Tag Archives: Athens

Posted in travel

Athens and a Photo Phinish

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by Bob Sparrow

View of Parthanon from our hotel

We disembarked in the port of Piraeus at 8:30 in the morning and had about a 45-minute ride through Athens, a clean city that looked a bit tired except for the fresh graffiti, to Hotel Grande Bretagne, which is five-star and in a great location across from Syntagma Square, a major park in Athens. After checking in and freshening up, we were met at the hotel with two, four-passenger golf carts for our tour and introduction to Athens. It often seemed like we took our life in our own hands by riding a golf cart in this very heavily trafficked city. But our guide was used to it, so we survived. Our guide was not only a good driver, but very knowledgeable about Greek history; not only knowledgeable, but passionate about it. 

Notice circles of swastikas

It was a three-hour tour that covered virtually all the city, including the Parliament, with the swastikas on the gate – yes, swastikas. It seems the Nazis stole this symbol, that ironically means peace, from the Greeks. We were told that marble is abundant in Greece and in fact the street curbs are all made of marble. So, it has that going for it. We were taken to the top of Lycabettus mountain that provided us with a panoramic view of the entire city. While we got closer in distance to the Parthenon and Acropolis, this distant view of it was as good as we were going to get of this historic site. Our guide told us that the Parthenon and Acropolis are on a different tour and downplayed it saying that they’re just really old buildings. So, my hope of seeing the only thing I had some knowledge about in Greece was dashed. But hey, I was told they just look really old; I can look in the mirror and see that!  We ended our tour in the bustling market district that housed lots of shops and restaurants, and had lunch.

Budds, Sparrows, Sagers on Lycabettus Mt.

Back to our hotel for a little rest before we went to the rooftop bar and restaurant, but since we had just eaten, we had a drink and actually had to pay for it – our cruise drink package was no longer valid!

That was our quick tour of Athens. The next morning came the easy part for you and the not-so-fun part for us – a long flight home, but fortunately for both of us it was uneventful.

Enjoy some of the photos below.

The Ten Happy Wanderers at dinner
Spectacular sunset from ship
Lunch in Amalfi
Mykonos Windmills
Santorini Sunset

Thanks for coming along.

Posted in travel

On the Road Again – Italy and Greece

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By Bob Sparrow

Cruise route

  On Tuesday of this week I’ll be heading to the Mediterranean. No, I have not been called back into the Navy and sent to the Straight of Hormuz to settle that little spat. Rather, Linda and I will be meeting up with the Budds, Helmles, Reddys and Sagers in Rome. Some folks are getting there a few days early to hang in Rome, which is one of my favorite cities in the world, but we’re getting there just a day before we jump on the Oceana cruise ship, Allura, in the port of Civitavecchia.

The beautiful Amalfi Coast

We’ll cruise several miles south to the beautiful Amalfi coast and visit the towns of Amalfi and Positano. Then back on board for a short cruise to the east side of the island of Sicily, where we’ll do a walking tour of the town of Catania. From there we were supposed to go to Corfu, but that was scratched from the itinerary, so I searched to see why and only found some general information like port congestion, maintenance work, and the need to reduce fuel consumption. So goodbye to seeing the unique blend of Venetian, French, and British architecture versus the typical Greek, white-washed houses. We’ll also miss the millions of olive trees but may see the three U.S. aircraft carriers that have now been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean. Yikes!!

Hopefully avoiding that little disagreement, we’ll next hit several Greek islands:

Santorini
  • Katakolon – this is the only Greek island that we have previously seen on an Adriatic cruise several years ago. It is the site of the first Olympic games. where the first organized marathon was run. The first organized marathon was run in the modern Olympics in 1896. Perhaps we’ll see the laggers just finishing.
  • Santorini – known for its beautiful sunsets; it is a popular honeymoon destination. That ship has sailed!
  • Milos – known for its stunning beaches, volcanic landscapes, and the Venus de Milo, the famous sculpture was discovered on this island. Perhaps we’ll be on a tour that searches for her arms.
  • Mykonos – apparently, it’s known for its great night life, but we’re there from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. I guess the cruise lines know that night lift for us old fogies ends around 4:30!
The Acopolis

We’ll then hit the Port of Piraeus and disembark in our destination city of Athens, where we have a golfcart tour of this historic city. Fellow traveler, Chuck Sager was stationed in Greece during his time in the service, so I’m sure he’ll have a few stories to tell us and perhaps he’ll get to visit with some of the children he didn’t know he had.

That’s the plan. If you want to come along, I’ll provide some up-dates on our adventures next Monday.