Ancient Greece an Aegean Odyssey
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in Ancient Greece an Aegean Odyssey aboard the Exclusively Chartered, Newly Launched, Five-Star, Small Ship Le Lapérouse October 4 to 12, 2018 Dear VMFA Members: Join us on this comprehensive Aegean Odyssey to the very cradle of Western civilization and the classical world, exploring the iconic jewels and legendary mythical places of Ancient Greece. Cruise aboard the exclusively chartered, state-of-the-art, Five-Star Le Lapérouse, to be launched in 2018. Le Lapérouse introduces the deluxe and exclusive Blue Eye, the world’s first multisensory underwater lounge. Featuring only 92 Suites and Staterooms, this elegant small ship is able to sail into ports inaccessible to larger vessels. This spectacular voyage calls on Santorini, Delos, Mykonos, Pátmos, Rhodes and the Peloponnese peninsula—ancient destinations steeped in myth and history—and offers opportunities to visit nine magnificent UNESCO World Heritage sites. Visit the extraordinary scenic wonder of Meteora, where 24 Orthodox monasteries, built in the 14th and 15th centuries, are perched high atop soaring natural sandstone cliffs. Walk through the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus, where the history of Hellenic and Roman early healing practices is engraved onto exquisitely preserved stelai, or inscribed stone slabs, and the Theater’s exemplary acoustics still reverberate today. Learn more about contemporary Greek island life during the exclusive Island Life® Forum, where you will meet and interact with local residents. Enjoy guided tours in these storied destinations and traditional Greek villages, with time at leisure to encounter their mysteries and delights at your own pace during the best time of the year. Aegean historian Eleni Zachariou will accompany us and share her extensive knowledge and expertise of the islands, Classical Art and Architecture and the peoples of her native Greece. Island Life® in Ancient Greece is a popular, comprehensive travel program and an excellent value—all accommodations, meals, exclusive Cultural Enrichments and one excursion each day are included, and you only need to unpack once! Space is limited on this Aegean Odyssey, so book now! Sincerely, Adele “Hutch” Livingston VMFA Coordinator of Member Travel Cover photo: Admire the beauty of Santorini’s whitewashed villages overlooking the deep The bronze stag symbolizes the Colossus of Rhodes, turquoise Aegean waters . one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. UNESCO World Heritage Site Itinerary Meteora Cruise Itinerary Day Air Routing Volos Land Routing 1 Depart the U.S. GREECE Aegean Pre-Cruise Athens Option* or Sea Delphi 2 Athens, Greece Athens ◆◆ Embark Le Lapérouse. Corinth Canal Mykonos 3 Volos for Meteora Mycenae Delos Pátmos ◆◆ th th Nafplion Visit 14 - to 15 -century monasteries Epidaurus of Meteora, built atop extraordinary Olympia Santorini Rhodes towering sandstone cliffs. Peloponnese Akrotiri 4 Delos /Mykonos Peninsula Lindos ◆◆ Walking tour of the archaeological site of Delos. Cultural Enrichments: ◆◆ Afternoon at leisure to explore Mykonos. 5 Pátmos ◆◆ Visits to the Monastery of St. John and the Cave of the Apocalypse. The Roman writer Cicero (106–43 B.C.) Cultural Enrichments: observed of Athens that “wherever you ◆◆ Island Life® Forum. set your foot, you encounter some ◆◆ Special culinary presentation by the memory of the past”; the same can be ship’s pastry chef. said for all of Greece. Here, in the cradle ◆◆ Lecture by local historian Eleni Zachariou. of Western civilization, glorious 14th- to 6 Lindos/Rhodes 15th- century Orthodox monasteries were ◆◆ Walking tour of Rhodes Town. built atop the towering sandstone precipices ◆◆ Cultural Enrichments: ◆◆ of Meteora, St. John the Apostle is believed Choice of a morning visit to the to have penned the Book of Revelation Acropolis of Lindos or a morning at leisure in Lindos. on the island of Pátmos and the legend of ◆◆ Folklore performance on board. the lost paradise city of Atlantis lives on 7 Santorini for Akrotiri in Santorini. Imagine Odysseus seeking ◆◆ Dramatic cruise into Santorini harbor. redemption in the Underworld or Orpheus ◆◆ Visit to the Museum of retrieving his lost love as you experience Prehistoric Thera in Fira. the islands of Classical mythology. Cultural Enrichment: Envision ancient daily life at evocative ◆◆ Tour of the Bronze Age ruins archaeological sites, such as the of Akrotiri. Sacred Way and Akrotiri, and experience 8 Nafplion for Mycenae and Epidaurus exclusive, local Cultural Enrichments, Cultural Enrichment: including an Island Life® Forum with ◆◆ Excursion to the ancient citadel Patmians who will share their candid of Mycenae. perspectives about life today on the ◆◆ Excursion to ancient Epidaurus. ancient island, a folklore show and an 9 Athens/Disembark ship authentic baklava culinary demonstration. Post-Cruise Olympia Option* or ◆◆ Return to the U.S. * Available at additional cost. Mykonos’ iconic round windmills were once used to mill wheat on the island between the 17th and 19th centuries. Greek Orthodox monasteries are built atop caramel‑shaded crags in Meteora. Athens, Greece Walk along the Sacred Way to the Sanctuary Birthplace of democracy and home to many of of Apollo, a spectacularly rich archaeological site history’s greatest philosophers and poets from with remains of three separate temples from the Socrates to Herodotus, Athens is unmatched in fifth and sixth centuries B.C. Delos’ awe‑inspiring its contributions to early Western civilization. ruins also showcase an entire district of Hellenistic and Roman‑era houses and a Meteora 5500‑seat theater (300 B.C.), the site of choral From the attractive port city of Volos, birthplace competitions during the Delian panegyris, of legendary Argonaut Jason, travel across the or ancient quadrennial festival honoring Apollo. fertile Plain of Thessaly to the seldom‑visited See the legendary Terrace of the Lions, natural wonder of Meteora—Greek for dedicated to Apollo, where hand‑carved marble “suspended in the air”—an extraordinary enigma statues have guarded the island for nearly of virtually uncharted Orthodox monasteries. 2600 years (the original lions are in the Delos This breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage site Archaeological Museum). was constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries a staggering 1300 feet above the valley floor, Mykonos atop soaring natural sandstone pillars, where the According to ancient legend, the craggy hills and early Christian traditions of these monasteries clefts of Mykonos were formed from the have continued uninterrupted for hundreds petrified bodies of giants defeated by Hercules. of years. Visit one of the four active monasteries, Mykonos’ iconic windmills, bright white, originally accessed by way of long ladders and cube‑shaped houses and azure bays epitomize baskets suspended on ropes, but today accessible the striking beauty of the Greek Isles. by travel on a modern road overlooking verdant Cultural Enrichment: Peneas Valley with impossibly majestic sights. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure to explore Delos Mykonos’ quaint, narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses and boutiques or to sip The mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, ouzo harborside in Mykonos’s Little Venice. Delos is today a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is considered to be one of the most sacred Pátmos islands in the Greek world, as central to The small island of Pátmos and its Grecian spiritual life as Olympia and Delphi. Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. John, Almost completely intact, the fourth-century B.C. theater at St. John the Apostle is believed to have written the Book of Epidaurus is world renowned for its near-perfect acoustics. Revelation in the Cave of the Apocalypse on Pátmos. a UNESCO World Heritage site, loom large in Cultural Enrichment: the history of Christianity. Tour the monastery, Tour the phenomenal Bronze Age ruins built in 1088 and still inhabited by monks of Akrotiri, recently reopened to visitors. who continue to preserve it as a pilgrimage Held intact by layers of pumice and ash for site and place of religious study. See the over 3500 years, Akrotiri’s streets reveal the Cave of the Apocalypse, where St. John architectural sophistication and advanced the Apostle of Ephesus very possibly wrote the culture of its Minoan inhabitants. Book of Revelation in A.D. 95. Nafplion for Cultural Enrichment: Meet local residents who will discuss Mycenae and Epidaurus contemporary daily life on these ancient Sail to the Peloponnese peninsula, known for islands during the specially arranged its tremendous literary import and Island Life® Forum. treasured antiquities. Tour two UNESCO World Heritage highlights—the ancient Rhodes citadel of Mycenae, the classical stage of The island of Rhodes has been one of the most Homer’s The Iliad, an epic text foundational prosperous and strategic strongholds in the to Western thought, and Epidaurus, an equally eastern Mediterranean since the Neolithic Period. quintessential Hellenic site. Dock at the fortified wall of Rhodes Town, Cultural Enrichments: a UNESCO World Heritage site, and step into Mycenae is bountiful in allusions to the age this extraordinarily well‑preserved medieval city, of Agamemnon, from its secret passages to built over a great Hellenistic metropolis and a Cyclopean walls, named because they were so tall major Christian outpost during the Crusades. they were thought to have been built by giants. th Visit the splendid 14 ‑century Palace of the In Epidaurus, visit the ancient Sanctuary Grand Masters, built by the Knights of St. John and of Asklepios, where the ruins bear testimony one of the only examples of Gothic architecture in to Greco‑Roman healing gods and medicinal all of Greece. knowledge, and the Theater is renowned for its Cultural Enrichment: nearly perfect acoustics. Join the excursion to the ancient village of Lindos. The Lindos Acropolis rises 380 feet above the See the magnificent frescoes adorning the modern town overlooking the archipelago. Byzantine‑style Church of Panagia and ascend the stone stairs to the clifftop acropolis for breathtaking views of the medieval Castle of the Knights of St. John. Or, enjoy a morning at leisure in Lindos to further explore its rich history and charming streets.