Athens is the first port in our last of seven continents
before heading home. Having been to
Athens before, we decided to take it easy the first day with the most
port-intensive part of the trip coming up in the next week.
We arrived a little later than planned, but that didn’t
bother us as we weren’t planning to do much more than poke around a little bit
in Piraeus. The skies were blue, and the
port itself was loaded with ships: I counted 14 docked as we sailed in. Of course most of these weren’t cruise ships,
but it was still a very busy harbor!
After breakfast we went into the terminal and found free
wi-fi, which allowed us to get some pictures uploaded and delete some other
pictures to make room for our last few ports.
(We’re running out of “free” space in Picasa!)
As we worked on the computer, it looked to us as if the
entire population of teenagers in the city were pouring through security! We could hear appeared to be teachers or
chaperones telling students exactly what to expect, some in English, others in
Spanish, and still others in an Oriental language (Chinese?). That reminded us of the Spanish students and
teachers from Lincoln-Way who were journeying to the Galapagos Islands, and we certainly
hope they enjoy their journey as much as we’ve been enjoying ours!
We returned the
computer to the ship before heading out of the port and running the gauntlet of
taxi drivers looking for business. We
didn’t see much of interest near the port (one of the main reasons we usually
take shore excursions), but once we headed up the hill we found a little more,
in particular a pharmacy where I was able to get some cough syrup that didn’t
cost and arm and a leg. It seems that
about 75% of the people on the ship are still coughing away – apparently the
result of the heavy pollution in India, compounded by the sand in Egypt! One of our neighbors told me that the doctor
had told her husband that the cough seems to hang on for about three
weeks! (So if I figure correctly, I’m
about halfway there! Fortunately other
than that I feel fine!) I pretty much
laid low for the rest of the day, knowing how busy our upcoming days are!
The second day in Athens we were booked for a shore
excursion, Ancient Corinth & Canal.
We were pleased that our friends Bob & Nancy were on the same bus so
we were able to enjoy the sights together.
We headed out of Piraeus on a gloomy, overcast day, proceeding toward
Corinth, which is on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Our first stop was the famous Corinth
Canal. Four miles long and 70 feet wide,
it is a gorge of 170 feet deep that connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas. It was a very impressive site, seeing the
depth that was cut out to provide a shortcut between the two seas.
We then proceeded on to the ancient city of Corinth. With its many ruins and artifacts, we found
it fascinating! The small museum boasted
a piece of pottery that is contains the oldest Greek script found to date, as
well as a wide variety of sculptures left over from ancient times, and many,
many pottery pieces. As we wandered the
village, we were introduced to the various “Greek columns” that became
associated with various periods of architecture: the Doric column, the Ionian column, and the
Corinthian column (which was not “invented” in Corinth, but was invented by a
man from Corinth). Not far away was the
place where the apostle Paul spoke to the inhabitants of Corinth. They believe that at first the authorities
wanted to remove him from the town, but he was allowed to remain because he
wasn’t bothering anyone. Later when he
was asked to leave, he continued on his way to Ephesus, where he penned his
letters to the Corinthians; these later became books of the New Testament. The site is still being worked on today to preserve
the integrity of the times.
Probably the most impressive sight was the several remaining
columns from the temple that stood on the site.
Only six remain, and they weren’t as tall as columns would usually be;
usually they’re about 10 meters tall, but these were only six meters because
they were all carved out of the same piece of marble.
Someone had commented that we were doing the ancient sites
in the wrong order. It is more
impressive to do Athens and environs before going to Luxor! I can certainly understand why: while beautiful, these ruins weren’t the
works of art that we found in Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.
That evening I had a wonderful birthday celebration with
friends on board the ship. Several weeks
ago, Chuck, Al, & I had made reservations for the Pinnacle for that
evening. Recently I was telling Ros
about going to the Pinnacle for my birthday, and she asked, “Would you mind if
we joined your party?” She immediately said that it was fine if we’d rather
not, but we figured, the more the merrier.
At that point we also invited our table mates, Gerda & John to come
also. So there were seven of us with
Chuck, Al, Ros & Gary, Gerda & John, and myself. This will probably be the only time in my
life that I celebrate my birthday with more Aussies than Americans, as Ros
& Gary are from near Sydney and Gerda & John are from near
Brisbane. To my surprise, they each
brought me a small gift, all of which will bring back wonderful memories of the
trip: nautical earrings, papyrus with my
name inscribed, and Aussie socks and napkins.
Can’t wait to put all into use!
During dinner, Gary filled us in on their unfortunate
incident the first day in Athens. Al had
run into them and told us a little, but Gary was able to give us all the
details. They had gone to an ATM to
withdraw enough Euros to last for their next several ports. Gary tucked them deep into his front pocket,
but when they boarded the subway, he pulled them out to pay for the
tickets. While getting on he got pushed
and shoved and jostled by four apparent passengers who suddenly realized they
were on the wrong train. A bout an hour later when he went to pay for some
coffee, he realized that they had picked his pocket. The one good thing was that the cash was
separate from his identification and credit cards, so, while devastating, it
could have been far worse! Ros had also
gotten cash out, but they didn’t know about hers, so at least they only got
Gary’s half, and only the cash! They
commented that they’d never feel the same way about Athens again. We can certainly relate because it only takes
one incident to leave an unpleasant memory.
We set sail while we were at dinner, and arrived the next morning
at Katakolon, located on the Peloponnesian peninsula not far from Olympia, site
ancient Olympic games and where the torch for the modern Olympics always
originates. Since we had done Olympia on
our last visit to Katakolon, we decided to do the only shore excursion that did
not include Olympia. This was a visit to
a local farm that boasts home grown olives and has many farm animals. We were pleased that Gary & Ros, who don’t
often do shore excursions, would be on the tour with us, and we all enjoyed the
trip to Magna Grecia Farm, passing through small towns lined with olive groves,
and at one point a farmer’s market that was selling sheep and chickens.
When we arrived at the farm, we were served a small “pasty”
and a local wine, then had an explanation of how they prepare and process the
olives. We sat down and were served a
small light lunch (at about 10:30).
Although I skipped the olives, I enjoyed the rest. We got up and browsed through the shops, and
made a few small home-made purchases, then attracted by the music, I went back
inside to realize that the owners were doing some local Greek dancing. I especially appreciated their young son
(probably about 11 or 12), who also did quite a long and complicated dance
routine.
Being an animal lover, I was particularly interested in
greeting the two dogs that I’d seen earlier.
Achilles and Ulysses were large dogs that reminded me of Golden
Retrievers, but they appeared to be much larger than Goldens. Ros had found out that we shouldn’t approach
them too closely as they might be cranky, but we didn’t find that to be the
case at all! I slowly approached
Ulysses, who was chained but not fenced, figuring that he was probably a little
friendlier. With a few sniffs, soon he
was letting me (and others) pet him and talk to him. Then it was off to the fenced area and a
chance to “visit” with Achilles.
Achilles approached very tentatively, and then held up his paw. Just like Molly, he apparently loves
to have his paw rubbed. Unlike
Molly, his paw is absolutely massive! We
did find out that the dogs were Greek Shepherds, a breed I’d never heard of
before, but they had that “Golden smile” and they were far friendlier than we’d
been led to believe.
We continued on to visit other animals – several kinds of
birds, including pheasants, doves, a pair of peacocks, and chickens, as well as
sheep and goats. Off to the side were
more chickens and two huge Tom turkeys, along with several geese and
ducks.
This excursion was a totally different and relaxed pace from
the excursions we’d been taking, and we welcomed a chance to visit this lovely
farm.
Back in Katakolon, we took the opportunity to browse the
shops. With three ships in port (Costa
and Cunard ships along with ours), I’m sure the townspeople were having a
wonderfully profitable day! When we were
here in 2008, we had really enjoyed wandering the streets of Katakolon. Everything is very near to the ship.
In both of our Greek ports we’ve seen Easter displays. Since the Orthodox church celebrates Easter a
week after we do, their holiday is coming up this Sunday. It was fun to check out the
colorfully-decorated eggs that we saw. Now our Greek ports behind us, we look
forward to our next stop on this amazing adventure: Italy!
I had meant last week to comment on the birthdays of two
special family members. While we have several
April birthdays, we specifically wanted to wish a Happy Birthday (now
belated) to our cousin Beryl and our cousin Dawn, both of whom celebrated
milestone birthdays this year! Dawn –
hardly seems possible you’ve hit this major milestone. I remember how excited I was when you were
born! Beryl – we’re very glad to call
you cousin. You’ll never be an “outlaw” in
our eyes! Happy Birthday to both of you
specifically, and also to all our other cousins who celebrate birthdays in
April!
Hopefully pictures will be posted when we're able. (Very slow Internet - pictures won't upload!)
BT
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