The cruise continues...
We're sailing again after having spent the day in Rhodas, Greece. Tomorrow we'll be in Santorini. I think I've been there before, but I can't remember for sure. Neither can Mark. When you take cruises and visit these small islands, they all start to run together. Yesterday we were in Ephasis (spelled wrong for sure). This is the oldest city ever discovered by archeologists - over 3,000 years old. It is an amazing excavation, with only 20% of the city uncovered. Ephasis was an advanced society with running water, whore houses, libraries, stores, homes, stadiums - everything you'd want today (well, no toilet paper or air conditioning).
The library in Ephasis
They showed us the communal bathrooms for the men. They used to sit on the marble toilets (there was a whole line of them)and pontificate, philosophize, and ponder. But there was no toilet paper so they would reach down when they had done their business and soak their left hand in the water that ran at their feet. Then they'd use that hand to wipe their butts. This is where the tradition of shaking people's right hands began! I'm not shitting you! Oops. Anyway, many of these men had slaves so in the winter they'd send their slaves over ahead of time to sit on the marble toilets and warm the stone with their own tushes. This was the first incidence of heated toilet seats ever recorded in the history of mankind. I swear, you can't make this stuff up.
Here's a picture of the communal toilets
Rhodas was fairly interesting. We explored the ancient palace there, bought a hat for Mark, and fed a stray cat. There are lots of stray cats around here. This makes me miss my own two cats, Smokey and Cookie. I hope they're faring well in the 100+ degree heat in Manhattan. I hope my son is as well. Miss him too. And my daughter who is at camp and returning on Sunday.
We've made some excellent new friends on the ship so far, plus met a few weirdos. Actually, I enjoy meeting the weirdos a lot because I can use them as characters in future books. And I certainly will. When I get back to New York, I'll post a few pictures from this trip so you can see how beautiful this part of the world is (in case you haven't been here yet).
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
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posted by Karen Quinn : 1:09 PM
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