Piraeus, (Athens) Greece

April 9th and 10^th

Piraeus (Athens) Greece

Sailing north through the Mediterranean Sea to Greece we left the hot dry weather behind and entered into much cooler springtime weather. After 1 day at sea we docked in the port of Piraeus which is about 10 miles and a 30 minute drive from downtown Athens. We had an excursion booked to see the major highlights of Athens, so we were off the ship early welcoming a sunny cool day. Rain was expected later that afternoon. First stop was the Acropolis which stands 230 ft above the city and has a magnificent views of Athens. The bus takes you up about ¾ of the way and then you have to walk up a winding uneven slippery marble path the rest of the way. Luckily it wasn’t raining, because marble is very slippery when wet. It was bad enough when dry. Interestingly, in Athens, marble is cheaper to build with than wood. All of the mountains around Athens consist of white marble, so everything as far as the eye can see is built with this marble. Very beautiful and bright. We passed through the Propylea, the huge entry gate to the upper terrace. The small Temple of Athena Nike was to the right and the Parthenon to the left. Dedicated to the Goddess Athena, it was built between 470 and 432 BC. It was magnificent. They are still renovating it so there was scaffolding all around the back end of it. It was hard to put your mind in the moment when cement saws and hammering were making quite a racket around you. It was still beautiful and the views of the city were fantastic. And it wasn’t very crowded. Quite a memorable experience. We drove past Hadrian’s Arch, which was the border between the Greek and Roman cities in Ancient times. And the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which took over 700 yrs to build. Only 13 of the 104 columns survive, but they mirror the columns of the Parthenon, which is located above this site. All of these ancient sites were located fairly close to each other. It was kind of strange to see these relics surrounded by modern housing and buildings. Looking out over the city, it was kind of like looking down at green open spaces with crumbling columns surrounded by expanses of white marble. It was very hard to visualize how it could have been back in the day. We then passed the Royal Palace and Constitution Square. We did see some riot patrols, but it was Easter week and I think everyone was preparing for that and not out in the streets protesting. Greek Orthodox celebrate Easter a week later than we do, so everyone was out shopping for decorations and the whole lambs that were hanging in the markets and ready to cook on the backyard spits. We stopped at the Olympic Stadium which was built in 1896, and made completely out of marble. It was a wonderful tour and the rain held off just until we got back to the ship that afternoon. We then went to a Greek dinner and a show. Authentic food and dance. Yum……..lots of wonderful Greek wine, but passed on the Ouzo. Once again the mustache was a hit, but this time, I was included. “Are you Greek?” Bruce was asked over and over. “No” he replied. “Well, no matter, your wife is a very lucky woman” heh,heh……..Geez, will it never end? We had a fantastic day and Bruce had a Birthday he will always remember.

We had a very late night the day before and we saw most of the major sights, so we decided to sleep in and just walk around Piraeus until the ship was scheduled to leave at 4pm. It is a very busy port area with lots of shops, markets and restaurants. It was still raining so we first decided to find a pharmacy….Bruce needed some antibiotics for his ear infection….and you don’t need a prescription. After that we just walked for hours, looking at all of the open meat, fruit, seafood, vegetable markets. They were fantastic with lots of yelling and gesturing. We stopped for pastries and walked some more. We did talk to some local people who hesitantly asked if we were enjoying the city. After we reassured them that we were, they then opened up even more and said that “Athens is not the real Greece, you have to come back and go out to the Islands, go into the countryside…..now that is the real Greece.” Since all of the rioting and such, the tourism business is down at least 50% and some of the locals are hurting. Athens is huge, beautiful and friendly. I would love to come back and see “The real Greece” I am sure it is just as amazing.

AthensTemple of Zeus