After a leisurely morning with a late brunch at the Grand Dining Room, we managed to find a spare pair of lounges around the pool, where we spent most of the afternoon. Although we’ve met some nice people on this cruise, it seemed obvious that on a cruise like this, that there was bound to be some snooty types, who have lived “entitled, country club” lives. A bit of this haughty behaviour reared its ugly head today – not directed towards us - on a day when everybody was forced together. This unfortunately confirmed what we had already anticipated.
We ate for a second time in the Polo Grill tonight and had a couple in their 80’s at the table next to us who had just gotten married by the Captain. The dinner itself was good, but considering the hype about this restaurant, the food is not any better than on the rest of the ship.
We skipped the entertainment tonight but will give it go tomorrow night.
Saturday morning we went to breakfast just as the ship entered the harbour of Piraeus (Athens). We have been promised pretty good weather for the rest of our journey and today started off with startlingly blue skies and an anticipated high of 32 degrees.
Our planned tour today started just after noon, so we caught an early lunch before we disembarked – can’t miss a meal don’t you know.
We took a tour about town before going to the Acropolis. Our first stop was the original Olympic Stadium – on the way we also saw the new stadiums from 2004 – where the Olympic torch begins its journey every two years. It is an interesting U shaped stadium, which is primarily used for Olympic ceremonies.
Next, we were off to the Acropolis that looks down on the rest of Athens. This ancient city is getting some serious renovations as they continue to reassemble the stones that make up the various buildings, so that they more closely resemble the original structures. I guess there had been some pretty shoddy patching up in years gone by, since virtually everything we see today has been a restoration, after Christians tore the temples down since they were pagan – how enlightened. In the Parthenon alone, they have recently put 440 stones into their proper place. Of course the British Museum has the entire top of the Parthenon – and I don’t think they’re giving it back – so they’ll never have a full restoration.
The day was as hot as promised, so we were glad to get back in the air conditioned bus for a bit as we saw some more Athenean highlights. We were finally let out for a stroll around Athen’s oldest commercial neighbourhood, the Plaka, which is generally made up of tourist shops with a few tavernas thrown in for good measure.
At each destination, when we have a tour, we pick up local guides. Today we learned that in Greece one goes to University to become a tour guide and after four years, if you’re good enough, you can become a guide in any part of Greece. Needless to say, Greece has a bit of history, so the task of being able to share the history of the country with tourists in an entertaining fashion, is daunting to say the least.
By 6:00 we were back at the ship and headed straight to the pool for a cool-off. By this hour the pool is fairly deserted, so it was quite nice.
After dinner, we went to the show that featured a young man who has done a lot of off Broadway work, but never quite made it to Broadway – thus, the cruise ship. Anyway, he had a good voice and performed an entertaining show.
Tonight was another attempt at Skype with Canada. The sound still wasn't very good, but as least we got a picture. Oh well, we tried.
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