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A VoyAge Like NoNe eLse

For the gay traveler who is more interested in the Gree gods than looing lie one,cruising on Voyages to Antiquity is lie riding the ocean waves with Poseidon at yourside. A single ship cruise line conceived and ounded by cruise ship innovator GerryHerrod, the MV Aegean Odyssey recently received a Mediterranean maeover with cabinsresized and recongured to accommodate an average o 350 passengers compared toits original 570. The ship served as home base or my 13-day adventure and providedthe perect bacdrop or discovering the history, art, and cultures o the ancient world.

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MATTHEWWEXLER

A street Vendor In IstAnBul (pHoto: MAttHew wexler)

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You wont nd a 24-hour ice cream buet or sequined-

studded cabaret lounge on board the Aegean Odyssey.Instead, you can grab a boo and settle into the library orcatch a pre-excursion lecture rom an Oxord-educatedexpert. Thats not to say the ship isnt outtted withclassic cruising amenities. It is equipped with a spa,worout acility, outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, numerousbar and lounge areas, and two restaurants including anoutdoor terrace ca. The stewards and ood servicecrew exude a warm, inviting energy without missing asingle detail. Oshore excursions are accompanied by

a bevy o young, enthusiastic Brits, whose exuberanceor ancient cultures made me regret dropping out oMythology 101 during my reshman year.

city of the VioLet crowN

The pre-cruise itinerary began with several days atthe Westin Astir Palace, a Luxury Collection Resort &Spa. While I was hoping to be in the city center withviews o the Acropolis and Parthenon, I was happyto unwind (sans tear gas and yogurt bombs) on the

Athenian Riviera, Vouliagmenjust a hal an hour romAthens.

The poet Pindar wrote o Athens: City o light, withthe violet crown, beloved o the poets, thou art thebulwar o Greece. It may have been a testament tothe iridescent sunsets refecting o o the surroundingmountains or perhaps the majesty o the greattemples. The Athens that I saw elt both ractured andbeautiul.

With the gracious accompaniment o GreecesInternational Gay & Lesbian Tourism Association(IGLTA) representative Orhideea Rosu, I got a taste owhat Athens has to oer and a perspective on how thecountry continues to struggle with a ailing economyand a nancial structure without oundation. We hitthe Gazi area two nights in a row and it was everythingyou might imagine. Hopping rom bar to bar, the menradiated sensuality, their perect olive complexions set

o by blinding white teeth and reshly pressed pastelshirts. Having dinner with Orhideea at an outdoor ca

WANDERLUSTtop to BottoM:

1) tHe AeGeAn odyssey;2) lecture tHeAtre;

3) deluxe BAlcony stAterooM;4) VtA stAff MeMBer

(top tHree IMAGes courtesy of VoyAGes to AntIquIty,lAst IMAGe MAttHew wexler)

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told a dierent story though, as she shared realconcerns about Greeces economy. One would

thin that rising taxes, an insurmountable debt,and a multi-billion dollar bailout pacage wouldweigh heavy on the Gree people, but a spirito survival and perpetual celebration seemed toprevail on the streets. That or we all had one toomany shots o ouzo.

Visits to the stunning Acropolis Museum andNational Archaeology Museum were a poignantreminder that a powerul civilization had risen

and allenon the very ground which I stood. Myadventure o land and sea had begun.the LioNs gAte

Our rst port o call was the charming village oNauplia ollowed by a visit to the ancient ruins oMycenae. Wandering the sleepy streets there waslittle indication o the ractured economyuntil westarted chatting with the locals. We are the rstnation, proclaimed our guide, This crisis is not

just Gree, it is a crisis o the European Union.

We sat down to a rustic lunch o mezze (smalldishes) at Mezedopoleio O Noulis that includedherb salad, ritters, octopus, and assorted spreads.For 8 euro it seemed as i we had stumbled uponthe deal o the century, but as we chatted withthe tavern owner, we came to learn than animpending 23% ood tax might put him out obusiness. In spite o its charming storeronts andlocal vendors, Nauplia was a haunting remindero a country in economic despair.

A short drive inland brought us to the ruins oMycenae, one o the major centers o Greecivilization rom approximately 1600 BC to 1100BC. The gateway to this UNESCO World HeritageSite is The Lions Gate, Europes oldest piece omonumental statuary. Ater a ew hours in theMediterranean sun and listening to the story oAgamemnon, the mythological ing o Mycenaewho was murdered by his wies lover ater

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toMB of clyteMnestrA At MycenAe(pHoto: MAttHew wexler)

Mykonos At sunset(pHoto: MAttHew wexler)

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returning rom Troy (reminding me that indelityis as old as time), what I really craved was a glasso water. Had I lived at Mycenae all those centuriesago, this would have been miraculously possibledue to one o the most monumental achievementsin ancient building art: the underground cisternat Mycenae provided resh drining water rom a

natural spring that ran among clay conduits anda quadrilateral rooed shat. Now stagnant andmosquito-inested, I opted or the bottled waterbac on board the ship.

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Our next major destination was Delos, nownin mythology as the birthplace Apollo (and histwin sister Artemis), but also as a spectacular

center o commerce and religion in spite o itslac o natural resources. The sheer magnitudeo the islands development showcased the actthat at one point there were more than 30,000inhabitants. The Delphic oracle declared theislands sanctity in the 5th century BC and romthat point orward, no person could give birth ordie on the island.

From a cosmopolitan center o centuries past to

a delightul maze o shopping and nightlie, ournext port o call was the epitome o gay Greece

Myonos. The whitewashed buildings and signaturewindmills that date bac to 16th century seemedto becon me, or perhaps it was retail outlets

lie Lais Gavalis, the collectible artwor at ScalaShop Gallery, or dinner by sunset at Aleandra,which has been part o the island dining scenesince 1963.

Nightlie in Myonos may need to be renamed,as the party usually doesnt ic in until around2am. Whether you want to enjoy the cool breezeso the waterront at Jaci O, sing a showtuneat Montparnasse Piano Bar, or experience the

legendary Pieros, Myonos will eep you comingbac time and again. Lie Cinderella at the ball, Ihad to mae a mad dash bac to ship, but wouldhave been happy to be stranded until sunrise onone o the islands beautiul beaches.

A sweet fAreweLL

Our last stop in Greece was the island o Samos,which embodied much o the agriculture bountyor which the country is nown. From honey and

olives to gs and almonds, the air smelled sweetrom the surrounding elds. Samos most prizedproduct, though, is its dessert wine derived romthe Muscat grape. The perect send-o to mytime in Greece was a visit to the Samos WineMuseum. Approximately 97% o the grapes grownin Samos are o the Muscat variety and are usedto produce high quality dessert wines. They areresh and foral, the perect expression o ruitaccording to the Union o Vinicultural Cooperatives

o Samos. To me, it was the perect expression omy time in Greece.

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Loukamoades

Greek donuts (pHoto:MAttHew wexler)

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With the cloc ticing, I hopped ona boat tour o the Bosphorus Riverand winded my way through the BlueMosque, a culmination o two centurieso both Ottoman mosque and Byzantinechurch development. It was bac to thehotel to splash some water on my ace

and then o to my nal dinner o thisextraordinary journey.

Topaz, the Jewel o Istanbul, wasthe perect culinary ending to myMediterranean adventure. From reshartichoe with melon oam to baedlamb with mastic-smoed eggplant, themenu soared beyond expectation as thesun set on this spectacular city o more

than 13 million inhabitants.

While Voyages to Antiquity may havecreated the perect recipe to share theunique sights, sounds, and favors oworlds most ancient civilizations, orme it was much more. The juxtapositiono magnicent architecture and soaringmythological tales against a country ineconomic crisis struggling to hold onto

its identity was hauntingly beautiul.It was, without a doubt, a voyage o alietime.

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