The port for Athens is located in the town of Piraeus, about 30 minutes away. It's a very large port, with an astounding amount of ferry traffic and freighters and, today, three smaller cruise ships and the Costa Deliziosa, which probably holds over 3000 passengers. Added to that is the fact that it was turnaround day for the Seabourn Sojourn, with all the related activity (trash offloading, food and supplies onloading, and passenger disembarkation and embarkation) and the port was a hive of activity. We took the free shuttle bus to the port terminal and then dodged several tour buses and buses used to transfer the Sojourn passengers to and from the Athens airport to find the three different Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus companies that were operating between Piraeus and all of the tourist attractions in Athens.
We were immediately informed that there were planned demonstrations taking place in Athens beginning mid-afternoon (these were unrelated to the anti-Trump demonstrations that took place yesterday during President Obama's visit to the city). All of the HOHO bus companies strongly suggested that we plan to leave Athens no later than 2:15pm to avoid traffic closures and any potential issues.
Well...shoot. This shortened our day considerably.
The other option was to take the Metro (subway) but that is not our preferred means of transport. We want to see the city and its neighborhoods and the way its residents live. It's hard to do that from the Metro when one has only a few hours. But we purchased the City Sightseeing Athens HOHO tickets for 20€ per person (usually 22€ but we received a discount for having used City Sightseeing in other cities on this trip). It was chilly but we were dressed for it, and climbed to the top level of the double decker, fully open and with fantastic views.
It took about 35-45 minutes to get to the Acropolis, a transfer location where we switched to a bus that traveled solely within Athens on a 90-minute route stopping at the major tourist attractions. Our first goal for the day was not to visit the Parthenon (which we could see sitting high on the hill called the Acropolis) but to go the the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier in front of the Greek Parliament building to view the changing of the guard that takes place every hour. It was the second stop after we boarded the Athens bus and we were there well before 11am. There was activity to watch even that early, as the evzone, the elite infantry unit of the Greek army, first stood at attention and then changed positions in an elaborate slow motion high stepping march.
The evzone wear a traditional uniform made up of fustanella (kilts with exactly 400 pleats, one for each year the Greeks were under Ottoman rule), white tights and pompom shoes. On their heads they wear berets with a long side fringe and they carry rifles. The soles of their shoes are covered with heavy metal knobs that create the loud clacking noise that is made when they do their exaggerated march, with a section of felt under the instep that creates the scuffing sound that the soldiers periodically create by dragging a foot.
At 11am, three additional evzone appeared from behind the growing crowd and made their way to the area in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. One of these remained in the middle while the other two joined the existing soldiers and did a well choreographed march with two soldiers on each side and then the original soldiers joining the middle one who had remained in place and they marched back through the crowd and away. It was a wonderful thing to see and I took way too many photos (as you can tell!).
We caught the next HOHO bus and then rode most of the 90 minute city loop back to the Acropolis. We found ourselves increasing underimpressed by Athens; most of it is just a sprawling, densely inhabited urban area with ridiculous traffic. In that sense, it resembles Rome but it possesses about 1% of Rome's beauty and none of its charm. We were lucky to have a birds-eye view of the major tourist sites today, but found the urban lifestyle depressing. Of course, we'd probably think the same of New York City. But we had wanted to see how the locals lived, and we certainly did today.
The National Academy Building
The University of Athens
Check out the electric railway lines!
The National Archeological Museum
Highlights of our bus tour included the Plaka district and the fish market with its vendors hawking their different types of fish and prices, We saw Hadrian's arch (finished in AD 132) and the remains of the Temple of Zeus (started in the 6th century BC). But such archeological treasures were stained by exhaust fumes and surrounded by cars and scooters parked willy-nilly and heavy traffic and beeping horns. We could already see roads being cordoned off and police in full riot gear in growing numbers. It was obvious things were going to get at least slightly crazy.
The Plaka District
Hadrian's Arch
Once back at the Acropolis, we realized we wouldn't have enough time to do the site justice, so we simply walked around it taking photos (the west end of the Parthenon is covered with scaffolding as part of a long term restoration project). We used the bathrooms there (pretty sketchy) and then climbed nearby Mars Hill, also known as the Areopagus, for its phenomenal views of Athens and the surrounding mountains. Mars Hill is the site where the Apostle Paul preached Christianity to the Athenians (amazing to think about).
The Parthenon
The Propylaia in the Acropolis
Views from the Areopagus (Mars Hill).
The National Observatory of Athens
Lycabettus Hill in the distance
The Ancient Agora of Athens
The Church of the Holy Apostles
We walked back down the Acropolis and caught the 2pm Piraeus HOHO bus. It's hard not to feel our time in Athens this season was seriously compromised by first the canceled October 16 cruise and then the shortened day today. We want to give it another chance, but were taken aback by the number of beggars (including children) and urban crowding that surrounds most of the archeological treasures. We encountered more police in full riot gear outside the port terminal (just what was going to happen today?) and had to stand in long lines in the terminal to go through security. I can't imagine how it would be with five large ships in port.
We were happy to return to the ship around 3:30pm and, after washing up, headed to the Panorama Buffet. We would usually wait for dinner when we get that close but we had been hungry for hours by then (and didn't want to use our limited time in the city to eat). After a quick lie down, we got ready for the evening and spent a few minutes in the PES Lounge and then went to dinner. Sailaway was at 6pm and we could see the lights of the Greek coastline for a long time afterward. Mentalist Marc Paul finally made it to the ship today, and we went to his 7:45pm show (which was quite good) and then happily crashed. Somehow I feel like our sea day tomorrow is our version of a weekend and am looking forward to not having a schedule.
Plus there's that slot tournament to look forward to. One more night of pleasant dreams about being the $500 winner before I have to return to reality. But it was fun while it lasted. :-)
