On the evening we left Rhodes there was another big dance party on board, the Greek Isles Party. Originally we were going to bring out our most elaborate costume for this party - our angel wings, white body paint, and god-like masks, and go as a pair of Eros figures. But since one of the suggestions for the Greek Isles Party was to go as a sailor, and we'd packed sailor outfits with blue trimming for the White Party, we decided to hold the elaborate costume for the bigger party, the White Party, and go as sailers to the Greek Isles Party. Well, that is, sailors with extremely abreviated costumes.

Captain Keith, just before the Greek Isles Party. If my right side looks a bit unfocussed it's because I digitally removed Ben, since he didn't like how he looked in this photo.

I'd had the collars tailored in San Francisco from cheap sailor shirts we'd bought at an Army Navy store, but as we dressed, we couldn't decide whether we had enough balls, so to speak, to wear the costume with the underpants - we were on the verge of chickening out and going in jeans. But a stiff drink hardened our resolve, and we went out wearing less than either of us had ever worn for a dance club. But it was a huge success; we must have been photographed twenty times during the dance. It was one of the most enjoyable times I've ever had; so freeing. Late at night, we left the club and went to look at the stars again at the front of the ship, where they'd dimmed the lights. Then back to our cabin, for great, passionate sex, then finally, reluctantly, to sleep, not long before dawn.

The next day was a day at sea, and, obviously, we got up very late. By the time we were done with breakfast, it was already past two; we lay in the sun on the forward deck for ninety minutes, then took a hottub in the spa, before taking a long nap. There was yet another dance in the late afternoon, the Classic Disco Tea-Dance, the only party for which we didn't dress up. And we even managed to get up some enthusiasm for it, although they never played the song I longed to dance to, "Dancing Queen".

By the time we got up on the next morning, we were docked in Messina, Sicily, a port we knew absolutely nothing about since it wasn't on the original itinerary. From the description of it in the materials provided by the cruise company, there wasn't much to see in Messina, so we joined Bill and Stephane in hiring a taxi to drive us the thirty miles to Taormina, a historic sea town on high cliffs, with a horizon dominated by Mount Etna.

In the ruins of the Greek Theater in Taormina, Sicily The huge mountain you can dimly see on the horizon is Mount Etna.

The journey there was a bit hairy; at one point our taxi overtook a police van at 155 kmh. But the driver had agreed to drop us off, then pick us up again in two hours to return us to Messina. It was stifling hot in Taormina, but it was a beautiful town, with a lot of Greek and Roman ruins, and some gorgeous churches. Doing anything with Ben is enjoyable; he's so easy to get along with, and is totally comfortable with being affectionate in public; it's so nice when he spontaneously grabs my hand, or brushes his fingers against my arm. Of course, in Taormina, there were hundreds of other gay men from the cruise, so public displays of affection amongst us took little risk.

The "Beautiful Isle" - in Taormina

Ben on the deck of the Millenium on the morning we arrived in Naples

The next morning, we arrived in Naples, and the story there was similar to Messina; we opted for a tour out of Naples, to go up Mount Vesuvius and see Pompei. Since we knew ahead of time that the White Party would be in the evening, and that we'd need lots of time to prepare for it, we were quite concerned when we learned out tour, which began at one thirty, would take six hours, and would include a five-and-a-half mile hike on Mount Vesuvius. It was another incredibly hot day, and the drive to Vesuvius, on an inadequately cooled coach, sent us all to sleep. But once we were on our way up Vesuvius, the breeze made it bearable, and the hike was relatively easy, on a clean, well-kept path. I hadn't expected we'd be able to hike all the way up to the rim of the crater, so when we reached it, the view was a surprise. It's classed as an active volcano, although currently asleep for around fifty years.

Climbing up Mount Vesuvius

Part of the crater, with magnificent clouds on the horizon

On the crater

Back on the coach, we snoozed again, apart from a brief tour of a cameo producer just outside Naples, and then we were driven to the ruins of Pompei. I'd expected, somehow, a dust-covered plain with calcified dead bodies. Instead, the ruins are undoubtedly some of the best preserved Roman ruins anywhere, with a clearly identifiable street plan, and the cobblestones still bearing runnels from chariots. Even though it was late in the afternoon, and the sun was relatively low, it was still almost unbearably hot in the ruins. Since Ben and I wanted to eat early, before returning to the ship, we abandoned our tour guide and did a very brief highlights-only walk around of part of Pompei, before dashing back out the gates for pizza and tiramisu.

In Pompei

You can easily imagine a bustling street two millenia ago

In one of the theaters of Pompei

Finally, the evening of the biggest party of the cruise (the White Party) had arrived; the evening on which we could put on the most elaborate and sexy costumes either of us had ever worn; the heavy, beautiful angel wings we'd carted all the way from California. After a good nap, we started getting ready at about ten, leaving ourselves plenty of time to apply the white body paint. Unfortunately, Ben couldn't find the spray gun anywhere in his luggage; either it had been confiscated when he boarded his flight, or he'd forgotten it. We experimented with using sunblock-spray bottles, but found it worked best just to apply it to each other with our hands. Still, it took three coats, with drying time, to get us both reasonably white. By close to midnight we were ready; body paint, setting body powder, angel wings, white material wrapped around our waists (I was naked underneath mine, but Ben's was very shear chiffon so he wore underpants), our beautiful masks (bought in Venice), and glowing necklaces. There remained the difficulty of where to put our door-entry/charge cards. Fortunately, I'd had a white quiver prepared for holding arrows. I'd abandoned the idea of the bow and arrows, but the quiver came in very useful as a kind of god-purse.

Angels for a day

As we came up the stairs and entered the foyer that leads to the pool deck (where the dance was taking place), there was a minor sensation. My mask had wings extending above my head, so all in all, I was seven feet tall. Every eye seemed to be upon us. After we'd been photographed by the official ship's photographers we entered the pool deck. We'd anticipated we'd not be able to dance much in these outfits (we imagined we'd wear them for an hour, then go back to the cabin and remove the body paint and the angel wings and keep the rest of the outfit), but we noticed that nobody was on stage, so went right up, and had it to ourselves. Literally every eye on the dance floor turned our way. It was one of those unbelievable moments. Our costumes were a huge success. (Even today, several days later, in Barcelona, we were approached by a couple from the cruise whom we didn't even recognize. They spontaneously walked up and told us how much they'd enjoyed our costumes.) We ended up keeping the full costume on for hours, dancing, mostly on stage, being followed by phalanxes of amateur photographers. Apparently we are on the rough draft of the official cruise video for ten minutes. At around three, we decided we wanted to be able to dance more closely together, so we did indeed shower and remove the angel wings. Once back on the dance floor, we stayed out until five or so, before going to our usual post-dance ritual of looking at the stars on the fore of the ship. We ended up getting to sleep well after dawn, after the most intense sex we've ever had. What an incredible, unbelievable night.

The final day at sea. We got up not long after noon, had breakfast, and, very reluctantly, started to pack. There was a final tea-dance in the late afternoon, for which the suggested costume was Eurotrash, which for me consisted of a very tight sleeveless t-shirt showing an Athens historical scene, cut off just above the navel, jeans, and a heavy gold chain. Despite our late night before, we had a good time at the tea-dance, though towards the end, we were dragging a bit. My feet were killing me; I had blisters from the combination of hiking up and down Vesuvius, and dancing in our angel costumes for hours without shoes. So we retired early to our cabin, and had another incredible sexual interlude which we had to suddenly interrupt as we realized we were late for dinner with Bill, Stefan and "The New Yorkers" - a couple whom Bill, Stefan and Ben had befriended early in the cruise.

At the Eurotrash Tea-Dance on the final day at sea

Our last dinner on the Millenium

After dinner, there was nothing left to do except pack (the bags had to be outside your door by eleven p.m.). We got to bed shortly after midnight, and had to get up again by five-thirty for an early breakfast before disembarking. The cruise was over. We were about to return to the real world.