Today was Athens, and our final port in Greece. We docked early, and we had a 7:15 group meeting time. We decided to skip breakfast, and just get a coffee and a pastry at Bacio. So, up at 6:30, dressed and out at 7:10. It was a little tight on time but I did have just enough time to grab a latte to go. Down two decks, to find the rest of our group of 10 waiting. We were with people we knew - Adele and Frank, Beth and her Aunts and our occasional dinner companions Claude and Carolyn. After introductions were made, we headed off the ship. Just off the ship we found a young woman holding a sign with Adele's name on it. She introduced hereself as our guide Georgia, and then introduced Mario, our driver. We headed to our van to explore Athens. Our first stop was to be the centerpiece and bucket list item - the Acropolis.
On the way, Georgia let us know about a potential problem for our schedule - the French President was visiting for the day, and roads in Athens would be closed periodically.
We arrived at the base of the Acropolis. It's on a hill, and the only way to get there is up the hill on foot. A couple of people in our group decided not to go up. I understand that the lines can be terrible, so our guide and driver pre purchased our tickets for us.
We headed up the hill, and then entered the site. We first looked at a small temple of Athena Nike, (meaning victory, not Athena of the shoe company). It's a small temple just to the side of the Propylaea, the gateway to the acropolis. We then we to the Propylaea, and watched the end of the daily ceremony where soldiers go up the Acropolis to place the flag, and then head down. There march was an interesting variant of a goose step, for lack of a better term. To see it, look at soldiers at acropolis on you tube.
From there, after some very good explanations by our guide, we headed up to to the top of the Propylaea (the gate) and saw the Parthenon. Bucklist checkoff! They are in the process of doing a restoration, so the Parthenon was covered with scaffolding, but still pretty impressive. Next to it is the Erechtheum (makes me giggle), originally a temple to both Athena and Poseiden. One of the most impressive features was the 6 statues of maidens holding up one corner. Here on the hill the statues are replicas. Five of the originals are in the Acropolis museum, and one is in the British museum, as it was stolen by Lord Elgin and then sold to the British museum. The British museum says they bought it legally, so it's theirs. The Greeks, of course, want it back. We also saw the remains of the Odeon of Herodes (theatre) as well as some others.
We wandered around there for a while, and then decided to head to the center of Athens. However, the French President had other ideas, and we were blocked on various roads. So Georgia decided we should go to the Acropolis museum first. We went there, and once again a couple of people decided not to go. Georgia gave them some shopping ideas, and they went off. We all purchased our tickets, and she lead us through the museum. There were both many items taken off the hill, and some replicas showing how they would have been during ancient times. The two most impressive things for very different reasons were the 5 maidens, with an empty pedestal for the empty one (one other is in pieces, but held together) and the lego replica of the entire hill. It has 120,000 pieces and took 300 hours to build. While it's pretty accurate in showing what the hill looked like, there are a few interesting figures along with the ancient Greeks. Performing in the Odeon is Elton John (lucky ancient greeks), and Gandalf in his wagon is heading in.
After the museum, we again tried to get our city tour. No luck, president still there. So instead, we headed to Monastiraki Square - the remains of an old monastery. It's a center of stores, restaurants and the Athens flea Market. When we got there, Georgia told us we had two hours, which seemed like a lot. Oh well.
We joined Claude and Carolyn for lunch at one of the restaurants on the square. Georgia had warned us that the portions were huge. We got one order each of Tiropitakia (cheese turnovers) - we should have shared one. Glen and I shared a kabob with yoghurt sauce, and they shared a mixed grill. Both were a lot of food and we were glad we shared. Also, all of us were going to specialty restaurants this night. We then still had an hour and a half to kill so we wandered some of the streets. First we walked up one and found a church. In the courtyard was a status of the Archbishop of Greece during the second world war - he was apparently a great humanitarian. We then turned and went through the Plaka old part of Athens. We saw the oldest house in Athens, and looked at the Roman Agora and the Library of Hadrian sets of ruins, but we were a little ruined out, so opted not to pay to go in.
We eventually made our back to the square via different streets, and found the local Starbucks. When we got back to the square, we found Claude and Carolyn sitting on the steps of the metro - they'd seen all they wanted to. We hung out with them for a bit and then went to a bakery for some coffee. I also got a baklava, which I tried back on the ship. (I can get just as good at home). They then came over to the bakery - apparently where they were sitting was a haven for pigeons and they were doing their business all over our friends. We could find nowhere to sit in the shade that wasn't going to be a pigeon haven, so we just stood and waited until the rest of the group showed up and Georgia came to get us.
After that, we headed to the Temple of Zeus ruin and the Hadrian's Arch. The temple was started by the Greeks and completed by the Romans. Pretty impressive, lots of standing columns still, and ruins of homes and bath houses.
By that time, supposedly the French President had gone home, so we could continue our tour. We saw the city hall, the olympic stadiums, and a great view from a high point above the city.
We finished at the Parliament building, in by the tomb of the unknown soldier. Georgia explained about the two army guards who are there. They don't move at all for the hour they are there and if there's some sort of problem they can bang their bayonet on the ground to attract the attention of the regular army guy that's with them. They wear traditional mountain wear. Every hour there's a changing of the guard. We got there at 3:50, so waited for the 4 pm changing. It was fascinating. I actually did a video, but don't know how to post it, so you'll have to find that on you tube. Apparently the elaborate leg and foot motion is representative of what they did in mountains, and requires special training (ballet would help if that's a gig you'd want). It looked a little like a Lindy hop basic to me. Also, from what I see on YouTube, the dress changes by season.
While watching this, they closed the road, since apparently the French hadn't left yet. Mario, our driver (dubbed super Mario based on his ability to get around stopped traffic) went across 4 lanes of traffic to make a u turn before the road closure. We drove to the port, and got back to the ship around 4:45. Perfect timing.
Glen and I dropped our stuff and went down to Michaels club. I took advantage of my Verizon travel pass and called my mother and sister. I also watched the gangway - I watched a few people, between 5:15 and 5:28 running towards the ship. They were fine, though since the passenger back on time was 5:30. However, the gangway stayed down for about 45 minutes. There were several police cars there (one the concierges told me it was probably port police and they're always there when a ship doesn't leave). People kept coming and going. Finally a few people got off with suitcases, got into both the police and regular cars, and drove off. Then we left. We never found out why, but Manuala (concierge) said she heard that there was a family emergency of some sort.
Tonight we had dinner at Murano planned. Our reservation was at 8:30 and we were so hot and sweaty that we decided to take showers. We went back to the room, and our laundry that we'd sent out was back. I noticed the dry cleaning wasn't there, so we called Arun. He said he'd bring it shortly and he did. Between when we called and he arrived, we counted our items and a shirt of mine was missing. Panic set in, since the last time we had missing laundry was in 2010, and I'm still waiting for it to show up. Arun said he'd take care of it. I figured the shirt was lost for good - oh well.
At 8:30 we headed down to Murano. They gave us a nice table by the window, but the restaurant was pretty loud due to a couple of large parties. The service was good, but a lot of people helping. I had the what they called a forest mushroom carpaccio aka mushroom soup, and Glen had the pear in philo dough to start. We also shared a spinach salad. All were good. We split the Chateaubriand for two, and it was very good. We both had the Grand Marnier souffles. While waiting for this the brought some small cookies and such, mostly chocolate.
After dinner, we went back to the room, and pretty much went to bed early since it was a very early and long day.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Cable car or Donkey, rose or dessert wine
Santorini! We had a tour booked with some of our cruise critic friends - there would be 6 of in a van taking a tour of the whole island. It was, however a tender port, and we had to meet our guide at 9 am. I'd asked the concierge at Michaels if there was a way to use priority tendering, and they said to just bring the other four with us. So, our original plan was to meet in the lobby, so we changed it to the Ensemble lounge, just outside Michaels. We got up in time to grab breakfast, and then headed to the lounge. One couple, Joe and Ruth were there, and JoEllen and Alan arrived soon after us. Manuala was taking a couple down to the tender area, so she just had us follow.
When we arrived, the tender wasn't there, so some of us went up a deck to get water, and came back down. Soon, we were on the tender, and docked below Fira, the main town on Santorini. There are three ways to get there. The first, and easiest is the cable car. The lines can get long, since it holds only 36 people at a time. There is a trail up, and you can walk (way 2) or take a donkey ride (way 3). Note that walkers share the trail with the donkeys so have to be very careful. We opted for the cable car. Fortunately, going up there wasn't a line - so we got on the first available car. (There are two of them, one goes up as the other goes down - a very common layout). We reached the top right on time, and there was Spriros waiting for us. After introductions, he told us where to wait, and went to get the car. Apparently, parking near the cable car is not possible, as, like many Greek Islands, Santorini's main town is full of very narrow streets pre-dating cars, so parking was impossible near the cable car exit.
Our first stop was the town of Their (I think) simply for the view, and to give the big buses from the ships time to leave Oia. Spiros took us part way, talking about some things about the island. He left us to wander to a point where he could leave the car, so we walked for about 10 minutes, admiring the spectacular view of the caldera. He also told us that it was too deep for the ships to anchor, so they have to keep the engines going to avoid drifting. We also had the Costa Classica with us down there.
Our next stop was the town of Oia, most photographed of Santorini. On the way, we stopped to learn about the geography of the island. The soil is volcanic, and there’s lots of pumice. We also learned a little bit about our fabulous guide. Apparently, he has a PhD in Archeology, and worked as an archeologist in the middle east, but it wasn’t a good way to make a living, so he became a tour guide.
We arrived in Oia, and Spriros gave us an orientation to the town. Part of his advice was not to do our shopping here, but to wait for Athens. Apparently there’s a lot of competition there, and things are fairly inexpensive. He took us to a square in the middle of the town, where there was, of course, the obligatory small cathedral. There was some sort of thing going on with bells ringing, and priests walkings. He gave us an hour to wander, visit the fort at the end of the street, or get a snack.
We joined JoEllen and Alan at a cafe overlooking the water and had coffee and desserts. That pretty much ate the entire time, so we headed back to meet Spiros. Joe and Ruth arrived at the same time we did and we headed to the car. Among the things we noticed was venders selling roasted street corn. He recommended that we have some if we found it in Athens (we didn’t).
We then drove across the entire island to a monastery that’s the highest point on the island. There are still a few monks there. The view was spectacular. You can’t go into the monastery itself, but you can go to the chapel. It’s in a lovely courtyard. Apparently, in Greece, they only show the Virgin Mary with Jesus, to indicate she’s not a dirty. Also, the pictures of their saints are fairly unadorned.
Our last stop was a nearby winery. JoEllen had read about one, but Spiros said it was about 50.00 to taste, so we opted to go to the one he’d selected. The tasting table was down some steps outside, so we had a beautiful view. There were a few price points - you could get full glasses, or two types of tastings - 3 and 5 wines. The tasting for 5 was 10 euros. Each couple opted to share one 5 wine tasting. They have grape that’s special to Santorini, so we tasted two different varietals for those, a rose, a red and a dessert wine. Generally the group liked the rose and the dessert wine the best. Glen and I decided to buy a bottle of the dessert wine. I found out later that when he bought it, they applied the cost of the tasting to the bottle, just as they do in Napa.
Following that, we drove back to Firo. When Spiros dropped us, he gave us a couple of restaurant recommendations. JoEllen had seen one on the travel channel, but it was in Oia, and thus too far to just go to. We select Argo, one that offered a wide array of greek dishes with a view of the Caldera. JoEllen found the Octopus she wanted, Joe and Ruth split a cheese stuffed burger, Alan also had that, and Glen and I each had something we don’t see at home - stuffed rolled beef. It was very good.
Following that, we headed to the cable car. We followed the signs, and soon encountered a line snaking around a square with shops along the side. We joined the end of the line and snaked along with everyone else. The wait ended up being about 30 minutes. The ride down was about 5, and then there was about a 15 minute wait for the tender. The crew was out in the line with cold water and cold towels.
One interesting fact about the tenders in both tender ports - the ship tenders were not used. Instead, they were local boats with a lot of seating. Glen’s guess was the unions in the area required their boats.
Once back on the ship we dropped our stuff in our room, and headed down for our nightly drink in Michaels club. Following that, Glen went back to the room for a bit and I went down to the shops to find out if they were planning to sell Kipling (I wanted a small backpack) and how the vat works. I did get different information than last time. Prior, I’d been told to just save my receipts from onboard purchases, and at the end of the cruise bring them to a shop. Today I was told they all had to be purchased on the same day. Earlier, Glen had purchased an adapter for the iPad, and now apparently that couldn’t be included. Apparently, the iLounge purchases could never be included even if purchased the same day. Oh well. I also learned the Kipling would be out on the last sea day when they did their sales.
We'd been invited to the helipad for sailaway, so at the appointed time we headed up. Nobody was there (at the meeting point) but someone sitting on the stairs said that the group had headed down the hall, so we went there. The line onto the helipad moved slowly but we were on the helipad before sailaway. We chatted with some of our friends as we sailed off.
We went to dinner at around 8:30, and after dinner tried to dance to one of the musicians. The floor is small to begin with, and they’ve put a statue on it. We gave up, went up a couple of decks and tried to dance in the hall. It’s hard on carpet so we gave up and headed up to the room. Relaxed for a bit, and then went to a reasonably early bed, since we had a very early start in Athens.
When we arrived, the tender wasn't there, so some of us went up a deck to get water, and came back down. Soon, we were on the tender, and docked below Fira, the main town on Santorini. There are three ways to get there. The first, and easiest is the cable car. The lines can get long, since it holds only 36 people at a time. There is a trail up, and you can walk (way 2) or take a donkey ride (way 3). Note that walkers share the trail with the donkeys so have to be very careful. We opted for the cable car. Fortunately, going up there wasn't a line - so we got on the first available car. (There are two of them, one goes up as the other goes down - a very common layout). We reached the top right on time, and there was Spriros waiting for us. After introductions, he told us where to wait, and went to get the car. Apparently, parking near the cable car is not possible, as, like many Greek Islands, Santorini's main town is full of very narrow streets pre-dating cars, so parking was impossible near the cable car exit.
Our first stop was the town of Their (I think) simply for the view, and to give the big buses from the ships time to leave Oia. Spiros took us part way, talking about some things about the island. He left us to wander to a point where he could leave the car, so we walked for about 10 minutes, admiring the spectacular view of the caldera. He also told us that it was too deep for the ships to anchor, so they have to keep the engines going to avoid drifting. We also had the Costa Classica with us down there.
Our next stop was the town of Oia, most photographed of Santorini. On the way, we stopped to learn about the geography of the island. The soil is volcanic, and there’s lots of pumice. We also learned a little bit about our fabulous guide. Apparently, he has a PhD in Archeology, and worked as an archeologist in the middle east, but it wasn’t a good way to make a living, so he became a tour guide.
We arrived in Oia, and Spriros gave us an orientation to the town. Part of his advice was not to do our shopping here, but to wait for Athens. Apparently there’s a lot of competition there, and things are fairly inexpensive. He took us to a square in the middle of the town, where there was, of course, the obligatory small cathedral. There was some sort of thing going on with bells ringing, and priests walkings. He gave us an hour to wander, visit the fort at the end of the street, or get a snack.
We joined JoEllen and Alan at a cafe overlooking the water and had coffee and desserts. That pretty much ate the entire time, so we headed back to meet Spiros. Joe and Ruth arrived at the same time we did and we headed to the car. Among the things we noticed was venders selling roasted street corn. He recommended that we have some if we found it in Athens (we didn’t).
We then drove across the entire island to a monastery that’s the highest point on the island. There are still a few monks there. The view was spectacular. You can’t go into the monastery itself, but you can go to the chapel. It’s in a lovely courtyard. Apparently, in Greece, they only show the Virgin Mary with Jesus, to indicate she’s not a dirty. Also, the pictures of their saints are fairly unadorned.
Our last stop was a nearby winery. JoEllen had read about one, but Spiros said it was about 50.00 to taste, so we opted to go to the one he’d selected. The tasting table was down some steps outside, so we had a beautiful view. There were a few price points - you could get full glasses, or two types of tastings - 3 and 5 wines. The tasting for 5 was 10 euros. Each couple opted to share one 5 wine tasting. They have grape that’s special to Santorini, so we tasted two different varietals for those, a rose, a red and a dessert wine. Generally the group liked the rose and the dessert wine the best. Glen and I decided to buy a bottle of the dessert wine. I found out later that when he bought it, they applied the cost of the tasting to the bottle, just as they do in Napa.
Following that, we drove back to Firo. When Spiros dropped us, he gave us a couple of restaurant recommendations. JoEllen had seen one on the travel channel, but it was in Oia, and thus too far to just go to. We select Argo, one that offered a wide array of greek dishes with a view of the Caldera. JoEllen found the Octopus she wanted, Joe and Ruth split a cheese stuffed burger, Alan also had that, and Glen and I each had something we don’t see at home - stuffed rolled beef. It was very good.
Following that, we headed to the cable car. We followed the signs, and soon encountered a line snaking around a square with shops along the side. We joined the end of the line and snaked along with everyone else. The wait ended up being about 30 minutes. The ride down was about 5, and then there was about a 15 minute wait for the tender. The crew was out in the line with cold water and cold towels.
One interesting fact about the tenders in both tender ports - the ship tenders were not used. Instead, they were local boats with a lot of seating. Glen’s guess was the unions in the area required their boats.
Once back on the ship we dropped our stuff in our room, and headed down for our nightly drink in Michaels club. Following that, Glen went back to the room for a bit and I went down to the shops to find out if they were planning to sell Kipling (I wanted a small backpack) and how the vat works. I did get different information than last time. Prior, I’d been told to just save my receipts from onboard purchases, and at the end of the cruise bring them to a shop. Today I was told they all had to be purchased on the same day. Earlier, Glen had purchased an adapter for the iPad, and now apparently that couldn’t be included. Apparently, the iLounge purchases could never be included even if purchased the same day. Oh well. I also learned the Kipling would be out on the last sea day when they did their sales.
We'd been invited to the helipad for sailaway, so at the appointed time we headed up. Nobody was there (at the meeting point) but someone sitting on the stairs said that the group had headed down the hall, so we went there. The line onto the helipad moved slowly but we were on the helipad before sailaway. We chatted with some of our friends as we sailed off.
We went to dinner at around 8:30, and after dinner tried to dance to one of the musicians. The floor is small to begin with, and they’ve put a statue on it. We gave up, went up a couple of decks and tried to dance in the hall. It’s hard on carpet so we gave up and headed up to the room. Relaxed for a bit, and then went to a reasonably early bed, since we had a very early start in Athens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)