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I woke up early to lots of noise as the ship approached the port of Piraeus. About 6:45AM the thrusters kicked in and woke Renée up. I had to peek out and look at a nice scene. I have a minor cold but took an anti-histamine tablet as I don't want to miss today. We got up and dressed and went to breakfast about 7:15AM.
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| Sunrise at Piraeus. | The flowers that were left for us last night. | Breakfast panorama of Piraeus. The Acropolis is just right of the office block at the end of the harbour to the left of the pic. | Welcome to Piraeus! At last we set foot in Greece for the first time. |
We went to the excursion rendezvous for 8:15 and soon were off out on a bus. We passed one of the Olympic stadiums on the way to the Acropolis, before entering downtown Athens from the Southwest along Leoforos Syngrou.
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| Two churches seen on the way out of Piraeus. | Looking across the bay to the East of the port. | To the Northeast the Acropolis and Parthenon can be seen in the distance. | One of the olympic stadiums from the 2004 olympics. | |
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| Heading along Siggrou avenue towards Central Athens. | A leafy area close to the centre as we hit traffic. |
The Acropolis was stunning even with scaffolding on the Parthenon. The guide was very good and 2 hours in the heat whizzed by. I took so many pictures. It was also really crowded as half the ship appeared to be there as well as other tour groups.
Wikipedia Links: Acropolis; Temple of Zeus; Lycabettus Hill
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| Walking up to the acropolis through an olive tree wood. | The Parthenon beckons majestically from above. | A crazy scrum to get through the entrance gate! And you ain't seen nothing yet! | Amphitheater below the top of the Acropolis. | Ruins on Filopappou Hill to the Southwest. |
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| Panoramas looking out over the amphitheater across Naples to the West. | More ruins. | Climbing up the steps through the Propylaea on the West side of the Acropolis. | ||
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| Temple of Athena Nike | Renée almost getting lost in the huge crowds! | Walking through the Propylaea. | Our first view of the Parthenon from atop the Acropolis. | Looking back at the Propylaea from the East side. | |
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| A 360 degree panorama taken between the Propylaea and the Parthenon. | A photosynth 360 degree panorama taken from the South side of the Parthenon. |
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| Views of the South side of the Parthenon, and with Renée and Mike in front. | 180 degree panorama of the view South across Athens from the Acropolis. The ship should be in the distance three quarters across the picture. | ||
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| Below the South side of the Acropolis are the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus and other ruins. | Further away to the Southeast is the Temple of Zeus. Just 16 of the original 104 columns remain. | 2 shot panorama allowing for a wide angle view of the Southeast corner of the Parthenon. | |
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| Looking more closely at the corners of the remains of the roof pillars on the East side of the Parthenon. | Lycabettus Hill to the Northeast with the 19th century Chapel of St. George at the top. This is the highest point within the city. | The Erechtheum on the North side of the Acropolis. | Renée in front of the North side of the Parthenon. This side has been restored a fair bit. | The Porch of the Caryatids on the South side of the Erechtheum. | |
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| Two panoramas facing West and Northwest as we descend back through the Propylaea. | Areopagus Hill, a lump of rock just West of the Acropolis close to the meeting point that makes for a good vantage point. | The Propylaea and Acropolis from Areopagus Hill. | |
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| Looking East from Aeropagus Hill. | More views towards the Acropolis and Propylaea from Aeropagus Hill. | |
Soon by 11:15AM we went back on the bus for a tour. We stopped for 10 mins at Panathenaic Stadium.
Link: Seville Orange or Bitter Orange; Another Bitter Orange Link
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| Bitter Orange tree. | Temple of Zeus. | Looking back at the Acropolis from below the South side. | Panorama of the Panathenaic Stadium from the Northwest corner. | Renée in front of the Panathenaic Stadium. |
Then we continued to Plaka where we stopped at 12:10PM for lunch and shopping. We were dropped off right by Hadrian's Arch. We first went to Trattoria Pizzeria in Filom Eterias Square and had mushroom pizzas. (Mine without cheese.) Then from a shop across the street Renée bought a leather handbag. (I bought another fridge magnet.) A thermometer there showed 42C! After a walk around the heat was getting too much. We stopped for an Espresso in a café at 2PM. We returned to the bus for 2:45PM and cooled down in the air conditioning while we waited for the 3PM departure. Then at 2:55PM an angry policeman moved us on! We had to orbit in heavy traffic. One guy jumped on a different bus and others waited for us to return. However we still got back to the ship almost on time as traffic was light on the return leg. Another passenger said the Parthenon had been closed at 2PM due to the heat! Indeed the Greek locals were complaining about the heat. We were lucky we went earlier in the day.
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| A classical Roman building that we drove past. | Ruins found while excavating the metro. | Syntagma Square where Greek Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is. | One of the guards guarding the tomb. |
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| Driving along the street of Akadimias we passed (from right to left) the Hellenic Academy, the Athens University and the National Library. | The National Historical Museum near Syntagma Square. | |||
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| Hadrian's Arch. This is where we were dropped off to enter Plaka. | Plaka. | The ancient street of the Tripods. | Lunch time at Trattoria Pizzeria in Filom Eterias Square. | ||
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| Plaka continued. | As we exited back past the Greek Parliament, the changing of the guard was in progress. | ||
Back on the ship we dumped our gear and headed straight for Oceanview Café for ice cream and nibbles. Then after getting a map for tomorrow we returned to the room at 4:30PM to wash and rest. Then we had a wander around but I was so tired. Eventually we ended up in Oceanview again where I had a much needed tea. At that point Renée spotted people eating Sushi. We found and joined a long queue. I had cucumber maki and egg, courgette and red pepper nigiris. Delicious! Then we went up a level to Deck 15 Lawn Club as at 6PM the ship left port and we said goodbye to Athens. We got chatting to a nice Norwegian guy. Suddenly it was 6:20PM and we all headed down to Silhouette. Renée and I just had Fruit Medley starters as we weren't very hungry unsurprisingly. But it was a chance to swap stories with her family and to socialise. We were also told about a mo-town style show in the Equinox Theater so we headed there at 7:30PM. However it wasn't good and we left after 15-20 minutes. We went up to the Solstice Deck and relaxed in the cooler evening sun. As it got low we transferred to the lawn club and watched the sunset. Then we returned to the room.
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| Looking Northeastwards from the ship, the Acropolis and Parthenon can be seen in the far distance. I managed to get a long range shot of it. It's just to the right of the skyscraper. | ||
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| Panoramas of the port of Piraeus as we departed. | |
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| Evening Entertainment. Apparently this singer supported Michael Jackson at one point. | Renée and I trying out the sun loungers on Solstice Deck 16. | |
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| Aegean Sunset as the sun sinks behind a distant Greek Island. | The Hot Glass show in the Lawn Club on Deck 15 Aft. | ||||
We were about to retire for the night when we got a call from Joy. We all decided to go up to the lawn club for drinks. It was a nice relaxing gathering in the cool evening air after such a roasting day. We finally retired for the night some time after 11PM.
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