Greece

It was such a fast trip in and out of Athens there just wasn’t enough time to really enjoy it.  I hadn’t been looking forward to it as I knew we had a tight timeframe but I did enjoy it more than I thought.

We managed to dock a little earlier and was off the boat by 7.00am.  M & R decided they wanted to catch a ferry to a little Greek Island since they had seen Athens before and we had missed on Mykonos so they went their separate way.  The 4 of us proceed to walk down the wharf area to find the train station into town.  It was a bit more of a hike than we had anticipated and Jo & I were all for catching a taxi but it seemed no-one was listening to us so we were made to walk all the way.

The train ride from Piraeus, which is the port town, to Athens is only about 20 minutes so we were there by 8am and well before anything was open.  Jon & I wanted to go to the Parthenon set up high on a hill so we headed off to catch a taxi while Jo & Ellen decided shopping was the order for the morning.  Our taxi driver was very friendly with enough English to have a chat.  He pointed out several major hotels that had all closed their doors and said that at least 10 major hotels, never mind about the smaller ones, had all closed down over the last year or two.  We thought the Gold Coast was bad but poor Greece has been hit much harder.

He dropped us off nice & close so we lined up for our tickets and went inside the gates, along with 10 million other tourists.  There were at least 4 big cruise ships in town, one was another Princess ship so there were lots of tour groups from each of these ships.  I would say come the afternoon it would have been much quieter.  The Parthenon is very nice and of course so historic & famous but after the temples of Egypt it really wasn’t a patch on them or as awe inspiring.  Go if you must but I wouldn’t rate it high on the list of must sees’. The Acropolis is 2,400 yrs old and built entirely of Pentelic marble.

With an eye on the time we only spent about a half hour there, maybe more before wandering down to the Plaka which is a 19th century shopping district and one of more interest to me.  There are narrow cobbled streets with little shops, tavernas & café’s which I could spend many a happy hour poking around in.  We sat at a nice little café and ordered a plate of calamari, big glass of beer and a frappe.  That beer was the nicest, coldest & most tastiest of beer ever know to mankind. It was just perfect and hit the spot like a cold glass of beer ever could.

I love the food in Greece, can’t be match by Greek food at home or in any other country, somehow it just has to be in Greece so I had been looking forward to that but there just wasn’t enough time to eat what I wanted so I ate what I could.  Another not to be missed delicacy is a cheese pie.  Never count calories when eating a cheese pie, just bite into it and enjoy the taste for what it is, just yummo.

After our snack we headed for the most ridiculous thing we have seen so far and that takes some beating.  If you ever wanted to watch one of the most ridiculous ceremonies in the world, I’m told the changing of the guards on the Pakistani border would take some beating so this must be a close 2nd.  It is the changing of the guard of the unknown solider outside Parliament House in Syntagma Square.  It is in this square that you see all the protestors on telly when they don’t like the Government telling them they have to work harder & longer with no benefits except earn money.

Anyway, these guards are picked for being tall & handsome.  I don’t think there would be one under 6ft.  The guy I stood beside was towering well above me.  They wear funny little outfits with the most outrageous shoes with big pom poms on the toes. There are two guards who stand absolutely stiller than statues for an hour until the relief come goose steeping across the square.  There are three that match down, the two relief and a third that gives the commands and matches away with the two that were there.  As the new guys arrive, in slow motion the incumbent guards lift one leg up like a praying mantis, knee bent then unfurl the leg, kick it high, bring it down bending at the knee again and scrap the ground in a backwards kick then stand straight.  Repeat several times.  As you march you hold one arm high in the air at the same time as lifting the opposite leg as high in the air as you can go then point the toes so the pom pom flicks nicely then lower the arm as you lower the leg then raise the other leg but you can’t raise the other arm as that is clutching a rifle.  It is all done in slow motion and has to be seen to be believed. Talk about ministry of silly walks, these guys are tops.  John Cleese couldn’t have done it better.

Time was also marching on & there was a fish market we wanted to see so we went down a street that would take us back to the train station and almost where we left them 4 hours ago were Jo & Ellen looking at some scarves.  They had had a lovely morning shopping and very pleased with their purchases.  Jo, Jon & I took off back up the road to see the fish & meat markets which was well worthwhile.  It was a big indoor market, lots of noise & yelling, big slabs of meat hanging from hooks and even little bunnies hanging from their back feet, stripped naked except for their fluffy little tails still intact and fluffy hind feet, poor little things.  Next to that was the fish and baskets full of them, mostly sardines & salmon with a smattering of other types as well as octopus & squid.

Back to the ship and ready to go by 1.30pm.  Not much time but enough to eat a cheese pie & see a couple of sights.

That night was the deck toga party. It actually wasn’t bad, the band were great and the cliental were a little younger, mostly 50’s - 60’s and all swinging to the beat.  It was fun to dance under the stars in the Mediterranean sea amongst the bed sheets & various togas.

The next day was a sea day so we hosted a Turkish afternoon tea party and I got to Christian my new tea set.  I had bought some apple tea and of course some Turkish delights and sent out the formal invitations so the team all arrived at the appointed time and we had a very civilised tea session. 

Today we land in Venice and have the whole afternoon all night until lunchtime tomorrow so it will be great.  We started off the day with breakfast on our balcony, the sea is so flat with hardly a ripple and a gentle breeze danced lightly across our faces as the sun beamed down. Tonight they have a Venetian orchestra &  opera singer who will be playing on deck under the Venetian stars, what a wonderful way to spend an evening.