Monday 30 March 2009 Day 16

We were both awake early again this morning, and it was exciting to think that we were in Greece. We turned on the Bow Webcam, and saw that we had already docked at Piraeus, the port for Athens. We got dressed and went up on deck to have a look around and see what the weather would be like.
On deck we could see that it was very smoggy like all the other ports we had called into so far. Glad we don’t suffer from asthma, as the air was positively white as you will see in the photos.
We had to muster for our bus tour at 8.30am so we had breakfast, the went down to the Royal Court Theatre a bit earlier than requested, and this was a good move, as Deb and I were sent down with one of the earlier groups, so that we didn’t hold up the others by being slow. When we got through the security, etc. we were able to find our bus, and climb aboard, and consequently got great seats with a big window to look through. We will do this again for the future tours !!!
Our tour guide was once again a very knowledgeable woman, whose name was Philitisis, and she explained that the smog was actually sand from the Sahara desert – hard to believe as it sure looked like smog to us.
Soon the bus was off, first with a short tour of Piraeus, and then on to Athens. We were able to take quite a lot of photos through the window of the bus, as the guide pointed out areas of interest.
We were driving in peak hour traffic when we got to Athens – and once again, it was pretty hair raising – but not as bad as Egypt and India.
We were told that the Greek Parliament had legislated on the height of buildings in Athens, and so no building is allowed to block the view of the Panthenon or the Acropolis – which is really a great piece of law.
As we drove along we soon arrived at the site of the Panathenaic Stadium which was built in 4th Century B.C. and revived for the Olympic Games in 1896. This was a massive stadium which seats 70,000 people. It is also the place where they light the Olympic Flame for each Games. There was a photo stop of about 20 minutes here, and so we took the obligatory photos and have posted them in the web album for all to see.
After the Stadium we then toured through the main streets of the city, and major buildings were pointed out to us. Then on to the bus parking area for the Acropolis and the Parthenon and other ancient sites.
The guide was very adamant about telling us how to get back to the bus parking area because of the hundreds/thousands of tourists in the area, and the strong likelihood of getting lost on exiting the site. This was a good thing, and Deb and I took particular note of everything she said.
The climb up to the top of the Acropolis was fairly easy for the first part, then we all had to stop and wait while she went to get our tickets. While this was happening a crowd (hundreds) of school children arrived, and they were quite boisterous, and at times Deb and I felt uneasy in negotiating the uphill climb over uneven rocky ground. There were many hawkers also try to sell us “junk” – nearly all were selling the same thing, so we wondered how they ever sold anything.
Just as in Cairo, there were huge crowds of tourists – and it was pretty scary at times – especially in terms of being knocked over.
All the way to the top we stopped and took photos and video of the site, and hoped that some of the photos would come out OK.
At least the return journey was a little less difficult – they had provided a separate route to return, and there was a concrete path and steps with handrails – but still people are inconsiderate, and take no notice of someone with a walking stick.
We had one passenger in our group who was blind and used a white cane – it was difficult to imagine what he got out of the experience, as the path up was extremely difficult for sighted people let alone being blind. However, his wife guided him all the way up and back, talking to him all the way in German.
After the visit to the Acropolis we returned to the bus, and was ferried to the Hotel Metropolitan – very swish – and had a lovely lunch once again.
This break was for around an hour, then it was back on the bus for a trip to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. This entailed an hour and a half drive to the cape – we were able to see the coast line, and the areas where the Athenians go in summer to relax. It was a lovely ride, and the scenery was nice – unfortunately the Agean Sea was not the beautiful blue that we expected due to the “smog”.
The Cape had a large restaurant and tourist shop, and I decided that I didn’t really want to take the walk out to the area of the Temple, so bought a book, and a souvenier of Greece – then changed my mind, and walked out to the Temple – Deb had gone on ahead, and had taken lots of photos – once again the ground was fairly rough for walking but not too steep.
After the visit to the Temple, it was back on the bus for the trip back to the ship. We dozed off on the way back, and arrived tired but happy around 4.00pm.
Deb was a bit fragile from the bouncing in the bus, so she took to the bed, and I copied the photos and labelled them ready for posting to the web album.
I went up and bought dinner back to the cabin on a tray for Deb and me, then it was an early night for both of us.

Tuesday 31 March 2009 Day 17
Today was a rest day – thank goodness for those. I finished sorting the photos, recharged the batteries for both cameras, and then did 2 loads of washing while we had some time on board. Deb spent most of the day in bed, and I bought her meals to the cabin.
We had to pick up our passports for Rome this afternoon – we had been advised that we wouldn’t need them, but apparantly the immigration people have changed their minds.
At around 6.00pm we will pass through the Strait of Messina between the toe of Italy and Sicily, the Captain has advised us that we should be able to see both countries from the ship. We also go close to the Stromboli Volcano tonight, and he said that the ship will go as close as possible for us to see it.
We have a channel on the TV which is the Report from the Bridge which keeps us informed of the ship’s position, and the weather and the seas etc. It really is a great asset being able to see where we are on a map of the area.

9.00pm
I have just returned to the cabin after being on deck on a couple of occasions, first to see the ship pass through the Strait of Messina around 6.00pm and second to see her pass the Stromboli Volcano – I was fortunate to see the volcano spray some lava out near the top, and catch it on video – the volcano apparantly does this nearly every 20 minutes.
Tomorrow will be another big day with an 8 ½ hour tour of Rome and its environs.