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Published: September 2nd 2007
Sarah's $7 lemonade
After a hot, dry morning on the Acropolis, the vendors were happy to overcharge us for a cold drink.After a full day at sea, our next stop was Athens. We were docked at Pireaus on the day of our 10th anniversary. After making our way to the Piraeus metro station (after taking a bit of a detour due to inaccurate directions from the web), we purchased round trip tickets (cheap!) and hopped on the train to the acropolis. We walked out of the train station and looked up hill - to see the Parthenon way above us.
We headed uphill and found our way in the “back door” to the acropolis. This meant we had to walk half way around the mountain to access the main path up onto the plateau with the ruins. Although we weren’t thrilled about this, it was the one time during the day where we weren’t shoulder-to-shoulder with hoards other tourists. Along the way, we passed the ruins of one theatre before getting to the restored Coliseum - where concerts and theatre are still held today.
Unfortunately, there is only one entrance/exit to the main part of the acropolis - through the Temple of Nike. This is the only route into and out of the main sites at the acropolis, and it
Porch of Maidens
Closeup details of the Erechtheum created a very uncomfortable traffic jam in 30+ degree heat. We joined the crowds and made it up through the temple. Once at the top, the crowds dispersed and it was a little more bearable. Unfortunately, most of the ruins are in a constant state of repair, covered by scaffolding. Getting a true view of what remains was nearly impossible. We made our way to the Parthenon - it is awesome when you consider the scale of the ruins and the fact that they were constructed over 2000 years ago. We continued to explore the other ruins at the acropolis and enjoyed the incredible views of Athens below, but finally had to descend the same way we came through the crowds.
Once out of the main gates, we decided to explore the ancient town of Agora on our way back “downtown” to the plaka. The ruins here were of an ancient village - you could see where the buildings were and walk the same streets as the ancient Greeks! The Temple of Hephaestus is the best-preserved ancient Greek structure anywhere in the world - it was built in 449 BC and was in use as up until the 1800s.
Tortoise at the Acropolis
This guy joined us on the slow climb up the back stairs to the Acropolis. We eventually made our way back to the plaka, grabbed some lunch and headed back to the ship. It was a very hot day (35 degrees C) and we were very tired. It was nice to get back to air conditioned comfort.
We had dinner at the Olympic Restaurant on board tonight to celebrate our anniversary - an unbelievable, 6-course meal that was probably the best meal we have ever had. Our main courses of filet mignon and sea bass we impeccably done, and we were entertained by a harpist throughout our meal. A fabulous day.
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