A home away from home

Let’s take a break from toxic politics. Am writing this piece from the veranda of our room on deck 6 of Celebrity Silhouette, a cruise ship that sails from Athens and drops anchor in various island cities in Greece and Turkey.

It’s my wife Jay’s birthday on 11 October and having reached her age that would entitle her to 20 percent discounts and now a pensionary, she wanted a grand celebration. She had, on her bucket list, a visit to Santorini and so let it be. Before I could make any comment about my wobbly knees, she handed me a round-trip ticket to Athens, a Silhouette boarding pass and tour packages. She had even packed what shirts and shoes I must wear. All that I really bothered for this trip was my toothbrush and hairbrush and a few hundred dollars to buy me a souvenir like a ball cap and a t-shirt.

Presently we are at the historic Istanbul, Turkey. This city by the sea has a population of 20 million people and is swarming with tourists from all over the world. The city roads are very narrow so tourist buses have to park elsewhere.

The main highway however is quite wide at about five lanes on both sides. The rest of the city tour is done on foot. The principal attractions in Istanbul are huge mosques and a bazaar selling souvenir items mainly jewelry that is made of gold, silver and diamonds and, of course, the famous “Turkish delights” delicacies.

Istanbul is such a big metropolis consisting of two islands. The main island is part of Europe where the commercial establishments are situated while the other which is part of Asia is where residential mansions of the rich and famous live. Connecting the islands are two bridges.

A sea tour on board a yacht navigates between the two islands giving one a spectacular view of mansions and palaces from the ancient era to the modern time.

What impresses me most in this city is its cleanliness. While the roads are mostly two-lane and one side is partly used for diagonal parking its public transport system is quite impressive. Trams ply around the city and taxis are impeccably modern.

Before we set foot at Istanbul the first island town, we stopped at was Mykonos. Cruise ships are anchored far from the port so tourists have to take a “sea bus” to get to the islet. Houses are perched at promontories and have common box-type designs. By town edict, they are all painted white. Each house has a provision for a rain-collection facility for seldom it rains on the island. There are no trees in this rocky town. The town prides itself on its sandy Kalapati beach but nothing compared to our beaches.

The town center is along the coastline and one has to walk through uneven cobbled stone thoroughfares lined on both sides with small stores selling locally made stuff for island souvenir items and cafes. My ordeal started here. At a certain point, we stopped and were advised that we were on our own to either shop or have lunch in tiny restaurants or go back to the sea bus port that would take us to ship.

Houses at Santorini are all clustered atop the rocky mountain and by night sparkle like diamonds. Sea buses take guests from ship-to-shore of these huge islands which have more tourists than there are residents 80% of whom work in its bustling tourism industry. We get to the capital town center by bus through a two-lane winding highway carved from what looked like a marble mountainside. As soon as we got to the apex our bus took us to the outskirts of Santorini where locals grow dwarf grapes in graveled lands. Farmers too have their own wineries. Except for grapes, there is no vegetation in this dry land.

Santorini is a world-famous tourist destination. It has an airport and a seaport. Aside from tourist buses its capital City of Fira is accessible by cable cars which take you right into the heart of the City.

By the time this piece goes to print, we might be in trekking in the ruins of Ephesus where once Anthony and Cleopatra met for their trysts. I have been there before. The ruins which were caused by the killer quake leveled all the buildings toppling pillars that were fashioned from marble rocks and slabs. The ruins had been preserved not only for tourism but for mankind to see the wonders of ancient civilization.

And now about Celebrity Silhouette. We navigate through this journey from Athens to Ephesus in this Leviathan cruise ship made up of 14 decks. It has two main restaurants and bars, a theater, swimming pools, a casino, dancing halls, function rooms and shops.

About 1,200 Filipino seafarers are employed in various positions in Silhouette. I’ve met four of them who hail from Davao City. Those I had the opportunity to talk to recalled how Pres. Rodrigo Duterte helped them in their plight, especially during the pandemic and how they, among thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers, were given assistance by the government. A head waiter named Sherwin especially took note of how drug addicts and criminal elements disappeared in their town in Cavite when Duterte became President.

Silhouette cruise ship is a home away from home with Filipino crew members on board. Easy to spot them for they always bear that amiable and eternal smile.