Blogs from Central Greece, Greece, Europe - page 3

DELPHI, TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY, 4/5 November,2014. Today we travelled by public bus three hours north to Deplhi, the centre of the ancient world. It was founded in 560BC. Difficult to comprehend a place so old. Delphi is high in the mountains and quite cold at night, although both days have been sunny and warmish! Another town closing for the Winter. We found the only hotel, shared with four Estonian Harley Davidson Riders on their annual European tour. Looked great! The town is full of jewellery and tourist shops and hotels, most of which are shut. The summer crowd must be awful, if you are a tourist, great if you are a business person. The GC businesses would be in awe I think! Today we visited the Archeological Museum and ruins. Both exceptional. Not one for museums generally, but ... read more

Ce matin, Delphes ! La ville est charmante, les commerçants super sympathiques. Le site archéologique est ici aussi impressionnant. Selon la légende, lorsque Zeus lâche deux aigles aux deux extrémités du monde, leurs trajectoires se croisèrent au dessus de Delphes, marquant ainsi le centre du monde. C’est à cet endroit que fût construit le sanctuaire d’Apollon qui devint le siège d’oracles que les pèlerins vinrent consulter pendant près de 1000 ans. Ici aussi plusieurs édifices ont été très bien restaurés. Nous poursuivons notre chemin vers un arrêt obligatoire pour Pascale : les Thermopyles, site de la célèbre bataille du même nom où, en 491 av JC, Léonidas et ses 300 hommes affrontèrent 200 000 turcs durant 5 jours. Malgré la défaite à la suite d’une trahison, cette bataille est vue comme l’emblème de la résistance grecque ... read more

Athens : The name Piraues roughly translates to “the place over the passage” and throughout history it has been an important port dating back to ancient Greece. The city proper consists of a rocky peninsula, originally an island featuring three natural harbours situated on the Saronic Gulf. Greece has always had a maritime culture and so this port, the largest in Greece has prospered for this. The port is the largest passenger port in Europe, and the third largest in the world, servicing about 20 million passengers annually. A throughput of 1.4 million 20 foot containers places Piraues among the first ten ports in container traffic in Europe and the top container port in the Eastern Mediterranean. Piraues is also the 47th largest worldwide in container traffic. The central port serves ferry routes to almost every ... read more

We are now 11 days and counting to the trip to Greece. We received our Trafalgar folders with our full Itinerary and optional excursions. We looked through the excursions and chose the following for sure: Medieval walking tour of Rhodes, Savory Symi Bar B Q Cruise (why not!!),Dinner Meze Style in Psiri (you gotta eat!), traditional Greek Taverna with entertainment (you gotta Drink!), Bosphorus Cruise and Grand Bazaar (you gotta buy!!!), Ottoman Emprie and Byzantine Legacy (you gotta learn!), Ancient Ephesus through the ages, Santorini Volcano,and of course the Palace of Knossos. I am sure we will do others on our own. We will be aboard the MS Cristal....Google this ship and you can visit online what we will see in real time! We have the upgraded outside cabin view. Our itinerary is as follows: Athens ... read more

This is it, the main hunk of our European adventure starts on this amazing 12 deck high cruise boat; the Norwegian Spirit. We caught the glimpse out the window of the Doge's Palace in Venice and had done our research at home but nothing is as good as exploring the cruise boat for yourself on your first day. We board early and run around taking photos on various decks in front of various backdrops. We seemed to be the only ones on the boat as no one appeared in our shots except for the staff in the background with there happy smiley faces. We explored all day and all night before we curled up in bed and rejoiced in our first real chance to unpack our suitcase and wash some undies. We wouldn't have to pack ... read more