Vacation Notes 2015: September 12th, Athens, Greece

If it's Tuesday this must be Belgium, but it's not Tuesday, it's Saturday so this must be Athens. Greece.

The ship pulled into port early. Sadly, early arrivals are indicative of early departures. There is more to see and do in Athens than we could possibly hope to fit in. If we had a month to explore, then maybe, but we’ll have to make do with the few hours we’re allowed.

We awoke early, around 5:00. Ah-hem, showered, and shaved. We scurried on down to the Windjammer café for a breakfast before dawn. We hastily downed our scrambled eggs and various liquids, and, quick as a pre-dawn yawn, headed down to the gangway to step ashore. Except we didn’t. Once arrived at the gangway the crew informed us that passport control was late in granting us leave. They did not have any idea when we could leave the vessel.

There's not much you can do when border agents with guns tell you to stay on your vessel while they leisurely consume their breakfast. OK, there is stuff you can do, but none of it ends well. We went back up a few decks to wait out the delay in the Centrum (that big space in the middle of the ship where all the big events happen.)

As it turned out the delay was not so long. We were able to disembark a little after 7:00am.

The wife had hired a car to take us into the city, basically a taxi but probably without a legitimate taxi license. Think Uber, with even less legitimacy. Nevertheless, our driver, Harijs, turned out to be a pleasant fellow who spoke flawless English. As he drove us into Athens he talked non-stop, leaving us with bits of trivia, history, and politics. He and my wife got into quite a discussion about Syrian refugees. He kindly dropped us off at the base of the Acropolis.

Even with our delayed departure from the ship, we managed to arrive at the Acropolis before the gates were open to the public. We actually arrived before the raising of the Greek flag. This turned out to be lucky as it afforded us the opportunity to watch the Greek guard as they marched in formation to raise the flag.

The guard was a serious unit of young men, armed with what looked like American AK47s. They lined up and began their march toward the top of the Acropolis. I should say nice things. After all, we have another day in Greece tomorrow, but their marching style appeared to have been stolen from Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. It was a left-foot down hard, raise the right, tiny shuffle forward and repeat. If you think this sounds as though it might be difficult to get around this way you would be right. This reduces each soldiers stride to around 6 inches. I supposed the purpose might be to create a loud and threatening stomping noise, giving any potential enemy plenty of warning that an army was headed in their direction, and, as an added bonus, plenty of time to run away.

Eventually they made it to the gate, and, when largely out of sight, resumed a more normal gait to the top of the Acropolis, where they raised the Greek flag.

In the meantime, we purchased our tickets and began our own climb towards the Parthenon.

There are times when “climb” is the hyperbole of an old man; not so today. The path upward is uneven to say the least. The marble pathways were laid down over 20 centuries ago and they show their age. No longer is the surface smooth and even, as the ancient Greeks had probably intended. It has grown worn, pitted, and polished slick by billions of footsteps. Some areas have been re-paved slightly to compensate for the poor footing. However, and this is a good thing, they have avoided paving over any ground where the original marble still covers the surface.

The guidebooks indicate that there are over 200 steps leading up to the Propylaea Entrance. Some guidebooks indicate that there are only 100 steps. Either way, it's a lot of steps. More importantly it's not really clear how they define a step. Is it the short rises with extended flat areas, about a meter in depth, or is it the more standard-depth variety with oversized riders, or are they referring to the remains of what would have been marble steps but are now no more than ascending rocks? However it is they define steps, you need to climb them all.

Once through the gates you enter an area currently consisting of four ancient buildings in various stages of restoration: the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion, and the Propylaea.

The Parthenon is obviously the most impressive of these buildings, even while it undergoes some reconstruction. Apparently a preservation effort of the 1910s has had some undesirable consequences necessitating the current restoration process. The plan, as is clearly visible in some photos, is to replace badly damaged pieces with new pieces made from the same materials. It's an amazing effort that only illustrates how amazing the original construction was. Even with 21st-century equipment the re-construction is a slow and arduous task.

The Acropolis affords a viewpoint second to none in Athens. From our vantage point, we could easily see all the way out to the sea, around seven miles away. It should have been impossible for approaching armies to ever catch the Athenians by surprise. It’s too bad that nobody told the Spartans about this impossibility.

Luckily we have few enemies to worry about on this day. We could see the remains of the Temple of Zeus, Pilopappou Hill, and several other sites that we would not have the time to visit in person.

Because we were among the first visitors to arrive at the Parthenon—on this day—we had the place virtually to ourselves for the first couple of hours. Watching the sun rise through the columns of the Parthenon may be one of the most breathtaking experiences on earth. And because mornings in Greece are breezy and cool, this crack-of-dawn visit comes highly recommended. Guidebooks estimate up to 2.5 miles of walking are necessary. I think that may be true if you take a guided tour. They tend to stay on a defined path. The free-lance tourist, however, is under no such restrictions to stay on the path most traveled. The Acropolis is (mostly) open to the public and to those not so sure footed, can be seriously challenging. I think it is safe to double the 2.5 miles estimate.

The space may be immense but it is not too long before it gets filled to capacity with visitors. It is my understanding that at times it gets so crowded that they simply do not allow additional people to enter. Anyway in addition to crowded, Greece gets unbearably hot in the afternoons and the dust kicked up by all the visitors does nothing to help. We exited after an hour or more and headed to the old city.

Along our way to the old city we passed a point called Areopagus Hill. The hill had a plethora of uses in ancient times. But today, for no particular reason, you can climb the approximately 120 meters, or take the modern stairs, or take the ancient marble stairs and scurry about on the top, from side to side, overlooking the old city. Daughter and I made the climb while my wife waited below to snap photos. I went up just a few meters beyond the reach of the stairs, while Daughter ventured slightly further.

After playing around on the hill for a bit we continued downhill into the old city with stops at various places including a very large museum, the Kaisariani Monastery, and the Hephaestus Temple.

Leaving the ancient areas we entered into a more rural shopping district, no doubt designed with people like us in mind. It consisted of the normal souvenir stands as well as a healthy number of outdoor eateries. By eateries I mean everything from full-course Greek restaurants to Ben & Jerry's.

After picking up the required number of souvenirs, we settled into a restaurant.

Despite knowing the kitchen was still 20 minutes from opening we still opted to order a lunch. I know that when we ordered lunch we explained that we were but lowly passengers from a cruise ship with a limited amount of time. I don’t think it registered as significant. We waited. An accordion player passed by, playing "Never on a Sunday". I stupidly over-tipped and he ran off to the next sucker. We waited some more. Another three-piece band showed up: an accordion player, a horn blower, and a tambourine man. This time I did not over tip. They quickly ran off looking for the next sucker. We waited.

Finally, our meal arrived, as did our sense of panic regarding place and time. At this point we had no idea how to get back to the ship. We ate quickly and headed out in search of the notorious hop-on-hop-off red bus. Not the blue bus. And not the yellow bus..

We found the bus stand—a weather-beaten placard of questionable validity in front of an outdoor café. It was the right place; however, as it turned out, the bus would not be taking us back to the port but to another transfer station. This didn’t seem to be a problem We should make it to the transfer station on time and we would get to see a little bit of Athens outside of the tourist zone.

I really shouldn’t say anything negative about Athens outside of the tourist zone. It is a city of four million people and as can be expected of any area with so many people, there is a bit of an ugly underbelly that can is exposed now and again.

There were several stops in stop-and-go traffic before we made our transfer that would take us back to the Port of Piraeus.

Getting off the bus at the Port of Piraeus, there was a gauntlet of vendors separating us from our entry to passport control. My wife could not resist engaging a few. They were selling new iPhones and Samsung phones, and watches, both genuine gold and silver, and all for around $60.

The path through the vendor fields was long but we did make it back on ship.

This has been a great trip, but I fear we may have turned a corner and become old people. Once on board, we napped until around 6:00PM.

Once again we dined with Jims and Fiona. Like us, they had had a long day in the sun. Jims wasn't feeling too well and left early. Daughter, as was usual, left early to go to the teen’s club. As has also been usual she did not find too many fellow teens down there and returned early to the cabin. She sleeps still.

Wife and I made the obligatory lap around the upper deck and then, while on a search for more brown liquid, headed to the Schooner Bar for a Beatles and Queen trivia. Too easy.

Interestingly, walking through the Schooner Bar is the only way to get to another venue called "Let's Dance" or some such thing. Anyway, they were having a karaoke night. We stayed for a bit before leaving to pick up the search for a cup of java.

Scoring a cuppa by the back pool, I poured myself some joe and my wife some chocolate, and we returned to our stateroom?

Tomorrow is a slow day. We arrive in the Port of Katakolon, Greece at around 10:00am. Olympus is a possibility but apparently, it is not high on anyone's agenda. Once again we aren’t planning on going on any of Royal Caribbean’s excursions. We’ll wing it! Maybe rent a car, or some bikes. Definitely no donkeys! We’ll decide when we get there. It’ll be a short visit before beginning the voyage back to Rome.