"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #103 Piraeus, Greece April 12, 2016 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees Part #1 of 3 80 Pictures

Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2016 7:29:01 PM
Subject: Report #103 Piraeus, Greece April 12, 2016 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees Part #1 of 3 80 Pictures

Today's port was Piraeus for the city of Athens, Greece. Athens is the birthplace of democracy and is one of the oldest cities in the world. Recorded history dates back over 7000 years.

The Acropolis of Athens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the most famous structures on the Acropolis is the Parthenon, a temple completed in 438BC, dedicated to Athena, a Greek goddess. The mountain where the temple is located is 230 feet above the city. From here, you can see the temple of Zeus, the Olympic Stadium, Constitution Square, and the Royal Palace. The marble Olympic stadium is where the first games were held in 1896. We were told many years ago, that the contestants competed in these Olympics in the nude. At that time, only men were allowed to compete, and no women were allowed to compete or even watch. Things have changed since then.

If you like museums, then you must visit the National Archaeological Museum with the largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities in the entire world.

Another stop is at the Plaka, an old historical neighborhood with narrow winding streets with neat shops, and great restaurants.

Some of the ship's tours were the best of Athens for 7 hours at $215. Athens, Acropolis, & Cape Sounion was an 8 ½ hour tour for $190. The Acropolis and the Museum visit was 7 hours for $200. All of these excursions included lunch.

Other alternate tours that we have done in the past were ancient Corinth and Canal for 4 ½ hours for $75. The Corinth Canal is 4 miles long, but only 70 feet wide. The walls of the canal are 170 feet deep. It connected the Aegean Sea and Ionian Sea, making it a shortcut during ancient times.

Ancient Corinth, the city, was a city buried from the 6^th century BC. It was discovered that there was a Roman city buried underneath in 44BC. You are free to explore these ruins on your own.

Shorter scenic tours ran from $60 to $80, with a shuttle transfer only for $55. They allow you 4 hours on your own with this tour.

Many folks we know will be taking the train to Athens, or ride the Ho-Ho bus for $15. That is really a good deal, especially if you are willing to spend some time waiting for the bus to pick you up between stops.

There was also a little train ride from the port of Piraeus to the Zea Marina and Open Mall on the other side of Piraeus. Or, you can walk.

Since we have taken each and every one of these tours, we decided to stay in town today. Walking would do us good, and besides, the weather was beautiful.

The only problem was when we went outside to check the pier and terminal, nothing looked the same. Something was really different here. Even Eddie and Lee, our Chinese buddies in their 90's, said what happened to the old terminal building? He thought it was gone, and we were in a totally new area. Well, it turned out that the Costa Riviera had taken our usual spot at Terminal A. We were in Terminal B, so far away, we could not even see the other terminal or the Costa ship. Since we always walk to town, it appeared that where we were docked would add over three miles to our hike. We could do it, but would prefer not to. Some folks would not even attempt it.

After breakfast, we made a test run through the terminal to find a map if nothing else. There were none. There was no information desk at all. Our location guide, Barbara, said they had tried to get a shuttle to take folks to the old terminal, but were told no, due to heightened security with the Syrian refugee situation. We have been seeing this on the news, where a camp of tents had been set up for these refugees right here in Piraeus. We could see this encampment across the harbor, but not sure what that had to do with us.

Apparently nothing. We spotted a shuttle bus arrive at the gangway, taking folks to the other terminal. They must have changed their minds, and sent the bus for the day. What got us mad was that this ws never announced onboard. Yes, many passengers had already left for their HAL tours, but the remaining group should have been informed. Later on, we found out that the Hop On, Hop Off buses came to this terminal, and so did the little train ride. Since we would take neither of these, the shuttle saved us two hours of walking.

We were able to get a map of Piraeus, which was all we wanted in the first place. From Terminal A, we hiked to the Main Port and the ferry boats. Then we found the produce, fish, and meat markets, one of the liveliest places in town. The vendors there shout out their prices for all to hear…somewhat like fish mongers, we suspect. Even the produce guys were pushing their garlic and spices as we wandered through the stalls.

From here, we made our way through the old part of town, over the hill, to the Open Mall area. This is a large block of streets that have been mostly cut off to traffic. It is a pedestrian mall, with occasional motorbikes passing through. The shops go from flea market to upscale boutique stores. Many cafes and bakeries line the way to the Marina Zea and the Private Yacht Marina.

We walked from one end to the other, taking in all of the small fishing boats to the huge mega-yachts. This is an older area, but full of charm from another era. Many churches are still in this part of town, so even if you don't go into Athens, you can still feel like you are in the same period of ancient history in Piraeus.

The last time we were here, we happened to find a really great place to eat lunch. It was a small restaurant on the yacht side of the marina by the name of Parmigiani Pizza and Pasta. And that's exactly what we had for lunch…..margherita pizza (the best so far on this trip), and a plate full of Bolognese spaghetti with grated parmesan cheese. We added two Greek beers called Alfa. They were very good, and ice cold. The best part was sitting across the street from the restaurant at a table with an umbrella on the wall of the marina. It was so pleasant, we must have lingered there for over an hour. One nice thing about being in this part of the world, is that you are never rushed. You have to ask for the bill, and won't be disturbed before that.

Normally, the ship is in this port for two days. Not so today. All aboard time was 5pm, so we had to move on. And we also had a mandatory muster drill at that same time. On the way back to the ship, we were approached by a few street vendors selling either perfumes or cell phones. None of their products were the real thing, but not a lot of folks know that. Rene, the spa manager, was also coming back, and chose to walk with us, so the vendors would leave her alone. She had a bad experience going to town earlier. With just a short time to spare, she took a taxi to the marina shops, but when she gave the taxi driver 10 Euro for a 5 Euro drive, he refused to give her the change back. He insisted that she owed him the tip. Not wanting to argue with a taxi driver who spoke little English, she reluctantly gave him the money, and got out of his cab….madder than ever, but in one piece.

The sail out of the harbor was uneventful, with the exception that we got to see the refugee camp across the harbor from where we were docked. It appeared to look very messy, with garbage everywhere. We don't know the whole story, but we think these people are being quarantined in this terminal until it is determined who they have there. We did get some great photos as we backed out of the breakwater.

Turning around, we took off for the next port of Katakalon, a short distance away. Tomorrow's port of call is much different than Athens, as it is located in a more rural area. It is more touristy, but more in the countryside.

Tonight there was 10 of us for dinner, as three had gone to the Canaletto for dinner. We fit at the big table, and it was nice. Everyone had done something different, so it's always a pleasure to hear adventures. Our service from Whyu and Rudy has been so good, we get out of the dining room shortly after 10pm.

There was a head-liner in the Queens Lounge tonight……Rita Rudner, a comedian from Las Vegas. She has sold almost two million tickets to her Vegas shows over the years. Although we have seen her the last couple of years on the HAL ships, we are not familiar with her on TV or movies. Only because we don't get regular programming at home. We are sure her show will be good, but most of us at our table decided to call it an early night. If she has an encore, perhaps we will catch that.

Bill & Mary Ann

Arriving to the port of Piraeus, Greece