Polly, Nea & I walk to the Plaka.  We met Tony the sandalworker & his friend, who comes over the play the guitar.  [Both harmonize.]  Polly buys a hat for her son which [Tony] fits (stretching it on his knee) on my head.  Nea buys sandals (she wears [size] 10—but these are 1).  I buy worry beads.  Kris buys a bag next door.  Tony is adorable.  So friendly & sweet.  We go on to George's, Ion's friend.  We buy lots of things (I get a caftan & gold jewelry).  We also tour Agora & Temple of Hephaestus.  A john in the Stoa.
       Lunch (moussaka & lemon soup & Greek salad) at the Delphi.  It's fantastic!  Meet Fred, Burt & their two Danish friends.
       More shopping.  Nea buys an expensive gold necklace & proprietor sends us to a "coffee house" so I can sit down (all men, drinking, playing dominos).  Nea has ouzo.  They seem a bit taken aback but waiter [is thrilled,] so sweet.
       More shopping.  Nea encounters an old shopkeeper who tries to force a robe on her, [telling her robe fits when it's falling off both shoulders] ("no too big") & yells something like "May you mother get fleas" when we leave.
       Drinks in Nea's room.  Back for dinner (Niko again).  Night time trip to Lycabettus Hill.  Wild cab ride, funny funicular ride with sole male passenger "David" from California who teaches in [Hamburg] gymnasium.  Fabulous view in spite of high winds & cold!  Go in for drinks at restaurant.  Surly Steve Lawrence-type waiter who gets mad because Kris asks for cheap brandy.  We walk all the way home.  Thank God I have a flashlight to shine on all of the steps—especially for Polly.  Nice walk down street flanked with museums, Palace, U., etc.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel  Day of leisure . . . : but who wants to stay in Athens and miss the sites which are so worthed [sic] to be seen?  For today, we have set up another "OPTIONAL" tour for you, and this is the full day tour to Delphi.  Drive through the National road to LEVADIA for a brief stop, and then proceed to ARACHOVA, a village close to Delphi, very well-known for the hand-woven rugs, and then proceed to DELPHI.  Visit the Temple of Apollo, the ancient Theatre and don't forget to consult the ORACLE and make a wish.  This will come out true.  Lunch at Delphi.  Departure from your hotel at 8:15 a.m.  Return at 7.30 p.m.  Rate $16.00 per person, all included.  Dinner, overnight at the hotel.

MILA JEAN:  More shopping.  Drugstore & self-service—just Kris & me.  We walk to the Acropolis.  The sun actually comes out.  Tons of tourists, lots of schoolchildren.  Museum is a dream.  We meet David again.  Back down, need to go to the john, so back to Agora where we met Fred & Burt.  Stroll around, john etc.  Most pleasant.  Stroll around Plaka & Tony runs out.  He thinks Burt is my husband.  He & his friend serenade us & I buy a leather hat.  We decide to have lunch at the Delphi again.  Meet Deb & Marian.  Fabulous meal.  Go to john there (even has a bathtub!).
       Kris & I split to go for more shopping.  Strange places, out of the way.  Buy copper from an Adonis who thinks I am Greek American & Kris is Dutch.  We get to Dionysus Theatre just before it closes.  It's nice when no one is around.  Very misty & lovely.  Coffee in weird little place where waiter has to go out for it.  Start to walk home.  Tony comes running out & invites us into his shop.  His friend is still there.  We have very nice talk about him & the Greeks & everything.  He's already given me his collection of change for Matthew's collection.  Now he offers ouzo or coffee.  We talk about streaking.  He cannot understand why my husband lets me on this trip alone.  ("He must be playing around at home.")  "You must watch out for Greek men," very bad.  He thinks he knows Niko at the Stanley.
       We stagger home—7:00.  Drinks in someone's room.  Niko begins to close in at dinner.  I say I am tied up.  He says "Later?"
       We gave drinks in (raining outside).  I'm with Nea, Polly, Virginia Calkins, Eric, Mary Ann—then Kris, Ion, Jean, Pat.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  For today we have planned another interesting trip for you and this is the ONE DAY CRUISE to the enchanting islands of AEGINA, POROS and HYDRA.  Once you are in Athens for such a short time, we strongly suggest you to [sic] participate in this OPTIONAL one day cruise and see three of the Greek Islands.  Departure from your hotel at 8.00 a.m.  Return at 7.00 p.m.  Rate: $17.00 per person, including your lunch on board.  Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

MILA JEAN:  Very hung over!  So is waiter.  This is the beginning of the two-day trip to Delphi.  We leave half an hour late.  Leda arrives in pouring rain, but no Harry.  Finally sweeps in with his usual smiling Jose Jimenez grin.  He introduces Leda—tall, very dark, fur coat, black boots, much jewelry (rings on every finger), much makeup—double eyeliner—very intense.  A PhD in Archaeology.  Driver is named Menelaus, a real "type"—Hephaestus, curly hair, round face, smiles & roaming eyes.  Likes to make eye contact with passengers (me) while driving bus (a Mercedes).
       We take off in rain past very ugly suburbs.  All of Athenian houses look like bad hotel architecture—pastel stucco jobs built up on hill, every one with plants & flowers stuck in empty gas cans (usually painted red or shocking pink).  We see many factories & industrial concerns.  We go past Lake Marathon where sea battle occurred 490 BC during Persian Wars.  Leda explains everything—why there are no fences in Greece & almost no farmhouses, due to occupation [by] the Turks (1453-1821).  Better to live together in villages far away from farmland, "no one would dream of taking another's land."  Half population of Greece (three million) live in Athens.  Trying to distribute population.  We see little shrine[s] along the highway & roadsides, with votive oil lights inside—either to protect crops or as a shrine after some accident.
       Road to Arvis—past city of Thebes.  Comment on Oedipus.  We see where the three roads cross—wow!  See area where Pindar was from.  Kitheron Mountain.  We go into Livadeia, where people used to be cured by the use of opium at Xmas & Easter time.  Honey & nuts (baklava) offered to snakes.  We have rest stop at Mobil Station—very modern & USA-ish.  Lots of other tourists (French).  We all fight for the WC's (very wet due to storm).
       We go on into romantic "Apollonian" countryside.  Apollo was difficult because his thesis was to "know yourself" which is very difficult.  Getting into interesting territory—very rocky soil with olive trees & vineyards, very red soil.  [Leda] tells us the story of Eve Parker & her Skilionossos—starving Greek poet around end of 19th & early 20th Century.  Shows us the little house in Arachova.  Much information on mythical beginnings of Delphi.
       Our little bus is filled with sixteen friendly, interesting & interested people in Delphi.  We begin some "heavy" driving, hairpin turns, men working on making new roads (Menelaus is a good driver, careful, but he doesn't always keep his eyes on the road.)  Kris is terrified of heights (closes eyes).  Mist & rain.  All of a sudden, up looms Mount Parnassus—the mist clears away & it's stupendous!  Some of the people on the other side of the bus actually see eagles flying up the mountainside!
       We stop at Arachova in pouring rain.  I walk around with Eric under the umbrella.  Most of the people spend their time buying rugs, bedspreads, etc.  It's a funny little town built on a hillside—streets are parallel, but others are a series of steps.  Everyone is as eager to have us buy things, Kris gets a lamb hat (leopard spotted).  I am very hungry.
       We arrive in Delphi—ogling the sites.  The hotel's electricity is off, so we troop down steps to WC by candlelight, very romantic & very necessary.  We have a lovely lunch (cheese pie first course) with wine.  It's still raining.  We set off for the site—the spring, the temple.  It clears—the birds sing, the lovely spring flowers are out, the mists surround the mountain.  Fantastic.  I am very glad for my brogues to keep my feet out of the mud.  I drank from [the] Castalian Spring.
       Some of us decided to walk back (while others ride the bus).  I stay with Eric.  He is quiet enough—appropriate for the solemn occasion.  There are very few people at the site—one fellow is obviously communing at Temple of Apollo—one other small group.  Walking back to the hotel is [illegible] beautiful.  We have no bathtub so getting back to the room is no thrill for me.
       Kris goes across the street & buys some dreadful wine (tastes like it went bad).  Marian gets some other kind.  They convene in our room for talk, then to Eric & MaryAnn's for drinks & snacks.  Dinner is a dreadful experience for me.  Since we ate a huge lunch late, dinner at 7:30 (which I'm not used to) is terrible.  Huge mound of spaghetti first course.  Second course terrible tough, dry steak, potatoes, carrots, etc.  The waiter keeps glaring at me & refusing to remove first course until I've finished it.  (Later I think he means it as a sexy look.)  Our table mates are young newly married couple, very nice.  After dinner we sit in lounge & talk until late in the evening.  I read aloud for Leda.  It's very interesting.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  All day at leisure for last minute shopping and individual activities.  Today is the departure day for the 15 passengers taking the AF flight 139 to Paris.  Your plane will take off at 11.25 a.m.  Please have your luggage outside rooms by 8.30 am.  Departure for the airport at 9.30 a.m.

MILA JEAN:  Fairly good sleep (no traffic noise outside)—awoke to hear Nea chattering in next room.  It's raining (alas!) so no early morning trip to site.  Kris & I walk around village—see old bent peasant women in black.  Back for breakfast—then to museum; really a thrilling experience seeing those bronzes & of course the Charioteer!
       On to bus & back to site.  The Sacred Way (almost no other tourists)—misty, see herd of sheep up on Mount Parnassus.  Back to hotel for early lunch.  Leda says we must hurry because of dwindling light at Hosios Loukas.  The monastery is decaying with not terribly successful restoration.  The Byzantine mosaics are quite stupendous.  Eric goes wild photographing, actually disappears for awhile.  Once more, very misty.  We drive home happy, tired, & dirty.  I sit in jump seat & talk to Leda  She may come to Hunter College to teach next fall.  We take up collection for her trip.
       Friday night—Kris goes to someone's room.  I run up to ours to wash & freshen up.  I am tired & have a funny head from all those hairpin turns.  I put on a skirt for a change!  Nea comes & asks me down for a drink.  Marian gives me some vodka for my flask.  I go to Nea & Polly's who are "putting their feet up."  We have a good time (Kris decides to eat early & go on to Roy Culver's).  We arrive at dining room—pandemonium.  Harry has just made speech.  The rooms are filled with our group, Canadians from Stratford, Ontario, & are there any left from the plump middle-aged crowd who look ike Seventh Day Adventists?  The waiters are going nuts flinging plates around, etc.  We sit at the back amidst dirty dishes.  Nice dinner but I'm too high to finish much of it.
       I spy Niko, but establish no eye contact.  He is "working" other part of dining room.  I go over to see Kris to see what our schedule comprises for the night.  Pass Niko—salutation.  "Tonight?"  Shrug—"I'm going out with them."  "That's just an excuse" (all of this amidst removing dirty dishes, changing tablecloths, etc.).  "You know the roof garden?  Quarter to eleven?"  "I'm tired."  "If you can, do.  Otherwise, not."  Time passes.  I get two desserts, hand pats, many burning glances that I try to ignore.  Waiters are beginning to put out breakfast dishes.  Mickolaus (adorable bus boy) finds out my name is Mila.  Meelah (Apple).  "Meela Meela," he cries to Niko, "Apple."  "I know," he replies burningly.  This is getting ridiculous, I think as I go up.  He says we'll go to his house to relax.  I say yes, with his wife & children.  He says "I have no wife.  Are you married?"  "Yes, my husband is home with the children."  (Laughter)  "Does that strike you as strange?"  (Thinks)  "No, it's rather good.  He trusts you & you trust him.  Not tonight?"  "Not tonight."  We shake hands.  A wave & goodbye.  How many times has he used this same routine (successfully?) before?
       We decide to go out to Plaka.  I'm not so keen.  I'm not used to such emotional encounters.  We leave (six of us).  Nea says charmingly to incredibly goodlooking man who has hoved into view—"Were you waiting for us?"  "Yes."  "Can you manage all of us?"  "Well, yes."  "Where's your cab?"  "Pardon?"  "Aren't you a taxi driver"  "No!"  "Oh, sorry.  Oh look, there's two cabs!"  Rush over.  Pile in.  I'm still outside.  "And you?"  "And I?"  "You are Scandinavian?" (must be the hat).  "No."  "I come with you?"  "Well, it'll be crowded."  "No, no—just you."  I manage to get into cab & speed off.  Nea tells me that I just don't handle men right, that I mustn't engage in conversation, etc.  She set it all up!
       We head for Plaka—walk into huge touristy place.  Back out.  Next to "Athens Big Night."  Harry's friend George runs it?  Once more touristy—this time French tourists!  Usual bit—girl vocalist, boy vocalist, dancers, belly dancer! (terrible).  She dances on table—upsets part of Nea's beer.  George or someone sits on my side being "friendly."  George also announces all numbers on loudspeaker.  He likes my hat.  He blows me a kiss, etc. ad nauseum.  I am tired & quiet.  I'd like to go home.
       We leave amidst protest from George the owner.  Surly cabdriver demands more tip than he gets (very un-Greek).  We part.  No Kris, of course.  I return key to desk at 2:00 AM, but they claim no key by the time she comes in at 2:45.  We go to bed late, in spite of the fact that we must be up early next morning.  I hear the rooster crow at 3:00 AM.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1974

ITINERARY:  Breakfast at the hotel.  This is the departure day for all TWA passengers.  Your plane TWA flight 8144-R will take off at 1.15 P.M.  Please have your luggage outside rooms by 9.00 a.m.  You will depart from your hotel to the airport at 11.15 a.m.  This is the end of your Greek tour.  We sincerely hope you have thoroughly enjoyed it and that we will have the pleasure of seeing you again in Greece in the not too distant future.
    H A P P Y  L A N D I N G.

MILA JEAN:  I awake at 7:00.  Even the waiter has a hangover next morning.  Kris & I separate.  I go down to shop below hotel.  Buy a little bottle, two bags & a newspaper.  We place bags outside room for pickup.  I walk down to the Plaka—very stern, buttoned up & Greek—not too many leers or remarks.  It is a wild Saturday morning market day—noise, smells, crowds, confusion—hard to even walk.  I get rather mixed up hunting Tony's place (I'd left my other leather hat in the Taverna the night before).  I finally find it & him.  He is working on a new bag, & a woman (apparently his wife) is working there too,  NO introductions.  Everyone seems subdued & hungover.  His little friend is not playing the guitar, either.  I buy a new hat & leave.  Kris has arrived also.  We buy copper & some stuff from George, Ion's friend (I get a blouse & a belt).  We walk back to hotel, buying some cheese pie (boy refuses to take my old coin, bless him).  Rush up to room (already done up)—we are late!  Down to bus, already packed with our friends.  Andy comes to give impassioned speech.  Very moving.  Harry distributes gifts—goodbye, goodbye.  It's really hard to go.  The sun is out—we see Acropolis all over again.
       Get on plane (supposedly non-smoking section) & taxi off to sounds of Puccini's Manon Lescaut.  I cry.  It is so beautiful—so sad.  We console ourselves with a lovely lunch of chicken, wine, cheese, etc.  More champagne.  Nice easy flight.  Debbie sits next to Kris, Ion behind us.  We have 35 minutes at Shannon—absolute pandemonium—I buy Irish Mist & a mohair rug.  Next seven hours hard on most people.  I try to keep moving.  We have a crazy crew—Irish, French, Polish, American.  Three of them are vegetarians & eat veg & brown rice.  They fling uncooked food at us & claim that we should have paid for our drinks all along!  I circulate.  Get up to cockpit to see sunset over Greenland!
       We arrive in K.C. an hour late (9:30).  We let everyone get out ahead of us.  At baggage counter, I get mine right away & thus through customs early—pant, it's hard dragging all that baggage around when you're tired.  The Micha[e]lsons wait for us (seemingly for hours since Kris is practically last in line) but we arrive home about 11:30 to be greeted by George & Mom, brandy & firelight.  Welcome Home!  I am "high" for a week afterward.
       When can I go back?

left:
Wildflowers (and nettles) in the Mani, May 30, 1978

center:
Lovebirds in Nauplia, June 2, 1978

right:
Refreshment in Delos, June 14, 1978

click on each to see a larger image

1978:  FORWARD INTO THE PAST

Mila Jean would return four years later, this time with George, and as part of a Society of Architectural Historians study tour of "Greece (and Turkey)":

Participants will have the opportunity to visit important Byzantine and Classical sites throughout Greece....  The tour will end with a week's cruise on the TTS Atlas....  The cost of the tour is $1,300.00 per person in double accommodations throughout the tour....  The tour is limited to forty-three persons.  Because of the interest expressed in this tour, all members who wish to participate are urged to send their registrations and deposits immediately ... [and] no later than December 15, 1977....

George was an active member of the SAH throughout his professional life.  He helped establish its Missouri Valley Chapter in 1966-67, presided over this in the 1970s, served as acting local chairman of the SAH's 1975 meeting with the College Art Association, and often contributed to the SAH Journal.  In Sep. 1977 he received a first-name-basis message from the SAH administration:

Dear George: By this letter we are accepting your and your wife's registration for the tour of Greece and Turkey (May 26-June 17, 1978), and thank you for sending the one-half registration fee of $1,300 (twin room throughout).  The balance will be due by February 1, 1978....  I look forward to seeing you next year.  In the meantime, all best wishes.

As per usual, this would largely be a working trip for George; but unlike England in 1971 he did not spent extended portions of it off by himself, working on a specific research project.  His observations—though still tending toward the technical, requiring extra annotation—were of a more general nature and are presented in full.  He kept a small memo pad for field notes, enlarging on these in an extended journal written with light blue ink that has not grown darker over the decades, but sticks very much to the formal Georgian Line.  Contrariwise, Mila Jean's diary resembles a manuscript of freewheeling vers libre, ranging up and down the page with abundant marginalia, entirely according to the Mila Spiral.  She also compiled an appendix of "Some Random Descriptions & Ideas About Fellow Travelers" that are included as footnotes, slightly edited for content.  (A subsequent diary page was headed "Some comments on people on the cruise," but got left blank.)

Again, counterpointing George's measured observations with Mila Jean's staccato responses is not unlike interspersing Beethoven with bursts of Broadway show tunes.  Yet they journeyed together harmoniously, arriving at the same destinations with much the same mindset.  And fortunately they both left a record of their explorations, allowing us to hear their voices speak once more.

FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1978

ITINERARY:  Group flight to Athens (Olympic Airlines flight No. 412).  Depart John F. Kennedy Airport, New York at 7:15 p.m.; arrive Athens 11:15 a.m.

GEORGE:  The departure from K.C. to N.Y. (Kennedy) via Chicago was uneventful and on schedule.  However, we were delayed in leaving Chicago—not by much—and then a bit of chaos hit us in N.Y.  While we began the boarding about on time (via mobile lounge), it was very time-consuming.  Then there was a delay—quite a delay at the ramp.  There was a mechanical problem that delayed our departure 2½ hours.  There we sat, and sat, and people piddled, and sat.  We were given the big treat of a packet of peanuts and a small soft drink.  Then finally we started only to add another half an hour on the taxi[-ing] and delays.  So we were airborne about 9:15 N.Y. time  As it turned out we had (compliments of the captain, as they say) an open bar in recompense.  So we had plenty of wine with the so-so dinner and finished it off with a dram of cognac.  By that time it must have been 10 o'clock or more K.C. time—and so to a fitful sleep.  The one other nagging note was an attack of the gout that [had] greeted me when I awoke Friday morning.

MILA JEAN:  May 26th—22nd wedding anniversary.  Leave for Greece.
       Steve comes by & drives us, in our car, to airport.  Comments on small amount of luggage.  Kisses me goodbye after depositing us & drives off.  The adventure has begun!  Leave 11:16 AM, eat TWA "sandwich": beef & Swiss cheese with Poupon mustard, & cold.  We have 45 minutes layover in Chicago.  They have to take on extra fuel, due to air controllers's "slowdown" (just our luck) in case we have to be in a holding pattern for an extra hour.  Even if we are late, TWA #880 is the same flight number on that plane going to Greece.  During layover in Chicago we are inundated by a huge contingent of loud & rather tipsy Italians—most of whom smoke in our non-smoking section & one is carrying a plastic jug of Chianti(?) [sic]—loud laughter & lighthearted banter.  Even so, it was disconcerting since I had just read in Newsweek of the Italian Red Brigade!  Had "lunch" ("Italian," ugh) at 2:40.  Didn't eat much.
       At Kennedy tried to get Peter at ABT number at Met opera—no answer, [or] at home (woman says never heard of him).  Found out later Peter was in Colorado!  Real problem getting plane to Greece off the ground.  By 8:00 PM we'd been on aircraft for two hours with possibly another one to go before we took off.  Workman (apparently) were putting replacement parts on the rudder (tail).  Everyone is restless.  The Captain made a strange announcement, to wit: "Will the passengers who just came on board please deplane.  They're on the wrong aircraft."  (!)  Not the Italians, surely?  We didn't see anyone leave (but this was a 747, remember—100 people could leave & we wouldn't see it).  Then, announcement—"They're plugging a unit in the rear."  (!)  The child across the aisle from us (luckily we were alone to stretch out) was tickier than hell.  At this point, the condensation was billowing out of the area below the lights & ventilation slots, creating the effect of being gassed slowly.
       Will we ever get there on time to leave with the group?  Stay tuned—

SATURDAY, MAY 27, 1978

ITINERARY:  Group assembles at Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens.  (Persons on group flight will be provided transportation from airport to Hotel upon arrival.)  AFTERNOON FREE.  Overnight: Hotel Grande Bretagne.

GEORGE:  We arrived at the Athens airport at 1:20 their time, or 5:20 a.m. K.C. time (8 hours difference).  Deplaned, boarded a bus for short run to terminal.  There we stood in a mass of lines for fifty minutes trying—patiently—to have the passport checked and stamped.  Then, believe it or not, we waited for the bags to come up.  Finally they arrived, and I dreaded customs, but by then the terminal was so overwhelmed they waved us through.  Information got us oriented to the airport bus, and at 3:00 p.m. sharp we were on our way to Athens.
       The outskirts of Athens are L.A. at its worst, but with one important difference.  There is a propensity to build neo-Bauhaus quadrilaterals based on the skyscraper principle, even at two stories, using ferro-concrete.  Added to the rigorous geometry, there are balconies everywhere—and canvas awnings.  All in all, dull and repetitive.
       As it turned out, the airport bus ends up a block south of Syntagma Square, and so we trotted the two blocks to the Grande Bretagne Hotel and shortly were ensconced in a small but nice room that overlooked an inner court in the old section.  It was, therefore, quiet.
       After a quick bathing, we armed ourselves with hats, sunglasses, and appropriate maps and sallied forth.  I should note that the bus came in such a way that we saw the Acropolis coming in, and flanked the Temple of the Olympian Zeus.  I was immediately struck by the lofty rise of the Acropolis: it really does sit "up there."  Well, we excursioned toward the Acropolis on our foot-jaunt, skirting the Plaka, and saw the cathedral, new and old, and then cut in to the south, to skirt the north side of the Acropolis.  As we did, we also climbed up to the walkway at the "foot" of the sacred mount.  In doing so we saw some interesting remains (as noted in the Blue Guide) and suddenly we were also in a position to see the Agora from above.  I resolved to do the circuit again, when I was fully rested and properly prepared to study and (I hope) photograph.  We continued around the Acropolis, saw all the standard "exterior shots," looked down into the Odeon.  Then swung back into the Plaka and looked at the Monument of Lysicrates.  That was, in fact disappointing, considering its enormous influence on later periods, especially the 19th Century.  We wandered the Plaka.  Most but hardly all of the shops were closed, [it] being Saturday afternoon, late.  After some [illegible], we found a taverna that had an awninged back area, and there had a dinner that was O.K., not too expensive, and a welcome alternative to TWA and the hotel's ostentation.
       The hotel is rather pretentious but certainly comfortable, and the room is about 15x15x15, with a bath off the room in the entrance hall  The room has a door to add quiet and security.  The listed room rate for two is 2,438 drachmas, and continental breakfast is 100 drachmas.  The exchange rate at the airport seemed to be $3.70 per 100 drachmas.  In any case the room for two is in the vicinity of $92/day on an individual basis.  I guess we'll find something else, later.  Fortunately, all of this is tour-paid.
       Well, fatigue has really set in.  We must be up and at 'em early in the a,m.  Bags in hall by 7:00, and on the bus at 8:00 a.m.

MILA JEAN:  Tried to sleep after finally taking off & having late supper & lots of free booze, two or three bottles of red wine & a little "Courvoisier" which George managed to ask for (I think he finally passed out).  TWA felt guilty, so we didn't have to pay for drinks.  Didn't watch movie.  Kid across aisle was bedded down on floor & slept the whole way.  I envied him.  I think we arrived about 2-3 hours late.  Staggered off plane (all 300 plus) & stood in line with hundreds of other poor souls for 1½ hours for passport control.  Did not have to go through customs, but ran through it (or I did) with luggage to outside terminal,  George asked me, "What do we do now?  You are acting so authoritative!"  "Well, we're not taking a cab," I announced (remembering those larcenous lecherous drivers of 1974).  "Well, take care of it, then," he snarled & I ran back into the pandemonium of the terminal to a policeman, yelling "Grande Bretagne."  You know that everyone speaks English, especially police?  Ha, ha.  Finally said "Hotels?"  "Bus!" pointing to yellow bus somewhat away from outside of terminal.  We went to it—asked where it went & deduced that it went somewhere into town & was leaving soon.  "BACK of the bus" yelled a woman.  Hell, I couldn't remember than one entered at the back.  But we paid something like 25 drachmas & got on, throwing our bags in storage area at back.  Not long after leaving (seeing ugly suburbs with hideous stucco houses & gas stations) it looked vaguely familiar & soon we swept into town.  Before too long we saw Grand Bretagne go by & we jumped off with other people, only about three blocks from hotel.  Imagine!  A real bargain.
       Checked in, in huge lobby with clerk looking both condescending & vague ("Society of Architectural Historians?").  Went up to room: rate 2,438 a night, $70-91.25??  Small room with two twin beds pushed together with mutual headboard, pale gray walls, enormously high ceiling, with elegant old brass chandelier.  Two end tables by each bedside with lamps.  A dresser/mirror with little lamp; one easy chair.  One uncomfortable armchair facing mirror, two luggage tables, all rather tightly squeezed in one room.  Bathroom with old fixtures, bidet, toilet, big bath—above which hung a pull chain which [George] inadvertently pulled, thus calling the maid!!  We take baths & tidy up & venture out at 4:30 & take a long walk—down to Plaka, up to base of Acropolis.  Ate dinner in a sweet little outdoor patio with cute little boy acting as "bus boy" for $5.00 apiece.  Had moussaka, beer, salad, very good.
       I wash my hair & take care of necessities of leaving the next morning.  We gratefully retire in nice air conditioning with quiet room facing the court at 9:00 PM.

SUNDAY, MAY 28, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Grande Bretagne.  8 a.m.: Bus departs for Olympia (Daphni-Eleusis en route).  Box lunch en route.  Dinner: Hotel SPAP, Olympia.

GEORGE:  We began early, receiving a call to wake up at 6:15 a.m.  I was already washing up, so it wasn't a shock.  By seven we were ready, bags in the hall and a drab continental breakfast in a swank dining room started.  By eight we were checked out and on the bus.
       As we began the very long day, we left the hotel with Paul Mylonas, our tour guide, describing some of the notable neo-classic 19th Century buildings still standing,  We saw the more urban/modern section of the city and then the industrial outskirts.  We also were on the exodus to the bathing beaches.  Our first significant stop was the monastery church at Daphni, which is a museum rather than a functioning church.  The exterior was very much what I expected, but not the exonarthex which was Gothic, representing the medieval Latin influence.  Inside was small, austere and (surprisingly to me) quite lofty.  The pantocrator was genuinely impressive.  The other mosaics ranged from the fragmentary to the fairly durably intact.  On the lower section, badly mauled fresco fragments were visible.  The precinct was fenced with a fortification wall I somehow didn't recall.
       At Daphni, we picked up George Mylonas who was our our guide to Eleusis.  There he gave us a fascinating and thoroughly detailed review of that site.  It seemed to me we covered it very thoroughly (and here once again [I had] trouble with the camera).  We clambered and scrambled over the ruins and noted (as did the guidebooks) no rails or cautionary notes to warn of true pitfalls.  Our tour ended at the small museum in which there were some interesting objects, but most notable for me was the Polyphemus vase which was quite large and more impressive on the whole than in photographic detail.  The model (actually two) of the sets in its glory (early and late) helped me to see the ruins more meaningfully.
       By the time we finished at Eleusis (and had the necessary w.c. stop) it was 11:30.  George Mylonas left us and we then sailed off for Corinth area and the Peloponnese.  On the way we saw the vast anchorage and dock facilities in the area between Salamis and the mainland, and we saw numerous new churches.  Most new churches imitate the Byzantine, even to details of materials, with the stone and brick combination.  At the Corinth Canal, our first variant occurred, in that Paul Mylonas suggested people could go look at the canal from the bridge, while he phoned ahead re: our lunch.  That created confusion, since a specific return time was not noted, and then the bus was to cross and wait on the other side.  Then our count was wrong, in that we did not have two empty seats but did not know it and searched rather than called the roll.  By the time that was done, Paul Mylonas was off hunting for the non-missing missing.  In any case we finally got off, but a bit late.
       Then we missed the turn-off or lunch at Aigion (Egion) [sic].  We backtracked and found it, and had an elaborate meal overlooking the Gulf of Corinth (about 2:30 to 3:45).  Then saw a Plane Tree, admittedly enormous, under which presumably Pausanias sat in 200 AD.  Then the mayor (?) [sic] of Aigion gave us a short speech.  Nice meal, finished with fresh apricots and cherries.  Then off to Patras for a w.c. stop (the restaurant had very limited toilet facilities).  Somehow, Patras extended into a longer stop than intended.  Saw 19th Century and 20th Century architecture.  Then off to Olympia—but!  At Gastouni we ran into a parade that effectively cut off the highway.  Without elaborating, people did get off the bus and we were to be met by the bus at the other end of town.  I returned to the bus (gout trouble) and then bus and others separated as an hour's delay getting parade over and traffic unsnarled through the two streets ensued.  Well, finally people and the bus were reunited and we finally reached the hotel [SPAP] at Olympia at 8:30 p.m.  Dinner was at 9:15—10:15.  It was a dreary Anglo meal of potato (?) [sic] soup, Salisbury steak with a dead fried egg on it, and impossible whipped potatoes.  The salad was O.K. and there was a caramel custard for dessert.  The [St.] Austell beer was the best!
       And the room bordered on the primitive.  It was 915 drachmas.  However, the view is resplendent; took a couple of photos in the morning of the 29th.  Trees concealed the view of the sanctuary.

MILA JEAN:  Up early next day.  Luggage in hall 7:00AM (first time we've done this, so very nervous about it).  Went down to lobby for our continental breakfast, but eating area not open yet.  (The Greeks really are never on time.)  Met Rose Ann [Rosann] Berry & Dixie ? [sic].  Had not adequate but beautifully served breakfast of coffee (in silver pots—everything), croissants, bread, cake (sweet), butter, jelly & choice of juice.  Nice company.  Group begins to assemble.  I can't sort them all out.  Introduce tour director, Paul Mylonas, who takes over mike in ride out of Athens.
       I might add that even this early in the tourist season, Athens is packed with backpackers of all nationalities & streets are clogged with traffic.  We are on route to Daphni.  Mylonas begins pointing out areas of interest such as Omonoia Square (a real business center).  Omonoia means concord.  On Sacred Way to Eleusis, Mylonas points out that Athens & suburbs house three million people!
       The monastery at Daphni is beautiful & uncrowded.  The present church was erected in the late 11th Century which he terms "an exceptional specimen."  George takes photos.  At Eleusis we are introduced to Prof. George Mylonas, naturally a real biggie in the archaeological field.  This was one of his digs.  Eleusis was one of the centers of religious activity in the ancient world—according to tradition part of Demeter's cult, 5th Century BC.  The Eleusinian Mysteries were held in September, the beginning of Thanksgiving.  It was very interesting but rather hot sun.  The Prof is quite spry, leaping around on the rocks, making us younger types look awkward; & he is funny & amusing.
       Soon we are on main highway to Corinth, driving through plain of olive groves, palm trees, oleander.  See in distance Mount Helicon!  Area is pronounced "Pelephon'sus."  We see mesh strung on side of hills to keep rocks & slides off of roadway.  We eat (late) at Alyion [Aigion] at a lovely spot on the water under huge plane trees & have a wonderful meal: fish (obviously freshly caught), salad (tomatoes, cucumber, shredded lettuce), lamb & potatoes, fresh cherries & apricots, with retsina (65 drachmas) & bottled water (10 drachmas).  Ate with Sam & Frances Richards.  Lovely time!
       On way down to Sparta, in going through a small market village we run into an enormous traffic jam.  It's a parade!  Huzzah!  A flower parade.  This livestock town is called Gastouni & reminds me of something out of Madame Bovary, everyone but everyone is out to see, photograph & applaud.  That is, everyone who isn't on a float, or marching in one of the many bands (all of which sound terrible!).  We all pile off our elegant & oversized brand-new Mercedes bus [with] its slightly oversized driver (good-looking though) named George, & run in numerous opposite directions to photograph (George [Ehrlich] takes two).  The floats are fabulous: one had a stork on top, one with a revolving tower that spewed rosewater all over some of us, one had a globe on top with a sign that said "Please don't destroy out marvelous planet" that revolved.  They threw flowers at us & we ran out & grabbed all we could—rose petals, carnations, you name it.  There were queens & pom-pom girls & everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.
       Naturally it took a long time to assemble all of us on bus again.  [Rosann] was upset.
       The hotel SPAP, Olympia, had lovely grounds with pretty roses (George took photo), but the rooms were antiquated & the floors & plumbing creaked.  Hotel was quiet, but George snored all night long.  Ate with Wally & Mirza.

MONDAY, MAY 29, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Hotel SPAP, Olympia.  8:30 a.m.: Visit to antiquities and Museum, Olympia.  10:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Kalamata (Pyrgos, Pylos-Methoni en route).  Box lunch en route.  Dinner: Hotel Filoxenia, Kalamata.  Overnight: Hotel Filoxenia.

GEORGE:  We began the day with a walk (very short) to the old museum where we saw the pedimental figures and the metopes from the Temple of Zeus, along with the Nike of Peonios [Paionios].  I found the Apollo and side figures missing, and the other pedimental sculptures shockingly like plaster.  After wondering to myself I learned that they indeed were, for the originals were undergoing restoration (more on that later).  The wife of the curator (or museum director, or director of the works—or whatever—was our special guide.  She explained that all the sculptures were being dissembled (due to corrosion of the iron dowels used in the late 19th Century), and reassembled with stainless steel plus other previously unused fragments.  Paul Mylonas told us her husband was a leading expert in this (apparently missing items are fabricated and added).  The [Paionios] Nike and metopes were the originals, and there were also a case or two of small finds, including things from Phidias's workshop, including the oenochoe fragment with his inscription.  We then went into the workroom in the old museum where we saw the body of Apollo in process of being cast in an elaborate piece mold.
       From the old museum we toured the Altis, the sanctuary itself.  Our guide continued, very soft-voiced she was.  We had four major stops: the Temple of Hera, the Stadium, the Temple of Zeus, and Phidias's workshop which had been used to form the substructure for an early Byzantine basilica.  Other items in the vast area were noted.  Many have Blue Guides, and these are proving helpful in being able to follow along.  The camera is as usual mostly on the fritz, and only a very few photos are succeeding (I guess).
       The scale of the place is truly impressive, and I saw the depth of the excavations, an average of four meters.  The quality of the stone is very coarse, with shells very visible in it.  The fallen columns of the Zeus Temple are more impressively big than if they were upright, since one is readily dwarfed by them  The cella itself, however, seemed rather narrow, and the statue of Zeus must have loomed within it.
       From the sanctuary we went to the new museum.  There we were privileged to go into the area where the pedimental groups are being reassembled.  And there, casually on the table, was Apollo's head, much as isolated on the guidebook cover.  Fragments and assemblies were all over the place, and we were free to look and to ask questions.  Knowing we had to meet a bus at  11 a.m., I sneaked out (as did others) to see the rest of the museum.  My first objective was the Hermes.  He is complete except for his right arm and one can see the new stone used to fill in legs, etc.  The installation is an attempt at grandiose, but it doesn't work too well.  Mylonas said a competition was likely to design a new installation of finds, some of which are quite impressive, and they range from Cycladic and [illegible] to Roman.  Here I concentrated on selected items, including architectural fragments in terra cotta (polychromal).
       Well, we had to leave the very austere building that is the new museum.  Several impressions and observations.  The pedimental restoration has been underway three years, and a fourth should finish it.  One can easily see the lack of finish on the part of Apollo's head farthest to the rear (in his pose).  The Hermes is impressive.
       We received a grab bag lunch to eat on our way.  It was more than enough—too much for me—but most of it eaten on our way to Pyrgos.  There we were told to get off and see the old neo-classic market: about two-thirds of us did and we found ourselves in the strange situation of being in the actual market area (the old market was closed to be restored into a museum).  So as we strangers added to the confusion on the narrow streets, we followed Paul Mylonas around the block, only to discover no bus on our return, and Paul had vanished into some shop.  We waited patiently and eventually the bus returned, all of our people were there and off we went to Kalamata, going across into the interior at Kalo Nero.
       At Kalamata we ended up at the Hotel Filoxenia, a quasi-American motel by the shore!  There we were given an hour and a half to rest, reorganize, etc. before heading for Pylos and Nestor's Palace.  The hotel in Kalamata is better than in Olympia and is only 636 drachmas for the two (regular rate).
       After a rest stop—some swam at the adjacent beach—we took off for Pylos.  This was over mountain switchbacks and some gorgeous scenery.  It was so picturesque that it was almost artificial.  After ninety minutes of this we reached Pylos, a beautifully situated small port with houses climbing up the hills.  We paused at the harbor to stretch our legs and have an ice cream.  Then it was off to Nestor's Palace some ten miles north.  We arrived just after the site was closed, and then issued [i.e. took place] a badly scripted play in Greek with the Americans acting as a chorus.  Bureaucratic authorities vs. the "good guys."  Anyway, in due course we were heading another winding four kilometers to Ghora [Chora] to see more bureaucrats at the little museum there—also closed.  Eventually we were allowed (or perhaps mandated) to visit the museum (which had some interesting items including a gold hoard) and then back to the site of the palace.  The head honcho rode with us; we entered, we saw, we were late.
       Nestor's Palace is indeed interesting and informative, but the color of everything, remains and surroundings, is the same red clay.  I had difficulty distinguishing one from the other without the vertical relief.
       So back to Chora to deposit the head honcho.  It is clear this town rarely if ever sees a Mercedes tour bus.  It is certain we were an unexpected sight with numerous double takes.  The bus driver (George) was hard pressed to make the switchback turns in town.  Well, we stopped at the hotel there for a w.c. stop for those who needed it (almost all) and then back to Kalamata by a short cut (and lesser road) at dusk.  We arrived at the hotel at 9:30 p.m. and ate a so-so dinner from 9:45 to 10:45 p.m.  The best parts were the cooked squash (or zucchini) and the fresh apricots for dessert.  Sleep, however, was hard to come by.
       In the Chora area we were in donkey/goat territory and the most evident local automative vehicle is a sort of put-put tractor pulling an attached (not hitched) cart in which people, goats, produce, etc. was placed.  Also saw many riders of donkeys sitting sideways rather than astride.

MILA JEAN:  Meager breakfast of leftover bread, sweetish cake & coffee.  Interesting trip to antiquities.  All of it was on foot.  Our "guide" was a quiet, non-aggressive girl.  This whole morning was totally disorganized.  I like Olympian ruins though.  They looked romantic & Byronic, like old 19th Century prints: fallen columns, huge trees, birds.
       Trip to museum included off-limits workroom, where we were shown restoration work done on head of Apollo & in another studio making a cast of his body.  We have our first (of many) box lunches onboard bus: same old bread, cheese, ham, two hardboiled eggs.
       Afternoon drive to Kalamata, almost on beach.  End room has a gorgeous view of turquoise water, gently rippling trees, with mountains on back & side—very quiet.  Soporific, while some of our group swim.
       We leave at 4:00 for Nestor's Palace, destroyed in 1200 BC.  We have hair-raising ride there, only to be told that it is closed (it's 6:15),  Know why?  Because Paul [Mylonas] wanted an ice cream in your typical seaside port of Pylos (as you can see, he is very self-indulgent).  [At Nestor's Palace] this causes consternation, gesticulation & maneuvering with petty officialdom—a little man in a grey uniform who will not let us in after hours.  George the driver fingers the eight locks on gates, while official makes a call.  We'll be back!
       We end up in a little town called Ghora [Chora] to see museum which naturally is closed!!  Mylonas strides purposefully back & forth on museum's porch while guard called official.  Naturally we get in: Paul is a VIP.  It was interesting: bowls of gold flakes, gold objects found (I gather) in Nestor's Palace.  Speaking of which—back we go, with natives staring up at unfamiliar, no doubt weird-looking American tourists in huge bus.
       It is now almost dusk.  We do get in.  Everything is terra cotta color: ruins, ground, very high, primitive.  Unreal in that light.  Back to Chora, nearly ploughing down people going home to eat on donkeys [sic], people leading donkeys, people walking, all with looks of incredulity.
       We (most of us) are desperate for a WC & as poor [Rosann] goes into a hotel (no doubt only one in town!) to telephone our Kalamata hotel to say we'll be late for dinner, most of us "rush" the hotel facilities (no one seems to be staying there) & flush all 23 toilets simultaneously.
       We eat at 9:45, served by surly crew of overworked waiters—eggplant in oil, beef & potatoes, apricots in water.  Eat with Charlie Hosmer who is hysterical with enthusiasm.  I have to crash around in dark getting ready for bed later while George snores.  It's such a lovely room, it's a shame to leave Hotel Filoxenia.

TUESDAY, MAY 30, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Hotel Filoxenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Sparta (including Mani-Gythion en route).  Box lunch en route.  Dinner: Hotel Xenia, Sparta.  Overnight: Hotel Xenia.

GEORGE:  Today we tried to launch early, which given the late dinner the night before was a task.  But the crew was assembled other than our shepherdess, Rosann Berry.  She alone had not been awakened and our departure (hoped to be 8 a.m.) was delayed while she was discovered; it turned out that no one—not even the hotel—knew her room number since she arranged all of us.  Well, all turned out O.K. and off we went to the Mani, heading across some of the most striking country and magnificent views and hair-raising roads I've ever seen or been on.  It was at times a real white-knuckle ride.  We saw that part of Greece that was never really conquered, though we saw remains (at a distance) of medieval castles, some of which were Frankish in origin.  We saw small Byzantine churches, 12th/13th Century in situ.
       The villages of the Mani are austere geometrical solids of imposing visage, marked by defensive towers.  It is an arid country, even the olive trees are small.  The ride south was quite an experience visually and it was a striking contrast to the classical image given for Greece.  We reached Ithion [Gytheion] via Areopolis [Areopoli], with a jaunt from there south to Gerolimenas and back.  We toured the Vlyhada [Vlychada] Cave near Limonion [Limeni].  On returning to Areopolis from Gerolimenas, we stopped and saw the Byzantine Church of St. George of Kitta (Byzantine 12th/13th Century) (I by binoculars) and then the late 18th Century church in Areopolis.  We saw Ithion (Gythion) [sic] by driving along the waterfront, and thence to Sparta.
       While it seemed as if we saw an enormous amount, and we did, most was watching from a moving bus.  There were several stops (one to "pick wild flowers," men to the right—women to the left) which was a prickly nettlesome experience.  It was not too far from another Byzantine church that had everyone running—well, almost everyone.  I'm pacing myself and using the binoculars which help.  I admit that if the camera worked as it should, I'd probably clamber more.  I am getting some shots I guess, but I'm trying to squeeze as much onto each roll as I can, and the stoppages [by the camera] mean at least one destroyed, and possibly more than one (halves?).  So I've pecked away at tourist shots rather than serious stuff given the possibility that whole sections of treasured views and details could be lost in this frustrating business.  I admit it doesn't traumatize me as much as I thought it would have weeks ago.  I guess I'll have about ten rolls or so used.  I do hope a couple of shots of our wild ride in the Mani (the middle peninsula) are operable.
       The way the Taigetos [Taygetus] loom up, down the peninsula, is awesome, with clouds at the highest points.  Sparti (Sparta) lies just to the east, and the city (mid-19th Century, neo-classic with modern displacements) is dominated by the mountains.  The city has about 11,000 people, quite small, and after dinner (8:30 for a change) Paul Mylonas encouraged us to troop to the Plateia by the neo-classic town hall to sit and have an ouzo or ice cream.  The Plateia's neo-classic arcaded buildings are being violated and replaced,  The marble area of the square has been elevated a meter and is now concrete.  The proportions of buildings are damaged thereby.  Paul M. is very much into conservation and preservation of historic architecture, both neo-classic and Byzantine (as I understand it), and so we are seeing [i.e. being shown] preservation problems as well as monuments.
       The [Vlychada] Cave is a boat trip (mostly) and is interesting but more of a "rest stop" than a must sight [sic].  We had access to the w.c. and a chance to sit on the terrace overlooking picturesque bay looking past the Messenian Gulf.  I managed to hit my head twice and thus have the (my) first wounds of the trip.  The hat did help! The gout siege is down, but I've tightened up the calf with my compensatory limp, so I continue to gimp along.
       We were informed that the roads we drove on (very narrow, possibly 18 feet, maybe 20 feet at the most) were built in the past ten years.  The wild terrain resisted invaders and thus was independent for the most part.  The great fortresses were near the sea.  The defensive towers were used in clan warfare—blood feuds—and such internal problems.  The towers were reduced in height after independence as the government began to impose some order.
       In any case we ended at Sparta where we had a hotel room on a height overlooking trees and off in the distance mountains.  There was an outside porch/deck that had its attractions; however we had no time to enjoy them as it turned out.

MILA JEAN:  [Rosann] "overslept" so 45 minutes late start.  Yesterday was a biggie, as this one is to be.  This is the day in the Mani (white knuckle ride).  In Kambos [Kampos] we (for a short time) take on an additional guest lecturer, a town elder, who is supposed to enlighten us on the bust of the ex-Prime Minister & his home & the old castle.  I remember nothing about it except how funny he was.  Everyone in this country & on this bus is straight out of Central Casting.
       Medieval castles, Byzantine churches, the Mani is quite different from other parts of Greece.  ARID.  There is cactus like southern Italy.  The Maniotes are fierce & independent people, very lean in style of ancient Spartans, fierce vendettas in style of Corsicans.  Some men have been locked in towers for 30 years for vendettas.  All the roads we are on have been built since WWII.  Before these were only mule paths & I can believe it.  This is wild country.
       The language has lots of ancient words, some related to dialects known in Homer.  Interesting book of Patrick Leigh Fermor called Mani.  (We see lots of communistic propaganda KKE—Paul says subsidized by Russia—in red letters on the rocks.)  The landscape gets drier as we get further south.  We see an old German machine gun tower erected on top of an existing ruin.
       We take a rest stop to "gather flowers," literally & figuratively.  One woman got burrs in her butt.  I got them inside my slacks.  I see the advantage of wearing skirts.  Wild flowers include Queen Anne's lace, yellow dandelions, small daisies, thistles, wild onion.  Honey hives (Dixie buys some along road).  Paul & Marion read aloud poetry—Lamentations, 15 syllable verse, which usually is accompanied by shrieking, scratching skin with one's nails, making abrupt movements with arms in manner of ancient choruses.
       We see rough stone walls piled loosely, donkeys, olive trees.  We leave Mycenaean Mani & enter Laconian Mani.  Ancient castle of Ithyion [Gythion].  Paul says this place shouldn't be ruined by tourists.  Maniotes wont sell land—they were [the] only people in Greece to never be subjugated by another power.
       Through Areopolis we go to huge underground caves named Vlyhada [Vlychada] near Limonium [Limeni] which were discovered in 1958 [1949].  They destroyed two-thirds of the stalactites ([which] grow a centimeter every 100 years, life span of 400 million years) to make this into a tourist place.  However it is still (according to Paul) considered to be the most important cave in the world of its size—water slightly salty, contains only eels & spiders....  We go off in little boats, each holding eight—Charlie is hysterically enthusiastic.  I am merely hysterical,  The "boatmen" are teenaged Greek boys who seem to enjoy slamming against things & hearing tourists scream.  It was more funny than awe-inspiring, reminding me of a combination Fun House & Halloween.  We all behaved like kids on holiday....  Have food overlooking water.
       In roadside place we bought some ouzo, honey, Mavrodaphne (Tom) & pass [them] all around.  Such good fellowship & fun.
       See 12th Century church, St. George of Kita [Kitta] high on hill.  Many tramp up (including Gerry) through thistles to take photos.  George & I look through opera glasses,  Paul rips trousers.
       "Rest stop" at Areopolis to go to john & buy stamp.
       See Gythion, port of Sparta.
       The Trigetos [Taygetos] Mountains.
       Sparta.  Arrive at Xenia Hotel (they are Greek government-owned string of hotels throughout Greece—some built by the "Colonels" during reign).  We thought it a rather nice hotel, though we later learned that others of our party had bad (even filthy) accommodations & two of them even threw a mattress out on the roof one night.  About 599 drachmas a night ($20!).  Located on a hill overlooking trees, mountains, but sounding like the Indianapolis 500: children screaming, dogs barking, cars, motor scooters racing over hill & dale.
       We have big bathroom with sit-shower.  I took bath, cleaned face, washed clothes.  (George would do himself later.)
       Bus to leave late: 11:00-11:30.  In meantime, the hardy folk will take cabs up to Mistra at 7:30 AM.
       Interesting meal: cucumbers/tomatoes, patishio, a kind of meatloaf, homemade ice cream, then a walking trip en famille after supper to the town square, to take in the sights under the guiding eye of Paul.  Unfortunately, we seemed to dominate—the town's folk were few & far between.  It was sweet, though, having ouzo & brandy out in the square & sharing our thoughts, then walking back to hotel.
       I would have slept great, but George snored all night & the cock crowed early AM & kept it up.  I looked out once & he was right under our window.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1978

ITINERARY:  Continental breakfast: Hotel Xenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs from Hotel for Monemvasia (afternoon stop at Mistra).  Box lunch en route.  Dinner: Hotel Xenia, Sparta.  Overnight: Hotel Xenia.

GEORGE:  For the hardy folk, there was a very early taxi trip out to Mistra to get the sun on the north facade.  We elected to remain dormant with breakfast at a luxurious 8:30.  By 9:15 or so, we joined Paul M. for a walk to the Museum of Antiquities in Sparta.  We had a directed tour by the curator, a young softspoken woman whose English was O.K., but who was telling us more than I wished to know about Laconian reliefs.  There were some interesting things in the museum, but not too much given the area of the country.  One fascinating thing was a combined Ionic/Doric capital (actually a pair) that looked something like this:

It was so implausible as to be confusing.  It was dated 6th Century (which I had trouble believing) and they were part of an architectural complex supporting a large statue.  In any case, it was peculiar.
       Then a number of people went with Paul on to the archaeological site; Mila and I returned to the hotel to prepare for the afternoon jaunt (see).  I had been given to understand that the old Sparta complex was rather dull, with little of consequence other than some walls, etc.  Anyway, we needed to "pull ourselves together" for our afternoon's visit to Monemvasia.
       The trip to the "Gibraltar of Greece" was generally uneventful, with the usual winding across switchbacks.  It was precipitous enough for me, but George the bus driver did seem to swing along with greater alacrity than I fancied.  Near the end of the voyage (some got motion sick) we stopped for a bit to see a Byzantine mill winding down a valley in three stages, using the fall of the water thrice to power the works.  The vertical channels (and these were up and down by a considerable length) were in cut stone drums.  Some folk bailed out, I looked from the bus by binoculars.  I should add it was nearing 2 p.m., and we had not as yet eaten.
       We reached the sea ([illegible]) and there was this rock of about 150 meters rising abruptly out of the sea with battlements noticeable at the highest elevation.  A narrow and short causeway connected it to the mainland: hence the title Monemvasia or single entrance.
       We bussed across and went (about 2 kilometers) to the entrance.  There box lunches were distributed and we were taken up to a small square within the lower town to eat, facing the sea.  We had until four p.m. to explore on our own before being met by a guide.  Mila and I wandered for about an hour, and as far as we could learn, there was no w.c.  Thus we elected to walk back to the new town for a watering location (Paul was having a fish dinner with about a third of the group).  It had been shady earlier, now the sun beat down, and the walk was hot.  At the other end of the causeway we saw our group just finishing the fresh apricots for dessert.  We w.c.ed [sic] and had something to drink and with the bus headed back to the city.  There, in the square at 4 p.m., we were met by a Mr. and Mrs. Kaloghera.  They are both architects who have a practice in Athens, but who also own and have restored a Byzantine house in the town.  She is working on a doctorate at U. of London on the town planning of Monemvasia, which is a Byzantine town (fortified) which has been slowly decaying and has virtually no inhabitants now (total 15), since the rest live in the new town.
       Well, we were given a tour, far more extensive than that we took on our own.  We saw a number of churches, and here (as later at Mistra) we could see how integral churches were with urban settings.  They are smallish and often tiny.  They pop up everywhere.  The town was stacked up the hillside with narrow, narrow [sic], cobbled streets (sic) about five feet, many six feet at the widest.  The streets were often steps.  We clambered up to the middle town and following our gray-eyed beautiful guide, before we knew it we were heading for the top!  I had muttered before clambering up that I'd be damned if I'd climb to the top, and there I was.  It wasn't the easiest, but the bulk of our group of all ages were plowing upwards, zigging and zagging, until we were near the crest, where the Church of Hagia Sophia stood.  A big dome church of the Daphni type, it lacked its interior decoration (though it is still used as a church).  The construction, with its combination brick and stone, was very clearly revealed.  And as we wended our way down, at the very west was fortifications, but we were close enough not to feel we hadn't accomplished something.  At the end of the downward climb we were received at the Kaloghera house for wine and olives (both local), and we toured the rooms on top of rooms, stacked up cubical shapes.  It was ingenious but treacherous with small, tight stairs and low, low portals.  But what a setting, and what a view from the small terrace.  And, they had two w.c.s that were most welcome of all.
       I'm using w.c. since that is the term (signage) most frequently encountered in the country (so far), though I've seen toilette as well.  There are visuals, including shoe symbols in the Athens airport.
       Well, a tired, tired crew headed back to Sparta from Monemvasia—running about an hour late as usual.  As it turned out there was more than that to be concerned about.  Our battery was dead (on the bus) and we had to make sure the bus would not stall or stop running.  Apparently it conked out once (earlier) on a downgrade but was started again through keeping the bus in gear.  We had the wild ride along hairpin turns not knowing of our problem, and finally hauled into the hotel most weary.  Dinner was one of the best yet, with salad, large tiropita, and fish with rice.  We then learned about the bus and that we would depart for Mistra in the morning using a fleet of taxicabs.  So with that we turned in tired and ready for a very early call.

MILA JEAN:  Early group took off at 7:00 AM.  Late risers had "late" breakfast at 8:30.  We went to museum, narrated by tiny young woman who had a cold, whispered her remarks, & shrugged a lot.  There were interesting copies of old masks used in ritual dances, reminding me of similar ones used in American Indian dances.
       Back on bus 11:45-12:00, going south & on east coast of Peleponnesus.  Goal is Monemvasia—another problem resulting in complete confusion.  Some want to eat fish dinner at harbor, others want to swim "off the rocks," others just want to sit in this lovely spot & eat the box lunches (George & I in the latter).  We decide to split up for two hours (no doubt a mistake, looking back)—we climb & investigate shops & old ruins—rather rough footing.  I cannot find a john.  Frances decides to hell with it & "goes" behind a rock.  George & I walk back down causeway in blistering sun to our "fish-eaters"—Paul & his little coterie—I use toilet & have a Coke.
       We climb on bus, pick up some of the swimmers, & go back to Monemvasia.  Are met by beautiful architect & PhD woman Mrs. Kaloghera (otherwise known as Blue Eyes) with strange blue-gray eyes who shows us around & leads us up a mountain.  Everyone follows her, including the halt & lame—even George—up a sheer cliff face.  Looking down is spooky.  In one empty Byzantine house there is a gap & sheer drop.  When we get to the top we see only (sorry) an old Byzantine church (Hagia Sophia).  Everyone is ecstatic.  We see other old ruins.
       Then we are taken to Blue Eyes & her architect-husband's reconstructed Byzantine house.  It really was quite impressive—three floors & what's more important, three bathrooms!!  Only trouble is by the time we got through with them none of them flushed!  We had resinated wine & chitchat—was very nice all around.
       Staggered back to bus.  Had dinner at 9:30.  We were famished!  Cheese pie, salad, fish with rice.  To "sleep" at 11:30.  George & dog barked all night long.

THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Hotel Xenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs from Hotel: morning visit to Mistra; tour then proceeds to Nauplia.  Luncheon: Hotel Complex "Xenia," Nauplia.  2 p.m.: Bus departs for Mycenae.  Dinner: Xenia, Nauplia.  Overnight: Xenia.

GEORGE:  As noted above we assembled after very little sleep and a most meager breakfast to await the taxis.  Finally they arrived, nine small gray Mercedes, all in a row.  The group piled in (breaking the law at five passengers per) and away the caravan went.  It was five kilometers to Mistra and we climbed up to the fortress gate.  There the noble company of SAH'ers debarked and followed our leader into the area behind the walls of the city.  Paul suggested that some would want to go up to the fortress, while others could wait (at that level) at a nice church nearby.  Well, I started out with the troop, feeling very daring after my Monemvasia climb.  After going up some distance I began to puff rather hard and then and there decided to back off.  I don't know if I was going too fast, or whether it was the higher altitude (about 500 meters vs. 150 meters for Monemvasia) or fatigue, or what.  I thought that with my recent history of high blood pressure problems I'd be crazy to do anything other than retreat, which I did.  Since the rest of the trip would be downhill (I then thought), I saw no problem descending.  In due course the others returned, and we began our study of a number of the Byzantine churches in Mistra.  It was once a large community, but now this medieval town is mostly in ruins except for a number of churches which are intact insofar as superstructure is concerned.  The churches are small dome and some have rather extensive frescoes in them.  We also visited a living nunnery in which the five-dome church was undergoing restoration of the frescoes.  Upon leaving this little oasis of life, it was interesting to note that the Abbess wanted us to have water and sweets.  This, alas, we had to refuse since we were running (as usual) late.
       A word on running late.  We are late because Paul Mylonas is a kind, knowledgeable and fascinating guide, and the group, by and large, is enthusiastic, [un]disciplined and eager to see and learn.
       Anyway we crawled (so to speak) up and down—mostly down, I'm happy to say—on this mountain, seeing the remains of houses and visiting several churches.  The churches exhibit that fascinating combination of brick and stone exterior with tile roof that is now so much part and parcel of that period's architecture.  I've restrained myself in buying books, but here I got the guidebook and a sheaf of postcards (very necessary now that the camera is no longer of use).
       Well, our group wended down to a lower exit, and Paul took the diehards (only half by now) up to see two more churches.  Mila and I found the group sitting and waiting for George the bus driver and his bus.  We were hungry and tired and all in need of w.c. relief.  Well, no bus, no George.  Was the bus fixed?  Would we get to Mycenae that afternoon?  After some confusion the bus did appear, the group gathered, and we started off for Nauplion [Nauplia, Naplion] for lunch (theoretically at 2:00 p.m.)  We got away from Mistra at near 12 noon, and hence were now an hour behind schedule.
       Away we roared, and to make a long trip a brief account, we finally reached Tripolis [Tripoli] where it was deemed necessary to halt near a hotel to use the facilities.  The group scattered, some queueing for the lavs while others began hitting kiosks for snacks, drinks, etc.  The queue for the women's w.c. was the great delay, and so we left refreshed and relieved, but even later.  Then on the road we suddenly halted.  The doors opened and on board came a vendor of cherries.  Large amounts were purchased and consumed.  Finally we see the sea, and begin another series of hair-raising hairpin descending turns, with brakes beginning to heat up and much flinging back and forth.  Later, we were informed that the road is used for the Greek races (but only up the mountain).  We hauled into Argos and then Nauplion.  We wheeled up to a concrete bunker (it is all that one could call it) which seemed to be the hotel (more on that later).  Rosann and Paul debarked, along with George [the bus driver], and after about ten minutes reappeared and we took off again.  We hauled up to another hotel and here debarked.  It was 3:15 and we were one hour and 15 minutes late.  The hotel staff in the restaurant was unhappy, and we were given 30 minutes to eat to be able to get to Mycenae to meet our new guide.  We wolfed down our meal in a rather elegant hotel and by golly we were on board by 3:45.  We arrived at Mycenae at 4:15; on the way we zoomed by Tiryns.  Paul said that maybe tomorrow we would visit it.
       At Mycenae we were met by Charles Williams, who is either at or the Director of the American School of Classical Studies, which does its archaeology in the Corinth precinct.  He gave us our tour of Mycenae from the active archaeologist's point of view.
       The Lion Gate is big.  As you move in between the cyclopean walls (which are lower than originally built), one is closed in—yet there is bigness.  The Assyrian entrances with the guardian bulls would be similar to this I suppose.  One thing about an archeological site of this sort, once you're in the precinct the different levels become confusing to an uninitiate.  Thus Williams's commentary was very helpful.  It went far beyond pointing and naming.  The acropolis of Mycenae, on which the citadel stands, does loom up, and as one climbs (and climb again we did) the view over the Argolid is most impressive.  Our primary stops were the Lion Gate, the grave circle, the megaron of the palace, and the cistern.  A recent discovery has unearthed some strange cult figures, now in Nauplion museum, and thus we have some new interpretations re: the role and function of religion, changing the King-Priest concept.
       Later, seeing Mycenae at a bit of distance, one can see the way the whole builds upward toward the megaron of the king.
       From the citadel we went to the two major tholos tombs (Clytemnestra and Atreus).  Before commenting on them I think I should note that most of the citadel's heavy construction is of a conglomerate stone, which looks a bit like concrete with a river rock aggregate.  Earlier work hammer-dressed, later sawn.  There was apparently an Archaic temple on the site.  Also, Williams is a firm believer in the Dorian invasion and pointed to evidence of fire, etc.
       The Clytemnestra tomb (so-called) is interesting because the lintel stone size is carried around as a large back of extra-size stones that creates a ring.  This is not the case at Atreus.  The side room of the Atreus tomb (so-called) is rock cut.  The tholoi are impressive, and Williams is working on a paper restoration of Atreus, citing its colorful facade which he feels was likely left in view at least during the lifetime of the king.
       We finally pulled away from Mycenae and arrived at the "bunker" from which we would ascend by elevator to the upper reaches.  The hotel was built by the government during the time of the colonels and was placed in front of a medieval fort on the hill.  This over the protests of people like Paul.  It is not very well built, not overly attractive, but what a view.  From our terrace we could see most of the bay, including the medieval island fort right in front, and most of old Naupflion [sic] below us.  For once, we had a reasonably early dinner (9 p.m.) and learned later that Paul and the Placzeks went out for a fish dinner and had looked for us but we were not found—alas.  At the end of this extraordinarily hard day we collapsed and slept soundly.

MILA JEAN:  Up at 6:00 AM.  Went up to Mistra in seven [sic] separate cars because the battery in our bus gave up (too much winding up steep grades, apparently).  What a sight, all of those identical cabs arriving at same time & taking off one after another, speeding of course.  Drivers enormously amused & we hysterical.  Hal stopped ours to take a photo of Mistra up on hill.
       Forgot to say, ran into Betty Vandever & Lottie Lichtor in hotel dining room at breakfast.  Small world!
       Incredible sight—gorgeous air, sky, Byzantine red-roofed ruins.  We climb & climb & climb, all the way to top to a fortress at tip of mountain.  Many Byzantine churches.  My feet are in ruins also.
       We have a big mixup getting picked up (George [the bus driver] was late).  One funny occurrence when Frances Halpin appeared in a cab with Jack!  Trip to Nauplia "hairy" on twists & turns on road used for races!  Good thing I have strong stomach.
       At Hotel Xenia (another one) at 3:00 PM.  Get to Nauplia an hour late or more....  Because [Rosann] demanded air conditioning, we are not in usual hotel complex on top of hill, but even higher in two-unit cabañas (bungalows).  Whole complex rather garish—California, but to us really lavish: marvelous comfortable beds, armchair, two huge dressers, desk mirrors (one whole wall was a dark mirror—hmm).  Separate area for wardrobe & bath could be closed off.  Floor to ceiling doors leading to private balcony overlooking bay, with yachts, boats, Venetian fortress & all of the red-tiled roofs & houses facing the water.  Had our own window box filled with bright red geraniums.  Had Gerry take a photo here.  Our camera is Kaput!
       After lunch went to Mycenae.  There was a lady selling cherries on roadside—she came on board & sold us the whole lot.  It turned out to be an evil omen, right out of Grimms fairy tale.  We ate so many of the cherries that the bad luck was doubly bad.
       4:15!  Went to Mycenae in very, very hot sun (die, I thought I'd die).  Paul said I shouldn't wear black: it absorbs the sun.  Met by Mr. Williams of the American School of Classical Studies (which does digs in Corinth).  He was pure Abercrombie & Fitch in beige safari outfit—apparently indefatigable up & down into site, up hills in blistering sun.
       Lion Gate less impressive to me than when I first saw it that blustery March day in 1974.  Nothing could beat that day.  I swear I saw the Gods walk—saw gate, graves, palace, cistern (I got into entrance & panicked!).  Went into Clytemnestra's & Atreus's beehive tombs.  My feet & head were in bad shape—others looked wilted too.
       Back to hotel—got mixed up on when we would meet.  George & I got there early.  I got tearful, but darling Tom Middleton ? [sic] Ridington entertained us.  Apparently the curse started to take place.  Katie turned her ankle in Mycenae, Miss Edith [ditto marks under "turned her ankle"] & was half in reflecting pool, & Tom & Naomi swam in a contaminated pool.  God, what a mess!
       It was an overwhelmingly demanding day & most unfair on most of us, I thought.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1978

ITINERARY:  Continental breakfast: Xenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for tour of Nauplia area (including Epidaurus and Byzantine churches of Argolis).  Luncheon: Xenia.  Dinner: Xenia.  Overnight: Xenia.

GEORGE:  Today was Tiryns and Epidaurus—a light day which actually gave us a chance to swing back to the hotel in the later afternoon to have some "free time," which I used to buy stamps and to visit the Nauplion museum.  But to do things in order[:]
       Tiryns was a coastal (or at least river/estuary) fortified citadel.  It stands not so high as Mycenae, but it has the advantage of standing more alone on its terrain.  The walls are badly crumbled insofar as height is concerned, but nevertheless impressive by cyclopean [sic].  Very little conglomerate used here.  The site was virtually unoccupied except by our group and a very active (but still restricted) archaeological dig in the north [illegible].  We went into one of the galleries that had the long, corbeled, triangular vault, and the polished surfaces where sheep had rubbed over the grain when the place had fallen into ruins and shepherds had used it (perhaps in bad weather) for their flocks.
       The site is seriously impressive, quite different from Mycenae, mostly because it is starker and more forbidding (and older) than its more famous associate.  As with all archaeological sites, the physical situation is treacherous, and holes, precipices, etc. are awaiting a misstep.  We've had one twisted ankle and one pulled ligament so far.  The former on an archaeological site—an elderly but dauntless woman.  The latter stepped into a decorative pool that foolishly narrowed the sidewalk at our fancy hotel.  While she was a bit of a fussbudget (so I hear) the misstep was more the hotel's fault than hers.
       Well, back from Tiryns, and then off to Epidaurus by way of Nauplia.  But I forget.  There was the active archaeological dig at Tiryns.  While we could look on only from above (at the Megaron), we saw all aspects of the operation, including the mining car, the rails, the tailings, the many plastic buckets for finds, etc.  Well, on to other things.
       We winged our way to Epidaurus.  I'm having problems by now between the Greek and the Anglo way of saying things/names and I'm using neither it seems [as] I hear the phrases, but I have a cursed link in the transmission to my tongue.  It is a kind of aural/vocal dyslexia.  Well anyway, we arrived at Epidaurus, and we began in the museum.  It is small but filled with exquisite items, mostly architectural fragments in reconstruction.  (We skipped over the inscriptions which I later learned were very important.)
       From the museum we began touring the site.  Epidaurus was noted for its Aesculapium and the tholos was extremely important in this case.  I found the area interesting, but not up to Olympia in its stimulation.  But there were interesting things, mostly the theatre.  I erred in my recollection.  First, we had gone to the theatre, which is truly impressive, then to the museum and site.  My recollection is faulty (though I have pocket notes) because I am now two days behind on my journal, and one day's routine blends into another.  But some words on the theatre.  It is a grand space and an effective one.  When we arrived, they were constructing a set/stage for the festival to be held at the end of June/early July.  We saw an ancient theatre as still a living theatre.  The theatre, and the tholos—even in remains—seems to me the most impressive in situ aspects of Epidaurus.
       I was very tired in the museum—as if there were a lack of oxygen—and that was unfortunate.  We have so little time for the museums that are part of this tour.
       Well, we went hauling back to Nauplion for a "free" afternoon.  By the time we finished lunch it was past 3 p.m., and after cleaning up we went down to the town.  We went to the post office, got some more stamps, and then I spent about an hour in the Nauplion Museum.  The most interesting things were the Mycenaean items, including one large fresco fragment and some smaller ones, the cult figures from Mycenae, a piece of the "pediment" of the Treasury of Atreus, and some Mycenaean armor.  From there it was a slow retreat to the hotel, and for a change an early dinner.
       Oh yes.  Paul made it very clear that the metopes covered beam ends and the term means "space between the openings."  The triglyphs represent a grill of some sort.
       In Nauplia we saw some interesting architecture, one was an old morgue converted to a movie house.

MILA JEAN:  Saw a real "dig" in action, with dust etc.  Medieval fortifications on hill (very imposing & stark).  Dolph [Adolf Placzek] has gone off with two ailing ladies to the hospital.  Two Oregon lovers [Wally Huntington & Mirza Dickel] choose not to attend morning session.  Interesting sight is one of polished marble stone in one "magazine," done by sheep kept there thousands of years ago.
       Today, group is pleasant but more subdued.  After all, we have two cripples now: one turned a knee trying to walk to dinner due to inadequate lighting by pools, one turned ankle in Mistra, two swam in polluted pool.  [Rosann] wants to make sure hotel is responsible in case of liability insurance.  (There's two doctors on board, one, Ben Schneider, 60-ish, from Cleveland, distinguished, bent, wears same gray suit every day—no hat; one a young girl married to money who just joined group—extremely slight & childlike: dark straight brown hair, black eyes, bad teeth, sweet; her husband [is] assistant curator of Decorative Art—American Wing of Met Museum—tall, thin, black hair & eyes—very intense but pleasant, looks in 20's.)  Are preceded by a Land Rover with a Malaysian license plate....
       [Epidaurus has a] 14,000 seat theatre (3,000 cars & 300 buses usually in parking lots).  The theatre was being readied for performance beginning in two weeks—erecting a stage—two rows of eighteen steps plus sound equipment testing sound.  Paul drops a coin twice; then reciting in Greek, then translating into English.  Beautiful scenery—good air, cool breeze.  Camelhair seats (box seats).
       WC says "Gentlemen" on outside but we are ushered in by [a] little toothless woman—a co-ed WC.  Sam says, "Well, Frannie, I guess we'll have to make the best of it."  Ladies in stalls (that don't flush), men in front in urinals, heads facing carefully.  "Has an Italian flavor."
       Also at Labyrinth for snake cure (miniature sacred well, circular snake pit) we saw a woman being pushed in wheelchair, get up on crutches (she walks!).  We remark that the people in our group who really needed the cure were left at home.
       Go to museum filled with at least 1,000 children (rather well-behaved, considering) & Paul explains, in painstaking detail, each aspect of the metopes etc.  I really don't understand any of it (or not much) but from him it's fascinating.
       Back on bus to hotel for a 2:30 "lunch": huge omelet with chicken livers, peas & carrots, then a "sirloin" steak with French fries, then a salad of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, then a small silver bowl with cold water in which floated cherries & two apricots.  George made a speech toasting Paul & calling us "the Mountaineers of Maestro Mylonas."  (Paul went back to Athens until Sunday.)
       Staggered back to compound & Gerry took our pictures in our little home, & Gerry, George, Naomi, Eileen & I went to Nauplia to the P.O. (tried to no avail to go to bank), bought wine; Gerry bought two blouses & one long dress & I tried on three dresses, but all were "skimpy."
       Back to hotel where I took bath & washed undies.  Drank wine.  Dinner—veg soup, lots of rice with chicken livers, lamb with potatoes, salad, ice cream.  To bed by 11:00.

SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Xenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Athens (visit to Corinth en route).  AFTERNOON FREE.  Overnight: Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens.

GEORGE:  As noted before,  the journal is a couple of days behind because of the long, long days we are away on tour, and the fact that I keep my journal with the luggage, which is picked up at 7 a.m. (usually), and rarely back into my hands until past 8 p.m. (and yet before supper).  So, I'll try to catch up in Thessaloniki.  But now to return to the 3rd.
       We went to Corinth via Argos.  In Corinth we were met by Prof. Williams again, and we started in the museum.  We got a quick summary of the economics of Corinthian pottery, in which the excellence of early Corinthian ware, which was so prized for export, began to decline as workmanship got careless (to meet demand).  This was by the second half of the 6th Century.  It was then that Athens assumed a primacy in pottery which it retained as long as this type of ware was done.  In fact, the Corinthians began imitating it.  Corinthian clay fires a cream color, while Athens is redder, so the Corinthians painted a red wash on their imitative ware.  No local marble in Corinth (the details are not clear to me) and so they specialized in bronze and terra cotta, in fact being credited with the first roof tiles.  Because of the later rebuilding of Corinth by the Romans after the sack in 146 BC by them, much of Corinth archaeology is Roman.
       We were taken into the Aescalapion [Asclepion/Aesculapium] which had some interesting life-size anatomical parts signifying recoveries....
       Our next visit was to the site, and we concentrated first on the Apollo Temple with its monolithic columns,  There we got some genealogical history, and Williams argued that one could look at the Peloponnesian War as an imperial war between Athens and Corinth, with Sparta helping Corinth.  With Corinth's sack in 146 BC, much sculpture etc. was taken to Rome.  It was Julius Caesar that felt that Corinth's strategic location argued for its rebuilding, a rebuilding continued with Claudius.  Earliest temple on the site, in stone and with a tile roof, is dated to around 700 BC....  On the site we were shown one rather deep excavation that demonstrated the rapid accumulation of debris and hence burial of levels.  It must have been over 12 feet from 5th Century BC to mid-imperial Rome.  Williams also spoke very favorably of Greek tunnel engineering....
       Bema is a Greek word which is the equivalent of the Roman nostrum.  All of this re: the matter of St. Paul and his situation with the Corinthians.
       I found Corinth a most interesting site and rather complex, what with its combination of Greek and Roman remains.
       After Corinth, we headed back to Athens and arrived at the hotel in early mid-afternoon.  Mila and I went out to eat (got done about 3 p.m.) and then walked through the Plaka to the Roman Agora, the Tower of the Winds, and saw parts of the Agora from the north.  We returned to the hotel to rest, and then journeyed out about 8 p.m. for dinner.  After Nauplion and Corinth, Mycenae and Classical ruins, there was an epoch shock in culture-lag.  But then the next morning was to be Delphi.

MILA JEAN:  Everything's fine, but all the fruit & Ex-Lax hasn't done a thing (well . . . some . . .).
       Start out for Corinth after having lifted Miss Edith up into the bus (where she sat for some hours while we toured the excavation).  Almost run into by another Mercedes bus.  We had a long (boring) reading by Morey from the Blue Guide & then a semi-sermon by Charlie on Paul the Apostle's teachings in Corinth.  Got to site by 10:00 (too early for once) where we met Mr. Collins [sic] at 10:30 & had a very extensive tour of the museum (including a locked room with all sorts of votive artifacts that people used to cure particular ailments—such as [a] rheumatic arthritic hand—there were several disembodied breasts & hundreds of penises of all sizes & shapes (!) I guess for impotency cure—feet, hands, etc., very weird.
       Then to the site where we had a painstaking description (which impressed everyone) of the various historic stages of each building—the mystical rites of the oracle (really a priest hiding in a tunnel, turning water into wine)—I got a little spaced out.
       No WC (though there was one) until Athens, six hours late[r].  Got into enormous traffic jam in Athens (Saturday afternoon at 1:30-2:00).  Checking into G[rande] B[retagne], usual hassle (I offered to help [Rosann] due to her 2:30 hair appointment).  George & I immediately to Delphi Restaurant for very good moussaka & dolmates & beer (by 2:30-3:00 we are famished!) & walked to Plaka & Monastiraki to hunt for Tony's Sandals—have a deuce of a time—finally go into Stavros Melissinos (his brother-in-law)['s shop] & get directed to right place ("There is no Tony—Adoni—Arthur").  His wife is there, who remembered me: "You are a teacher>  I remember you,  He gave you a book, etc."  She's cool.  Tony is home "resting."  We say we'll return.
       We look many more places but are tired & go back toward hotel.  Cash traveler's check at bank at 5:00.  Take baths & do wash & rest.  Go out & witness entire Greek wedding at the large Cathedral, bringing in candy favors in little ceramic holders, photographer with tic.  Ate souvlakia in same restaurant.

SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Grande Bretagne.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Delphi (Hosios Loukas en route).  Luncheon: Hotel Xenia, Delphi.  Dinner: Hotel Xenia.  Afternoon visit to museum and ruins.  Dinner: Hotel Xenia.  Overnight: Hotel Xenia.

GEORGE:  We left Athens fairly early in the morning and by a different route than the one to the Peloponnesus (will I ever settle on a single spelling of these names again?), and saw more of new Athens architecture.  It seems that all new construction is basically reinforced concrete for structure, even for high rises.  A tile-like brick, with six holes through the long dimension, is typically used for in-fill, partitions, etc.  Stucco/plaster or veneer is then used as finish, with marble slabs quite standard.  We saw some of Paul's buildings (though apparently he no longer does new construction), and one was a hotel on top of a mountain.  Apparently it is a prize winner re: modern design.  We also saw some interesting neo-classic and early 20th Century villas on our way out of Athens.
       As we wended our way to Delphi via Hosios Loukas, I noted how much quieter the band of hardy travelers has become.  We are all very tired but still quite attentive.  Polite applause is now the standard way of expressing appreciation or approval, even to the extent of clapping for buildings.
       As we neared Hosios Loukas, there was a gentle rain, but soon after our arrival the sun came out.  Hosios Loukas is indeed a gem of a church—or rather monastery.  It is still very much active and the basis for pilgrimages.  We were, I think, the only significant group (size) of non-Greeks who were [not] there for pious work.  We saw the smaller, older church first.  It has lost its interior decoration, though still used as a church.  It had 10th Century ribbed groin vaults.  The detailing and the plan were most interesting.
       Then we went outside and saw the brick-stone construction that Paul calls cloisonné construction, so typical of these early churches.  The detail is truly remarkable, especially when the two churches can be seen from the apse end.  After examining this, we went into the crypt (of the larger church) and looked at the fresco program there.  Then we went into the big church.  The combination of fresco and mosaic is interesting, and the total ensemble is stunning.  After a detailed examination of that, we then went up to the gallery, a restricted place but made accessible to us by the magic of Paul's name and connections I assume.  There saw the old graffiti of earlier visitors.
       From the church we went to the refectory, which is now used as a storeroom for works and fragments.  In it were some architectural fragments and some detached frescoes from a church in the area.  Since this was a store area rather than a museum, things were sort of stacked about.  A major reason for our look-see was to note the architecture (a very simple basilican shape with timber roof).  While we were filing in, so did several pilgrims.  And there, as in the church, a woman kissed the individual saints as no doubt she had the icons, and then crossed herself.  The power of the place, even with its non-church arrangement of the refectory's contents, has had its impact.
       Well, it was time to go, and so we turned to Delphi.  As usual, we were running a little late, but after a rather hasty lunch at the hotel in Delphi, we headed to the Delphi museum.
       The Museum, as usual, was given less emphasis than I would have liked, and here of course were some real treasures.  The curator (or whatever) that was supposed to guide us was called away to Athens, and Paul guided us.  We also had a woman curator (who spoke only Greek) explain the Room of the Bull, and then an English-speaking guard was assigned to help answer questions.
       We went up the stairs, turned left at the Omphalos, and there were Cleobis and Biton, bigger than life.  But we went right past them into a locked room where some fairly recent finds (all found in one location, a room for damaged items that were being saved in ancient times) were in final stages of a very elegant installation.  As we walked in we saw the flattened remains of a larger than life size silver bull with gilt parts.  And there were other fascinating items (see Delphi catalog).  While this fascinated me, I felt I had to see other things too.  And after going out, I'm afraid I stopped listening for the most part, to look at old friends known from photographs.  Cleobis and Biton are truly impressive though very, very block-like.  Some restoration of lower legs, etc. have been done.  Singly I think each would lose much; but as a pair they are tremendous.
       Then off to see the frieze of the Treasury of the Siphnians.  It has lived up to expectations, though the display at eye level may add to their impact.  It is intimate in scale.  Some paint remains on the insides of the shields.  The caryatids are less impressive and even more fragmentary.  But in the same room, there is the Naxian Sphinx.  It is genuinely awesome and big!
       Well, I hustled off and went past the downward gaze of Antinous and there he was, the Charioteer,  My, he is something!  He looks much younger and more lifelike than the photos show.  I was especially entranced by his feet, extraordinarily realistic, more so than the head.  The other fragments, parts of three legs of a horse and a boy's arm, add to the impact and mystery.  After seeing things on my own, I moved back to the group and followed along on the tour.  As I noted, we didn't have enough time in the museum, but I did get a decent chance to study the "major" works, at least insofar as my [Art History] courses are structured.
       Then it was off to the site.  We entered by Gate A' on the guidebook map, and soon found ourselves on the Sacred Way next to the Treasury of the Athenians.  The setting for the Sanctuary of the Pythian Apollo is absolutely staggering.  Coming up from the seaport of Itea by the old road must have been a true spiritual experience.  Even in its ruined condition, as you enter the sanctuary and wend your way ever upward, moving back and forth across the area to the temple of Apollo and then up to the theatre, is quite an experience.  Somehow I had not grasped the fact that Delphi is on the rather steep slope of a mountain, quite a ways up from the plain below, which was a gray-green carpet of olive trees.  We went all the way up to the stadium, and soon it was nearly six p.m. and being Sunday, we had to exit.  As we wended our way down, looking over the site and its setting, the beauty of the place was overwhelming.
       Architecturally, two things struck me forcibly.  One, the engineering ability of the Greeks, to erect ancient and medieval structures in such difficult places.  Second, the polygonal wall, here with curved sides, used to offset the shear action of earthquakes.  Very ingenious.
       From the sanctuary we went to the spring (I wasn't moved there) and then down to the Tholos.  By then I was ready to call it a day.  Some (more than half) of my fellows are indefatigable and nothing seems to daunt them; but then many know how to sleep on the bus.  I don't and can't.  Well, it was back to the hotel in order to prepare for the next day.

MILA JEAN:  It is raining—things seem very green & lush.  Mountains are obscured by mist (very poetic).  We stop at "The Levadia Friendly Stop."  We went in as a busload & ended up with six buses outside, at least 20 stalls in dark red with carefully lettered signs in dark ink in three different languages, saying their toilets will not tolerate tampons or toilet paper, so to kindly deposit in plastic....
       We are in [Hosios Loukas] on a Sunday morning—candles being lit, pilgrims kissing icons or frescoes—very touching—cool with new rain.  This was a terrific experience.  Not many people (tourists) around—except Greeks & us.  There was a Central Casting monk who rambled on in American-type English about "Santa Klaus"—we sort of left him babbling on in a dotty way.  Each church was fascinating, the crypt especially, which I couldn't see last time because it was so dark & late in the morning.  One of the Apostles in the fresco of the Last Supper looked just like Bunny.
       On to Delphi for a very good lunch of stuffed tomatoes with rice, lamb (beef?) shank with okra, apricots for dessert.  Hotel Xenia very pretty, overlooking Itea port (Isthmus of Corinth).  Rooms rather primitive: two hard beds, no rugs, bare floors, hardback chairs, but with little balcony overlooking patio, overlooking bay (filled with oil tankers that stink of oil).  Only problem is that our room is right next to the bar (maybe sensational this evening).
       [Insert:] Tomorrow morning—Monday.  No, no noise at all, apparently no one in bar from our party (we are among the few who stayed here last night).  It is 6:00 AM: I am sitting on [the] stone railing of our little balcony watching the sun come up over the mountain (Parnassus?) & listening to the birds, bleating of sheep, & roosters.  I heard the donkeys early—maybe about 4:30 or 5:00—that we heard last night at sundown.  Maybe it marks the beginning & end of day that way?
       Delphi is enchanted.  I'm convinced there can be many people around & one still feels peaceful.  There was such noise in that lovely serene looking museum yesterday with the guard hissing at them, but it still didn't bother me somehow.  All of the frenetic scrambling up & down paths was the same thing.  High points (could there be any low ones?):
       1)  When the guard—attendant—etc.? opened the door of that special exhibition room (not yet finished) & all I saw was gold necklace etc. & then the huge bull without any glass in front of it (still gold on head, balls & hooves?)
       [Insert:] —George is shaving in the room—no outlet in bathroom—
       2)  Of course the Charioteer, who has his own special magic: very confident, well muscled & proud—stands at once aloof & still human-like amid hustle & bustle of crowds.  Our interpreter is short handsome little man (some official? in gray suit) with those striking gray-blue eyes & two gold teeth
       3)  Of course the site itself which no words can describe.  This one features beetles—[insert:] there goes the donkey again: Maw, maw, wah, wah—& thistles & tons of wild flowers  The planting immediately ahead of me features terrace of honeysuckle to left; some sort of succulent in front; then flagstones, then horseshoe of pots; then lower terrace of what looks like larkspur & formal hedge cut in oval ribboned pattern roses, larger pruned hedges with little tables & chairs overlooking hills—sheer drop off to front—then the sea.
       The Sacred Way was approached from reverse side (they opened a gate for us) with the Treasury first.  Temple of Apollo still the most sacred to me.  Stadium the highest point & hardest to climb to.  By this time the sun was out in earnest & the burrs & thistles & rocks were in alliance to catch our shoes & clothes.  I had some red mud at starting point—it had rained here for two days before.  The Roman theatre is horseshoe-shape & not so good acoustics.  They tried performing in it 1928-31, but haven't since (true?)—it would be quite an experience.  I can't get over the sheer scenery to examine the minutia of architectural details, so don't go down all of the way to the gymnasium, etc. but sit on bank looking over it, hearing our group "chatter."
       Back by 7:00—have bath in very deep tub—then go our for brandy & soda outside our room on bar-patio—then a delightful dinner of snitzel [sic] & wine with [Rosann] & Gerry & George.

MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Hotel Xenia.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Kalambaka (Skripov Church and Minias Thesaurus en route).  Luncheon: Motel Divani, Kalambaka.  2 p.m.: Bus departs for Meteora.  Dinner: Motel Divani.  Overnight: Motel Divani.

GEORGE:  Well, I didn't catch up in Thessaloniki; this is being written (from notes) on the 8th, early in the morning.
       On paper we are on our way to Kalambaka, at the foot of Meteora.  So we leave Delphi as we arrived, but instead of going along the route as before, we turn off on a new road before we enter Arachova and up the mountain we go.  We are in pine country, and rather alpine in character.  It is shepherd country that doesn't see the typical tour, and up in a very high valley one can see an occasional wee village and even here in the upper reaches, small scratched-out fields.  Agriculture (it turns out even in the large areas of Thessaly) is labor intensive, and a lot of stoop labor is used in cultivation.  Also, given the terrain, the donkey becomes a necessity rather than a relic.  Here in these high valleys, stones are placed on the tiles of the roof to ensure their security against the wind.  Stones are in little piles—clearly extracted from the little fields—but all fields are very rocky.
       Paul noted the "Doric" characteristic of the short, sturdy pines—an interesting point.  We go through a couple of tiny towns, one in particular is most picturesque, clinging to the slope of the hill, none on the maps we have.  The bus barely squeaks through a street that was designed for donkeys rather than motor cars, much less buses.  Finally we are down into a low valley and I gather we are slightly lost.  We are very definitely on back roads.  I'm beginning to think we are providing just as much a new visual experience to the countryside as it is for us.  After several shouted inquiries by George [the bus driver], we seem headed in the right direction and in due time we arrive at the national road.  But we are down by Skala and rather far removed from our destination—indeed, we are farther away than when we left Delphi.  Apparently Paul wanted us to see Thermopylae.  And so up along the Evoikos shore we drive, past Cape Artemision and we stop, so to speak, at Thermopylae.  Regardless of its historic importance, I'm not overwhelmed by its appearance.  Duty done to history, we head dutifully for Kalambaka.  And it becomes a long, grueling drive.  Eventually we move into the plain of Thessaly, and it is like western Kansas, except for the structures and the type of stoop cultivation going on.
       And on we go—finally we can see the mountains again and it is Kalambaka and Meteora in view  As usual, we are late!  We rush in for lunch (about 2:30) and it is really fairly good, but we wolf it down and board the bus for the ride up behind the extraordinary splinters of rock rising up, with buildings perched on their summits.
       This is the location of monasteries, some still active, that were inaccessible except by a windlass hoist.  However, some now have steps and bridge access.  We went to the big one first, the Meterion [Meteoron].  First, it was downhill by ramp and step, then across a bridge, and then many steps up and up and up.  Once again I began to puff.  It has to be a factor of the altitude.  We finally reached our destination, right by the ancient windlass, a capstan.  Some brave souls walk out on the wood platform to look out; I lean against the wall and try to catch my breath.
       Then we begin a tour.  The church is our primary objective, and it is in fact quite impressive, though smallish (given the location, etc.).  The fresco work is in very good shape.  Then we see the old kitchen, and finally into the old refectory which is now a museum.  It is a living monastery and so all is very decorous.  Paul is, as usual, a special person and we have special treatment it seems.  Anyway, we are given a sweet and a postcard by one of the young monks/priests.  We descend, reascend, and at that point I'm puffing again.  So, I call a halt and stay with the bus (and thus miss one small church in another monastery that seemed about thirty stories above us).
       Meteora is a quite special place; and while it has its commercial aspects, e.g. the cautions at parking stations and even a small gift shop in the monastery, the very existence of these structures situated on the top of shear [sic] thrusts of rock reduces everything else.  Here and there are caves which were hermitages, and in one apparently totally inaccessible place on a cliff there was the remains of a fresco.  It is for me totally different from Monemvasia and Mistra; they were after all fortified cities.  This is different.
       Well, we finally wend our way back to the hotel.  It is Greek-modern, already falling apart in spots, and really oppressive in some peculiar ways.  On the other hand we have a magnificent view of the Meteora, including a couple of monasteries.
       Fatigue is with us; and after an indifferently served but much appreciated meal we retire.  Tomorrow we head for Thessaloniki and new adventures and sights.

MILA JEAN:  Trip began through a kind of Alpine forest studded mountains.  Hair-pin turns, scary backups & turns.  Hal has to pee & we have hysterical suggestions as to where he can go (in a plastic bag, umbrella).  Finally a cut-flower stop by some gravel & bushes—many get off, only to be greeted by "holly" (really leaves of pine or what?) scratching them.  More twisty turns.  After hours of this we are either dizzy or so desperate to go to the bathroom that we beg for a rest stop.  It is not to be yet.
       Eventually stop at a seaside spa where all 44 (women in an endless line for two stalls) [go]; then an endless line to get baklava & coffee (I have espresso)—walk on beach & collect a rock (very pretty marble type).
       Another endless uncomfortable ride (it's either too hot or too cold).  When we get to Motel we are immediately ushered into dining room: [though we are] dizzy, dirty & with full bladders (some of us took care of that).  Meal was nice: dolmates with Dolphe, Beverley, Paul, etc. but awful mixup about what we had to wear to the monastery (women had to cover arms—men too; wear skirts etc.).  Paul suggested that women put skirts on over slacks!  All luggage was in hallway, so I lugged mine (two [bags]) up three flights of steps & changed in room.  Didn't set off until after 4:20 & by this time we're tired to begin with.
       Thus began a rigorous routine: a very strenuous climb up what George calculated as 40 stories of steps to one monastery—very interesting 16th Century frescos.  I saw a gorgeous face—silhouetted in a window was a tall, gorgeous monk who looked like Burt Reynolds—very animated face—long hair in ponytail & obviously conscious of the effect he was making (posing)—had great conversation with Paul as rest of us furtively tried to photograph him.  The frescos are interesting & view spectacular, but it is late (sun setting & we are very tired & sweating) & George draws the line at going up another 40 flights.  Several of the monasteries are closed at 6:00, but B[urt] R[eynolds] offers to meet us at one of them at 7:00.  He bounds up the path for permission to drive his Monkmobile (panel truck) to other monastery.  Most of us stagger up to next place, risking heart attacks or strokes.  Very small & creaks ominously under our collective weight—old woman (servant? sextoness? keeper?).
       Stagger back down & have dinner (souvlaki) though service is awful.  We are all terribly tired.  I wash hair & turn in at 11:00.

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 7 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Motel Divani.  8:30 a.m.: Bus departs for Thessaloniki.  AFTERNOON FREE.  Overnight: Hotel Makedonia Palace.

GEORGE:  Up and at them, and we head for Thessaloniki via Larissa, the Vale of Tempi, and Katerini.  Presumably we are to stop at Pella and then have the afternoon free.  Paul has gone back to Athens to take care of some business, he will meet us on Wednesday.
       Well, away we go: however, George the bus driver is now without his driver Paul, and George's command of English is modest and when convenient is nonexistent.  We, on the other hand, are bereft of Greek, though we know some words and have phrase books which rarely relate to our type of situation.  We don't go to Pella but straight to Thessaloniki, but on the way there is a crisis of sorts, and that may help explain it.
       Just before entering the Vale of Tempi we are stopped by a very military-looking highway police officer.  I gather it is a routine check of documents that tour buses are supposed to carry.  In any case, whatever we were supposed to have we apparently didn't.  The dialogue was raising in crescendo and happened to be broadcast over the bus's loudspeakers, since we were hearing about the Vale of Tempi when all this began and the mike was left on.  Back and forth it went while the SAH'ers were a very interested but ignorant and ill-at-ease audience.  Several papers were waved, and after still another barking lecture we were let to go on our way.  Dolf Placzek, who was in the front (and the official SAH officer as President on this trip), had remained silent letting George handle matters.  This was wise, for we always had the last resort of calling Paul if we were really in difficulty.  Dolf was able to gather the sense of the problem, which was that we had a Xerox and not the original of some key document.  Bureaucracy at work again.
       Into the Vale, a clove in the mountains with shear graggy [sic] walls.  It was what released the lake that is now the Thessalian plain, and the great and long-ago earthquakes that created the fissure [are] presumably what gave rise to the Gigantomachia myth.
       Now up the coast and finally into Thessaloniki.  As we arrive, there is discussion about eating lunch, going to Pella, the archaeological museum, etc., and one of our party with some special info tells us the site and museums are noted as closed on Tuesday.  So we decide to look at the city on an individual basis instead.  (The next day we learn that special arrangements had been made for us to visit both Pella and the museum in Thessaloniki, but somehow no one of our group had been adequately informed of this by Paul.  I defer comment and judgment for I simply don't know anything firsthand.)
       Mila and I strike out on our own, Blue Guide (map) in hand, looking for a likely place to have lunch (we are on our own for meals).  After a rather convoluted path we hear a familiar voice.  Our path and that of two SAH'ers [Tom Ridington and Gary Menges] have intersected.  They too are searching.  There are, in fact, a lot of restaurants along the waterfront, but we were looking for something more modest.  I led the way and we found a grill, there are tablecloths, and I lead the band in.  Everything is fine except the menu is in Greek (damn their alphabet, especially lower case) and the waiters do not speak English.  I haul out the phrase book to interpret the menu.  I discover we're in a chop/steak house.  So much for Greek food.  But all is not lost.  Somehow the waiter comes up with the word-question "fish?"  We nod doubtfully.  He disappears and comes back with a plate.  "Small fish?" he says.  Points finger at the larger of two species and says "sardine."  Gary (one of our group) tells us the smaller are mullets, and recommends them.  We point to them and nod vigorously.  We say salad, a word close to the Greek version.  Wine, beer are also universals.  So we eat broiled small fish with salad, bread and beer (our companions share a small bottle of wine).  It is all good and a successful meal was had.
       Then off to explore the town.  Soon we pass a very fine pastry shop.  As we later discover, there are pastry shops everywhere and they seem to stay open all day.  The aroma of honey and other goodies permeate the air.  So in we troop, purchases are made (while I try to figure out where we are) and off we go for a shady bench somewhere to have our dessert.  We end up in the university grounds, amidst much painted graffiti/slogans, young lads at soccer, and students returning to classes after the afternoon siesta.
       Then up to the fortifications.  On the way, we are confused witnesses to an altercation that has one man with a stool threatening to brain another, and soon a motorist is involved and there is much shouting and what all.  We finally move on and look at some old walls.  Then returning downhill toward the water, we make a turn and we are on a narrow street with Turkish period houses.  Most extraordinary.  Then another turn, and we begin to reach more modern Thessaloniki, which is interspersed with old Thessaloniki.
       The province was under Ottoman rule until 1912.  In 1917 there was a devastating fire in the lower town, and a major rebuilding along Beaux Arts formulae took place.  Now there is a population explosion and we are told 700.000 people live here.  The "rip down the old, put up the new" seems haphazard to us, and so we have extraordinary juxtapositions, ranging from Roman ruins, Early Christian, Byzantine (of all periods), Turkish, Neo-classic, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Fascist-Modern, and Greek modern.  Incredible.
       We looked here and there and elsewhere.  Finally fatigue began to get us, and Mila and I stopped at a shop and got crackers and cheese and a bottle of wine.  We looked for a fruit shop but now curiously none could be found.  We wended a long way back to the hotel and sat on our balcony looking at a hazy sunset and had our meager repast.  While Mila did some wash, I went out to look for fruit.  Again it was a fruitless search.  I found everything else (except a butcher's shop).
       Finally, after a long narrow U-shape search and almost back to the hotel, I found a bakery that had some bread.  When I went in I saw something that looked (vaguely) like tiropita and next to it was a cylindrical type of pastry that I intuited had some sort of stuffing inside.  I got two of these and a bar of chocolate and returned to our balcony.  We bit into them and lo and behold—and taste—a hot dog within a flake pastry.  We wolfed them down.  Rather spicy sort of things.  Then a day was called.

MILA JEAN:  (Must fill in yesterday's activities because last night [I] was too tired to write.)  Sitting on balcony of Motel Divani in Kalambaka facing huge rocky mountains, one with a monastery on top—on lower levels sheep graze, just saw two shepherds leading three mules & many sheep down path—sound of bells & roosters crowing, alternating with sound of motor scooters & such warming up (diesel fuel mixed with thyme & wildflowers).
       Ate breakfast "served" by surly waiters with Mirza & Wally—seemed pleasant enough.  Yesterday was [so] taxing [it made] the prospect of morning drive to Thessaloniki & an afternoon & evening free most inviting.  Another climb up 40 flights of steps straight up would do us in.
       On bus—still gypsy campers (tents) along side of road.  They appear to travel about six in a group on motorbikes....  They are very dark & swarthy & look very poor.
       As Beverley reads from the Blue Guide we are stopped by violent & aggressive policeman about having a photocopy (Xerox) document instead of having original.  Vehement discussion.  We are properly deferential & George [the bus driver] promises never to do it again (tense situation).  Dolph said the policeman was a Persian.
       Mount Olympus out of our window.
       1:00.  We were supposed to go to Pella but George [the bus driver] takes us straight to the hotel—was, oh gosh, very very posh on Esplanade—our room in the Ma[k]edonian Palace looks over sea as seagulls circle dangerously near our balcony—marble table with two picturesque but uncomfortable rattan chairs—next in line is a glass-over-wood table with two other chairs, two beds together with end table, very elegant bath (gray marble) complete with Kleenex!!! (scented).
       Go out to hunt for food & meet Tom & Gary.  We look in at the very few places open—all same seedy places, but end up in very nice New York-ish place which lets us select our own mullets & we have huge salads of gorgeous tomatoes, cucumbers, hardboiled eggs, anchovies & beer.  They had wine.  It was a charming meal & companions: quiet & rather un-Greek, seeming like NYC, Paris/Marseilles with its waterfront; combination of old decaying structures & brand new high concrete monsters.  We sought out a sweet shop & got a huge conglomeration of baklava, macaroons filled with chocolate, etc. & ate them on a bench in the square of the university, watching a group of boys play soccer.  Strolled around very old & rundown (fallen down) Turkish Quarter with old Byzantine churches etc.  Went in one—everyone looks Turkish & Bulgar.  Not terribly Greek features: wide faces, same light hair, very very very loud main streets—buses with accordion middles & awful smell of diesel fuel—everyone seems nice enough.  Young boy (teenager) sold us cheese, wine, crackers to take back to room.  George goes out (as I do wash) to buy hot dogs in flaky cylindrical rolls & chocolate.  Sit out & watch sunset, watch people & dogs stroll & try not to hear unmuffled motorbikes.  Very humid, we have to keep sliding doors open.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1978

ITINERARY:  Continental breakfast: Makedonia Palace.  8 a.m.: Bus departs for tour (including Pella, Roman Thessaloniki and Byzantine churches).  Luncheon on own during tour.  Overnight: Makedonia Palace.

GEORGE:  Paul joined us again, arriving on the morning plane from Athens, and off we went to Pella, stopping first at two sites in Thessaloniki.  We went to see the Rotunda, the [306] AD building that started our as Galerius's tomb, then was converted to a church with the addition of an apse, and then into a mosque (minaret still stands, the only one in the city), and is now a museum after a return to a life as a church.  It is a great domed space with some very early mosaics still retained.  Really quite impressive.  There were square holes in the masonry, a thing I had noted on other structures.  Finally an explanation.  These were scaffold holes, which later were covered by veneer, mosaics, or whatever (which was then varnished).  I must ask Paul if they are ever included as permanent features.
       We then walked down to see the remains of the Arch of Galerius.  From there is was on to the bus and off to Pella, the Macedonian/Hellenistic city out west of Thesoloniki [sic].  (I should interpolate once again that the variant transliterations of Greek, plus the pronunciation lessons we're getting, plus fatigue, have all compounded confusion to the point where I am not certain whereof I say or write.  Even simple English words are puzzling to me, as this journal will testify.)
       Well, at Pella we went into the museum.  It is small and the pebble mosaics are really the most spectacular things in it, with a couple of other exceptions.  We saw the archaeological site, but Paul urged us on.  As it turned out, the museum was as much a w.c. stop as a cultural goal.  Then on to Vergina, outside of Veria.  Vergina is the site of a Macedonian Palace, and there are some tombs.  We toured rather quickly the site of the Palace, which seemed most interesting for its double column-pier structure of a now defunct stoa.  Then on to the Macedonian tomb.
       This was interesting, for here was a tomb with an Ionic/temple facade (which had been buried), with an antechamber and cella, the latter was the buried place.  In it was a large stone throne and next to it what appeared to be a cubical sarcophagus of stone.  Large stone doors (apparently simulating wood and bronze) were on the floor of each room.  It had been looted long ago.  It was a vaulted chamber.
       Then we headed on toward town to another site.  There we heard bulldozers, etc. and as we trooped forward we were greeted by the sight of a large earthmoving operation and a gentleman in a blue velour cap.  Much formal greetings Paul and the other man, who turned out to be Professor Andronikos, the archaeologist who had discovered the unlooted tomb of a Macedonian king, possibly Philip himself.  In fact, this was the site.
       The site had been worked for some time, but the tomb was discovered within the past nine months, and the area was really off limits to even Greek scholars.  What magic our Merlin Mylonas has.  As it turned out, even he—an old friend—had not visited the site.  Paul said it was our group that had Andronikos tell him that he would not invite us, "but if we came by, he would be in!"  An at-home at the excavation, so to speak.
       So on a knoll, actually part of the mound, we watch a high loader, a bulldozer, and dump trucks remove debris and overfill, while Andronikos told us the story of his discovery, step by step.  In some ways the most fascinating aspect was his references to ancient sources, such as Plutarch and Homer, for evidence that helped him in his search, interpretations, etc.  Then the coup.  We were allowed to peer into two openings in the sheds that covered key finds.  One was a looted tomb with some important wall paintings in the anteroom.  We peered through a hole in the wall of the tomb.  The other was at the facade, still mostly buried, of the tomb.  Scaffold was erected on which technicians were cleaning wall paintings above the exhumed portico.  Below one could see the top of the doors, painted architectural ornaments, etc.
       The tomb had been entered and examined and then sealed again.  An air temperature and humidity control unit was being devised and after its installation, work on the interior controls would begin.  Only such items as those of gold had been removed to the labs in Athens and Thessaloniki.
       What a treat, a special, special treat.  And what an honor.  I think even Paul was floored.
       But the day wasn't over, far from it.
       Then on—back to Thessaloniki.  But what about lunch?  Several suggestions were advanced by Paul, with the best named last.  That is the one we took.  Outside of Veria we stopped at a roadside restaurant, with tables under old plane (sycamore) trees.  There we spent about 90 minutes eating grilled lamb, potatoes, salad, and various beverages.  The kitchen, geared to a smaller and more casual clientele (such as truck drivers), rose to the occasion.  Then on to town.
       There most of us took up Paul on his offer to tour Byzantine churches.  Several were under his guidance, but then we were met by Prof. Fokodopulos (sp) [sic] of the University who took us on [a] tour of them.  We did a lot of walking, ending up in an old section of the city, poor by the looks if it and with old Ottomon period houses.
       Services were under way and all around children were playing, people were visiting and all in all it was very social and very communal.  Paul said to me (I paraphrase), "See how pagan we are?  This is the way it has always been, from ancient times.  Only the buildings have changed."
       Very, very tired, without an adequate supper, we tottered off to the hotel and to bed.

MILA JEAN:  Had hilarious breakfast.  "Bus leaves at 8:00."  It left at 8:30 (we always run behind).  Went to Pella museum first (it was closed the day before).  Especially interesting mosaics: personages of mythology with lions, griffins, etc., rather small.
       On the Vergina & various sites of digs.  Tomb of Macedonian (which most people thought was Philip's but his was yet to come).  Prof. Andronikos (little Dr. Pakula type man with blue skull beret hat & glasses) talked to us in an impassioned manner of his dig & [why] he dug where he did—part intuition, part experience, part literary reference.  They were alternating digging in red dust with huge loud earthmovers & heavy trucks carting it away, along with painstaking picking away in small areas.  Very dusty & loud.
       Actual "finds" were covered over with protected (plastic) coverings.  We got to look into two.  You could make out faint figures & brilliant blue underneath.  If this find is definitely authenticated, everything previously found will have to be predated a half-century.  He explained that everything up to this time had been looted but that [at] this particular site, the door was closed fast.  They went in at top (dislodged rock-bricks) & saw gold things.  All was undisturbed.  Found pair of greaves with one side shorter than other (Philip was lame).  Everything in relatively perfect condition.  Found votive figures, one with image of Alexander & one Phil—had one of eyes staring & with scar above it.  Found skeletons with bones of blue tint (royalty was buried in purple robes) & one particular one with evidence of gold in buried robes.  Sealed back up.  They are presently waiting for air conditioning & preservation units to come from Athens.
       Had lunch in roadside cafe (they managed to cook up 45 lunches of lamb shoulder, fries, salads) out under plane trees.  Very jolly group though we were all hungry & our table was served last (including drinks—I grabbed beer right off).  WC was hole in ground with roll of TP by the side.
       We got back to Thessaloniki & visit many (3, 4, 5, 6?) Byzantine churches, most of which are having vespers or services to commemorate eve of Ascension Day.  Everywhere are women (mostly old or middle aged), an occasional old man & hundreds of children playing outside—a form of jump rope where one stands on the end & others jump between strands (girls) or [play] soccer (boys).  Soccer balls stuck up in drains of church.  Noise is deafening—constant confusion outside & around church.  Nothing of the overt quiet & sanctity of Protestant or even RC church.  People mill in & out—people lighting candles & kissing ikons (icons?) [sic].  Paul calls it "pagan" but (after the initial shock) it is warm, comforting & rather reassuring.  This is the home, the hearth, the center of the community.  As Marion says [about] the church, "it's the woman."  The men are off playing backgammon, watching soccer games on the TV or ogling the girls.
       By this time, I am so tired I can barely stand & agree with John that "if they showed me a Ford motor car I'd believe it was a Byzantine church."
       As George runs across the street to buy food, we all load on the bus & have to wait for him.  We stagger into the hotel & George & I throw together a "makeshift meal" of chocolate, cookies, wine, out overlooking the beautiful but polluted & exceedingly noisy harbor.  The noise increases as the night falls.  Two hot-rod motorcycle-scooters trying to out-wheel each other with unmuffled mufflers.
       I write a letter to Mother & we turn in early.  Apparently we are the only ones who sleep, due to both outside noise & an inside political meeting.  Bureaucracy.

THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1978

ITINERARY:  Luggage in halls by 6 a.m.  Continental breakfast: Makedonia Palace.  7:15 a.m.: Depart for Thessaloniki airport.  9 a.m.: Group flight to Athens (Olympic Airlines flight No. 090; arrive Athens 9:45 am.m.)  Bus transfer to Hotel Grande Bretagne upon arrival in Athens.  AFTERNOON FREE.  Bus trip to Sounion (time announced during tour).  Overnight: Grande Bretagne.

GEORGE:  It was up very early in order to get the Olympic airline flight to Athens.  Luggage had to be out in the halls by 6:15 a.m., and we had to be on board the bus by 7:15.  In due course we were at the airport.  While the terminal (modest in scale) was fully equipped, nowhere did we see an arrival or departure schedule board.  And when the flight in from Athens was announced, it appeared to be the only passenger ship in evidence.  It was this we took, going to Athens.
       Arrival in Athens, in the domestic section, was a bit confusing, but bags were received and a group arrangement worked out to transfer them to the bus to take us back to the Grand Bretagne.  We arrived and got settled and in due course went out to eat.  We had a substantial lunch since we knew we'd be heading for Sounion in the evening.  Upon completion of lunch and a few errands we returned to the hotel and suddenly intense fatigue hit us.  The arduous day before, plus the very early wakening had had its effect.  And so after bathing, naps seemed to be in order.
       We got pulled together and by 5:30 we were on the bus and fighting traffic in Athens, heading to Cape Sounion.  The drive took about an hour and a half, and in time we got beyond the Athenian suburbs; eventually we saw Sounion, and then arrived.
       Sounion is a striking location and it is both a thing/place to look at and to look from.  The temple now is basically a platform and a number of [illegible], and a couple of antae.  On the accessible marble there are many scratched names, small and large, but generally old.  Now guards strive to prevent that sort of thing.  The inscription of importance for proper Romantics is that of Byron's.  It is on one of the antae and there the marble is polished quite smooth by the reverent fingers tracing the incised lines.
       (As I write this, we are in the Dardanelles, and the glop and scum in the water is something to see.  It varies in density and concentration, but always evident.)
       As this stage in our journey to ancient sites, there wasn't as much excitement as had occurred earlier, and Paul Mylonas was not with us to develop any special points.  Had he been I think he would have stressed the matter of the site and the aesthetics associated with ancient Greek architecture's placement.
       After clambering around the remains, I went off toward the west where I was away from the temple and situated somewhat below the level of the platform.  There I found a rock I could sit on and did so for an extended period.  Mila joined me and as we sat looking at the temple's stark remains, we had apricots and cookies (and later an orange) which was to be our supper.
       Then, as the sun set, everyone gathered at the temple to watch.  It is apparently a ritual—Sunset at Sounion—and there were a lot of fools photographing the sun as it set.  No clouds, only haze, and so they have a red ball, the silhouette of hills and little else.  Happily, these were not our people.  At the very least, one would try for a view through the colonnade.
       The site closed at sunset, and so back to the bus and back to Athens.  Rest was welcome, despite a fairly light schedule, and as it turned out we needed it for the next day.

MILA JEAN:  George gets up at 5:00.  Wakeup call that was supposed to come at 5:30 didn't come until 6:00, but everyone was up anyway.  Considering that we conveyed 45 bodies & 68 pieces of luggage around, it was done efficiently (though George's big bag didn't get to our room until 2:00 at the G[rande] B[retagne] since they sent it to the wrong room).  Thessaloniki Airport is not much.  Olympic flight [takes] 35 minutes.  Seems uncomfortable somehow, more crowded, less legroom (shorter legs?).  We get choice of coffee or orange juice (orangeade?) & a toffee of some sort.  Getting on the bus was a real thrill, since it was too small to accommodate all of the luggage & had to be thrown in the aisles also.  Getting to park by G.B. was major undertaking since the entire area was filled with official cars flying Greek flags & many impressive-looking officers in uniform stomping about.  Finally get $60 in Travelers Cheques cashed, get letter from Kris.  Wash: jacket, skirt, George's slacks, two T-shirts, one shirt, three pairs of George's hose, handkerchief, & T-shirts of mine.  "Italian slum," indeed!  We also buy fruit from little toothless man on street, who uses weights to weigh fruit.
       We are to start for trip to Sounion at 5:30, not to return until 10:30.  So we rest & take naps with air conditioner going full blast.  It seems to be terribly hot outside (or is it just the sun & all of these bodies pounding the pavement—very, very crowded & loud).
       Trip to Sounion was pleasant but ride out with sun on our side of the bus was very hot & ventilation in bus inadequate (we long for George [the bus driver] who is driving back from Thessaloniki).  There were lots of tourist buses & tourists, but not overwhelming (Germans have definite voices).  We stayed through the sunset which was quite breathtaking.  Saw Byron's signature on smooth marble—many hands on it had caused it to turn dark.
       Walked down steep & gravelly path (really hazardous since someone had left an open cistern) to water's edge & sat on boulder & ate cookies & apricots.  Drive home was quiet & I slept.  Get back 10:00.  Washed hair.  To bed early.

FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1978

ITINERARY:  Continental breakfast: Grande Bretagne.  (Early morning visit to the Acropolis)—time to be announced.  FREE DAY.  8 p.m.: Reception, as guests of Professor and Mrs. Mylonas.  Overnight: Grande Bretagne.

GEORGE:  We were scheduled to depart, by bus, for the Acropolis at 8 a.m.  Paul joined us.  The official schedule indicated an early visit to the Acropolis, time to be announced, with the rest of the day a FREE DAY.  Hah!  Granted, there was to be an 8 p.m. reception hosted by Paul and his wife, but that was in effect an extension of the free period.  Well, to explain.
       On the way to the Acropolis we saw the President's residence (with guards) and other official buildings (ever being instructed, but gently and with interesting facts listened to by genuinely interested people).
       Then up on the "hill of the muses" for a look at the Acropolis.  It [the hill] is a great place to see it, best in the later afternoon if one wants the best light.  Then, on to the Acropolis.  We took it in the standard sequence, Propylaea first of necessity, then the Parthenon, then the Erechtheum, then the Museum.  We also received special permission to go past a barrier to get near the east facade of the Nike Temple.
       The Propylaea.  I've been shamefully neglectful.  It is, in fact, a very impressive experience.  There is a sense of baroque movement and complex spaces that I had not anticipated.  Paul felt it had all been carefully programmed, and perhaps it had.  He pointed out one place where one turned, at the right, on the path that switch-backed up to the entrance itself, and as one turned and looked at the Pinakothek [Pinacotheca] portion of the Propylaea, the columns and the door and windows were in alignment—what Paul called oblique symmetry.  It worked, and so did other subtleties.  Another I found interesting was the use of the Ionic order within the Propylaea to gain the additional height as the roof level changed from lower to higher.  And then the scale of the entire unit, it was far greater than I had expected.
       On the other hand, the Parthenon was much as I anticipated.  It is, of course, big, and that alone has impact.  We circled it, and special note was made of the older temple platform, and other features nearby that reached back before the Persian sack.  One cannot get up on the fabric of the Parthenon (little men with whistles keep you honest) but one can get close enough to see the curvature of the stylobate.  Beside the obvious, I noted that now there is a shield of plastic roofing over the section of the frieze that remains on the west facade.
       Then it was off to the Erechtheum.  Scaffold now surrounds the caryatid porch, and scaffold (which looked like structural support) was being erected in the north porch.  One could see portions of the exquisite detail, so all was not lost.
       I noted on our entrance through the Propylaea that the Erechtheum does in fact provide balance to the Parthenon.  First, the former is hardly tiny; and second, it provides a complex visual effect in contrast to the simpler (but not less grand) image of the latter.  Since I plan to revisit the Acropolis after the cruise, I plan to restudy that.
       Then it was over to the Museum, where the Director gave us an extraordinary tour.  He spoke excellent English and was obviously dedicated to and in love with the objects in the collection.  His name escaped me, but he was identified to us as the Director of the Acropolis.  Mayhap it was the entire operation.  Anyway, we received an hour tour (11-12 noon) that was a remarkably skillful summation of the evolution of Greek sculpture from mid-Archaic to late 5th Century BC.  I won't even attempt to recapture the flavor of it; but using only what was in the museum (but naturally great pieces) and only stone, he carried us step by step, forward and back.  The Archaic pediments, the Peplos Kore, the Blond Boy, the Kritios Boy, with other works, was a real treat.
       Some isolated observations, no special order.  The museum is beautifully installed, and uses natural light while still recessed beneath the standard views.  There is a descriptive sense of intimacy despite the size of some of the works.  The Peplos Kore is really rather small, and there is a very delicate painted ornament still visible, especially on the back.  The recently removed sculpture fragment from the pediment of the Parthenon, when contrasted to earlier removed fragments, is grim graphic evidence of the damage done by pollution.  The Nike tying her sandal relief is really more richly detailed than I had anticipated.  I'll have more to say after my second visit.
       After leaving the museum we took a quick look at the Nike Temple from the east, after receiving special permission, and then we hurried off on foot to visit the Stoa of Attalus in the Agora where we were supposed to meet Prof. Homer Thompson at noon.  We arrived at the south (or upper) entrance about 12:30, and we were held up by another tyrant of the ticket booth that was not informed (we were, I think, expected at the northern entrance) and our tyrant was not impressed by Paul.  So another loud voice exchange.  But, as usual, in time we entered.  Another petty official came by (to explain?) as we walked toward the Stoa, and more sharp words (of complaint by Paul?) and soon we were out of the very hot, merciless sun within the Stoa where [a] magnificent cool breeze miraculously played over our bodies.  Soon Thompson appeared and he is a real winner of a charmer.  Princeton-based, he seemed to be a character out of an older English film.  Alec Guinness or Margaret Rutherford should have been waiting in the next scene.
       Thompson told us much about the rationale for the reconstruction of the Stoa and gave us a non-technical account of technical details.  We went along, south to north, and then went upstairs by a service stair.  Then on the second floor he showed us some few things (including models) and then led us through a work/study area behind the scenes back down again.  But now we were locked in.  So, down another flight and we were in the basement storerooms.  From there we were able to ascend to the main floor.
       We then walked across the Agora to the Hephaesteum [Temple of Hephaestus].  Its preservation is due in part to its early conversion and long use as a church.  It had been vaulted quite early and given an apse (all within the peristyle).  After a discussion of that, we exited (with Thompson still along) to meet the bus by a small Plateia near the north entrance.  Alas, no bus.  It was now 2:00 p.m. and very, very hot and no food since a continental breakfast at 7:00 a.m.
       I won't recount the confusion and alternative discussions on what to do, but one of our party intuited where George [the driver] and the bus were located, found him and it, and returned in triumph.  We finally arrived at 2:30 at the hotel.  We dashed out to eat, and returned to the hotel to rest and recuperate for the reception to begin at 8:00 p.m.
       Paul's apartment is the top floor (or two I think) of an older apartment building that faces the Russian Church (Byzantine, restored years ago by Russian money) on a tiny side street between two major thoroughfares.  He also had the roof, a terrace on which the reception was to be held.  We walked over, and up we went by tiny elevator.  Then up additional stairs.
       I had anticipated a view of the Acropolis.  Well indeed, this he had.  Also Lacavitos [Lycabettus], the Biological Garden, and a goodly portion of the Stadium.  Incredible.  We had drinks and all sorts of delicious munchies; and as the last rays of dusk departed, a thunderstorm to the northeast churned up.  Dramatic flashes of lightning and soon the rain.  It took awhile, but we held on to the bitter end and all of us (which included other guests) descended to the main quarters below, carrying food trays, etc.
       Happily, before this happened, the presentations were made.  The SAH presented Paul with a copy of Pevsner's History of Building Types, with suitable inscriptions of his dauntless band.  In addition, the SAH medal (Jefferson I think) had been prepared and inscribed for him.
       We were quite a crowd in the apartment, which was decorated with quite an eclectic collection of objects.  It was obviously a case of things meaningful to the Mylonases, and ranged from painting and prints (old) to ancient fragments, etc.  When the rain ceased, we returned to the terrace for ice cream and baklava.  I was now thoroughly whipped and needed to go to bed  Tomorrow was another so-called free morning!

MILA JEAN:  To go to Acropolis to meet Paul & George [the bus driver] (hurrah!) in bus at 8:00.  Paul, per usual, takes a roundabout route, past new palace, [illegible] guards, shaded streets—get off at Muse Point (which is good place at sundown, he says) to observe the Acropolis.  We then join others (about 8:45) & have painstakingly long tour in hot, hot direct sun of all points of Acropolis after climb up (which didn't seem like much after all we've been through).  I feel my skin melting on me in spite of sunguard, etc.
       Finally go to Museum to be met by Mr. Thotháse, "Director of the Acropolis," a very nice-looking 50's-ish man with blue eyes (always my downfall) & a safari jacket (another one) who gave us really a beautiful tour of each room—compressing into one hour all of Greek sculpture from 6th Century to 4th.  The Classical, the Severe, etc.  With the Blond Boy he turned the head for us to see all angles & left it staring to the left, at me (much laughter).  The man was very articulate & charming & interesting.
       Paul had some altercations today, one with [a] guard around repair work in Erechtheum (was it because the guard allowed [a] group of archaeology students to climb around under scaffolding or what?),  Much shouting & gesticulating.  Next, with a guard who didn't positively respond to the magic name of "Mylonas" as a previous one did—when we were trying to get into the Agora.
       We are really running behind now....  Next we meet Prof. Homer Thompson, head of restoration group—American School of Classical Studies, who guides us around the Stoa which is incredibly cool & breezy (with WC's yet!).  Very elegant, with lovely vistas & artifacts—very quiet.  I don't know where all of the other tourists are.  Unfortunately, we are so late now that George [the driver] & the bus have disappeared, but finally reappear with Marion directing the way.
       We go with Eileen to the Delphi for a huge luncheon & stagger back to hotel.  8:00 AM until 3:30 is a long haul!!  Seven hours & more without food or drink (though we did have a Pepsi) is a long haul.  We go to Paul's for a party tonight so I must clean & rest.  More later.
       [Later:]  George is "shanghaied" [to go to the reception].  Paul's party is a humid & smoggy evening.  All of us meet in lobby, wondering if we should get there at 8:00 (because of Paul & "Greek time").  Some of us go on over amid crowds of strolling promenaders & more frenetic types.  We find the Russian Church & the apartment with some SAHers milling around.  The "lift" has been newly painted & one shouldn't lean on it, making it hard for people to get into a small enclosure.  We arrive (a few have preceded us) to be greeted by shy & nervous maids & Mrs. Mylonas (not too clear in her English, in a gray lace dress).  She doesn't look like what I expect somehow (no Paul, of course).  We are in a roof garden area with views of hyacinth, the Acropolis, the city & the Byzantine Church.  There is a bar & table of hors d'oeuvres, lamb, fried zucchini, bacon wrapped around chicken livers, stuffed eggs with blue cheese.  Everyone is dressed up, but it is very muggy with overcast sky.  The sunset is lurid & there are flashes  of lightning.  As people arrive there is more lightning & an occasional drop of water.  Dolph makes his presentation & as the last guests arrive the rain begins.  It's very comical with everyone running around grabbing plates of canapes, the bar things being dismantled and carried down narrow steps.  Poor Mrs. Mylonas!  They had to roll up blueprints on dining room table, put down a cloth, bring in things where it was raining in—all of those people crowding in—the hostess's nightmare.  I stood in doorway & talked as rain stopped.  We leave early with Lyle & the Halpins.

[June 9th letter from George and Mila at the Hotel Grand Bretagne, Athens, to their sons at 5505 Holmes, Kansas City MO]

GEORGE:  Dear Paul & Matthew:  We are winding down the fourteenth day of our trip by having what our schedule called Free Day.  (Early morning visit to the Acropolis—time to be announced.)  We began at 8:00 a.m. and returned to the hotel shortly before 3 p.m  Almost every minute of it on our feet, most of the time in a searing sun, three different distinguished guides and a visit to the Agora as well as the Acropolis.  That gives you a sample of the schedule and routine we've had since we arrived in Greece.  We have a coffee and toast breakfast at 7:00 a.m., a meal of some size between 2 and 3 p.m., and sometimes something late in the evenings.  Bathrooms are scarce and so we drink very little water during the day.  But despite this, it has been an absolutely extraordinary experience for all of us.  We've been to places far off the tourist track and have seen wonderful things.
       Now to other matters.
       I have no way of knowing how well the postal service has worked.  We've sent six cards to keep you posted, and given an anticipated 5-7 days for a letter to arrive in Kansas City.  This will be our last written communication home except for another card which we'll send tomorrow (I think).  Let me explain.
       We board the ship for the island cruise tomorrow afternoon.  It will return to Athens on June 17th.  During that time it seems impractical to try to mail things.  We still do not have a hotel reservation for the five days of June 17-June 21.  I hope to wrap that all up before we board shop, and as soon as I know, we [will] send a card on to you.  If this does not work out tomorrow, or if you don't hear from us (what with the mails), and you want to get in touch with us, do so through the American Express in Athens.  They have a mail room.  We'll enclose the address for you, but if there is any confusion at your end, contact the American Express office in K.C. for advice.  I'll check the office on a regular basis until we leave for home.
       I won't burden you with other matters or gossip or travel notes except to say that I think we're both losing weight, given our strenuous routine.  If so, this is the most unusual way to do so that I heard—namely, climb every excavation, tour every church.  Mom's note below:

MILA JEAN:  I very much doubt that we are losing weight, or at least me, what with all of the beer & wine & baklava & sweets we consume!  Certainly we are on our feet most of every day.  Paul, would you do me a favor and look up a July issue of the National Geographic?  (I imagine it might possibly come out before we get home—maybe not.)  It is supposed to contain an article on the recent finds of the digs at Vergina (Veergee'na) by Prof. Andronikos (Andro'neekōs)—possibly it is the tomb of Philip of Macedonia.  We are supposed to keep hush-hush the fact that we were there & met him & saw some of the finds, because another group of Soc. of Arch. Historians is making the same identical tour in Sept. [or] early Oct. & will not have our tour guide & will not meet all of the celebrities we have been hobnobbing with—we don't want any petty jealousies to crop up, now do we?
       For instance, this morning our new guides were the "Director of the Acropolis" and the director of the restoration work on the Stoa.  We have also had as a guide George Mylonas, head of [the] archaeological group that supervised digs at Mycenae & the Head of the Amer. School of Classical Studies.  Our own tour director's name is Paul Mylonas & he is so VIP that we mention his name & doors open automatically (all we really know for sure is that he is a leading architect in Greece & his wife is a leading choreographer & dancer).  He looks like Victor Jory.
       The hotel we are in is equally classy (noted for old & fading luxury & where the German & British Army were headquartered in WWII—not at the same time).  It is crawling with staff who are very condescending toward us "Americani" but allow us to stay here & eat a small breakfast each morning.  In contrast, almost everyone else is very helpful, especially in the outlying areas of Greece.  We have made stops to a remote hotel in southern Greece to use the WC's for emergency reasons & I don't think their toilets will ever recover from being flushed 44 times in 15 minutes.
       We have a marvelous bus driver named George who is almost totally unflappable (except when being stopped by police once for a silly reason—at which point he reacted in typical Greek histrionic way) & can maneuver this big Mercedes bus in a miraculous way—though some of the peasant people in tiny towns came running out of shops to bring in chairs & furniture when our bus was trying to turn at a precarious angle.  George (the driver) [sic] is semi-good-looking, wears tight shirts unbuttoned to reveal gold cross on chain & chest hair, & he has a spare tire waistline & walks in a stomping manner.  Speaks NO English!
       We leave for the 7 day cruise tomorrow.  We need to assume that it would be restful, but with Paul along we now know that we'll probably be watching architectural slides until 2:00 AM every night & taking trips to remote archaeological sites by day.  He seems to be totally indefatigable & is still going strong at 8 PM even though he occasionally goes away to maintain his office & home.  Occasionally one of us whimpers "Water" or "Please, may we rest?" but usually we do not dare admit we are mere weak earthlings.
       Please share this with Goppy [Grandmother Smith] & our friends?  Love xx Mom

       [P.S.]  I would sleep well every night but have to combat your father's snoring, donkeys braying, roosters crowing, motorcycles doing "wheelies," & dogs barking (though there aren't many dogs here—probably eat too much—lots of skinny cats—this is a very poor country).  Not all in same night, but it does seem to be a conspiracy.  Mules do most of the work in the country—they are strong & patient & don't require much food.  I am beginning to identify with them.
       [Address to mail to:]  c/o American Express / Constitution Square (Syntagma) / Athens, Greece

 

The MTS Jason and its cruise schedule (click on each to see a larger image)

SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 1978

ITINERARY:  Continental breakfast: Grande Bretagne.  FREE MORNING.  Luncheon on own.  Luggage in halls by 1 p.m.  3 p.m.: Bus departs for Piraeus to board TTS Atlas [sic].  6 p.m.: Ship departs; dinner on board*.  (*All meals during cruise on board TTS Atlas, commencing with dinner on embarkation day through breakfast the morning of disembarkation.)

GEORGE:  Paul had arranged a special tour of the National Archaeological Museum for us.  We were to meet at the entrance at 8:30 and then be introduced [us] to our guide, Mr. Kalogheras (sp) [sic] (brother[?] [sic] of the architect at Monemvasia).  He was a smidge late, and there I was in the lobby, able to see the Mycenaean gold in a case.  Finally we got started.  First Mycenaean, here called (as usual) Prehistoric.  Very interesting.  A few quick observations.  The Tiryns frescoes are for the most part very small, and quite fragmented.  The gold was far more impressive than I ever dreamed; the so-called diadem is huge.  The Vaphio cups are very much like their replicas, therefore I was prepared for them.  I am so grateful I can return for more detailed looking.  Then on to the sculpture galleries.  One extraordinary treat was the chance to see some mid-7th Century [BC] sculpture, very badly worn, but very Egyptian-like in configuration.  A number of Daedalic things, which I gather are labeled as early 6th or very late 7th BC.  Some old friends came into view, I missed others for we were going through very quickly (it is a very large museum).  Then we saw some "recently excavated" works which have not yet been published.  A Kore of extraordinary state of preservation and a companion Kouros.  Large, impressive and demanding of return.  And so it went.  We did some small bronzes and saw some large bronzes,  The Poseidon, which our guide felt was Zeus (because of the placement of the throwing hand, which would have a trident obscure the face), was all it was cracked up to be.  Another room had the Marathon boy, rather smaller than I expected, and nearby was a remarkable bronze—life size—of a woman.  Well, more on this later.
       We then went into the Thera room—wow.  The frescoes were something.  Both as restoration exercises and as large size remains.  Then into Greek vases.  At this point I was very concerned about our time.  We still needed to nail down a room for use on our return from the islands, and this required some time.  So we excused ourselves and quickly walked through some of the other galleries on our way out, and headed for Sindagma [Syntagma] Square.  I should add this was on foot, there and back.
       We went to the tourist office that faced on the square and sought help in finding a suitable room.  Part of the delay in doing this was some "chaos and confusion" associated with an innocent remark of Mila's: "Paul (M) [sic], can you recommend a hotel?"  He said he would, then he said he had a girl in his office working on it, and we were sort of stuck while he had this pending.  We passed a couple of deadlines and I was a bit worried.  At the reception, things still had not been worked out and when he asked us where we would be at noon today, so he could phone us, I suggested that perhaps we should not be bothering him.  He demurred, but we left it inconclusive as usual.  I gather he felt obligated, but had delegated the task.  He could not now say, "Sorry, but maybe you should do the search."  The best he could say was, "Perhaps you would prefer to make your own arrangements, but if you do, you should pay beforehand to make sure the contract is firm."  On that basis I later muttered to Mila, "That's what we do tomorrow after the National Archaeological Museum."
       So in the tourist office, the kind young lady very quickly found us quarters, right in the Plaka, near everything including the Monastiraki Metro stop (for the ride back from Piraeus) and not too far from the air terminal bus stop, American Express, etc.  Ideal!  We had to pay a commission, but I was glad to do so.  The room is 855 drachmas per day with breakfast, a "B" class hotel.
       We changed some travelers checks, since the deposit and commission drained my cash, and then we walked over to the Omiros Hotel on Apollonos Street.  It was great!  A very narrow street, with every type of shop from fruit to cleaners to sundries, etc.  We met the manager, confirmed the fact that the reservation had been made, and got the address and phone number to send on to the boys.  We noted that the building seemed modern and there was a roof garden from which to see the Acropolis.
       Well, it was time for lunch, and as we strolled down "our street" and a bit beyond, we found a nice restaurant that had tables under awnings across the street in a small park.  We sat, rested and refreshed ourselves with a leisurely lunch.  Then, having mailed a card to the boys, we returned to the Grand Bretagne to wait the boarding of the bus for the ride to Piraeus.
       While sitting in the G[rand]-B[retagne], Mila returned from some brief excursion to say, "Wouldn't you know it, there was a message to call Paul."  I was close to "heart in mouth" for I immediately assumed our Paul, and I thought, "my mother, Mila's mother?"  Well, Mila meant Paul Mylonas.  At the National Museum, the group went on to a library at which the message had been received.  This must have been at noon.  Later, on the bus, we learned two alternatives had been found, one with shared bath, the other [illegible] bath.  Both represented less drachmas than the Omiros, but I'm glad we went at least B class.  We patched things over with Paul (who was prepared to phone from Piraeus for us) and that was that.
       We finally boarded the bus, and after some delays in Piraeus we finally boarded the MTS Jason.  We found our cabin, unpacked, went up on deck to see the departure.  Later, we saw Sounion from the sea.  There was an enormous meal (late) and then collapse.  The end of a very busy day.

MILA JEAN:  Are to meet at Archaeological Museum at 8:30—we walk, leaving at 7:50.  Get there early.  Mr. Kalogagra [sic] doesn't come until about 8:50.  He is very reserved & is some relative (brother?) of young man we met in Monemvasia.  Many of us are put off by his less than charismatic personality but George & I stick it out until 11:15 when we apologize & leave.  We walk to tourist agency & arrange for a room for [June] 17-22.  It's in the Plaka with a fruit seller across street & a liquor store next door.  Walk around that area with many charming shops.  Eat at sidewalk cafe & walk back to G[rand].B[retagne].  It's hot & humid & most of our weary band is there slumped in chairs.
       Get underway about 3:00 with George the driver in an altercation with the G.B. staff.  Hot & sticky trip to the Piraeus.  We get in & on board (sort of thrown in) with Halpins & Tom & Hal next to us.  The boat (Jason) is 11 years old, vibrates.  Room very small; has two cots (one of which closes up to make sofa) & a closet—built-in end table, mural on one wall, carpeting lime green, dress with mirror, tiny bath with shower stall, tiny sink & toilet.  The big surprise (I had forgotten) was the food: seafood cocktail, soup (bean with macaroni), choice of fettuccini or fish, roast beef or lamb chops with French fries, salad, Napoleon or ice cream, cheese, fruit, etc etc. etc.

SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 1978

ITINERARY:  7 p.m.: Ship arrives Istanbul**.  (**Shore excursions to be arranged on individual basis with ship's personnel after boarding TTS Atlas [sic].)

GEORGE:  All day (until 7:30 p.m.) aboard ship and at sea.  It was a day of sitting, resting (desperately needed) and trying to catch up the journal.  As an index, I'm writing this on the morning of the 13th, and thus have caught up about half a day.  Perhaps I'll be caught up before the day is done.  This is possible because not much happened on Sunday other than voyaging through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, eating (really too much), and attending the Captain's reception.
       There was an "Istanbul at Night" jaunt after docking which we skipped, so the evening was spent on board ship.  Before dinner I stood on deck watching Istanbul appear through the haze.  The first recognizable forms were not domes and minarets; they were high rise apartments and smokestacks.  So much for romance.  But then, one could barely see them, and slowly they grew larger and domes were visible, as were minarets.  Which was Hagia Sophia?  Finally, I could see it—or rather them.  The Blue Mosque to the left, and Hagia Sophia.  When we finally docked they were, along with the Topkapi, as a picture framed by our cabin's rectangular porthole.  What a sight.  And what a harbor!  The traffic was fantastic.  So after dinner, which ended about 10 p.m. (we're the second sitting), some of us went up onto the top deck, by the now drained pool, and with a cognac in hand watched the activity of the harbor at night, with the city's lights on both sides of the Bosporus.  Then we saw the minarets of the Blue Mosque light up!  Then go off, and so on, then the dome, and for a brief moment, both Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque were lighted.  Then they went off and the sea walls were illuminated.  Then they went off, and finally Topkapi lighted up and remained so.  We had witnessed the son et lumière without the son, or sans son.  A wonderful treat before going down and getting sleep before our full day's excursion in Istanbul.

MILA JEAN:  Since we are going on a whole day bus trip in Turkey tomorrow we are trying to stash away things to eat (rolls, cheese, fruit) since we've been told not to eat anything or drink anything in Istanbul or Ephaseus.  Breakfast was choice of juice, fruit, rolls, cereal or eggs or omelet or bacon, ham, etc.  What will lunch be?
       It is much colder than I anticipated though people are running around in swim gear and sunsuits (in the sun it's OK).  I feel disembodied, rather alienated.  I don't like to see all of the gross huge bodies with surgical scars & hairy legs & oiled brown bodies.  (Lyle just appeared in a little coordinated suit: white shorts, shirt with stripes in red & blue & white sailor hat & sneakers).
       We're supposed to go to Captain's party tonight at 5:30 with George balking.
       Mitch just appeared in a figured long Kabuki robe worn with his socks and short boots.  The outfit got quite a reaction.
       Lots of Australians on this boat....  The Australians are straight out of Central Casting, & talk in usual almost impossible dialect....  English, French, Germans, [about] 250 passengers & crew.  Orders, orders, very regimental!!
       For the Captain's cocktail party there was a semi-receiving line with Christine the Cruise Director at the head in an off-white crinkled dress (she is tall, blonde & unbelievably thin) introducing each guest to the Captain, who is short, handsome & looks like Oscar de la Renta.  Each person or couple was photographed by a bald, perspiring, heavyset man who was the ship's photographer & having a whale of a time dancing to "If I Was a Rich Man."  Soon (after many hours of developing prints, no doubt) he will display all of the photographs for the passengers to buy ($3.00 apiece).
       The reception was crowded & wildly pretentious with the Australians horribly overdressed, displaying large quantities of boiled or browned flesh (the upper deck with all of the sun is called by [Rosann] the "flesh deck") with backless haltered flowered long dresses in shades of hot pink & fuchsia with plastic transparent shoes with gold metallic high heels.  Lots of extra hair in either dyed black or blonde with pompadours or long curls.  The men are hale & hearty, overweight, red & wearing shorts & sandals.  Eileen says "gross [illegible]."  We are terribly insular, sticking together in conspiratorial groups ("mutineers," Lyle says).  The Captain introduces his "senior officers."  There are others, he says, but someone must run the ship.  There is a combo: flute, guitar, drums, electric organ playing German polkas, Strauss waltzes, Spanish rhythm in a hilarious manner.
       We have a choice of watered martinis, watered Manhattans, or glasses with a strange pink liquid (Shirley Temples).  How can they go through this over & over with the tourist bit?  The Captain's Welcome Meal is huge (especially after huge lunch): soup, blini [blintz] with caviar & toppings.....
       The hour preceding dinner was wonderful, watching Constantinople appear in the mist, barely making out buildings (looked like suburban high rise), then minarets, then churches.  Moved around to other side for clearer sight of coastline, little fishing vessels, the boat bringing in the Turkish police (in beige uniforms with briefcases—they are to stay on board while our boat is here), then the tugboats bringing us in.  Sat on fan deck with Jack, Eileen, Muriel & watched sound & light show from shore—quite attractive.  (Jack is very funny & amusing.)

MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1978

ITINERARY:  Istanbul.  7 p.m.: Ship sails for Izmir.

GEORGE:  I won't recount the complex and appropriately Byzantine maneuverings that got us a special bus with sack lunch and our own itinerary for the same price as the others had, but it was arranged.  We also had a Turkish guide (a woman who was quite good), a German archaeologist working in Istanbul (very knowledgeable), and Paul M. who was more an observer than mentor as our authorities and guides.  And so onto the bus at 8:30 a.m.
       Our first experience was seeing the chaotic traffic of Istanbul, made up of all sizes, varieties, and age.  These were inevitably jammed to beyond capacities.  Cars and cabs of all sorts, including the finest collection of 1950s American cars to be found (I suspect) anywhere in the world.  Then there were horse-drawn vehicles and push carts, and finally people on foot, many working as beasts of burden.  Finally we got away from the dock, and this traffic was with us everywhere until our return at about 5:10 p.m.
       What did we see?  First there were the remains of a Roman Palace, seen from the bus, as were some other views of the "Old Town."  Our first stop was Sts. Sergius and Bacchus.  It was an interesting place to begin, since it was opened just for us, and we had real solitude there.  We also had our first experience of removing shoes while in a mosque.
       From there we went to the Hippodrome, by the Egyptian obelisk, and from there to the Blue Mosque.  The latter is being cleaned and repainted inside, to a much lighter blue, hence there was an enormous wooden scaffolding in one section.  But the grand space, the tile and painted decoration were readily seen.  It was also our first experience with the very low chandeliers that create a plane about 10 feet above the floor.
       From the Blue Mosque, which is very handsomely decorated on the exterior (in contrast to the converted Byzantine churches), we went to the ruins of a basilica of the mid-5th Century, which our German archaeologist was working on.  This was in fact quite interesting, and the space of the atrium still existed as a garden.  It is the oldest church in the city.
       Then we drove by the Golden Gate, did the land walls, and we also did the sea walls as part of our struggling in and out of the old city, and over to the Kariye and its wealth of mosaics and frescoes.  It was here we had a w.c. stop and our sack lunch.  From there it was to the Suleiman Mosque, which is really quite splendid, inside and out, and that set us up for Hagia Sophia.  There was a delay that created considerable apprehension.  This was confusion over our admission at 2 p.m.  Mondays, Hagia Sophia is closed except for prearranged tours.  As usual, there was nothing in writing to show the stubborn gate tender, and the Director was out to lunch.  Somehow the matter was resolved.  While the extended delay passed its endless minutes, I stood by the gate and studied the exterior.  The outside is not only plain (an ochre-like color), but the attendant structures and buttresses, etc. obscure a great deal when close up to it.  In contrast to the Blue Mosque or the Suleiman Mosque (both Ottoman I believe) the exterior of Hagia Sophia is just plain dull.
       Finally we were cleared for admittance and our German guide took us to the atrium side of the exterior.  The space (or at least part of the space) of the atrium still exists as a garden.  The three entrances do not operate that way and this has been true for a long, long time.  Apparently quite early the principal entrance was into the south end of the narthex.  On entering we were greeted by a cold draft, the building stays cool, and we passed some very ancient bronze doors which I understood to be, in part, earlier than Justinian.
       Then into the narthex, a splendid shaped space with its restored mosaics.  Then, the entrance into the nave.  A lofty opening, and as one turned to enter, the enormous cavity of the interior loomed up.  Walking in, one is overwhelmed by the vastness of the interior.  It works, it really works as a coherent space, with everything seeming to be as logical as one could ever want.  The low chandeliers do disturb me, but nevertheless one can see past and through them.
       The colored marbles and other materials are not gaudy, and the interior is sedate but with quiet richness of effect.  Though we were not there at the best light-time, the interior was without deep shadows, and was easy to study.
       We were in a press of time if anyone wished to see the Topkapi.  Since they were going to close Hagia Sophia at 4:30 (and that would rule out Topkapi afterwards) most of us elected to see the Topkapi.  We viewed the treasures—rather gaudy in my estimation—and then saw the Chinese (with a few Japanese) porcelains.  These were indeed stunning, and apparently they were the actual dinnerware items once used by the Sultans.  It began with some superb celadons, and then a bit of everything else thereafter.  These were housed in the old kitchens, large domed rooms in serial order with a chimney at each oculus.  The architecture was fascinating and the exhibit superb.  Unfortunately, we had very little time and besides, we were tired.  We did see other parts of the Topkapi—at least the exteriors and some of the gardens.
       We finally got on our way through dense traffic and made it back to the ship on time.
       Final impressions.  A city of enormous contrasts, ranging from derelict old wooden houses with people in them, to new construction with elaborate small tile exteriors.  Obvious poverty and apparent hunger, if the experience at lunch al fresco is relevant.  There the guide suggested that we "leave our unused food for the children."  And the dirt, the dust, and the hordes of people.  Even the poorest Greek village seemed better off than many sections of old town Constantinople, but then Istanbul is a special case, like New York.

MILA JEAN:  Strange day.  We arrange for special tour bus & to meet German architect who lives in Istanbul, Mr. _______ [sic].  We're supposed to take off at 8:30 but there is some confusion about driver (?) [sic] taking whiskey off boat.  So we don't start until 9:00.  Watch people assembling in swarms on collective taxis, collective omnibuses; huge, big buses with people hanging on sides, packed in literally like sardines.
       Hot, dusty, loud, crowded.  Visited numerous churches, none of which I can sort out.  WC with little boy (they don't like drachmas).  Have "box" (bag) lunches.  Sit out on little tables & benches.  Children, some with sores & rickets (?) [sic] hover around, big-eyed, eager to be helpful.  Terrible poverty.  We leave them our "eatable" food & stash the rest around garbage pail, but I'm sure they'll go through that after we leave.  Beautiful children, with round heads, big black eyes, very alert & eager & active.  Mothers & other women with covered heads.  Kids & men selling (pushing) postcards, flutes, souvenirs, awful looking rugs "cheap," only $1.00.  They like American money.
       (They are throwing garbage out of kitchen [cruise ship's galley?] for the seagulls now.)
       Worst part of day was having to take off shoes to go into mosques.  Everything, including carpeting (prayer rugs) seemed filthy, & me with foot infection to begin with.  Some of us have visions of [our] toes turning green & falling off, or developing terrible sores as the cruise continues.
       The bus was very stuffy & hot, the tour guide (who was Austrian—married to a Turk) was knowledgeable & understanding—since she had to put up with us & the German professor who wanted to lecture at length on each place architecturally.  She was pleasant but had an irritating German accent which Tom imitated wickedly the next day.
       We reached back to ship with 15 minutes to spare & I jumped in shower, washing everything including eyeballs (it's hard to adjust spray & cold water rumbles & roars ominously) as we pulled out of port, saying farewell to Istanbul.  Joined George on deck & had a gin & tonic.  We were all very hungry (due to box lunch & feeling guilty eating while those big-eyed children looked on) by second sitting.
       Porthole opened in room makes things more comfortable (humid, though—too humid to dry clothes very effectively).

TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 1978

ITINERARY:  2 p.m.: Ship arrives at Izmir (Smyrna, Ephesus).  9 p.m.:  Ship sails for Delos.

GEORGE:  Today was Smyrna/Izmir and Ephesus.  The morning was spent sailing, and we arrived at Izmir in the early afternoon.  Soon after docking we were on board a bus heading for Selçuk (Seljuk) [sic], the modern or fifth city at the general site of Ephesus.  Our guide was a teacher at the Turkish University of Aegean, an historian with some training in archaeology.  He spoke several languages, including English quite well, but he sounded exactly like Dom DeLuise doing his chef or magician routines.  The similarity in mannerisms, intonation, speech patterns and choice of words was so close that it created problems in coping with what was really a good tour.
       The drive from Izmir to Ephesus, about 60 kilometers, took over an hour, and along the way we saw the agricultural aspect of Ionia.  One interesting sidelight were the on-the-site open-air brick "kilns."  One could see the old way of burning brick in huge stacks, surrounded by fired brick.  Most interesting.
       Then into the archaeological site   It was a well planned tour that took us down through the excavated areas of what [were] in fact Hellenistic/Roman ruins.  The remains were quite impressive, and at the site of the old brothel there was a pump at which we could refresh ourselves.  This was highly desirable since the temperature must have been near 100° F.
       The library is under restoration by Austrians, and it was one of these archaeologists that was supposed to help guide us.  However, he did not show.  The restoration is well along and it will be quite striking when complete.  We continued to the theatre and got into the tail end of a bit of Turkish folk dancing put on for a large French tour preceding us.  After they left, our guide told us that before the season of the tours, he would sometimes come with his family and place a tape recorder/player on the "stage" and [listen] above to Bach or Beethoven.  He mentioned the Chorale of the 9th as a favorite.  So, as the SAHers trooped out they la-la-ed a passage from the 9th.  My, how cultural we are.
       And we were alas warned that if we were to do the same, to be sure to have our guide guard the tape recorder.  We were assaulted below and above, at the end and at the start by hucksters of all sorts, ages, etc.  Turkey is different—from what little we saw of it.  Much stoop labor in the fields, mostly women working in groups.  We saw some women still with veils, and in one instance we saw one with her entire head covered with a black veil.
       We got back shortly after 5:00 p.m. and several of our group (through the offices of the guide) bailed out ahead of time to look at rugs (small ones).  Three made purchases and made it back to the ship about 15-20 minutes before sailing.  We were under way by 6:30 p.m.
       Izmir is very modern looking, splendid new buildings and considerably cleaner than Istanbul.  The setting is gorgeous and picturesque.  Paul Mylonas kept a very low profile on this excursion.  It was his first visit to Smyrna, which also happened to be the birthplace of one of his grandmothers.  His family had been in Constantinople but I gather they might have left before WWI, but in any case had to in 1923 after the disastrous war with the Turks in 1922.  He told me that 1½ million Greeks were expelled in two weeks times and Greece, with 3½ people, was forced to absorb them.  Paul called it the first action of the "cold war" re: Russia's actions in the Near East.  This I must read about and learn more of it.  So for Paul it was his first visit to Ephesus as well.  He was invisible except that he turned up miraculously in time to catch the bus.
       That evening we had dinner with the Captain, and later we had the Miss Jason and Mr. Jason election.  We put up Rosann Berry and Dolf Placzek as our candidates.  Rosann was second runner up and Dolf was elected King of the Jason.  There was dancing thereafter, but I conked out.

MILA JEAN:  Izmir (Smyrna).  Very hot (between 100° and 104°, seemingly humid also but not like K.C., of course).  Spent morning lazing around.  Left on #5 bus (special for Mrs. Berry's group) with a guide who was a smaller version of Dom DeLuise's Italian chef act.  Small, theatrical archaeology & history teacher, he wore navy T-shirt, white slacks & medallions of ancient tourist design of "tourism."  Punctuated each statement with "Yes!," arms akimbo, & flashing teeth & dimples....  The bus trip was excruciatingly hot with sun baking down.  Scenery & sights were quite interesting: making bricks, gypsy encampment with tents & horse-drawn carts & smell of burning brick kilns.  Camels (some with loads) but guide claimed they were just for tourists.  Storks in nests on walls, chimneys.  Lots of traffic & congestion.
       Got to Ephesus & confusion about Paul meeting his friend—kids crowding around with postcards, flutes, etc.  Finally start off—turned out to be very interesting—occasional cool breeze, & one place we could drink cold water & wash & cool face & heads.  Multiple hole public toilet for [illegible].  Wonderful moment in huge theatre, 25,000 seats.  There was [a] troupe of tourist dancers & singers performing.  The stage was wet with sweat from their bodies, since they were wearing heavy clothes & it was terribly, terribly hot.  But the effect was very nice & appealing.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 1978

ITINERARY:  7 a.m.: Ship arrives at Delos.  12 noon: Ship sails for Mykonos.  2 p.m.: Arrive Mykonos.  9 p.m.: Ship sails for Rhodes.

GEORGE:  We arrived at Delos fairly early in the morning, and Paul was our guide.  Here was our first experience with tenders to take us in to the island.  They packed us in to the point where I was convinced it was really an old sardine boat.  Well, the island (which is small) looked black and desolate.  We scrambled onshore and proceeded to review a good deal of the site which was excavated by the French.  Paul was a good guide and he took us selectively over the enormous site.  As it turned out (for me) the most interesting remains were of the houses, mostly Hellenistic.  Many had been excavated and in sufficient groupings that one could traverse streets and such.  Of particular interest were the atriums which were typically built over large cisterns (either timber beams or some vault).  These were found both open and still covered with mosaics.
       After excursioning in one area, we adjourned to the refreshment stand and then climbed the "small mountain" in the center of the island.  It was not too arduous a climb, but I was blowing a bit at the top, and from there the impressive panorama of the site was evident.  Also, one had a splendid view of the Cyclades surrounding Delos which Paul called (meaning Delos) the center of the Aegean.  Well, down we clambered, and as we wended our way back to the dock we went by the theatre and the other houses, one partially reconstructed that had some truly splendid mosaics.  And soon it was time to board the Jason.  So back onto the tenders, and back to "home" for a lunch while making the short trip to Mykonos.
       Mykonos was another "tender stop," and here nothing formal was planned; it was an open afternoon.  Mila wanted to get on the island quickly, and so—as it turned out—we spent close to 5½ hours wandering through the picturesque and labyrinthian village.  The narrow streets, winding every which way, [were] said to be deliberate as a defense against pirates.  Possibly so, for I proceeded to get lost (so to speak) even after buying a map.  It was mostly a matter of absorbing the picturesque village and sitting and watching the sea, and popping into shops here and there.  We finally made a few purchases.  A dress for Mila, a shirt for me, and a superb small sponge for Steve Gosnell.  That and a few cards [was] it.
       The SAHers were asked to meet with Paul Mylonas at the "center of town" to have a last baklava with him, for he was leaving us at this point.  The announcement had been made at lunch aboard the ship.  And so at 7:00 p.m. we gathered at a cafe that Paul had arranged, and there we had our sweets and with modest speeches by Adolf Placzek and Paul, we said our auf wiedersehens.  It was nice and it was touching.
       Back aboard ship we had a Greek dinner with ouzo as complimentary aperitif.  The meal was good and then afterwards there was dancing by a few of the crew with bouzouki accompaniment.  The evening ended late, fatigue was with us, and the morrow would bring Rhodes.

MILA JEAN:  Delos.  Lizards everywhere; also thistles & burrs (which I got embedded in me when I slid down a hill trying to get to see the theatre from above & couldn't get down gracefully).  Lizards were all sizes & apparent shapes & colors (chameleon-like, they change color with whatever they are near).
       Delos was our last session with Paul as mentor with all of the benefits & deficits: he goes either too fast or too painstaking—he seems abstracted at times & becomes alternatingly remote or charming.  Our group became completely fragmented & separated.  Some went back early on the little boats (earlier fishing boats) that they claim they can get 34 aboard, but it's uncertain—we were packed at times today.
       Delos is quite interesting in a very pretty setting—many things remain or are carefully restored, so that you can see the way upper middle class lived in the Hellenistic Age.  Beautiful mosaic floors intact—atrium etc. (room of satyrs) which was Muriel's favorite area, given she had translated a paper from French to English on this particular aspect of the site.  Very nice mosaics.
       Mykonos—just absolutely lovely town & island—whitewashed (even touristy aspects are charming) houses & churches on hill.  Lovely afternoon just walking around, drinking beer, looking at view, sampling squid & octopus ([illegible]) from Phil Stone's plate.  Bought: gold necklace, $20.00.  Green gown, 1440 drachmas.  Sponge, 10 drachmas.  George's shirt, 350 drachmas.  Met rest of crowd at waterfront at 7:00 to share a last baklava & to say goodbye to Paul (not goodbye, but "see you again").  The baklava was messy & very honey-sweet & drippy, and we all hated saying goodbye.  We left early so we could clean up—took a little boat back to the ship at 7:30.
       This night's meal was Greek night.  Started out with ouzo, then appetizers—fried  squid, dolmates, olives, yogurt & garlic dressing, soup (Easter soup with Kael [sic] or something floating in it)—we could have had red snapper but we went on to shish kebab with okra.  Vanilla ice cream [with] honey.  There were Greek dances in lounge done by Christine & some of the waiters (not terribly good but the cute young waiter did well).

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1978

ITINERARY:  7 a.m.: Ship arrives Rhodes.  8 p.m.:  Ship sails for Herakleion, Crete.

GEORGE:  All day in Rhodes.  We elected to "do the medieval city" on our own and started out quite early, early enough to see shops begin to open.  We wandered until noon (about four hours) and returned to the ship for lunch and rest, and then back for another two hours.
       Our first major activity was to change some money, and we went into a bank that was housed in a what?—15th or 16th Century building.  It was quite an experience, for despite the enormous number of touristy shops, the old city was still a medieval walled town with much of the architecture and certainly the street pattern intact.  I had obtained a map of the city from a vendor, and it did help (up to a point).  One thing, all the little byways were not on it.  Also, some of these byways were labeled to indicate the street to which they connected.  So on more than one occasion I got "lost," but it was fairly easy to orient oneself in a short time since the area within the walls is really quite small.
       We went into the museum at 9:00 a.m., a building that was built as a hospital by the knights who had been expelled from Jerusalem.  It is an interesting building, and the additions (while rather sparse) are of some interest.  The stone looked like a sandstone, and much of it was badly eroded and one can anticipate severe conservation problems in the near future.
       From the museum we saw the Knightly inns (from the exterior) and in due course we headed for the new agora—the city market.  It was just outside the walls and very active.  Architecturally it was [of] no import; [as] cultural insight into contemporary Greek life on Rhodes, it was excellent.  From there we wandered outside the walls, saw an old market in what appeared to be a filled portion of the old moat.
       After several false starts, we went back into the old city and went to the Palace of the Masters, a large structure that had been badly damaged through a variety of causes, and which had been restored (based on the 15th Century drawings) by the Italians just before WWII.  Rhodes had been under Italian rule between the end of Moslem/Turkish domination and WWII.  The Palace was to have been the official residence for Vittorio Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini, and here for the first time I grasped the real megalomania of the Fascist dictators, who linked themselves with the pomposity of Imperial Rome and the authoritarianism of uniforms and jackboots.  The building was presumably as authentic as they could make it while introducing electricity, central heating and other amenities.  Also, they set into almost every room's floor a classic period floor mosaic from the island of Kos.  There weren't very many people in the place when we wandered through, and since there was also very little furniture, it was a stark experience.  Massive timbered ceilings, quite high, stone walls, marble and mosaic floors, and lamps made of 18th Century? [sic] figurative torchiers (quite large).  The windows, with inside shutters, looked out on either the central court or out on the city.
       Everywhere we saw large stone shot, either from cannon or catapult that had fallen on the city in a 22-year siege during the 16th Century.  These had been gathered and were used for decorative purposes.  On a later excursion back through the walls, I saw an area between the outer and inner walls, not the moat, that had ruined, vaulted structures, much like magazines.  Here and there in the area were such shot.  Could these have been there since the 16th Century, or were they for tourist consumption?  Since the area was out of the normal tourist section, and one had to go to the parapet of the bridge and look down, I felt it could really be that we saw old things.
       In the afternoon, we did the residential areas of the old town, and we really got into some non-tourist areas (insofar as shops, etc., were concerned).  The crooked, narrow, cobbled streets with center drains, the austere houses (through magnificent flowers and flowering shrubs were very much in evidence), the occasional buttress between houses over the street, the covered passageways must all reflect a tradition long practiced and now virtually gone.  Here and there sections had been demolished, and one could still see the narrow cobbled lanes within the stripped, dusty "plateia."
       In some areas the facades were decorated, at least around the door; these looked Romanesque and this may date to the Venetian rule of the island.  In some places, facades were painted.  While whitewash is common in the rural areas to seal the exterior, here one was orange and another was a light-valued purple.  Very inappropriate for a medieval city.  Very little wood was in evidence, mostly an occasional Turkish enclosed balcony or belvedere.  We also got into the walls a bit, inadvertently existing through a convoluted passage through a gate that retained its defensive complexities.  An ancient door leaf was still in place.
       Rhodes was, and it had to be given it complex history, extremely picturesque.  But the medieval city had been built on an ancient site of the Hellenistic period.  We saw a couple of excavations that showed that level and some remains, mostly walls.  One aspect that was a bit surprising to me was the character of the small cobbles used for the older pavement (flat stone paving seemed to be the newer).  It was (for me) uncomfortable to walk on, but it did seem durable enough.
       Well, six hours of walking almost all of it on the small cobbles, despite the mid-day break, argued for a retreat to the ship.  That evening, before our sitting for dinner, the Captain had a cocktail party for our group.  As it turned out, he made only a token appearance at the end, and Rosann Berry our "den mother" and the Placzeks were at the Captain's table for the Farewell Dinner.  The latter was an attempt at festivities, including music, and flaming baked Alaska brought in in a parade by all the waiters in a darkened cabin.  "Auld Lang Syne" was played.  It was also a rolling sea, and so I had popped my first cruise Dramamine, excused myself and went to bed while others carried on with the party on deck and I guess elsewhere.  Tomorrow was Crete and I needed my rest.

MILA JEAN:  Up early (docked at Rhodes at 7:00) & washed self & hair.  Went into town of Rhodes alone.  Apparently we were the only ones, excepting [Rosann], who didn't go on the bus trip through countryside & to Lindos.  But we had a lively time watching Rhodes "wake up"—saw a man baking bread, people opening shops, cleaning streets, etc.  George bought a map to help guide us along & I cashed $100 of my traveler's cheques.

[We are missing the next page, unless Mila left off writing here and resumed later (in a different color ink) without filling in the gap]

7:00 [PM].  Dancers—Ballet Folkloric of Rhodes very good—main male dancer looked Irish.  Captain reception at 8:00 for members of the SAH in Orpheus Lounge (Captain didn't arrive until late due obviously to leaving Rhodes late)—all of us in new gowns & generally one-upmanshiping each other.  Had choice of drinks (we had ouzo) & many canapes & especially good fried zucchini.  Staggered down back steps to dining room for Gala Dinner, most of which I've forgotten, due to the fact that we (Dixie, Katie, George, Eileen & I) got stuck with the most boring man on board who looks like British squire & speaks as though he'd landed from NYC!).  Ended with music ("Cielito Lindo") & flaming baked Alaska, the flames of which threatened to turn on the water spouts (?) [sic].  Champagne with Captain toasting us in a carefully rehearsed speech (though I found out he's married to an American girl).  We were so desperate to get away from Mr. Boring we didn't drink much.  Went up on deck with Gary & Tom—salt spray & terrific wind—like something out of Reap the Wild Wind—then Jack & Naomi who wanted to go to the disco, but boring Mr. Moffat appeared & I fled down to my bed.  (How awful to have that effect on people—snort, snort.)  Two boring men in ONE night!!

FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1978

ITINERARY:  9 a.m.: Ship arrives Herakleion, Crete.  12:30 p.m.:  Ship departs Herakleion, Crete.  3 p.m.: Ship arrives at Santorini (Thera).  9 p.m.: Ship departs for Piraeus.

GEORGE:  We arrived in Crete at Herakleion fairly early in the morning, and soon were aboard a bus heading for Knossos a few kilometers south.  We knew we were in more southern clime because it was hot, and it was only going to get hotter.
       Our guide was good (insofar as she had worked out a solid routine and was efficient and accurate in her information, but she needed to exercise a bit more authority).  In any case, I stayed close to her and I am glad I didn't try to do all of the Palace on my own; it is a labyrinth.  The Palace at Knossos presented problems for me.  While it is easy to spot the use of reinforced concrete (now painted brown) substituting for wood (and all columns), it was a real problem with walls.  What was original and what was reconstruction was a real question.  Also, Evans (Sir Arthur) had made a lot of decisions as to what was what and where it should go.  Since he had bought the site with his own money, and in fact had done a tremendous job of recovering a culture, it is a bit hard to put him down.  But nevertheless he went too far in my estimation.  The end result is that I found Mycenae more impressive though less easy "to see."  I am glad I saw the site, but I think the plan is more revealing than the half-reconstruction.
       From the site we went to the Museum.  We had an hour scheduled there, and I told the guide I preferred to do the museum on my own and did so.  I made a quick tour, and some special old friends like the small Harvester Vase and the fresco fragment of La Parisienne, and the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus were quickly spotted and looked at.  Then it was back through the rooms, more slowly and with the guidebook in hand.
       Greek museums are rather skimpy on labels, and often a case will be labeled only with the place of origin.  Transliterating place names is not too taxing, but other information escapes me.  Some museums or sites have Greek and English, or Greek and French, and on rare occasions all three.  But individual labels are rare, even in major museums.  Usually only masterworks are identified.  On the other hand the works do have numbers, but the guidebooks rarely are hand lists.  So doing a museum requires some advance knowledge (in my opinion).
       Well, on the second go-around, I was able to refer to the guidebook that was a room-by-room list with cases identified and major items or groups identified within.  This is the Minoan collection (plus other things) so it was an interesting museum collection.  The late Minoan idols (e.g. from Gazi) exist in a fairly large number, all very much like, though some had tiny feet sticking out of holes in the "skirt."  The fresco restorations are exercises in extraordinary imagination.  They are placed within a painted background that fills in the missing elements.  In almost every case the filled-in portion is in the vicinity of 75 to 85%, for the fragments are quite small.  Once in awhile a grouping of these exist, and tell us more.  La Parisienne, which is in fact quite small, well below life size, is one of the largest fragments.  One reason the Thera frescoes are important is their size and subject matter.  Well, more on that later.
       Soon it was time to return to the ship, and in short order we set sail for Thera (Santorini).  I studied the Blue Guide and it was clear that the three hours we'd be there would not suffice to do anything other than go up and come down.  So I elected to remain on board ship—as did some others.  The arrival at Thera is dramatic, as one sails into what is in fact the crater of the volcano.  The  town is most picturesquely situated at the top of the cliffs, about 700 feet above the water.  Mila elected to go ashore, and then elected to take the donkey ride up.  Some others walked!  I watched from a comfortable place on deck where I had the entire panorama, and some closeups via binoculars.
       Almost all elected to walk down.  While the view from above was impressive, the trip was a little like Mykonos with shops, etc.  But there was a dark cloud.  One older woman (one of the cruise passengers, but not an SAHer) was knocked off her donkey by others racing back down to gather more passengers, and she suffered both a concussion and some wound that bled profusely.  (Later I learned she had been on foot.)  One (actually there was more than one) of our party was a doctor and went back up with the victim, who was carried to the village clinic on a stretcher.  More details are not readily at hand, but some medic in the village helped, and there was also a nurse as part of the cruise company who helped.  The option of flying her to Athens was vetoed, and so it was decided to bring her back to the ship by [a] small boat, the long way around.  Large vessels can be moored only near there, but there are gradual slopes elsewhere.
       Those who has made the ascent were, I think, both disappointed and now a bit distressed that the journey was a bit pointless and proven dangerous in its operation.  The victim was genuinely innocent of wrongdoing.  Our departure was delayed about two hours, and once we got underway, we really were cranked up.  I was trying to pack while the ship tossed and rolled (not excessively, but enough for another Dramamine).  Needless to say, it was an early bedtime for me, even though I had expended no energy in the afternoon.  Tomorrow was to be the distraction of docking and the dispersal of our tour group.

MILA JEAN:  Crete.  Up early (6:15)—didn't really wash.  Ate breakfast (this time two poached eggs) with Hal, Jack & Lyle.  Assembling for the buses to be mowed down by those who wanted to get taxis early—finally got underway late (8:40) to Knossos.  Without sun, it was almost pleasant (Heraklion seemed nice) but in sun—watch out!  We had young pretty guide, who reminded me of Nancy Sies [and] conducted a pretty knowledgeable tour of Knossos site.  Very interesting terrain—hills, etc.  Some of the reconstruction is interesting.  It's easier for me, at least, to understand the way things used to look, but George says that the paintings are misleading because you can't tell where original ones were.  (I still can['t] understand how they can tell all of those details from a few scraps—imagination?)
       Anyway in the sun it was like sticking your body in a lit & heated oven.  Inside, to me it was pleasant—others felt that it was still uncomfortable.  The labyrinth is a fitting name for the site: 14,000 rooms at one time arranged in a maze-like pattern—three stories in some places—massive Doric-type columns (deep rust red)—skylights, bathtubs, Queen's toilet, efficient sewage system—4,000 years ago!  What new have we learned?  Bull motifs everywhere.  Guide efficient & cheerful—doesn't always understand the intricacies of the question, but who cares?  Very comfortable new Mercedes bus but no air conditioning, so when we were sitting still it was awfully hot.  Eileen terribly uncomfortable so she retreats for part of trip.
       Back in bus—joining our group are some "chatty Kathy" English/Australian/Italians who talk more than they listen.  Disconcerting because there are many, many people & tones at the site & the chatter, plus the lectures, cause confusion at times.  However, it was good to have a guide there because the ground plans were misleading & confusing.  Back in bus after an "orange drink" (5 drachmas in a dispenser that went berserk being used so often in rapid succession) to go to archaeological museum which was interesting.  George & I cut out from rest of group & toured both floors fast & then each one more carefully.  Particularly enjoyed "La Parisienne" fragment of mural which George compared to me (ha).
       Back to ship & another huge meal.  Rested & packed.  We docked at Santorini & were off ship at 5:00-5:30.  I decided to go (even though George demurred) because I could never face my friends back in K.C. if I didn't take the donkey ride.  I latched onto Muriel, since she is sufficiently flakey & that was my mood, too.  The ride alternated between almost hysterical hilarity & near-tragedy, & it will probably stick with me longer than a lot of more "meaningful" experiences.
       She & I were almost at the very end of our particular line, mainly because we hadn't bought tickets beforehand (Gerry was last).  Muriel & I apparently got warring donkeys of the same muleteer because hers kept trying to pass mine, thus causing hers to slam her into walls or me as we went up.  (My donkey was lagging, no doubt because of its heavy burden.  It panted a lot!)  Their master beat them good which bothered me, & held on to Muriel's donkey's tail (to guide? to hold back?).  There was something like 50 steps (or was it 500?) up a sheer steep cliff.  Toward the top, the first set of donkeys started coming back down, really running fast, for new paying customers.  (158 drachmas!!!)  It was a real traffic jam & rather scary though by that time I was too hyperactive to be totally afraid.  Muriel's donkey overtook mine & mine hers & others came slipping down—God!
       Suddenly we rounded a corner & saw a riding crop, then a donkey standing alone, then some people crouching over an elderly lady who had obviously sustained a terrible fall, the whole back of her head was bloody & she didn't show any signs of life.  Pandemonium—muleteers shouting, people gawking.  Some of our group got down immediately.  Marika & David & our donkeys slowed down (thank God) & after some odd steps we got off.  We leaned over the wall to see & lots of other people had collected.  It was horrifying—the wind was terrific & blew horrible lava dust & grit in our faces & eyes.
       To make a long story short—we left & went shopping.  Muriel bought a horribly expensive dress (1,600 drachmas) & I bought some worry beads.  The old woman, it turned out, was an Australian on our boat & sustained a concussion because both Ben Schneider & [Fenella] examined her [sic].  They brought down a stretcher & the town doctor took her up to town (supposedly to be flown out to Athens but the wind was too stiff, so they delayed our boat 1 hour 45 minutes & brought her down to our ship—ach!).
       When we finally got underway (strange & wild dinner with Tom, Gary, Naomi, Lyle) we ate so late, it was almost 11:00 before we were through & the boat was lurching & heaving the way boats are supposed to in choppy seas.  Tom & I went out on deck afterward & were nearly blown away—very dramatic salt spray & wild winds.  Went to Gary's cabin for a glass of wine, but was definitely feeling poorly & "heavey" by then—so went to bed (sustained by Dramamine)....

SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1978

ITINERARY:  7 a.m.: Ship arrives Piraeus.  9:30 a.m.:  Bus transfer for group flight to New York City.  (Approximately) 1:15 p.m.: Group flight for JFK Airport (Olympic Airlines flight No. 411; arrives JFL 4:35 p.m.  Tour ends.  Participants remaining in Athens must make own reservations.

GEORGE:  To my surprise, we arrived at Piraeus only fifteen minutes or so after our scheduled time, despite the lateness of our departure.  We were off the ship around 8 a.m., and by 9 a.m. the SAH luggage had been gathered on the very dirty, oily dock.  The injured passenger was carried out on a chair/stretcher and whisked away in an ambulance.  We were whisked away through customs and by the bus that was to take part of our group to the airport, we separated out our luggage.  Then three of us took a cab into Syntagma.  It was, in fact, rather reasonable.  Then off we went to our hotel.  The quarters are adequate but nothing to rave about.  We are hardly soundproofed, but then that is hard to come by in Athens.  We get "air conditioning" at the siesta time and early evening only, but it does help.  Fortunately there is enough space so that we can get about in our activities without stumbling over each other.  A "third bed" is actually a couch, which eases life a bit.
       Once settled, we walked over to the Archaeological Museum to do the first floor, exclusive of the small bronzes—and other bronzes that are under the new part of the museum.  Thus we did—slowly this time and as I wanted—the sculpture in stone plus a few key bronzes.
       The Sounion Kouros has been re-restored without proper left arm and possible other removals,  Frankly I don't remember.  One thing, there were other colossal kouroi.  The Artemision Zeus was studied very carefully, and I am persuaded that compositionally a trident won't work, but a thunderbolt (being short and bulkier) would.  Must look for other bronzes to see if there is a Poseidon with a trident for comparison.  There is at least one Zeus we saw last time.  Also the opening of the grasping hand seems rather large to me, and we did see one thunderbolt fragment last time.  I'm persuaded.  The museum still calls it Poseidon, maybe because they have a smaller bronze, slightly older, with very similar head, that is inscribed as Poseidon.  He is, however in a kouros pose.
       The old Philosopher, Hellenistic, has other fragments: both feet and lower legs, a right arm and a left hand (with portion of wooden stuff) in an adjacent case.  The Stele of Hegeso is disappointing, there are much better sculptures in my opinion that are of the funerary type, and the museum has many of them.  We also saw—this time—the exhibit on ancient medicine.  Instruments, votive members, and other curios.
       We retreated to the hotel for a siesta—most welcome.  Then, around 5:30 we went to the Benaki.  That was a most pleasant experience.  It is indeed an eclectic collection, ranging from ancient items to Islamic to folk costumes, to War of Independence memorabilia (including Byroniana), and 19th Century watercolors of Greece.  The Blue Guide's description is really not adequate.  It is a major textile collection I am sure, and it has a wide variety of icons, some of which must be special (but I don't know).  The collections are displayed in what was his mid-19th Century townhouse.  It is worth study in its own right.  One special attraction for me, and possible me alone in Greece, was a group of drawings by a Joseph Scherer, made in 1844 and '45, of Greek (and possibly other) people in picturesque costume, and they were first cousins of George Caleb Bingham's drawings.  Scherer's were in pencil, but otherwise they were of the same time frame, same visual and technical orientation.  What an unexpected confirmation (in my prejudiced opinion) that Bingham was being an ethnographer.  An early exercise back in K.C. is to find out more about Herr Scherer.
       After the Benaki it was dinnertime (we really didn't have any lunch) and a stroll (as if we needed one), and then to bed.  Then was when I found out the air conditioning did not run at night, and that we were not in a quiet neighborhood (but that I knew).

MILA JEAN:  Up at 6:10 (see land already), breakfast 6:45—they claim we'll land at 7:15 (didn't, due to having to "land" twice).  Everyone a bit tense due to whether they'll make connections, get luggage off & hangovers.  Start seeing Piraeus soon.  After confusion, waiting, re-waiting, all of our luggage is taken off two by two (very inefficient), the lady is taken off in a chair with blood plasma & put into an ambulance (apparently her donkey collided with one coming down) & we all part.  It's not really emotional.  We're all too preoccupied & tense but am kissed by Jim (!) [and] Lyle (!!).  Had Gary & Tom "See you again—bye, bye!"
       Go off in cab to Syntagma Square with Naomi, followed by Gerry & Van Meters in another.  Arrive at 10:00-10:30.  Get in Omiros, check in, place is OK but hot & loud.  Go off (on foot!!) to Archaeological Museum.  It is a long, hot, & frenzied walk & hot when we get there but still quite fascinating.  We only cover one floor.  (Beforehand we spent too much money on a lemonade—sour lemon with extra bags of sugar and water & awful ice cream).  Walk back to hotel which is, by now, "air conditioned" & take naps (very pleasant), then at 5:30 walk (not so far, not so hot) to Benaki Museum which is fascinating, filled with wonderful things: folk costumes, Coptic, Cycladic, Mycenaean, Oriental, Byzantine, all in old beautiful mansion.
       Walk at 7:30 to Delphi Restaurant & have nice big dinner.  Walk back through Plaka.  It's now 9:30, hot & noisy (air conditioning went off) but we are clean—I've washed everything (got Santorini dust out of my hair & ears—how do they ever keep clean up there?).

SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 1978

GEORGE:  The countdown toward our departure on Thursday is a reality.  I now think "four more days," and I know that tomorrow will be "three more."  I am getting ready in mind and body for going home.  Our pace is actually slowing down, and I am weary.  I'm going to be very ready when Thursday comes.  However, there are things that still need doing, and places that need to be seen.
       This morning was spent at the Acropolis and doing the Acropolis Museum slowly.  It was really reinforcement rather than new experiences.  Perhaps the special treat of the Acropolis Museum over others, independent of individual works, is the insight into the role of paint one can get.  Color on sculpture helped define form, but also added detail.  There is enough evidence in that museum to be conclusive.
       From the Acropolis height we went around to the Theatre of Dionysus Dionysos.  Lordy, will I ever get back by my spelling?  (See!)  We sat up in the ruins, in the shade of a pine tree to get the breeze and cool off.  The, off around the Acropolis to the Flea Market, which was running at full steam.  We had a mini-souvlaki to curb the appetite, and priced items.  We finally bought two brass candlestick holders—or whatever they are called, the mind is failing under the impact of the past.  Then as they began to close up shop around 1:00 p.m., we wended back to the hotel, popping into other shops here and there that were still open.  Greece is a country of small entrepreneurs besides the big ship owners, etc.
       We stopped for some wine and pastry, which we brought back to the hotel for a midday snack before siesta.  This evening we are eating out with a member—or more—of our SAH group still in Athens.  When we walked out of the Acropolis Museum, we found Bev Placzek and Mitch Yamaguchi sitting in a bit of shade.  Much helloing all around.  Bev was leaving tomorrow (for somewhere—London I think)—and Mitch was in town for several days.  He suggested dinner together, and we are to meet here at our hotel at 8 p.m.  Then we found a note in our box at the hotel from Eileen Michaels [Michels], another SAHer whose husband came over to spend an additional three weeks touring Greece.  She suggested dinner.  Since I am now finally up to date, and up to the minute even, in this journal, we'll have to wait to find out how all this gets resolved.
        [Later:]  Well, we all got together at our hotel, had dinner together and parted company about 10:30 p.m.  For whatever reason, the hotel kept on the "air conditioning" all night, and while it hardly chilled the room, it did help (me at least).

MILA JEAN:  2:00 PM.  Air conditioning still not on.  I am hot.
       Went to Acropolis & Acropolis Museum today—left at 9:15-9:30—overshot our goal.  Place didn't open until 10:00—hordes of people & groups—lots of Germans—all nationalities stomping around faithfully taking notes & photos.  Had to delay opening the museum for 15 minutes to drag out a black cat that apparently had got in the night before.  Much excitement.  Ran into Mitch (who suggested going to a Japanese restaurant tonight) & [Beverley] (who is leaving Athens today).  Pepsi apiece.  Went from there to Temple of Dionysus & from there to the Flea Market (!!).  Had never seen it that busy!  Bought two small brass candlesticks at $3.50 apiece (100 drachmas) after comparison shopping through many places.  "Hey, mister—is that TWA on your bag?  That's my airline."  Ha, ha, ha.  "Step in here—such nice things."  Back to room with wine & pastries (had souvlakis in street—8 drachmas).
       (Air conditioning on at 2:45!)
       Got note from Eileen asking us to meet them at their hotel at 8:00—ach!!  Such intrigue!  Now I have to write her back.  Clearly we are now into true Greek summer, because it's hard to keep going for very long in the sun & heat for very long without getting really spacy.  George is now washing some shorts—things dry in a few hours here.  It can't be very humid, that's for sure.  We must be using hundreds of gallons of water, just in washing our bodies & our clothes.
       Today was Pentecost & I was "awakened"—I use the term loosely since I didn't sleep much all night—by church bells (twice).  After breakfast I heard the priest intoning & saw & heard church services all the way down to the Acropolis.  Therefore tomorrow is a holiday—something like Easter Monday—so no banking for another day (tomorrow is the 19th & supposedly a full moon) (more later).
       [Later:]  Ate at old place in Plaka with Mitch, Eileen, & Joe.  Not terribly good, but with two bottles of wine it was merry.  It is now getting very hot & muggy & we were all pouring sweat.  Home at 11:00 or so.  I've developed slight lower intestinal problem—nothing to worry about, but I'm glad our hotel is nearby.  The air conditioning (gets temp down to about 82°) was on all night which helped noise too, except that George started snoring loudly about 3:00-4:00 AM & I could not go back to sleep.  When I did, it was interrupted by trash collection early (!)—I thought this was supposed to be a holiday.

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1978

GEORGE:  On the countdown, three more days.  Today is some sort of holiday.  Pentecost?  But it appears as if the city will be open.  I suspect museums and government offices will be on short hours and closed respectively, but the shops—or most of them—will be open.  It also appears as if it will be a hot one today.  There is no question but that we saw summer arrive and spring depart.  Fewer flowering plants are in evidence in parks, etc., and leaves are beginning to turn brown.  And it doesn't cool off at night very much.  Last night we saw a typical shopfront taverna move all its tables across into an empty parking lot (this near our hotel).  Besides visiting shops, I plan to "do the Agora and the Keramikos."  With the heat, that should be enough.
       And it was!
       I fully understand and thoroughly appreciate the concept of the siesta.  Indeed, I am now writing this after having taken a snooze and sitting in only my shorts in our "air conditioned" room.  I'm more comfortable than Mila, but then I always could take the heat and the sun more readily than she.
       Our day on the town started early, and we went first to see if the Exchange was open—it was—and there changed some travelers checks.  Then to a bookstore where after some comparison I found the book I wanted, Modern Greece, A Short History by Woodhouse.  Modern starts with Constantine!  But that is exactly where I wanted to begin my study.
       From there it was to buy some fruit, and then after depositing these acquisitions (including a couple of books for Mila) we went off to the Agora.  Being a holiday (so to speak) it opened at 10 a.m. today.  We arrived a bit early and wandered around the metal working areas and other shops of the Flea Market area.  The stoa idea is still operational, insofar as small cubicles are used.  What is missing is the colonnade.  Some awnings do exist, and many newer buildings have recessed ground floors providing equivalents, though these shops are a bit grander.  Also, there are galleries or equivalent that penetrate through newer buildings, with shops along the way.  Across from our hotel there are various buildings, and most have stoa-sized shops at ground level.
       Well, we redid the Agora at a slow pace and perhaps the most interesting new insights were derived from the study of before and after photos.  Also, I became very conscious of how deep the excavations went.  I know debris, silt, whatever accumulates, but I'm never quite prepared [for] the quantity in some places.  Elsewhere in Athens one sees excavations and they confirm the disparity of levels.  Byzantine churches are regularly approached (in Athens) by stepping down.
       From the Agora we went to Keramikos.  Here the most interesting was the street of tombs, and seeing the Acropolis as one went to the Dyplon [Dipylon] and the Sacred Gate.  In fact, through the [Dipylon], the Nike temple was in line of sight—most interesting.  Here too, excavations were quite deep in places, and one had to clamber a bit.  Once again we ran into an SAHer, Mitch again, at the Keramikos.  So we joined forces and walked back in the growing heat toward the hotel.  We stopped at a nice shop nearby, and there bought some weaving and stitchery, and had lunch.  This led inevitably to siesta and gratefully accepted rest.
       Later we went out, looking for an appropriate gift or two for Matthew (found one) and as we passed a plateia, we heard ourselves called.  It was the [Michels], and we had some wine with them.  Finally we returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  We had made arrangements with Mitch, and so together we went to one of Athens's few Oriental restaurants, this a Japanese one not too far from here (our hotel).  I'll leave the descriptions to Mila, but it should suffice that it was indeed a Japanese restaurant, but with some Greek overtones.  We spent nearly two hours at our dinner which proved to be a pleasant termination for a long, hot day, and a nice way to say goodbye to Michio Yamaguchi, a new friend gained from our trip to Greece.
       We checked out the shortest route to the Airport bus terminal (about a half mile I judge) and noted buses go every twenty minutes.  It won't be long now!

MILA JEAN:  Another hot day.  Went out early after one of "those" breakfasts (roll, sweet cake, Nescafé, & hard thing like _______) [sic].  Went to exchange & cashed all of my travelers cheques, then to bookstore, then stopped in pretty little shop nearby & promised to come back.  Bought fruit.  Back to room for water, etc.—set off for Agora & other near points—very hot already (10:00).  Met Mitch & went excursioning, came back to little shop & bought two rugs & trinkets for Mom.  Back to Delphi for lunch & then back to hotel for "siesta."  George is asleep—I did wash.  In this heat, things get dirty & smelly fast.  Are to meet for dinner at 8:00.  More anon.
       [Later:]  Met Joe & Eileen for Roditis at "Poseidon Cafe" outside under blue & orange awning at 6:00-7:15, very pleasant & semi-cool, but it is definitely warm & muggy now.  Bought Matt [a] shirt & some other trinkets.  Met Mitch & went to Micheio Japanese restaurant for dinner.  Though apparently run by Orientals it's staffed by Greeks & our waiter wore jeans & boots with kimono over them.  Very pretty setting with lots of trees, awnings, Japanese "fish" kites, a stream with fountains of recirculating water & arched bridge across it.  There was (eventually, though it took a long time for them to accumulate) a large group of Japanese tourists who arrived, some of them in native dress, & many other Japanese around us (many flashbulbs & cameras working).  Since I had my "problem," I didn't indulge (ended up with two bowls of chicken soup, however) but had strange mixture of fried rice, shrimp & onions (my poor tum) in a mold-mound that one ate with a tablespoon.  Complimentary creme de menthe for "afters."  Very quiet & peaceful for a change.
       When we came back at 10:00-10:30, there was loud pounding (like on an anvil)—sounded like right outside for at least an hour so I read in the bathroom until about midnight.  When I came out all was "quiet" (!).  And so to bed.

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 1978

GEORGE:  It might be a smidge cooler, but who can tell.  I plan to conclude reviews of the Archaeological Museum, and visit Lykavitos [Lycabettus].  That should do me in, in proper fashion.  As I write this, the sounding noises of a city moving into relatively high gear permeates the hotel room.  The chatter of people is very much a part of it.  K.C. will seem positively pastoral after this.
       [Later:]  Well, I was wrong.  It wasn't cooler but hotter.  It got to 37° C (about 98+ F), and we were off climbing the lower reaches of Lykavitos to reach the funicular railroad to go to the top.  But this was after the Archaeological Museum.
       In the museum we did the bronzes, the vases and the Thera room.  Among the bronzes I saw no Poseidon with trident, but close to a half dozen Zeuses with thunderbolts.  As far as I am concerned, I'll go with Zeus.  The thunderbolt is like a [double-]pointed dumbbell with perhaps some flames curling from the cones.  Compositionally it will work with the big bronze.
       The big bronze "Kouros" is called Apollo, and is considered to be the oldest large-scale hollow cast they have, c.500 BC.  In the vase section there were replicas of the small wood panel painting fragments as well as some large painted metopes (of terra cotta).  Simple color scheme, very limited palettes pallets (lord, will I ever be able to spell again?) and compositionally related to vase decorations.  In the Thera room we studied the frescoes most carefully and I bought a packet of quality cards reproducing them.  The color on the cards is more intense and of course they have a slick finish while the originals do not.
       From the museum we hoofed it toward Lykavitos, and we saw a different part of Athens since we hit it from the north and had to circle it in that blasting heat.  At the top we had a meager but expensive lunch, and for that I was grateful just to sit and catch the hot breezes under the awnings.  The view is spectacular but the entire area was under haze/smog?  No wonder the poor Acropolis is disintegrating.  I suspect all of Athens will in time, given the situation.
       From this adventure we plodded back to the hotel, showered and collapsed.  In the evening we did a bit of shopping, including my buying four detective stories in French for much later perusal.  I'm plowing through the book on Modern Greece, and I understand more of the character of Greece given the constant disruption, invasions, usurpations, atrocities, etc. that beset the Greeks and recreated them as other peoples constantly infiltrated the genetic stock.  A lot of Slavs, Avars, and much else.
       Well, I'm writing this early on Wednesday morning, and perhaps I should turn to the affairs of this day, our last full one in Greece before departure on the 22nd.

MILA JEAN:  Actually got decent night's sleep.  Up about 7:00.  After "quaint" breakfast, walked (?) [sic] to Archaeological Museum, did whole second floor & Thera stuff & bronzes on first floor.  Then walked to Lycabettus Hill & took funicular to top—hazy, hot & some smog.  Had cola & dry ham sandwich & enjoyed view.  Walked back for naps & to wash self & clothes.  We would not survive were it not for the "siesta," 2-[to]-5 every day.  It was 37° Celsius today.  Is that about 98 or 99° F?  No wonder we can barely stagger around.
       Stayed in room till 4:45—went out in search of theatre masks—many ghastly ones—copper & metal, all heavy—went in all of the Flea Market shops—finally found two terra cotta small ones for 100 drachmas (both).  Went to Poseidon bar for gin & tonic ("gin with tonic" AND lemon AND ice).  It was almost pleasant under the trees.  Ate at Delphi, had "Lamb Country Style"—very good—like Provençal cooking, & carafe of red wine.  Combination nearly put George under.  He's passed out at 9:30!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1978

GEORGE:  The last day: tomorrow we leave.  I am ready to go home, but I am very glad that I've had these extraordinary experiences and sights.  A few remain to be captured.  I wish to visit the [Temple of the] Olympian [Zeus] and the Museum of Popular Art today.
       [Later:]  So we went to the Temple of Zeus Olympia.  As it turned out, we were the only ones on the site throughout most of our stay there—remarkable.  While the site is limited to the temple remains and a few neighboring excavations of modest sort, it was really quite impressive in its colossal scale and neglect by the tours.
       From there, we looked more carefully at the Arch of Hadrian (no comment except it is Greekish in flavor as Paul had said) and then over we went to the Museum of Popular Art.  A converted mosque of small size, the Museum had its major display on the main floor, and a minor one on a gallery above.  The major display was terra cotta from Thessaloniki.  The stuff was quite good and would merit reproduction as far as I am concerned.
       From there we retreated briefly to the hotel, and then went out to the Botanical Garden (Royal Gardens) which was cool, attractive and a pleasant respite from the hurly-burly of so much of Athens.  Then, a spot of lunch and siesta.
       It got very hot in the hotel, so I soaked in the tub, then got dried, dressed, and proceeded to pack for the morrow's journey back to home, family and the realities of my life.
       Then back out, this time to the Byzantine Museum, which we did by going through the Royal Gardens again.  The Byzantine Museum has some very interesting items, though much of it unlabeled.  This has really annoyed me as an affront to the locals as well as tourists.  All objects have numbers, and this may be the link with the professional staff, but one whole room lacked any identification of any sort.
       But what one could extract from the displays was interesting, including sculpture after the iconoclastic controversy.  The icons varied widely, including one complex miniature altarpiece sort of thing with shutters—very Byzantine on the outside, but one interior was an adaptation of Michelangelo's Sistine Last Judgment.
       Well, with the Byzantine Museum visited, I covered most everything on the standard list for Athens.  The time has come to recycle myself back into a Kansas Citian, father, University Professor, et al.
       We begin—so to speak—with a farewell dinner with Eileen and Joe [Michels], our SAH-met friends who are staying on in Greece (he came over as/after the tour ended).  They have a place [to dine] in mind, and as long as someone directs me and returns me safely to the hotel, I'm most agreeable.
       Tomorrow morning we complete the packing, check out, and carry our belongings to the bus terminal.  Then off to the airport, early enough to avoid crises of seating selection, baggage checking, etc.  I do believe both of us are ready for [the] cocoon of the aircraft and the tedium of flight with catnaps.
       [Later:]  Dinner with the [Michels] was pleasant.  We took the trolley bus to a taverna behind the Archaeological Museum and there had a substantial (but not excessive) meal.  By the time we got back to the hotel, we were ready for retirement—or at least I was.  It had cooled down (from a high of 38° C) and there was a breeze.  I need all the help I can get!

MILA JEAN:  Last full day.  After very stuffy & uncomfortable night with George snoring from 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM, I staggered up to wash.  Early breakfast (I tried tea this time & the bag was better than the Nescafe packet) & went out to Olympian.  We were the only ones there, & I must say it is wonderful not to be hassled by thousands of pushing smelly tourists with boys & backpacks.  It was almost quiet in the vast sea of traffic & pollution.  In one moist green & quiet grove (labeled "Ditch") we saw a big tortoise lumbering down the path to its rest in the glade.  He moved as slowly as we do at the end of the day, but finally the rustling of the leaves settled down as he no doubt settled himself.  We also saw a mother cat (skinny) & two babies (skinny) nursing & a man watering, but that was all.  We saw some Roman baths there & a fallen column that was enormous.  How could a "wind" topple it?
       Went on to Greek Cooperative Craftsmen place on Amalias Avenue.  The "art" wasn't much, but the "apartment" it was housed in must have been big stuff: huge heavy doors, big ceilings, marble fireplace (see brochure) & brocaded walls.  Nice.  Went on to Monastiraki to a converted mosque to see "Folk Art" Museum (little organ grinder was grinding away outside).  Not much, but some decorated plates from Thessaloniki were interesting.  On to American Express where there was nothing for us & on to room where George did laundry (no maid, as yet).  Eileen called to make a dinner date.  We went on to Zoological Gardens by palace laid out by Queen Amalia; very nice, green, leafy—with lots of little kids & mommies & older men sitting around—small pond with swans & ducks, & small zoo with lots of birds, peacocks, one or two monkeys, some deer, etc.  Just sat & absorbed quiet for awhile.
       Ate at restaurant called the 16[th?] Century (sort of American schlock with horrible "copper" things of knights & ladies, etc.).  Features "cheapest specials in town," #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.  We had for 70 drachmas: salad, bread, moussaka, ice cream (cake extra) but it was quiet!
       Back to hotel for "siesta" at 1:30 to be greeted by Bach in the elevator (ran in & got it—Bach's unaccompanied cello on our radio) and clean sheets.  We are overwhelmed—so much so that George is asleep again!
       This room is long & narrow.  On one wall is small wardrobe with both hanging space & shelves ... one single bed, then end table with two drawers & a phone & radio controls, lamp above that doesn't work, then other single bed with shelving (mine)—it all fits in to make one unit.  On facing wall (from door to hall) is dresser with two drawers & mirror & a couch ... at end is floor-to-ceiling sliding doors to outside balcony with outside shutters that slide out at night, enabling one to get air with privacy.  Unfortunately the outside is so loud that one doesn't dare open too long before the noise & dust would overwhelm me—the "air conditioning" doesn't really work & I think the room is overpriced, but they seem to have a large international clientele: African, English, French, German.
       I'm not going to write in this again until after I get home because I need to pack tonight & don't want to lug the heavy thing around with me.  So until the 24th, farewell.

THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1978

GEORGE:  Well, it is time.  I'm writing this part in the hotel room by our balcony, listening to the hurly-burly of traffic on Apollonis, the sounds of people, and no breeze and a feeling that is it going to be another hot one.  Bags are packed and I think it is really time to go.
       Checking out of the hotel was no great chore, especially when I learned that the hotel paid the commission to the Tourist Bureau; thus the bill was less the 1000 drachmas paid earlier.  The carrying of luggage to the bus terminal was not too taxing.  We really are traveling light, and our purchases were all fairly light in weight.  It was twenty minutes to the airport, and about the same amount of time to check in at the ticket window, check through luggage, passport/currency control.
       We had a wretched and expensive snack to supplement our wretched breakfast.  Bought our first newspaper in a month—the Athens Times.  Saw that there had been a major earthquake in Thessaloniki, and bombings of theatres by neo-fascists in Athens.  It is kind of nice not to have the daily news, though ignorance is hardly bliss.
       So here we are at the Departures Hall of the East (International—non-Olympic) Terminal of the Athens airport.  It is shortly before 10 a.m., and I assume we'll begun boarding about noon.  Outside of an attack of the catarrh and a slight headache, I'm O.K.  I think that indeed I shall sleep a good deal of the time of our flight; I am very drowsy.  Ah, the power of suggestion.
       (Much later) [sic]
       The flight back to N.Y. Kennedy was a modest-sized ordeal.  Sleep tended to elude me, except for a few small patches.  A tour returning to the U.S. after three weeks in Europe had had a very good time and the participants apparently enjoyed each other's company.  The couple in front of us were popular folk, and it seemed that all the other tour members wanted to come by and tell them how much they enjoyed things and to pledge continued contact.  All of this was done in the most interesting collection of penetrating nasal voices that ever were collected in a tour bus—and now a 747.  Only during the flight movie did they desist, and I elected to watch it since it was The Turning Point, a film I wanted to see.  To add to my feeling of an ordeal, the food was wretched, both times.
       We finally arrived in N.Y. and made contact with our bags about 50 minutes after arrival.  We managed to make it through customs without hassle and check the bags onto our next flight to K.C.  As we staggered (the correct term here) out of the melee, I discovered I had lost Mila.  In fact, she had stopped because Jane Davis Dodds and her daughter were waiting there to see us.  We got upstairs and had a half hour or so visit.  I bought and ate an orange and felt utterly weary and I'm afraid not too communicative.
       Then it was time to board our plane to K.C. (via Chicago).  We finally got airborne and into O'Hare.  There we waited for longer than was scheduled (with no explanations, of course).  On the way to Chicago we were exposed to our third ill-prepared meal, but the best of the lot (ham and cheese sandwich with other things ignored by me).  I tried to sleep but did not succeed very well on the flight.
       Finally, an hour late—and twenty-four after awakening in Athens—we arrived at the Kansas City airport.  I wandered out into the terminal and soon felt a hand on my shoulder.  It was Steve Gosnell to pick us up.  Bless him.  We got the bags and made it out to the car (ours) and he drove us home.  We arrived in the wee hours of Friday the 23rd.
       Paul was asleep, but in the living room there was Matthew and an enormous mound of boxes.  Paul was moving to his apartment in Twin Oaks we learned.  After a few fitful attempts to organize myself, I gave up the battle and tottered off to sleep while Mila and Matthew visited.
       I was home and my trip to Greece and Turkey was officially over.  At a later time I would sort out my things, my thoughts and my impressions.

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1978

MILA JEAN:  In steamy old K.C. (even though it was 67° when we arrived Friday [Thursday] night), hello again.  Am holding up well though I wasn't quite so sure this morning.  With the air conditioners on I do fine.  Off it is another proposition.
       [Thursday] morning—staggered up after semi-warm night.  Had usual awful breakfast—but we had had lovely dinner with Elaine & Joe the night before in a little taverna near the Archaeological Museum.  Had "Oriental" shish kebab (Elaine had swordfish) & very good wine that they bought.  We took bus back & forth which made it less wearing on feet.  One must remember that one boards the bus at the back & leaves at the front, & one must be fast & push, also.  Said goodbye to the Michels [correctly spelled] by our hotel though they wanted to continue on for a drink.
       Back to [Thursday] morning—paid bill & fought crowds, lugging five or six pieces of luggage on to Syntagma Square.  Got on bus right away & was out at airport by 9 AM—gosh, only four hours to wait!  But it was air conditioned!  Bought some Turkish Delight & emblem with extra drachmas, & ate some cheese pie & Cokes.  On to plane which was packed with hundreds of people—lots of families—one across the aisle had four kids & grandma.  By the end of the ten hour flight, the kids were rampaging up & down aisles, babies were wailing & I was going nuts.  Movie was The Turning Point which helped killed two hours, plus eating icky TWA food.  Most of our section seemed to be populated with group of (Maupintour?) fellow travelers who were very "jolly" & kept us awake yelling at each other & saying what a wonderful time they had all had together.
       Arrived in dilapidated state by 4:25 at NYC with littered aisles, clogged toilets & frazzled passengers—just the perfect state for going through customs—right?  Chaos reigned—people rushing around trying to find luggage—none of Flight 881['s] seemed to appear until almost 5:00!  Multiply 300 odd passengers by four pieces of luggage apiece & you've got part of the picture—along with yelling kids & a dog (!) barking in a penned-up crate.  I was beginning to think that we'd never make our other flight (especially since they kept changing #881's carousel) when our four came down almost all together & we grabbed, pushed & shoved our way to customs.  Bored officer said "You only spent $241?!?"  "How big are the rugs?  What material?"  Well, we went through again with no luggage opened.  Ran (again!) to ticket agent where more chaos reigned.  One guy asked if he could go before us because his flight was in ten minutes & the girl behind the desk urged him to "Run!"  "What about my luggage?"  "Carry it & run!"  We'll never know what happened.
       We were through.  Walked through the gates unto the arms of Jane & Liz Dodds.  It was very nice.  After much pushing, got a table & I had a gin & tonic, & they had other stuff (George had an orange).  Left them about 6:30 to get on another plane ... 1 hour 45 minutes to Chicago & too long a layover & another hour to K.C., adding up to being an hour late in arrival.  (Ran into Jean Milstead, Virginia Roe & Pat Lawson.)  By then, George & I were zonked out & kept falling asleep under blankets.
       At 11:00 PM (or so) we got into K.C. to be met by Steve & our car (gratefully).  By midnight Paul had gone to bed (downstairs) but Matthew was up & we talked & I read mail & drank gin & tonic.  Living room was filled with book boxes & furniture Paul had assembled for his departure to his own apartment.  He was "rarin' to go" as Steve said—I was not prepared for that particular confusion.
       To bed about 2 AM—woke up early to sound of good ol' Pete Hawes's car being gunned up at 7:00.
       Spent yesterday washing, reading mail, & trying to get thoughts together (unsuccessfully).  Fell asleep early, but woke up at 2:30 AM—unable to go back to sleep.  Matt had to be somewhere at 10:00 so George woke me up at 9:00 (before I was ready).  Took bath & continued in washing & going through mail.
       And so it goes—

       
 

NOTES

[click on the > at the end of each Note to return to that date's entry above]

1974:  The Nine Days Wonder

●  Mila Jean's mother, Ada Louise Ludeke Smith (1907-2011).  Her father, Francis See "Frank" Smith (1896-1973), had died the previous Dec. 16th.  >
●  George was chairman of the UMKC Art & Art History Department from 1964 to 1975.  I have almost thirty years of his At-a-Glance pocket datebooks, but the earliest one does not begin until November 1974.  >
●  $75 was deposited on Nov. 5, 1973, with the balance of $306 paid on Feb. 8, 1974.  (By way of contrast, my first semester's tuition at UMKC would cost $245 that August.)  >
●  Mila Jean first met Evelyn “Kris” Huffman in 1959 during a KCU Playhouse production of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, in which they portrayed Dorimène and Lucile respectively.  They would remain close friends for over half a century, though Mila Jean sometimes grumbled that Kris (an indefatigable traveler) was “never home.”  >
●  5505 Holmes in Kansas City MO was The Old Ehrlich Place from 1962 till 2016.  >
●  Ion Alexandre Paleologue (1911-2004), painter and printmaker, and wife Jordis (Ruth Hjordis: 1918-2007) came to KCMO in 1964, taught at UMKC, and in 1972 opened the Jordis Sterling Shop & Galleries in the ill-fated River Quay development (soon encroached upon and ruined by the Mob).  Britt Gusterman was their niece.  Ion was the son of Jean de Paléologue (1855-1942) aka PAL the celebrated poster artist and illustrator, aka Prince Jean the descendant of Byzantine Emperors.  (A 1909 article remarked that "Jean Paleologue has never been insistent about the matter of title and has preferred to be known as plain Jean Pal."  Even so, his entry in the 1942 Miami city directory would be "Paleologue, Prince J.")  >
●  White Lightning, released in August 1973, was the first in a series of epic-Southern-car-chase pictures starring Burt Reynolds.  >
●  "Streaking," the run-naked-through-public-places fad, was at its peak (so to speak) at this time.  Ray Stevens's novelty song "The Streak" would be released on Mar. 27th, and the televised Academy Awards would be streaked on Apr. 2nd.  >
●  As of 2018, the Hotel Stanley is still in business at 1 Odysseos Street on Karaiskaki Square, "in the center of Athens."  >
●  Tournedos are small round cuts of beef from the tip of a tenderloin.  (Haricot verts, pomme de terre au jus, petits pois au beurre, fromage, gateau mocha = green beans, potatoes in juice, peas in butter, cheese, mocha cake.)  >
●  At this point in Mila Jean's first-impressions notebook, she wrote "Why would they have a revolution here?—in quote marks, apparently citing another passenger's reaction to the in-flight dinner.  >
●  The Bransbys were in Room 719, Nea and Polly in 745, the Turpins in 700, Selma and Mary in 729, and Debbie in 742.  >
●  In September 1923 József, Matild, and Márta Ehrlich stopped for a couple of days in Piraeus during their emigration to America on the S.S. Constantinople, a Greek ship that broke down mid-Atlantic and took twenty-seven days to reach New York instead of the anticipated ten.  "We heard later on that if we’d taken any other line but Greek, this wouldn’t have happened."  >
●  Ouzo, like Pernod, served as an anise-flavored wormwood-free substitute for absinthe when that beverage was outlawed in 1915.  >
●  The Plaka, built atop Athens's ancient residential district on the northeastern slopes of the Acropolis, is known as "the Neighborhood of the Gods."  >
●  An acropolis is a hilltop citadel and many existed in classical antiquity, but the one in Athens is considered to be THE Acropolis.  Pericles coordinated construction of its Parthenon and other Golden Age structures during the 5th Century BC.  >
●  Athens's National Archaeological Museum was built between 1866 and 1889.  During World War II its contents were (re)buried to prevent their being looted or destroyed.  >
●  "Nea" was most likely Nea P. Willits, faculty advisor to KCU's Sigma Beta sorority in 1959 and one of UMKC's Pharmacy Wives in 1967; her name frequently appears in Ancestry.com's database of crew manifests and passenger lists.  >
●  The statue known as the Artemision Bronze or God from the Sea was recovered from an ancient shipwreck and represents either Poseidon or Zeus, depending on whether it originally held a trident or a thunderbolt.  (During the 1978 trip, George would deduce that it had been a thunderbolt and was therefore a statue of Zeus.)  >
●  The Jockey of Artemision (a young boy riding a racehorse) was recovered in the 1920s from the same ancient shipwreck as the Artemision Bronze.  >
●  Demestica is a fruity red wine, said to be go excellently with Mediterranean dishes.  >
●  Jean Milstead, a longtime leader in Lawrence KS banking and city/county planning, was named Lawrence's Citizen of the Year in 2015.  >
●  E. Virginia Calkins (1918-2009) taught history at KCMO's private Sunset Hill School for many years; she was then involved with the creation of UMKC's School of Medicine, serving as its Dean of Students until her retirement.  >
●  Since nearly all Van Winkles associated with Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri academia seem to have been nicknamed "Rip," I am unable to identify Mila Jean's travelmate.  >
●  Evidently Clarence L. Turpin (1910-2005) who taught mathematics at KCK's Sumner High School in the 1950s.  >
●  A drachma was originally a handful of metal sticks used as currency, before becoming the standard unit of ancient silver coinage.  Reintroduced in 1832, it was issued in both coin and note form till replaced by the euro in 2001.  Mila Jean brought back a handful of unspent drachma notes.  >
●  Omonoia (Concord) Square had previously been named after King Otto till he was deposed in 1862; its new title reflected the oath of peace sworn there by warring political factions.  >
●  Mila Jean returned from Greece with a taste for espresso, concocting this aromatically at home during the mid-Seventies.  >
●  Argolis (aka the Argolid) is the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula, separated from central Greece by the Gulf of Corinth.  >
●  Ancient Corinth was one of the leading Greek city-states of antiquity.  Modern Corinth has had to be rebuilt multiple times, after disastrous earthquakes and a great fire.  >
●  Corinth Canal effectively separates the Peloponnese from the rest of Greece by connecting the Gulfs of Corinth and Aegina.  > 
●  Mila Jean's brother-in-law Pete Nash was employed by Mobil from 1946 on, first as a commission agent and then a marketing salesman.  >
●  Souvlaki (plural souvlakia) is Greek shish kebab.  >
●  During the Late Bronze Age (c.1200-500 BC), Mycenae dominated mainland Greece and, after the fall of Knossos, the entire Aegean.  >
●  Eric Bransby (born 1916) and his wife MaryAnn (née Mary Antoinette Hemmie: 1921-2011) met and married while they were students of Thomas Hart Benton at the Kansas City Art Institute.  Both went on to renown, Eric as painter and muralist, MaryAnn as silversmith and watercolorist; each also as a teacher.  They came to UMKC in 1965 and became close friends with the Ehrlichs, who had numerous Bransby works on display at 5505 Holmes.  During our western trek in the summer of 1970 we stayed with the Bransbys at their Colorado Springs home/studio, where the mountain air was refreshingly cool (though tinged by a recently-departed skunk).  Eric, still a working artist, reached his centennial in 2016.  >
●  The celebratory ritual of smashing plates was banned in 1969 by dictator George Papadopoulos, "to the great disappointment of Greeks and foreign tourists alike."  Apparently that ban was lifted (or at least openly defied) after he was overthrown in late 1973.  >
●  The Lion Gate, main entrance to the citadel of Mycenae, dates back to the 13th Century BC.  >
●  A tholos or beehive tomb (plural tholoi) is built in masonry with a false dome; in Mycenae they were usually cut into hillside slopes.  >
●  Nauplia (Naplion, Nauplion, Navplion, Nafplio) is a Peloponnese seaport that served as the capital of Greece from 1821 to 1834, and is now the capital of Argolis.  >
●  In Classical times, Epidaurus (Epidauros, Epidavros) had a celebrated healing sanctuary with a large open-air theater famous for its acoustic quality; this has been restored and preserved very much in its original form.  >
●  It's unclear from Mila Jean's handwriting whether this should be "Michelsons," "Michaelsons," or (as on Mar. 16th) "Michalsons."  A Fred Michelson (aka Michaelson) appeared in KCU Playhouse productions during 1957-58, including The Cherry Orchard and Teahouse of the August Moon.  >
●  Pat Lawson taught English at KCK Community College.  Her fiction appeared in such publications as New Letters, Pleiades, and The Chariton Review; she was also a neighborhood group leader.  >
●  A. Papahadjis was the proprietor of Tony's Sandals at 52 Adrianou Street, Monastiraki, Athens.  In 2018 this was the location of a Hard Rock Cafe.  >
●  "Worry beads" (kombolói or kompoloi) are a string of beads manipulated for relaxation or used as an amulet.  Many different materials are used; Mila Jean brought me back a set whose beads were made of miniature dice.  >
●  G. Vlassopoulos and D. Karakonis, "Designers, Makers, and exporters of Greek fashion, Specializing in blouses, shirts and dresses, Greek Souvenirs," had their shop at 31 Adrianou Street, Monastiraki, Athens.  In 2018 this was the Agora Andrianou Grill House.  >
●  An agora was a Greek city-state's central public gathering space; as with the Acropolis, Athens's Agora is the best-known of its kind.  >
●  The Temple of Hephaestus was built in the 5th Century BC, instead of repairing sanctuaries ruined during the Greco-Persian Wars.  >
●  A stoa is a portico or roofed colonnade.  There are several in Athens's Agora—the Stoa Basileios, Stoa Poikile, and Stoas (Stoai, Stoae) of Zeus and Hermes.  >
●  Moussaka is a dish of eggplant or potatoes with minced meat; Greeks serve it hot while Arabs serve it cold.  >
●  The Delphi at 13 Nikis Street on Constitution Square ("Home Cooking and Greek specialties, You will find it at the 'Delphi,' If you are satisfied, send your friends, please") is one of the longest-standing restaurants on the Athens Plaka.  As it is quite small, tourists are advised to order food to go.  >
●  According to mythology, Mount Lycabettus (Lykavitos) was created when the goddess Athena dropped some of the limestone she was transporting for construction of the Acropolis.  It can be ascended (as Mila Jean did in 1974, and she and George would in 1978) via funicular railway.  >
●  "Gymnasium" in the European sense, i.e. a secondary prep school.  >
●  Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz) performed for many years with wife Eydie Gormé.  His trademark song, from the Broadway musical Golden Rainbow, was "I've Gotta Be Me."  >
●  The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, less well-preserved than the one in Epidaurus or the nearby Odeon of Herodes Atticus, was built at the foot of the Acropolis.  >
●  My brother Matthew had an extensive coin collection, which he would eventually sell in adulthood for a tidy sum.  >
●  Among Mila Jean's notes from this trip is "head of Hermes / God of Commerce / (I say it's Harry)."  >
●  José Jiménez was a dimwitted character portrayed by comedian Bill Dana from 1959 to 1970, when he bowed to increasing protests from Mexican-Americans and declared José muerto.  >
●  Hephaestus (Vulcan to the Romans) was the god of fire and smithying, consort of Aphrodite/Venus.  >
●  Oedipus slew his father Laius "at a place where three roads meet."  >
●  When Pindar the Theban lyric poet wrote “In one short span of time winds quickly shift direction, veering back and forth,” he may have anticipated The Mila Spiral.  >
●  Mount Kitheron (Kithairon, Cithaeron) was where Actaeon got turned into a stag, Pentheus got torn to pieces by Bacchantes, and the infant Oedipus was left to die.  >
●  Livadeia, the capital of Boeotia, was one of the first towns to revolt against occupying Turks during the Greek War of Independence in 1821.  >
●  I have been unable to discover anything further about Eve Parker or her starving poet Skilionossos, by that spelling or near-variants.  >
●  The mountain town of Arachova is famous for its wine, cheese, textiles, and panoramic view.  >
●  Much of Mila Jean's first-impressions pocket spiral was filled with hasty notes on "Delphi—navel of the world ... cradle of Gk civilization & whole antique world," plus crypticisms such as "sun sets too late with 6 big blondes."  >
●  Pilgrims coming to consult the Pythia (Delphic Oracle) would quench their thirst at the Castalian Spring.  >
●  The bronze Charioteer of Delphi dates from the 470s BC and was discovered at the sanctuary of Apollo in 1896.  >
●  The Sacred Way was the road from Athens to Eleusis, taken by processions to celebrate the Eleusinian Mysteries.  >
●  Hosios Loukas, a walled monastery on the slopes of Mount Helicon, was founded in the 10th Century AD.  >
●  Roy Culver was an instructor at the Kansas City Art Institute; he and his sculptor wife Vika (née Kotzamanis), who hailed from Thessaly, settled in Athens in 1973.  >
●  The Hotel Stanley's Mar. 15th dinner menu (in Greek, English, and French) was Florentine style pie, Greek-style stuffed lamb braise, salad and ice cream—for 80 drachmas, "service included."  >
●  Mila was named not for a Greek apple (at least not directly) but her paternal grandmother; click here for speculation on the name's origins in 1859 Ohio.  >
●  "I circulate" serves very nicely as a summation of Mila Jean's lifestyle.  In Greek this would be Εγώ κυκλοφορώ (Egó kykloforó).  >
●  Mila Jean's customs declaration list: long robe, necklace, five sets of worry beads, sweater, pottery vase, woven bag, leather hat, seals and pendant, copper sieve, blouse, belt, bag, mohair rug, and quart of Irish whiskey.  >
●  "George" in this case being George Ehrlich, not Ion's-friend-at-the-Athens-Plaka.  >
●  Mila Jean returned just in time for the six-week strike by beleaguered Kansas City School District teachers.  This lasted from Mar. 18th till Apr. 29th, but did not prevent Mila's accompanying George to New Orleans for the Apr. 3-7 convention of the Society of Architectural Historians—with Grandmother Smith imported to keep The Boys in line at 5505.  >

1978: Forward into the Past

●  The Society of Architectural Historians was founded in 1940 and established its Journal a year later.  The SAH's mission is to promote "the study, interpretation, and conservation of architecture, design, landscapes, and urbanism worldwide," plus "meaningful public engagement with the history of the built environment through advocacy efforts, print and online publications, and local, national, and international programs."  >
●  During George's presidency of the Missouri Valley Chapter, "the architectural blueprints which form part of the MVC-SAH Architectural Collection of Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City, were initially acquired.  Dr. Ehrlich was instrumental in their preservation and cataloguing" (as per the Biographical Sketch for the George Ehrlich Papers at the State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center).  My own first paying job in the summer of 1973 was to help box up these blueprints, which gave me experience with corrugated cardboard and gummed sealing tape that proved useful when I was hired by the UMKC Bookstore two years later.  >
●  George would calculate the "Final Summary, Greek Trip (27 days)" of expenses to be $2,140.42.  By way of contrast, my total four years (1974-78) of tuition at UMKC was $2,590.00.  >
●  George and Mila Jean tied the knot twice: first on May 26, 1956 with her family in KCMO, then again on June 16th with his in Urbana IL.  >
●  Stephen James Gosnell (1941-2012) was a longtime friend of the Ehrlichs, their neighbor on both sides of Holmes Street, and a colleague of George's in the UMKC Art Department, to which his monumental back-patio portrait of George and Mila Jean would be donated in 2016.  The Ehrlichs were also very close to Steve's wives, Nelda Gay Younger Gosnell (1938-1982) and Mary Lou Pagano (born 1951, married 1985).  Steve's obituary called him "a true Renaissance man.  He was known for his intellect, sense of humor, curiosity, storytelling and singing the blues...  In retirement, he enjoyed camping, fishing, gardening, biking, birdwatching, creating paintings and building guitars."  >
●  The Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse) was a guerrilla movement that kidnapped Italy's ex-Prime Minister Aldo Moro, and killed him on May 9, 1978.  >
●  Syntagma ("Constitution") Square, in front of the Old Royal Palace, is the commercial-and-political epicenter of Athens.  >
●  The Hotel Grande Bretagne opened in 1874, served as Greek GHQ during World War II, then as Nazi GHQ during the Axis occupation, then as Greek GHQ again during the 1946-49 Civil War.  Renovated in 2003, it is now ranked as a five-star luxury establishment.  >
●  The Temple of the Olympian Zeus in Athens is also called the Columns of the Olympian Zeus, since those are all that remain of what was intended to be the greatest temple in the ancient world: sixteen columns, one of them lying flat.  >
●  The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates was provided by a wealthy patron of the arts in the 4th Century BC, to commemorate a prizewinning musical performance he'd sponsored in the Theater of Dionysus.  It represents the first use of Corinthian order (as opposed to Doric and Ionic) on a building exterior.  >
●  Courvoisier claims to be "the Brandy of Napoleon," who supposedly took a few barrels of cognac with him into exile on St. Helena.  >
●  Paul M. (Pavlos) Mylonas (1915-2005), Chairman of the 1978 SAH Architectural Tour to Greece and Turkey, maintained a practice as a professional  architect while serving as Professor of the History of Architecture at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Athens from 1956 to 1982.  He designed the National Gallery, the Goethe Institute, and two wings of the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies, as well as directing restoration of several Mount Athos monasteries.  (See below for Mila Jean's description.)  >
●  Daphni is an 11th Century Byzantine monastery northwest of Athens, on the Sacred Way to Eleusis.  >
●  An exonarthex is a covered walk, vestibule, or "narthex situated before a narthex"—i.e. an enclosed passage (in this case outer) between a church's main entrance and nave, which in turn extends from the entrance to the chancel around the altar.  >
●  A pantocrator ("almighty" or "all-powerful") is a specific depiction of Jesus as ruler of the universe, especially as found in Byzantine church décor.  >
●  A precinct, in this sense, is an enclosed or clearly defined area around a church.  >
●  After earning his doctorate from the University of Athens, George Mylonas (1898-1988) taught at Washington University in St. Louis MO from 1933 to 1968, and was the first chairman of its Department of Art History and Archaeology.  He directed excavations at Mycenae for many years, and served as Secretary General of the Archaeological Society of Athens after retiring from teaching.  (If there was a family connection between George and Paul Mylonas, it has gone uncited.)  >
●  The secret annual initiations for the cult of Demeter and Persephone, representing the latter's abduction by/to Hades, took place at Eleusis and were known as the Eleusinian Mysteries.  >
●  The Polyphemus Vase or Eleusis Amphora, dating from the 7th Century BC, is a child's funerary vessel painted with the earliest identifiable images from Greek mythology.  >
●  Salamis, a short distance from Piraeus, is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf.  >
●  Aigio (Aegio, Aegion, Aeghion, Egio, etc.) is a port town on the Gulf of Corinth.  >
●  The Platanus orientalis or plane tree, a favorite shade tree of the Greeks and Romans, has similarities to the American sycamore and buttonwood.  >
●  Traveling geographer Pausanias wrote the ten-volume Hellados Periegesis or Description of Greece in the 2nd Century AD.  >
●  Patras is the regional capital of Western Greece and the nation's third-largest city.  >
●  Gastouni is a rural town about five kilometers from the Ionian Sea, and fifty or so northwest of Olympia.  >
●  St. Austell's beers and ales are brewed in Cornwall.  >
●  Olympia's Hotel SPAP owed its acronym to the Sidirodrómon [Railways of] Piraeus-Athens-Peloponnese, which constructed it.  The SPAP operated from 1908 to 1984, and was renovated in 2004.  >
●  Rosann S. Berry (1919-1980) was the SAH's first Executive Secretary, a position she occupied for over a quarter-century.  "She never wrote a learned article, but throughout much of the English-speaking world her name was more closely associated with architectural history than were those of many who did," commented her SAH obituary; and a fellowship was created in her memory.  Mila Jean (who usually added an E or two and often a space to Rosann's first name) described her as "big Momma—heavy, sweating, wears tenty-type clothes; super-efficient, tight permed black (dyed) hair, round face, smokes in holder, married, four kids."  >
●  Dixie Sayre Miller (1923-2009), onetime president of the Ohio Historical Society, was a leading figure with the Columbus Museum of Art and Columbus Landmarks Foundation.  Mila Jean described her as "wearing six or seven dresses made exactly same way with 'cute' designs—elephants, doggies.  Very nice—quick & clever & sharp.  Went back to school & now is getting M.A. late in life.  Her late husband must have been loaded with money.  She has handsome jewelry, owns a castle in Scotland!"  >
●  Mila Jean lyrically described "Paul Mylonas—in torn pants, light-colored sports shirts, espadrilles & straw hat, he could pass as a 'cracker,' but the stance, the bearing belies this.  This is an aristocrat, the leader, the educated man.  Victor Jory appearance, long aquiline nose, bushy graying eyebrows, lean face, graying hair (full), an aristocrat who gives orders gracefully, kisses hand of abbot; the teacher who answers questions comprehensively; the actor who waits & paces gracefully to read Greek in center of Epidaurus Theatre—enigmatic, with a profile like George's father.  Still yet to 'read,' apparently wealthy, designed some of 'biggest' stuff in Athens, etc.; the peacock (well, I'm used to that, right?), arrogant & probably basically cold & used to getting his own ways & explodes when definitely thwarted (which doesn't happen very often)."  >
●  Retsina derives some of its flavor from exposure to pine resin, originally used to keep air from spoiling the wine in its barrels.  >
●  The Richardses, Samuel D. (1905-2000) and Frances V. F. (1915-2006), hailed from South Bend IN and "traveled extensively throughout Europe," according to Frances's obituary.  Mila Jean's description: "He is C. Aubrey Smith—big, huge tummy, florid face—wears either a safari-type jacket or a red plaid jacket for dress (apparently wealthy), very nice, good-natured, kind, good pleasant wife.  He photographs everything (must have taken 100 rolls of film in nine or ten days).  Bought wife a gold & emerald necklace in Turkey, is given to homilies or clichés... 'You'd think people would keep their hands to themselves' (noting ancient graffiti in [Hosias Loukas]), 'I hate being exposed to those boys' (Istanbul).  They (as all of us are) are straight out of Central Casting."  >
●  George was indeed a champion snorer.  After my brother and I moved out of the family manse, Mila Jean took over our bedroom as her own; though I imagine the intervening wall didn't wholly muffle George's nightly serenade.  >
●  Wallace K. "Wally" Huntington (1926-2015) of Portland OR was a distinguished landscape architect; in the 1970s he presided over the SAH's Northern Pacific Coast Chapter, and served on Oregon's first State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation.  Mila Jean's description: "Florid, full face, glasses, curly graying off the head hairdo, laughs a lot rather nervously."  >
●  "Traveling with (but not rooming with)" Wally Huntington was Mirza Dickel (1922-2012), also of Portland: "interior decorator and restorer... gray haired, toothy, semi-attractive, classy dresser (lots of stylish clothes), seems alright but is considered to be a snob by some on trip (she's not)."  Her obituary called her "the grand dame of design in Portland"; she and Wally Huntington won the 1979 American Institute of Architects preservation award for restoring a 19th Century house (in which, after marrying, they would live for the next thirty years).  >
●  Pedimental figures are decorative statuary in the triangular gable (pediment) atop the horizontal superstructure (entablature) above columns resting on capitals in classical architecture.  >
●  A metope is a square space between grooved tablets (triglyphs) in a Doric frieze.  >
●  The statue of the goddess Nike or Victory was sculpted in the 5th Century BC by Paionios of Mende in Thrace.  It was discovered in the 19th Century AD and reassembled from many fragments.  >
●  Phidias (Pheidias) was a 5th Century BC sculptor and architect, and the leading instigator of Classical Greek sculptural design; his status of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  >
●  An oenochoe is an ancient Greek wine jug.  >
●  A cella or naos is the inner chamber of a classical temple.  >
●  The Cyclades are a group of Aegean islands, southeast of mainland Greece.  They flourished from c.3300 BC to c.1100 BC, contemporary with Minoan and Mycenaean civilization.  >
●  Pyrgos is in the western part of the Peloponnese, four kilometers from the Ionian Sea.  >
●  Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese, and chief port on the Messenian Gulf.  >
●  Kalo Nero (Kalonero) is a village on the Gulf of Kyparissia, a bay of the Ionian Sea.  >
●  The Filoxenia ("Hospitality") was still in business in 2018, modestly billing itself as "a luxury hotel in Kalamata, the pride of [the] region, in southern Peloponnese."  >
●  Pylos, the main harbor on the Bay of Navarino, was a kingdom in Mycenaean Greece.  >
●  The Palace or "lofty house" of King Nestor ("shepherd of the people") was visited by Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey.  >
●  The Archaeological Museum of Chora, focusing on Mycenaean civilization, was founded in 1969.  >
●  Charles Bridgham Hosmer Jr. (1932-1993) was the historian of the preservation movement in the United States, author of the now-standard texts Presence of the Past and Preservation Comes of Age.  He was professor of history at Principia College in Elsah IL from 1961 to 1992, and presided over the Historic Elsah Foundation from 1971 to 1993.  Mila Jean described him as "'The Boy Scout,' he is so eager & enthusiastic he's driving people mad.  He's five feet ahead of everyone, bounding up steps, placing tripods on walls, talking about his 'emotional' experiences.  Wife [Jeralyn/Jerry] fading pretty, 'second fiddle' (three kids!), quiet, good-natured, short hair—wears dresses all the time, hose & sensible shoes.  They are Christian Scientists & teach in C.S. school where all faculty are likewise.  They drink no spirits or coffee or tea.  We think they are very pleasant."  >
●  The Mani is a "mini" peninsula extending south from the major Peloponnese peninsula, with the Messenian Gulf to its west and the Laconian Gulf to its east.  >
●  Gytheion (Gytheio, ancient Gythium), largest town in the Mani, was Sparta's seaport till destroyed in the 4th Century AD.  >
●  The town of Areopoli ("city of Ares") is near the Mani's west coast, and is not to be confused with ancient Areopolis, now the Jordanian town of Rabba.  >
●  Gerolimenas ("Old Harbor") is a village at the southern end of the Mani.  >
●  Vlychada ("nature's underground cathedral") is one of the Diros Caves, first explored in 1949 and tourable by boat.  >
●  The fishing village of Limeni is Areopoli's port.  >
●  The Church of St. George (Ag. Giorgios) of Kitta is a village chapel dating from 1321.  > 
●  The Taygetus (Taygetos, Taugetus) is a Peloponnese mountain range in southern Greece.  >
●  A plateia is a Greek town square.  >
●  As an ardent preservationist, George was not speaking lightly when he spoke of historic architecture being "violated."  >
●  Kampos is another village in the Mani.  >
●  The Maniotes (Maniots, Maniates: "people of the Mani") are considered descendants of the ancient Dorians and thus related to the ancient Spartans.  >
●  Sir Patrick Leigh "Paddy" Fermor, "a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene," was not only Britain's leading travel writer but took significant part in the Cretan resistance during World War II.  >
●  The Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas or KKE is the Communist Party of Greece.  After losing the Greek Civil War in 1948-49, it was banned until 1974.  >
●  Marion Husid-Bensky taught art history at Kean College (now Kean University) in New Jersey.  Mila Jean described her as "divorced, small, thin, wears jeans or jean skirts but obviously has money because clothes are designer type... lots of well-fitting gauze outfits—lots of white that sets off her deep tan.  Good dancer.  Very opinionated & intense—sounds off.  'I could get things cheaper in New York.'"  >
●  Laconia is the southeastern (Spartan) region of the Peloponnese.  The word "laconic" was derived from Spartan speech habits.  >
●  Mavrodaphne (Mavdrodaphni, Mavrodafni) is a sweet fortified wine produced from black grapes of the same name.  >
●  Thomas M. (Tom) Ridington (born 1928) taught art at La Salle College (now La Salle University) in Philadelphia.  Mila Jean's description: "Very nice, charming, aims to please, tall, black hair, mustache.  We've hit it off—[he's] Charles Nelson Reilly without frenetic quality (Billy de Wolfe in a few years)."  >
●  Geraldine E. (Gerry) Fowle (1929-2011) was a key member of the UMKC Art & Art History Department for over forty-five years, and a close friend of the Ehrlichs.  As with George, a scholarship was created in her name to provide support to students seeking an art history degree.  >
●  The "Colonels" were the military junta that ruled over Greece from 1967 to 1974, led for most of those Seven Years by Georgios Papadopoulus.  >
●  Patishio (pastitsio) is Greek lasagna.  >
●  Mistra (Mistras, Mystras) is a fortified town near ancient Sparta (for which Westerners mistook it during the Ottoman occupation).  >
●  Doric columns are short and stout, with a simple flared capital; Ionic columns are tall and thin, with volutes or "scrolls" on top.  Evidently the capital George sketched was Doric on one side and Ionic on the other.  >
●  Monemvasia (Malvasia in Italian, from which "Malmsey" wine was derived) is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, linked to mainland Laconia by a short causeway.  >
●  Regrettably, I have been unable to find anything further concerning the remarkable-eyed Mrs. Kaloghera—partly because of the uncertainty of her surname spelling.  >
●  Monemvasia's Church of Agia Sofia (Hagia Sophia, i.e. Holy Wisdom) is one of the oldest Byzantine churches in Greece, originally established in the 12th Century.  >
●  Tiropita is Greek cheese pie.  >
●  Besides Frances Richards, there was another Frances on the tour: Frances R. Halpin (1904-2006), married to James H. Halpin (1903-1992), onetime leader of the New York Bar Association and a director of the SAH.  Mila Jean's description of this couple: "He talks like laconic Maine man, one squinty eye—very funny in dry way.  Apparently loaded (lawyer).  Wife is everyone's friend—sweet, helpful, good-natured, makes best of everything.  Dyed black hair.  Claimed she got ptomaine poisoning on boat."  >
●  Tripoli (formerly Tripolis) is the capital of both Arcadia and the Peloponnese, and not to be confused with the same-name capital of Libya or second-largest city in Lebanon.  >
●  Argos, the largest town in Argolis, was a major Mycenaean stronghold and rivaled Sparta for domination of the Peloponnese.  >
●  The hill fortress at Tiryns was first occupied prior to the Bronze Age; associated with Heracles, it would be called "mighty walled Tiryns" by Homer.  >
●  Charles Kaufman Williams II was Director of Corinth Excavations for the American School of Classical Studies in Athens from 1966 to at least 1993, when he awarded the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archeological Achievement.  >
●  The American School of Classical Studies in Athens (ASCSA) was founded in 1892 as an on-site resource for Americans studying Greek history and culture, particularly archaeological research.  Their excavations of Corinth, begun in 1896, continue today.  >
●  Cyclopean masonry was made with massive irregular blocks.  >
●  A megaron is the great hall of an ancient Greek palace.  >
●  Clytemnestra, legendary Queen of Mycenae (or Argos), was the wife (and murderer, by most accounts) of Agamemnon.  >
●  Atreus, legendary King of Mycenae, was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus (husband of Helen of Troy).  >
●  The Greek Archaic Period lasted from c.800 BC to the Persian invasion in 480 BC.  >
●  The theory of the Dorian invasion holds that Classical Greece's Hellenes mass-migrated to the Peloponnesus, displacing southern Greek traditions and dialects.  >
●  Adolf K. Placzek (1913-2000) was Director of Columbia University's Avery Architectural Library and, in 1978, President of the Society of Architectural Historians.  Mila Jean described him and his wife Beverley R. Placzek (1913-2014) as follows: "He's [like actor] Jack Gilford.  She has a nodding tic, dyed short blonde hair, pleasant face, indefinable accent (British)—she's Canadian (turned ankle in Istanbul).  [They] act like a loving couple—he rests his head in her lap on bus to sleep—she calls him 'Dolphe.'  He is Viennese... very knowledgeable, eager, intense (ulcer-type)—very, very pleasant.  She used to sing professionally (opera)."  >
●  Harold N. (Hal) Cooledge Jr. (1922-2011) was a Professor of Art and Architectural History at Clemson.  Mila Jean's description: "Occasionally shrieks, witty but nasty at times, southern accent, tall, white hair in crew cut, comes (so he says) from moneyed family, mother was on original Board of Directors of Met Opera.  Wears glasses, has skin cancer so always carries multi-colored umbrella with a spike base so he can sit on handle as a seat, also has prostate problems so must get off bus frequently; also has headaches & knee problems ([but] dances well)."  >
●  Elizabeth (Betty) Vandever (later Titus: 1918-2015) was a KCMO lawyer, history professor, and violinist with the Kansas City Philharmonic.  >
●  Lottie Ohringer Lichtor (1921-1996) survived the Holocaust to marry an orthopedic surgeon, raise four children in Johnson County KS, and sponsor the Penn Valley Community College German Club in 1969-70.  >
●  In 1978, John William (Jack) Parker III (1922-1981) was Assistant Director of Museum Education at the Chicago Art Institute.  Mila Jean compared him to Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill: "Tall, fleshy, walks in rolling gait, glasses, gray hair ... swims & then wears white shorts.  Is really adorable—eats four kinds of cereal mixed up together for breakfast, dances at disco on ship."  >
●  Catherine A. Baldwin (Katie) Woodbridge (1905-1984) of New York was headmistress of the Nightingale-Bamford School from 1958 to 1971, and the widow of Fredrick J. Woodbridge (1900-1974), consulting architect to Columbia University.  Mila Jean called her a "very old, thin lady who turned ankle but has gone on anyway—a real trouper, head of school for exceptional(?) [sic] children in New York.  She wears strange & unusual clothes—very interesting & strangely attractive taste.  Good spirit, smart, good sense of humor."  >
●  Edith Skidmore (1901-1982) graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1925, did graduate work at Columbia, attended the Parsons School of Design in New York, and taught school in her native Harlan KY.  Mila Jean referred to her as "'Miss Edith' Skidmore—another Character out of Central Casting.  Little vague, wears white gloves, fractured (broke) ankle (turned while almost falling into reflecting pool in schlock hotel).  Spent thirty years taking care of her mother.  Had to be 'sent home' [from the tour]"  >
●  Naomi Miller was a Professor of Art History at Boston University.  "Tiny, quick, talks constantly—loud laugh & voice," remarked Mila Jean.  "Does things like swim (inadvertently) in contaminated pool with Tom.  Uses Greek-American phrase book to great comic effect.  Entertaining to be with, always good for a laugh."  >
●  A corbel is a projection from a wall, used to support an arch or balcony.  >
●  Tailings (aka dumps or slimes) are the residue left over when a valuable component has been extracted from ore.  >
●  A Greek Asclepion or Roman Aesculapium was a temple with medical facilities, dedicated to Asclepius/Aesculapius the Graeco-Roman god of healing.  >
●  Dr. A. Benedict Schneider Jr. (1913-2004), who taught at Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, had "a longstanding relationship" with the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Mila Jean described his "nice head, dark eyes, slicked back gray hair.  'Strange,' bent over, always wears gray suit, 'proper' but seedy...  Asks very knowledgeable questions in precise uptight voice.  Apparently NO humor."  Dr. Schneider's traveling companion was Mary Louise Johnson Knerly (1925-1993) of Willoughby OH, who in 1981-82 would preside over the SAH's Western Reserve Chapter.  Mila called her a "small fading blonde ([like] Rue McClanahan), dresses weirdly, always wears or carries a dark blue puffed raincoat & semi-high red shoes (definitely not [for] walking)....  Dr. Schneider was on the SAH tour last year with another woman but it's all strictly platonic.  He's an old uptight bachelor, apparently never been kissed."  >
●  Dr. Fenella Grieg ("Pfinella" to Mila Jean) was an English-born pediatric endocrinologist, traveling with her husband Morrison H. (Morrie) Heckscher.  He would go from being assistant curator of the Metropolitan Museum's American Wing to its chairman, winning the Antique Dealers Association Award of Merit in 2011.  >
●  A ritual for visitors to the Epidaurus theatre (famous for its acoustics) is to stand in a back row and listen for the sound of a coin being dropped on the stage.  >
●  In 1978 Prof. Eileen Manning Michels established the Art History Department at the University of St. Thomas in St Paul MN, chairing it for the next ten years.  Like Mila Jean, she'd been a Fulbright scholar (Paris, 1956-57).  "'Earth mother' (Gary calls her): smart, rather tough ... clever, quick, humorous—tall & heavy—probably underneath is marzipan-soft; we hit it off.  Husband an architect."  >
●  Thessaloniki (Thessalonica, Salonica) is the second-largest city in Greece and capital of Macedonia.  >
●  The "judgment seat" to which the Apostle Paul was brought in Acts 18:12 was Corinth's bema: a raised platform where officials heard legal cases.  >
●  The Horologion (Timepiece) of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is a marble tower "of winds" with a weathervane, sundials, and a water clock driven by the flow coming down from the Acropolis.  >
●  Dolmates are grape leaves stuffed with beef or pork.  >
●  Monastiraki is the Athens Flea Market.  >
●  In 2014 Stavros Melissinos, "the Poet Sandal Maker of Athens," would still be in the footwear business at age 85; his volumes of poetry can be found in libraries from Oxford to Harvard.  >
●  No mention is made of a later return to Tony's Sandals.  >
●  A barrel vault is basically a series of consecutive arches.  The intersection of more than one barrel vault is a rib/ribbed vault; when the intersection is at right angles, it is called a groin/groined vault.  >
●  Cloisonné has been used since ancient times to decorate metalwork with glass and gemstones set in gold or silver strips or wires.  >
●  The apse is the liturgical east end (where the altar is traditionally located) of a Byzantine or similar church.  >
●  During World War II, silver-plated fragments of a life-size bull from the 6th Century BC—the largest surviving precious-metal statue from antiquity—were stored along with the Charioteer of Delphi in the Bank of Greece's vault.  >
●  The Omphalos ("navel of the earth") represents ancient Greece's belief that Delphi was the center of the world.  >
●  Two identical Kouros (Youth) statues, among the earliest examples of monumental Archaic sculpture, are called Cleobis and Biton after the pious brothers who yoked themselves to their priestess mother's cart, drove it six miles to a festival, and were rewarded by being permitted to die in their sleep.  "Because they had been such excellent men," the people of Argos made these votive statues and set them up in Delphi.  (In his field notebook, George remarked that he "turned left at the Omphalos and saw Cleobis & Biton staring at me over a group of people....  Cleobis & Biton are big!!")  >
●  The Delphi Archaeological Museum has sculptures from the Treasury of the rich city-state of Siphnos, along with a reconstruction of the Treasury building.  >
●  The Sphinx of Naxos, offered by that wealthy island to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (earning Naxians first rights to hear the Oracle there) is an early example of in-the-round carving.  >
●  A caryatid is a stone carving of a draped female, supporting the entablature (horizontal lintel) of a classical building.  >
●  Emperor Hadrian ordered that statues of his late beloved Antinous be set up c.130 AD in sanctuaries throughout the Roman Empire.  The one at Delphi was discovered in 1894.  >
●  The Charioteer of Delphi's naturalistic feet were said to be "greatly admired in ancient times."  >
●  The Athenian Treasury at Delphi housed votive offerings by Athens to the sanctuary of Apollo, and was built along the Sacred Way just below the Temple.  >
●  Itea, on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, is five miles (eight kilometers) southwest of Delphi.  >
●  Levadia's Friendly Stop was mentioned by Ralph Blumenthal in the Aug. 28, 1977 New York Times: "Other tour buses apparently found the same cafeteria and souvenir shop friendly, for there were another eight of them parked here.  Lines of tourists snaked past the food counters and out of the rest rooms."  >
●  Bernard "Bunny" Behrens's story can be found in Part Three of Mila Jean's Fulbright Year Abroad, and their earliest correspondence in Part Five.  On Jul. 9, 1978 Bunny and his wife Debbie wrote the Ehrlichs that "Your trip to Greece sounds fantastic, and particularly loved your donkey ride & Mrs. Hagan.  You mention you returned home exhausted & dehydrated—& we took the latter to mean that you suffered from whatever the Grecian equivalent to Montezuma's Revenge may be.  If so (I sympathize—I got it in Lebanon & Mexico) hope you are recovered by now."  >
●  Muriel Hagan (Rosencrans) of Woodland Hills CA was a prominent member of the American Institute of Interior Designers's Southern California chapter.  Mila Jean called her "a Tennessee Williams character (lost two or three husbands) nearing 60 ... dyed blonde hair, vague expression, is always losing things, leaving things behind, trailing scarves behind her, not understanding orders, 'spacey' (now has dysentery)."  >
●  After Delphi's ancient theatre was exacavated and partly restored, the Delphic Festivals held performances there in 1927 and 1930.  Recently further restoration has taken place due to the serious threat of landslides.  >
●  Greek schnitzel is prepared with feta cheese and olives.  >
●  Kalambaka (Kalabaka, Kalempaka) is a town in Thessaly, built on the site of the ancient city of Aiginion (sacked by the Romans after the Third Macedonian War).  >
●  The Meteora is a series of enormous pillarlike rocks, atop which two dozen Eastern Orthodox monasteries were built.  >
●  Skala is a town just north of the Laconian Gulf, which is bounded on the west by the Mani and on the east by Cape Maleas.  >
●  The mountain-pass Battle of Thermopylae, fought by outnumbered Greeks against invading Persians in 480 BC, came to symbolize heroic defeat.  >
●  Evoikos Beach in Livanátai is thirty kilometers from Arachova.  >
●  The aforementioned Artemision Bronze or God from the Sea (Zeus or Poseidon) was recovered from a sunken ship off Cape Artemision (Artemisium).  >
●  In Greek mythology, the gods of Olympus battled with Giants on the plain of Thessaly (which is more than can be said for western Kansas).  >
●  The Monastery of Great Meteoron was built in the the 14th Century.  By 2015, only three monks remained in residence there.  >
●  "Capstans are to old wooden ships what windlasses are to modern ships" (as per Brighthubengineering.com).  >
●  Still open in 2018, the Divani in Kalambaka bills itself as an "upscale hotel ... set in front of the Meteora sandstone monasteries."  >
●  Larissa is the capital of Thessaly and the fifth largest city in Greece.  >
●  The Vale of Tempe (Tempi), said to be a favorite haunt of Apollo and the Muses, is a gorge between Mounts Olympus and Ossa.  >
●  Katerini is a Macedonian city between Mount Olympus and the Gulf of Salonika.  >
●  Pella, capital of ancient Macedonia in the days of Alexander the Great, is now home to an archaeological site and museum.  >
●  The Olympian gods buried the Giants under volcanoes after vanquishing them in the Gigantomachia (Gigantomachy).  >
●  Gary L. Menges (born 1937, "youngish, reddish beard & hair, rather funny, always wears T-shirts & jeans") was Assistant Director for Public Services of the University of Texas at Austin's General Libraries.  He later spent over thirty years with the University of Washington Libraries, retiring as their Preservation Administrator, and would correspond with Mila Jean until her death.  >
●  Thessaloniki's Makedonia Palace, built in 1972, was and remains a five-star luxury hotel overlooking the Gulf of Salonika.  >
●  As George noted, the Rotunda of Galerius was initially intended to be the mausoleum of that Roman Emperor (305-311 AD), who wound up instead in what is now Serbia.  His Rotunda gained a minaret in 1590 when the Ottomans converted it from a church to a mosque, which it remained until 1912.  On June 20, 1978 (thirteen days after George's journal entry) the Rotunda would be damaged by the Thessaloniki earthquake.  >
●  Emperor Galerius had the Arch and Rotunda built as adjuncts to his palace in Thessaloniki.  > 
●  Vergina occupies the site of Aigai, capital of ancient Macedon and burial site of its kings.  >
●  During the Argead or Philip-and-Alexander Dynasty, Veria (Veroia, Berea) was second only to Pellas among Macedonian cities.  >
●  Manolis Andronikos (1919-1992), Professor at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, was excavating the Great Tumulus at Aigai when he discovered four intact royal tombs (two of them unplundered) on Nov. 8, 1977.  >
●  Philip II ("Phil" to Mila Jean) was King of Macedon from 359 to 336 BC.  After his assassination, Philip's plans for a concerted Greek invasion of Persia were carried out by his son and heir Alexander the Great.  Prof. Andronikos contended that Philip was interred in Tomb II at the Great Tumulus; others believe Philip occupied Tomb I, while Tomb II was the resting place of his son Philip III Arrhidaeus (figurehead successor to half-brother Alexander).  >
●  Dr. Sidney Pakula (1905-1991) was pediatrician to the Ehrlichs and many other KCMO families.  >
●  In a suit of armor, greaves are the shin guards.  >
●  Philip II sustained a crippling leg injury in 339 BC.  A massive hole in the left knee of Tomb I's adult male skeleton is evidence that these were Philip's remains.  >
●  Philip had previously lost his right eye to an arrow in 354 BC.  >
●  Cape Sounion is the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula, extending into the Aegean Sea.  > 
●  Only ruins remain of Cape Sounion's 5th Century BC Temple of Poseidon, which may have been designed by the same architect as the Temple of Hephaestus at the Athens Acropolis.  >
●  An anta (plural antae) is one of the pillars on either side of the entrance to a Greek temple.  >
●  In his poem "Isles of Greece," Byron wrote Place me on Sunium's [i.e. Sounion's] marbled steep, / Where nothing, save the waves and I, / May hear our mutual murmurs sweep.  (The unRomantic say there is no direct proof that Byron himself carved his name on the Temple of Poseidon.)  >
●  The Nine Muses were said to dwell on Mouseion Hill, known today as Philopappos Hill after the monument built there for a benevolent friend of Plutarch and Emperor Trajan.  It offers spectacular views of the Acropolis, Attica, and the Saronic Gulf.  >
●  A propylaea (propylea, propylaia) is a monumental gateway; THE Propylaea is the one providing entrance to THE Acropolis in Athens.  >
●  The Parthenon, built in the 5th Century BC as a temple to Athena, is THE classic (as it were) symbol of ancient Greece.  >
●  The Erechtheum (Erechtheion), another 5th Century BC temple, was named after either the legendary king Erechtheus or the legendary hero Erichthonius.  >
●  Though the Temple to Nike hails from the 5th Century BC, it is of the Ionic order whereas the Parthenon is of the Doric.  >
●  A pinacotheca is an ancient picture gallery, particularly the one in the the left wing of the Propylaea at the Acropolis.  >
●  A stylobate is the top step of the crepidoma (multilevel platform) which serves as the floor of a temple, upon which colonnades are placed.  >
●  The Peplos Kore is a 6th Century BC statue of a robed girl, discovered near the Erechtheum in 1886.  >
●  The Blond Kouros's Head, remnant of a statue and with only traces left of the hair's original yellow paint, was found with other fragments in 1923.  >
●  The torso of the Kritios Boy was excavated in 1865 and its head turned up in 1888; only the hands, feet, forearms, and one shin are missing.  >
●  The Nike Temple's exterior was decorated with reliefs depicting the goddess of victory in different poses, most famously Nike Adjusting Her Sandal.  >
●  The Stoa of Attalus (Attalos) was built by that 2nd Century BC King of Pergamon as a gift to Athens for the education he received there.  >
●  Dr. Homer Thompson (1906-2000) was perhaps the foremost classical archaeologist of his generation; he spent four decades excavating the Agora of Athens.  >
●  A peristyle is a colonnade surrounding an open space (e.g. a courtyard) inside a building; or the surrounded open space itself.  >
●  The Mylonas address in Athens was 6 Psylla Street.  >
●  Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, historian of art and architecture, wrote a 46-volume series about The Buildings of England that was published from 1951 to 1974.  (A History of Building Types was a single book, published in 1976.)   >
●  This was not the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, awarded each year since 1966 by the Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, which in 1978 went to Philip Johnson of New York.  >
●  Mila Jean wrote "Thotháse," with "Theodentes" in the margin.  George (Georgios Spyr) Dontas, "Director of the Acropolis [and] General Ephor of Architecture," wrote The Acropolis and its Museum in 1979.  (An ephor is an overseer, and was the title of council members in ancient Sparta.)  >
●  Besides being Mrs. Mylonas, Rallou Manou (1915-1988) was one of postwar Greece's leading modern dancers, dance teachers, and choreographers.  >
●  In the 1950s Lyle F. Perusse (1916-2001) was head of the Pasadena Public Library's fine arts department, and wrote "The Gothic Revival in California, 1850-1890" for the Oct. 1955 Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.  The Mila Spiral got extra Spirally in describing him: "Librarian (ha ha)—lives up to his name—Truman Capote—round, quiet & hideously affected way of speaking—very nice—has lots of expensive clothes & camera—swims 35 laps at home!"  >
●  George and/or Mila Jean must have included the American Express address in one of their earlier postcards, since I'd written an airmail letter to them (allotting Matthew one flap out of four for his contribution) on Sunday June 4th, and posted it on June 7th—two days before the Folks wrote their letter above.  >
●  "Regal Treasures from a Macedonian Tomb" by Manolis Andronikos appeared on pages 54-77 of the July 1978 National Geographic.  >
●  The black-eyed Victor Jory was often cast in villainous roles, including Jonas Wilkerson in Gone With the Wind.  >
●  The designation TTS indicates turbine twin screw propulsion.  Both the itinerary's TTS Atlas and the cruise ship actually taken, the MTS (motor twin screw) Jason, were part of the Epirotiki Lines fleet (slogan: "We've earned our place in Greek History"), along with the MTS Jupiter, MTS Orpheus, MTS Oceanus, MTS World Renaissance, TMV (turbine motor vessel) Hermes, and M/V (motor vessel) Neptune.  >
●  This alternative spelling (and variants such as Kaleghos, Kalogeras, Kalogera, and Mila Jean's Kalogagra) still didn't track down the SAH's Blue-Eyed hostess at Monemvasia.  >
●  The Gold Diadem was taken from Grave Circle A, a 16th Century BC royal cemetery south of Mycenae's Lion Gate.  >
●  A pair of decorated golden cups were among the Bronze Age treasures found in Vaphio, an ancient site south of Sparta.  >
●  The Daedalic sculptural style of the early Archaic Age, influenced by Near Eastern "Orientalization" at the end of the Bronze Age, featured wiglike hair, large almond-shaped eyes, and the "Archaic smile."  >
●  A Kore (such as the Peplos Kore) is a freestanding statue of a draped young woman, counterpart of the male Kouros.  >
●  The Ephebe of Marathon is a 4th Century BC bronze sculpture, evidently of an adolescent (ephebos) athletic competitor.  >
●  The National Archaeological Museum's "Antiquities of Thera" (an ancient city on the island of Santorini) are exhibited in the "Thera Room."  >
●  In 2018 the Omiros was still in operation at 15 Apollonos Street, billing itself as "a very modern 3 star superior hotel in a central location, definitely the best!"  >
●  That is, the present author, who even after four decades is thankful he didn't have to place a transAtlantic landline call to report calamity.  >
●  The MTS Jason was built in 1965 as the MTS Eros.  Sold and rechristened a year later, it operated as the Jason from 1967 till 2005, when it became the MS Ocean Odyssey and cruised the Indian Ocean till 2010.  >
●  The Ehrlich cabin on the MTS Jason was #10 on the Venus Deck (which Mila Jean certainly must have commented on).  >
●  Mila Jean did not indicate where her Saturday entry ended and Sunday entry began, so I have made an arbitrary split here.  >
●  The Dardanelles (or Hellespont, in classical antiquity) is a strait separating Europe from Asia, specifically European Turkey and Asian Turkey.  >
●  The Sea of Marmora (Marmara, or Propontis in classical antiquity) connects the Aegean to the Black Sea, via the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits respectively.  >
●  From 537 to 1453, the Hagia Sophia was an Eastern Orthodox cathedral (with a brief Roman Catholic interval, 1204-1261); then an Ottoman mosque from 1453 to 1931, and subsequently a museum.  >
●  The Sultan Ahmed ("Blue") Mosque was built next to the Hagia Sophia in the early 17th Century by Sultan Ahmed I.  >
●  The Topkapi Palace was built by Mehmed the Conqueror shortly after his capture of Constantinople and the fall of the Byzantine Empire.  >
●  Son et lumière is a nighttime sound-and-light show, dramatizing a historical setting.  >
●  Ephesus (Ephesos, Efes) was the most important Greek city on the Ionian coast; its ruins are near the Turkish town of Selçuk.  >
●  Michio (Mitch) Yamaguchi (1943-2015), a San Francisco architect and expert on affordable housing, was eulogized in the SAH Newsletter as "a frequent SAH Study Tour participant and beloved friend to many SAH members."  Mila Jean compared him to "Buddy Hackett ... fat & funny (in dry way) ... wears horrible T-shirts & jeans most of the time & complains that his feet hurt him.  Buys & eats copiously ... will eat anything on the menu."  >
●  The Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was built in the 6th Century by Emperor Justinian, shortly before the Hagia Sophia.  Converted to a mosque in the 16th Century, it is now known as the Little Hagia Sophia.  >
●  The Hippodrome was built in the 3rd Century, before Byzantium became Constantinople, at which point it was expanded to hold 100,000 spectators.  Fragments remain on its site, now Istanbul's Sultan Ahmet Square.  >
●  In the 4th Century, Emperor Theodosius had an Egyptian obelisk (then already almost 2,000 years old) transferred from Alexandria to Constantinople and added to the Hippodrome.  >
●  Evidently the Monastery of Stoudios, converted to the İmrahor Camii Mosque (or Mosque of the Stablemaster).  >
●  The Golden Gate was the chief ceremonial entrance to Constaninople, used for state occasions.  >
●  The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora (called Kariye Müzesi, Kariye Camii, or Kariye Kilisesi in Turkish) underwent the same church-to-mosque-to-museum route as the Hagia Sophia.  >
●  The Suleiman (Süleyman, Süleymaniye) Mosque, one of the hallmarks of Istanbul, was built by Sultan Suleyman in the 16th Century.  >
●  An oculus is a circular opening in the center of a dome, widely used in Roman and Byzantine architecture.  >
●  The Aegean port city of Smyrna, first settled at the same time as ancient Troy, was officially renamed Izmir in 1930.  >
●  Selçuk is the fifth-largest city in Turkey, after Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, and Adana.  >
●  Ege University was founded in Izmir in 1955; Ege is Turkish for Aegean  Though not affiliated with the Greek University of the Aegean, the two signed a collaboration protocol in 2012.  > 
●  Rotund comic Dom DeLuise first performed his hapless "Dominick the Great" magician act on The Dean Martin Show ("No applause, please! Save-a to the end!").  Offstage he was an avid chef and author of cookbooks.  >
●  Ionia is the central coastal region of Anatolia or Asia Minor, the peninsula comprising most of modern Turkey.  >
●  The Hellenistic period began with the death of Alexander the Great and lasted till the Battle of Actium and conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, i.e. from 323 BC to 30 BC.  During this time, Greece dominated the Mediterranean.  >
●  One building in Ephesus, constructed in the 1st Century AD along with the baths and latrines, is known as the brothel because it featured a oversized statue of Priapus.  >
●  The Greco-Turkish War (or "Asia Minor Catastrophe") of 1919-22 was fought after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, as Greece sought and failed to make territorial gains in Anatolia.  It was followed in 1923 by a massive exchange of two million people, three-quarters of them Greeks who had lived in Asia Minor, eastern Thrace and the Caucasus.  >
●  On an undated page of his field notebook, George remarked that the "Captain reported missing: 1) Belt, orange & green striped; 2) Lady slipped off shoes during movie & is now missing left shoe; 3) Kid took off Mickey Mouse watch in lav & is now missing.  Wants it back, even though the crystal is broken & it's missing hour hand, for sentimental reasons; 4) Roll of $5 bills with rubber band around it."  > 
●  As the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, the island of Delos was considered too sacred for mortals to be born there, so women about to go into labor were transported elsewhere for delivery.  >
●  A tender is to a ship what a dinghy is to a boat.  >
●  Mykonos, one of the Cycladic islands, has had a hard-partying reputation since the days when it worshiped Dionysus.  >
●  Mila Jean described Philip and Andrea Stone of Winnetka IL as "rather unusual, very pleasant, fun & witty but weird.  He is rather sexy—balding ... pinches & hugs, has wicked blue eyes & a sharp tongue.  They appear to be a loving couple who have been married many years but someone said  they've only been married two.  (Wrong.  They have a grown daughter).... [She has] graying short hair, worn absolutely straight usually with scarf, slacks, strange tops (one a knit midriff), no makeup—sharp features.  Very involved in rehabilitation of old neighbors & Lutheran Church.  But really enjoyable to be with & fun."  >
●  Just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes is known as the "Island of the Knights" after the Knights Hospitaller (in full, the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem) who conquered Rhodes in 1309.  >
●  During the early 16th Century, inns for different nations were opened on the Street of the Knights to serve as eating clubs and residences for dignitaries visiting Rhodes.  >
●  The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, originally built as a Byzantine citadel in the 7th Century, was taken over by the Knights Hospitaller and used as their headquarters.  >
●  Kos is the third largest of the Dodecanese Islands, and the second most populated after Rhodes.  >
●  After a failed attempt to oust the Knights from Rhodes in 1480, the Ottoman Empire succeeded with a second siege in 1522.  >
●  Lindos, a town and archaeological site on the island of Rhodes, was a major Greco-Phoenician trading center before the city of Rhodes was founded in the 5th Century BC.  > 
●  "Cielito Lindo" is a popular Mexican song and staple of mariachi band performances.  >
●  Reap the Wild Wind was a 1942 Cecil B. DeMille swashbuckler.  >
●  The individual itinerary for June 16th added: "Many of our passengers have asked ship's cruise staff regarding tipping the stewards.  Please note that the stewards on the Greek ships have a Pool System which means that they share equally all gratuities.  Please use the envelope you found in your cabin and drop this envelope in the box marked 'Gratuities' at the Reception.  The gratuities or tips are, of course, at the discretion of the passengers.  It is, however, customary on cruise ships world-wide for passengers to tip $4.00 to $5.00 per day per person or about $28 (4,000 drachmas) per person per week in appreciation of services rendered."   > 
●  Herakleion is the largest city on Crete and the fourth largest in Greece.  >
●  Knossos, "Europe's oldest city," was settled as far back as 7000 BC, and was the center of Minoan civilization (c.3000 to 1050 BC).  >
●  Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941), a pioneering archaeologist, monopolized Crete after the Ottomans withdrew in 1898.  He excavated the labyrinthine "Palace" of Knossos and determined that Minoan civilization differed from Mycenaean.  >
●  The Harvester Vase is a Minoan stone vessel (c.1500-1450 BC) carved with scenes in relief of a sowing festival.  >
●  The Minoan Lady or "La Parisienne" is a fragment of a Knossos fresco from the 14th Century BC, depicting the profile of a priestess or goddess with her hair in a sacral knot.  >
●  The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus (c.1400 BC) displays scenes of a Minoan nobleman's funeral, including the sacrifice of a bull.  >
●  Among the Minoan figurines discovered in the Cretan town of Gazi in 1959 was a large Poppy Goddess, cited as evidence that the Minoans used opium.  >
●  The island of Santorini (classically Thera) is the most active volcanic area in the south Aegean, and the site of a catastrophic eruption in the 16th or 17th Century BC that may have inspired various Greek myths.  >
●  Nancy Sies was General Manager of the Kansas City Philharmonic; she also managed or directed orchestras in Chattanooga, Fort Worth and Tulsa.  >
●  The individual itinerary for June 16th remarked that 5:00 p.m. was the "ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL AT SANTORINI.  IMMEDIATE DISEMBARKATION UPON ARRIVAL for the visit of this beautiful island.  The ship anchors off-shore and passengers disembark by motor boats  After arrival on the island, passengers will go up to the village of THERA by donkey or mules.  LADIES—please wear slacks and flat shoes."  (That evening back on the ship, "The Discothque Club swings until the small hours.")  >
●  David Van Meter was a manager with Litton Industries in Boston.  Mila Jean described him and his Hungarian wife Marika as a "good looking couple, generally quiet & pleasant.  She wears tennis socks & oxfords & skirts.  He is tall & well built.  Don't really know them....  When you get down to it, the men definitely favor the women in looks—no real Hedy Lamarrs in looks, including yours truly with my three outfits & big hat."  (Mila's namesake grandmother was the great-granddaughter of a Van Meter, Magdalena "Lany" Van Meter of Virginia.)  >
●  The Sounion Kouros (c.600 BC) is one of the earliest examples of a Kouros (Youth) statue, displaying Egyptian influence and used as a votive offering to gods/demigods/heroes.  >
●  The head of a bronze statue of a Philosopher was recovered from a 1st Century BC shipwreck off the island of Antikythera.  >
●  The Stele (gravestone or funerary monument) of Hegeso, daughter of Proxenios, dates from the 5th Century BC.  >
●  "It was a prevailing custom of the ancients to consecrate or dedicate various parts of the human body," wrote M.A. (Mary Ann) Dwight in her 1866 Introduction to the Study of Art.  "Such votive members are found in all the collections of antiquities."  >
●  The Benaki Museum was established in 1930 by art collector Antonin Benakis in his family mansion.  >
●  Joseph Scherer (1814-1891) was a German painter, specializing in mythological subjects, genre scenes and landscapes.  >
●  George's article "George Caleb Bingham as Ethnographer: A Variant View of his Genre Works” would appear in the Fall 1978 issue of American Studies.  >
●  Mila Jean's "Random Descriptions & Ideas About Fellow Travelers" who are not otherwise mentioned in the Ehrlichs's journals:
    Prof. Drury Blakeley "Blake" Alexander (1924-2011) of the University of Texas (Austin) School or Architecture: "Tall, distinguished, ... natty dresser, classic profile.  Always the companion of [arrow to next entry] (they've traveled together for years), he has pancreas problems, wears beige suits, hat, carries umbrella."
    Prof. Marian B. Davis (1911-2000) of the University of Texas (Austin) Art Department: "Older, white hair, small, quiet, apparently distinguished scholar, sharp.  [She and Blake] travel abroad together always."
    Walter Eugene (Gene) George Jr. (1922-2013), architect, educator, and a leader of the historic preservation movement in Texas: "Used to be head of School of Architecture at KU [University of Kansas, 1962-67].  Real Glenn Ford rugged Western type, tall, graying, masculine, good-looking.  Quiet, but asks knowledgeable questions.  Some people think he is 'uptight.'"  Also part of "another couple who is traveling together, but not rooming together," his companion being:
    Prof. Mary Carolyn Hollers Jutson (born 1930) of the San Antonio College Art History department (later Mrs. Eugene George, marrying in 1980): "Pretty, graying, rather 'straight' & guileless—said I look like Vanessa Redgrave!"
    Prof. Roxanne Williamson of the University of Texas (Austin) School or Architecture: "Has been everywhere, done everything, three kids, deep voice, lean, tough, smart—keeps accounts of every cent she spends (husband is an accountant).  Wears good clothes well.  In charge of every situation."
    Dwight P. and Lorri Lammon of Corning NY: "He with full lips, beard, she with short light hair, couple with no children, seem to be a devoted couple, good natured, very informative, photographer, coughs a lot (nervous?), they're always going off to greener pastures."  Dwight co-wrote Paperweights: "Flowers Which Clothe the Meadows," published by the Corning Museum of Glass in 1978.
    Vernon W. Piper (1913-2003) and wife Marion Kaeser Piper (1915-1997) of St. Louis MO: "U of MO Extension—he's very big with big camera, wears T-shirts.  She's sweet.  Seem perfectly innocuous (left early before cruise due to business in St. Louis)."  The Pipers would receive the Landmarks Association of St. Louis's 1978 Distinguished Service Award.  >
●  Joseph E. (Joe) Michels was a St. Paul MN architect; he and Eileen lived in St. Anthony Park, whose drive-in bank (included in 1978's A Guide to the Architecture of Minnesota) Joe designed.  In 1980 he and Eileen were respectively treasurer and secretary of the Minnesota chapter of the SAH.  >
●  Easter (along with Pentecost, seven Sundays later) is celebrated on different dates by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, due to the Catholics adopting the Gregorian calendar while the Orthodox adheres to the Julian.  >
●  Christopher Montague Woodhouse (1917-2001) helped organize Greek resistance forces during World War II.  After a Parliamentary career he wrote several books on Greece, including Modern Greece: A Short History in 1968.  Shortly before his death he inherited the family barony and became Lord Terrington.  >
●  The Keramikos (Kerameikos) was the potters's quarter of ancient Athens, and is the source of the English word ceramic.  >
●  The Dipylon ("Two-Gated") was the chief gate in the city wall of Classical Athens, and was built along with the neighboring Sacred Gate (opening on the Sacred Way to Eleusis) in 476 BC.  >
●  In our June 4th airmail letter to the Folks, Matthew announced his having won the Pembroke Country Day School's History Cup and the Williams College Dictionary Award for "'outstanding scholarship and citizenship combined with achievement in other areas.'  They didn't mention what areas."  Since the Folks were overseas, Pem-Day phoned me at work to solicit my presence at the award ceremony, impertinently inquiring whether I was "Matt's" younger brother.  "No, you're thinking of Pugsley, but we don't dare let him out at night," was what I should have replied.  >
●  Roditis (Rhoditis) is a pink-skinned Greek grape and the wine produced therefrom.  >
●  George's field notebook shows the "Michileo" Restaurant at 27 Kydathineon Street in the Plaka.  Whether Michileo or Micheio in 1978, it would be the Mitsiko Restaurant in 2018.  >
●  The Piraeus Apollo is one of the few surviving bronzes from the late Archaic period (530-480 BC).  >
●  The Arch of Hadrian or Hadrian's Gate dates from c.130 AD, to celebrate the Roman Emperor's arrival in and benefactions to Athens.  >
●  The Museum of Greek Folk Art was founded in 1918 in the Tzistarakis Mosque, built in 1759.  >
●  Athens's Byzantine and Christian Museum was founded in 1914 and has one of the world's most significant collections of Byzantine art.  >
●  The Byzantine Empire underwent two iconoclastic reactions in the 8th and 9th Centuries, during which there was widespread destruction of religious images.  This caused further divergence between Eastern and Western Christianity.  >
●  Queen Amalia's vivacious beauty and creation of gardens did not prevent her and King Otto from being deposed and expelled from Greece in 1867.  >
●  The Thessaloniki earthquake occurred on June 20th (two weeks after the Ehrlichs's visit) and registered 6.5 magnitude.  On Aug. 13th, Gary Menges sent the Ehrlichs an article indicating the Makedonia Palace had survived the quake.  >
●  In 1976 George had dubbed 5505 Holmes (aka The Old Ehrlich Place) as "Catarrhal Hollow."  >
●  The Turning Point, a ballet drama starring Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine, had been released in November 1977.  >
●  I had graduated from UMKC on May 13th, having already been hired fulltime by its Bookstore.  On June 9th I rented an apartment at Twin Oaks, a two-tower residential complex in whose cocktail lounge George and Mila had done some of their courting.  The next two weeks were devoted to uprooting myself from The Old Ehrlich Place, after living there from the age of five to twenty-one.  >
●  On the final page of his travel journal, George made a list of "General Summary Topics: Athens as a city / The complications of Greek history / Vernacular architecture; older; the new / Being on a cruise ship / The terrain of Greece / Paul Mylonas / Traffic / Greek Popular (Tourist) Art / On the non-labeling of museums of much of their displays."  >
●  Maupintour began providing full-service luxury tours around the globe in 1951.  >
●  After renting my apartment on June 9th I began sleeping in 5505's side room (originally a screened sleeping porch) on the fold-out sofa that I planned to have the Folks let me take to Twin Oaks.  >
●  On June 27, Steve Gosnell obligingly provided van transport for me, the fold-out sofa, and the bulk of my possessions from 5505 to Twin Oaks.  (The Folks were off partying with Maurice and Gloria Peress of the Kansas City Philharmonic.)  >
●  Perceval H. "Pete" Hawes (1898-1982) and his late wife Helen (1901-1977) lived across the street from the Ehrlichs at 5506 Holmes.  Their role as the neighborhood's Aged Couple would gradually be assumed by George and Mila Jean.  >
 

List of Illustrations

●  George and Mila Jean's passport photos
●  1978 American Express Map of Southern Greece
●  Map of Athens (courtesy of Orangesmile.com)
●  May 30 in the Mani, picking wildflowers (and nettles)
●  June 2 at the hotel in Nauplia—"The Lovebirds"
●  June 14 at Delos—refreshment before a climb
●  June 15 on the MTS Jason—lifeboat drill (Mila Jean holding onto someone other than George)
●  June 15 aboard the MTS Jason (one)
●  June 15 aboard the MTS Jason (two) 
●  George's sketch of an "Ionic/Doric capital"
●  June 16: the MTS Jason at Santorini
●  Map of the MTS Jason's cruise route