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| the Acropolis at night from our hotel |
It was another totally full day, and the weather could not have been nicer for us. I set my alarm wrong, but the ship's shaking and noise awoke me at 6:30, thank goodness. So I woke Bill and headed out for the early bird coffee and looked at the port of Piraeus. There were lots of cruise ships in port, so it would be a crowded day in Athens.
We went in for the last breakfast buffet, and I managed to eat some scrambled eggs and fruit along with more coffee. Our luggage was taken away, and with our hand baggage (all my stuff that I didn't get stuffed into the suitcase), we breezed through customs (not even a short check of passports) and onto our bus. There are 16 of us on the extension here in Athens.
We drove through the town of Piraeus and saw one of the 2004 Olympic venues. We got our first glimpse of the Acropolis as we headed into downtown Athens.
We made a stop at the 1876 Olympic stadium and then stopped at the Temple of Zeus/Hadrian's Arch. Many photos were taken. Then we did a short windshield tour past the Parliament Building where we caught a glimpse of the Evzones standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We passed the Academy and the National Library and a few pretty buildings before we were dropped off at the Plaka where we walked around for a bit looking at statues.
We walked to the Acropolis Museum which wasn't bad even for me who was not thrilled with old statuary and friezes. At the entrance to this new museum at the bottom of the hill from the Acropolis, they have openings showing the excavation of sites under the museum. I saw the things I wanted to see including the painted Peplos Kore (women statutes) that still have some paint on them along with the calf bearer statue. The original caryatids that were on the Erectheion are in the museum now with replicas on the Acropolis. The rest of the museum was mildly interesting.
Then it was finally time for lunch. We walked to a restaurant nearby called Gods Restaurant where we had a really excellent lunch. There were 10 at our table and 6 at the other. First we shared a wonderful Greek salad and a platter of spanakopita. We had a choice between moussaka and gemista (a tomato and a green bell pepper stuffed with rice and then baked). Bill got the moussaka which was huge. I got the gemista which was quite good. Then we had dessert - a wonderful honey-soaked walnut cake.
The bus picked us up since Gail had difficulty climbing and would spend the time with the bus driver. We were dropped off at a spot near the climb up to the Acropolis. At first it was a steady walk up an incline until we got to the ticket office where Sophia got our tickets. Then the climb up began in earnest - up more steep walkways past the view to the Odeion of Herodes Atticus (a large theater) and finally to the steps of the Propylaea, the grand entrance to the Acropolis.
The walk was really uneven throughout the Acropolis with spots of slick rock interspersed with gravel. We toured around the Parthenon with Sophia lecturing the whole way. It was cloudy for a little while and then sunny but with a nice breeze. The main things on the Acropolis are the Propylaea, Parthenon, Erectheion, and the Athena Nike temple (which was covered with scaffolding).
I especially enjoyed the Belvedere, a round spot at the edge of the Acropolis. We could see the Temple of Zeus, our hotel (Electra Palace), the Temple of Hephaestus, the Holy Apostle Church that I want to see tomorrow, and lots of other neat sites.
Finally we were driven to a spot near our hotel since the big bus couldn't get down the tiny street. We walked a couple of blocks to the Electra Palace Hotel and were met by Anne, a Lindblad person who will be taking care of us while we are here. A van was sent to pick up our luggage on the main street. Anne gave us our room assignments, and we quickly went to our room. We waited around for our luggage so that we could go for a swim.
When it finally arrived, we just had to walk 10' from our room to the pool entrance. It is a small but pretty infinity pool with an awesome view of the Acropolis. How cool is that!!!
We swam until 6 and then showered to go to dinner here at the hotel at 7. We thought we would be on our own for dinner, but Nat Geo decided to spring for dinner in the cafe here. We were the only 9 people in the cafe, but they served us well: another great Greek salad, baked chicken with rice and fresh green beans. For dessert we had a large browning with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I ate the ice cream, and that was it.
Then Bill and I walked with Don and Jody to Parliament Square to see the changing of the guard (Evzones guard) at 9pm. It was rather dark, but the crowd was quite small. Watching the Evzones was quite impressive. Then we went down to the Syntagma subway station where there is a really nice archeological exhibit along with some of the finds from when they were digging for the subway.
What a fun way to end the evening. Bill and I went up to the 8th floor terrace which is only used for special events to get a great view of the Acropolis all lit up at night.
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