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Our departure from India could not come soon enough. We had just spent a long and challenging five months traveling through South America and Asia. We were ready for the comforts of Europe but a little worried about the cost. Our flight from Bombay, India was on Delta and they let us off in Frankfurt, Germany. We were two weary travelers and the site of a modern and clean airport put huge smiles on our tired faces. Our challenge now was to get from Frankfurt to Athens in the next five days so we could meet up with my parents and depart on our cruise. It turns out that everybody else in Germany was also going on a cruise in Greece because all the flights were full. Everyday we checked provided no options. The train would take two days and the path took us through Croatia and Bosnia the location of some major internal conflict.
We ventured into three of four travel agents looking for somebody who knew something the other guy didn't. We got lucky with an informed travel agent who found a 6:00 AM charter flight out of Munich. The ticket was around $125 each and would allow us to travel south through Germany to Munich. We didn't want to activate our Eurail passes which meant we had to purchase train tickets from Frankfurt to Munich and it came in at $70 a person. Welcome to Europe! Since we had a couple of days we spent the night in Frankfurt, Heidelburg, and our final stop Munich. Europe was expensive and we decided to save a night in Munich by not getting a hotel, instead staying out in the bars all night and heading straight for our 6:00 AM flight. We had not done this kind of late night partying on our trip and will not be doing it again! Nothing wrong with staying up all night to party big but getting on a plane without a shower or any sleep was a disaster.
Arriving in Athens was uneventful but very chaotic. The customs lines are setup for European Union and Non-European Union. The line for European Union passport holders was a quick walk through but as Americans we had a long line. Athens does not have a great reputation for being a big city to hang out in so we just figured we would grab a mid-priced hotel room and relax. We booked into the Hotel Astor using a booking agent at the airport. The guy was really nice and took good care of us. The airport was packed and we were happy to get a room. The ride into town was in a Mercedes taxi and was incredibly cheap compared to a taxi we took in Germany. The Hotel Astor worked out well, our view was of the Acropolis. We were asleep an hour after we checked in. For some reason Scooter could not sleep long and decided to venture out for food. He went on a very long walk and was gone a couple of hours, I kept sleeping. He came back telling me he really liked Athens, I kept sleeping. We had heard very few positive things about Athens in the past but it appears they have gotten their tourist act together in preparation for the Summer Olympics in 2004.
We ventured out for dinner in the old town area called Platka - it is touristy but the festive traditional streets were lined with shops, restaurants and street cafes. The food is fresh and healthy filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, olives, feta cheese, and beans. For some reason we walked into a travel agent and signed up for a city tour the next day. We were guilty of not reading our guidebook and figured this would be an easy way out.
Our city tour starts at 9:00 AM and we need to walk a couple of blocks to the pickup point. Athens was very hot so the tour company decided to do the Acropolis first to avoid the heat of the day. The Acropolis was actually closing early to visitors to avoid any heat stroke victims. The Acropolis is an incredible sight sitting on a high plateau surrounded by the modern city of Athens. The Acropolis (High City) was used first as a forum for the city's public functions and later as a religious center. There are several monuments/buildings situated on the Acropolis: Propylaia, Temple of the Wingless Victory (Athena Nike) of the athletic shoe fame, Erechtheion, Porch of the Maidens and of course the Parthenon. Just below the Parthenon is the Theater of Dionysus a perfect example of Doric architecture. The Theater of Dionysus is where Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Euripides first presented their immortal works. It was difficult to really enjoy the Acropolis because it was mobbed with tourists. Every path was bumper-to-bumper walking tourists taking pictures. I would give almost anything to of seen the Parthenon and the surrounding temples in the days of the ancient Greek philosophers.
We got back on the tourist bus and never got off during the rest of the city tour. It was really a big waste because we could of walked to all of the destinations on the city tour. The bus dropped us off at the Panathenaic Stadium home of the first Olympic Games of the modern era 1896. We wandered back through the national garden after stopping for a photo with the Evzones guarding the President's Palace dressed in funny hats, pom poms and skirts. If you don't mind walking skip the city tour via the bus.
Today is July 4th and we asked around for any American bars celebrating Independence day. We managed to find a Brooklyn Pizza that had an all you can drink beer special. However, it was not American beer so it didn't seem appropriate. The rest of the afternoon was spent performing the worthy pastime of window shopping. The city center area of Athens is filled with several main shopping streets filled with Interior design studios and clothing stores of every descriptions. It was time for some new clothes. The clothing style has turned to a more revealing tank top shirt and we are hard pressed to find any women not wearing one. It is a shame because quite a few of the women we saw displaying their stuff had no business in a tank top.
We wound up the afternoon eating again which is not hard to do with so many cafes. Even the McDonald's has a really good Greek salad bar. The Acropolis has a sound and light show tonight so we head back to the hotel for a little rest and a shower before heading out. The walk took around thirty minutes and we found the streets closed down and police directing traffic. It turns out that tonight was actually an outdoor philharmonic concert complete with a 200+ member choir in the Dionysus amphitheater next to the Acropolis. We found a seat at the top of the theater for a wonderful night under the stars.
Our cruise ship departs tomorrow and we are meeting my parents at the airport. We decide to relocate to the beach to be a little closer to the airport. To be frugal we decided to take the bus which was a little interesting because all the destinations were in Greek letters. We managed to find the correct bus by asking around and found ourselves thirty minutes later at Vouliagmeni Beach. At first glance the beach area did not look promising but on closer inspection we found numerous cafes, shopping and swimming. I walked around checking out the local hotel options which were sparse. I chose the Hera Hotel for 15,000 Drachmas a night. The rooms were small and overpriced but the sea view sucked me in.
Not too far from our hotel is a fresh water lake on the edge of the ocean. It is a day resort so we decided to walk down for a swim and some sun. It is like a little country club inside a rock canyon filled with lounge chairs and umbrellas. The waiters are doing a brisk business serving food and refreshments to a couple hundred oversized Greeks. Do not underestimate the view of an oversized Greek in an undersized bathing suit. Nonetheless, we were ready for a swim and paid 1200 Dr each for the privilege. We swam, sunned and read our guidebook. It really does pay sometimes to read the guidebook first because we found our swimming hole was actually filled with naturally radioactive water. We had never heard anything positive about radioactivity but it was too late we had already gone for a swim. It is rumored to cure all kind of ailments and probably explained the oversized clientele.
We had lunch in the small square at the center of town. We dined on fresh bread, Tzaziki, Greek salad, watermelon and sipped retsina (wine flavored with pine resin) in an open air cafe. My idea of a perfect afternoon and at that moment, life was good. We retire to our hotel for the evening just in time to see two Greek men sunning in their underwear. I guess they forgot their bathing suits. The sunset is beautiful and the town does not get busy until 10 PM which is the time Greeks eat dinner. Scooter has decided to take a nap and is unwilling to venture out at 10 PM so I walk around the little town watching locals of all ages hanging out and enjoying a beautiful evening.
Mom and Dad are coming today and I can't wait. I can't believe how excited I am about seeing my parents and the thought of going on a cruise. The thought of no travel planning and unpacking my bag in an actual dresser is too much to hope for. We are starting a two week vacation from our vacation. I think Scooter and I are actually excited about a diversion from each other. We have spent the last five months together with hardly more than an hour apart. We are still best friends and more importantly still in love. Life on the road together is a lesson in togetherness and I am sure we have spent more actual time together in the last six months than many married couples spend in twenty years of marriage.
We met my parents at the Athens airport and they looked great even after a major all night flight. We had signed up with Go Ahead Tours for the cruise and day excursions but most of the other guests had arrived a couple days earlier. Mom and Dad have been to Athens before so they decided to fly in the day of departure. In hindsight that is a little risky if your flight gets delayed or your luggage gets lost. This happened to quite a few people who took an Olympic Airways flight from New York. The flight from New York to Athens had numerous aborted takeoffs and everyone was put on other airlines the following day. When the cruise ship left numerous passengers still had not received their luggage. We waited an hour at the airport for the Go Ahead Tour representative who never showed, so we jumped in a taxi for the port. Somehow the four of us and luggage fit in one Mercedes taxi.
We arrived at the port, Pireas, and found a modern terminal set up to handle numerous cruise ships. We are among the first to board the Marco Polo which is just the right size with a maximum capacity of 800 guests. The ship is considered midsize but has all the luxuries and is compact enough that you won't get lost. The crew greets us and shows us to our cabins. The rooms are larger than we expected but our plan of hanging out and relaxing is only a dream. The Go Ahead Tour activities kept us busy from sunup to sundown and our room only got used for sleeping. The cruise schedule was busy:
| Day 1 | Pireas, Greece | Embark 7 PM |
| Day 2 | Delos, Greece | 8 AM - 12 PM |
| Mykonos, Greece | 2 PM - 10 PM | |
| Day 3 | Santorini, Greece | 7 AM - 12 PM |
| Heraklion, Crete | 4 PM - 9 PM | |
| Day 4 | Rhodes, Greece | 8 AM - 7 PM |
| Day 5 | Kusadasi, Turkey | 7 AM - 1 PM |
| Day 6 | Istanbul, Turkey | Disembark |
The ship did not leave port that night until midnight because of the lost luggage problem from Olympic Airlines that effected numerous passengers. Scooter and I had no room for formal attire in our backpacks which is sometimes required for cruise dinners. We were happy to find that dinner was formal but the dress was casual. Our table mates and fellow Go Ahead Tour customers are from Pennsylvania and Texas. All together there are 45 Go Ahead Tour customers and our tour guide, just the proper amount to fill up one tour bus. Dad couldn't wait to meet the Go Ahead representative to let them know they were dropping the ball. The entire booking process had been filled with problems and the guide was shocked to find us on the boat because she had received a fax saying that we had canceled. We are signed up for the 8:30 seating and after dinner I head straight for bed.
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| This page last changed on 19-Apr-2006 22:11:18 EDT by 70.171.24.221. |
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