Sunday, October 6, 2013, At Sea between, Athens, Greece and Venice, Italy

The ship docked in the port of Piraeus at 8:30 AM.  Our tour of Athens and the Acropolis didn't meet until 10:30 in the Princess Theater.  We went to breakfast in the Horizon Court before going to the theater. 

The buses parked outside the cruise ship terminal and it was a little walk to board them.  The streets in Athens are narrow, like most places we have been in Europe.  It is amazing the buses don't have more body damage.  Our route took us by the two harbors and three marinas that make up the port of Piraeus.  Athens is 7 kilometers from Piraeus but we never left town, narrow streets and buildings all the way.  The guide pointed out several different sites and recounted some of the 2300 year history of the area..  Our first stop was at the stadium built in 1886 when the modern Olympic games started.  It has all marble seats and seats 65,000.  From there we drove past several ruins of temples and theaters to the base of the hill where the Acropolis is located.

To get to the ruins of the Acropolis and the Parthenon required climbing 89 uneven marble steps.  On the way up we had to pass several dogs lying in the sun.  The guide said they were very common.  The guide stopped periodically to point out some feature or give some history information.  At the top of the stairs the guide pointed out some of the reconstruction efforts and explained why the ruins were in the bad shape they are in.  Besides the ravages of time both the Turks and Venetians made attempts to destroy the area.  The Turks by killing the inhabitants and the Venetians by bombardment with cannon.  Then came looters and archeologists that took way many of the columns, frescos and statuary. We walked around the ruins for about an hour.  No dogs were at the top but like Mykonos, we saw a lots of cats wandering around.  While on the top of the hill we had to be careful with where we put our feet.  The exposed marble was slippery, probably because of centuries of feet walking over it.  Remember the 89 steps to come up the hill?  Of course we had to come down the same steps, in away a more daunting feat that going up.  I felt like a doddering old man clinging to Gerri's hand for balance.  Counting going up walking around and coming down we were at the Acropolis for a couple of hours.  The views from the Acropolis were spectacular.  Our next stop was for shopping in a small shop on a narrow street.  The skill of the bus driver negotiating these streets was amazing.  We got back to the cruise terminal at 3 PM.

Gerri went back to the ship and our room.  I decided to go back to the harbor entrance and look for a cache listed there.  The "Piraeus Lion" was .39 miles away across an open parking area.  The lion is a statue that looks out over the harbor.  The current statue is a replica of the original that overlooked the harbor until 1687.  An admiral from Venice took it to Venice when he looted the city.  I found the cache easily and was back on the ship by 4 PM.

After seeing the ruins close up and the work involved in restorations using modern equipment, it is mind boggling how the ancient Greeks built them in the first place.  It is equally amazing that looters could haul of such large columns, statues and monuments.

Before going to the Club 6 I walked around deck 16 and took a few pictures of the harbor.  We went to Club 6 at 6 PM.  The hor d'ouvres were the usual cheese and vegetables plus steak tartar.

We went to dinner at our regular seating.  It had a double baked goat cheese soufflé and as an entree a medley featuring roast veal, chicken kabob and a lamb cutlet.  Gerri had wild mushroom soup and order the skillet fried chicken and a half order of Fettuccini Alfredo.  Again we lingered over coffee with Lou and Mona before going to our room.

Tomorrow is a sea day, so no land excursions are planned.  Even though Athens is a very large city, 4 million people,  It and Mykonos have impressed me more than others we have visited.