Advertisement
Published: October 27th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Today was a day of contrasts. Our morning was completely different to our afternoon.
Our alarm went off at 6.15am. With a groan we both pull ourselves out of bed. We have to meet in the theatre at 7.45 for our tour but need to shower and breakfast before that. We are promptly rung at 6.30 by David to advise that breakfast was on it's way to our room (a surreptitious way of checking we were up methinks). It was still dark outside as we sit eating scrambled eggs and bacon on our balcony and pull into the port for Athens, Piraeus. After Marseille & Genoa it is the 3rd largest in the Med. Queen Elizabeth and Costa Pacifica follow us in. Navigator of the Seas is already docked.
We join our tour group and head to the awaiting coaches. Angelika is our tour guide today and we are supplied with the same type of radio device and earpiece that we had in Dubrovnik. She tells us that the population of Greece is 11 million and 5 million live in Athens. It is a sprawling and not very attractive city imho. Most buildings are modern and uninspiring. Anything worth
looking at is either ancient or a church.
Our first stop in the Acropolis. We arrive before 9am and before the crowds arrive. This is the reason Peter wisely chose the early tour and so I forgive him the early alarm this morning. The Acropolis, which means 'high city' is as the name suggest on a very high hill. The ancient Greeks also so fit to construct all the pathways to it in extremely slippery marble. How no one went 'arse over tit' amazes me as the going to the top was quite treacherous. With all the amazing sights around it was all to easy to look up rather than down at your feet.
We pass the library and amphitheatre and climb up and through the Triumphant Arch (I'm not sure if it was actually called this but it sounds good). Ahead is one of those iconic sights that although you have seen it a million times on TV or in books is still amazing. I remember this feeling when I first saw the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, The Coliseum & The Empire State Building. I mean of course the Parthenon. It looked spectacular in the
early morning sunshine. It's true that all the cranes and scaffolding distracts from the overall effect but I was still impressed. Our tour guide had gone all Ivo on us (see Dubrovnik) and so we split from the group again so we could explore at leisure and take lots of photos.
After the Acropolis we boarded the coach again for a guided tour of the rest of Athens. We saw the stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. The Temple of Zeus and we even saw the funny guards in their silly hats and skirts do the even sillier walk outside the government building.
By midday we were back at the ship and after lunch in the Windjammer we head to the Solarium where we enjoy the jacuzzi for a little while and then up to the top deck to enjoy the afternoon sunshine whilst listening to music. For another contrast I am listening to Ludovico Einaudi & Peter is listening to Cher's new album. I know this as he starts flicking his head and doing hand pumps at one point (just kidding). We left port a little later than planned and followed Navigator out.
She is heading for Kusadasi and us for Katakolon.
The evening follows its usual routine. Diamond Lounge, Dinner and a brandy or two. We surmise that portions in the main dining room must be getting larger as I cannot finish my main course and we both skip dessert as we are both full. We lament the lack of quite places to enjoy a drink in the evening too. The VCL turns into a nightclub where the same DJ. (That is DJ Gonnaplaywhatilikeandtohellwhateveryoneelsewants) seems to be resident on every ship. The Schooner Bar can be too raucous which is ok on some occasions but not others. The R Bar seems to have become a replacement for Bolero's where live Latin music is played very loudly (am I getting too old?) There doesn't seem to be anywhere late in the evening to chill out.
We end up heading to Casino Royale and feeding our dollars into the hungry slot machines. The house wins again.
Tomorrow Katakolon.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0278s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb