Travel journal: east Med Princess cruise 2010 (Day 6)



Theater of Dionysus



Theater of Dionysus



City view, from Acropolis



The Monumental Entrance

The Erectheion

The Parthenon



View of Athens and site of the original city



City view, including one of Greece's
best-preserved temples.

City view, including Temple of Zeus

Acropolis, outer wall

Corinth Canal

Temple of Apollo

The Agora

The Bvema

Acro Corinth

Day 6, 11/15/2010: Piraeus

Cruise ships call upon Piraeus for its proximity to Athens, and like Katakolon, the port city does not itself boast many attractions of note. But though Athens, the sprawling metropolis of four million, dwarfs its port city, Piraeus with its population of 500 thousand wouldn’t necessarily be considered sleepy.

As such, there could be no comparison drawn between yesterday’s scenic motorcoach ride through the Greek countryside and today’s ride to Athens. Piraeus and much of the outskirts of Athens were, to be honest, a bit aesthetically challenged with pervasive graffiti. However, where their so-called ‘modern’ structures would fail by American standards, Piraeus and Athens have histories dating back to 500 BC and 3,000 BC respectively, a right no incorporated American city can even come close to boasting.

Towards downtown Athens, though, we did see some beautiful core landmarks as we drove by. They included: the Plaka, a truly modern-day and tourist friendly district; Hadrian’s Arch; the Presidential Palace; the Temple of Zeus, and a few others that just blended together on our cursory tour. I was sorry we didn’t have a chance to see each one more thoroughly, but due to time constraints, we had to head straight for Athens’ most famous sight: the Acropolis.

Though translated from Greek as highest point of the city, Athens’ Acropolis is really its second highest hill and the site of its ancient city. About halfway up is the Theater of Dionysus, partially ruined but still in use today. On the summit, remains of only four buildings still stand: the monumental entrance, the Temple of Nike, the Erectheion Temple dedicated to Poseidon and Athena, and the Parthenon, dedicated wholly to Athena. Standing next to such a world-renowned monument started to realize the true wonder of this epic vacation.

The Acropolis affords stunning, unobstructed views of the city below. We saw again many of the sights that we’d previously driven by, most prominently the Temple of Zeus, plus Athens’ many ornate red-tile roofed churches and one of the best-preserved temples in Greece.

After our visit to the Acropolis followed a stop at the scenic Corinth Canal, a fabulous buffet lunch at the seaside Kalamaki Beach Hotel, and about an hour’s worth of total commute time to the archeological site of ancient Corinth.

What to the uninterested eye may seem like a series of fragmented stones is to mom and I – and many others – one of the most important historical sites to our Christian heritage, where Paul founded his beloved Church of Christ.

I was glad to be on a guided excursion to Corinth; otherwise, I would have missed many of the sites’ significance. As our guide explained, ancient Corinth actually consisted of three cities from different time periods. The first was a Greek city built on Acro Corinth, the highest point in the area. The second city was built on the second-highest point but was burned in the seventh century BC to avoid the impending Roman conquest; only the Temple of Apollo partially survived. The third city was built by the Romans in the fifth century BC, adjacent to the site of the second. This city’s marketplace (agora in Greek or forum in Latin) has been excavated, though most of the rest remains buried. The other site of significant interest to us was the Bvema, Greek for “step forward,” the building where Paul testified in defense of his faith.

The site’s museum, which was included in our admission, had many artifacts that very much complimented what we saw and enriched our experience.

The last stop on our tour was a locally-owned craft store where urns, ceramics, and statues were made. One of the painters gave a short but interesting demonstration on the different types of vases he worked on and explained the differences between certified museum copies and generic trinkets.

It took an hour and a half to reach port again. After all the walking we did, I was grateful for the complimentary shuttle ride through Piraeus’ large cruise terminal.

Once back on board, we were hungry enough to go to the buffet before dining formally. Afterwards, we saw Sammy Goldstein’s special Vista Lounge show, a Broadway tribute. Then, we stopped into the Princess Theater for a cabaret show. In between and afterwards, we ‘lounge-hopped’ to experience all the different music groups with their individual styles, until all the shows ended around midnight.

Even though the Star Princess docks in Mykonos at 1 AM, we’ll definitely wait till later in the morning to go ashore and see what this small Greek isle has to offer.