Category: Greece

We reached our goals today and boy were they good goals!! We managed to get up in time to exit our room on the cruise ship at the early hour of 07:00 and eat breakfast. Little did we know that we would be “cooling our heels” for hours while waiting for the passengers with the yellow luggage tags to be called to exit.  Of course, the colors called went in order: fuchsia, green, pink, then yellow and blue. While we were not last, it seemed like it. We soon found our ride and were quickly back at the same hotel in Athens we left just a few days earlier.  Not able to check in at this early hour, we deposited our luggage at the hotel desk and set off exploring. Our next goal was to see the changing of the guard at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. We have a great video, but unfortunately, we cannot download the entire video to the website. Instead we recommend you watch this video, Changing of Guards, Athens (2017) – Bing video   (less the music instead imagine lots of car noises)

Another goal reached, now what? Well, something to drink, a bathroom – always on Kathy’s mind – and maybe a bite to eat. Stopping by a small café, we had water, coke zero, a short stack of some amazing pancakes for Kathy and the best bathroom in all of Athens!! Sitting casually, we just enjoyed resting at the table, until, of course, one of the ubiquitous smokers came along and drove us away. We then walked to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Zeus.  Heading back to the hotel, we checked in and rested for a bit before heading back out to climb to the tallest point in Athens. Walking to the Lycabettus Cable Car, we rode up to the tallest point in Athens.  This was a big goal achieved as the walk was uphill during the hottest part of the day, but oh! what a good goal. We were amazed at the top of the mountain to see the panoramic sweeping views of the city of Athens. Seeing the Parthenon across the valley, one side the sweeping views of mountains, and another view of the Mediterranean Sea. Wow!!! We also watched a small forest fire crop up on top of a far ridge.  It was contained rather quickly and Dave lamented the days when the odor of forest fires meant big paychecks would be heading his way.

Deciding that we had reached our goals, we needed a new one and decided to hoof it down the mountain instead of taking the cable car back down. Sounds tough, huh? Not really, but we still accomplished the goal even though it was an easy one.  Stopping on the way back to the hotel we had an early dinner of Mexican food.  While on this trip we have had Greek, Egyptian, Italian, Mexican food and pizza. A trip around the world for our stomach!

Soon we were back to the hotel to chill again for a while. It was a nice pace for us today. Finally heading out to look for dessert, we headed out and soon found ourselves in Plaka, which is part of the old town. It is a series of small streets lined with stores and restaurants. It was a good way to end our day of reaching a goal of exceeding our heart points and steps on the Fit app. All in all, we walked over 9.7 miles with over 20,000 steps. Way to reach our goal! Tomorrow we spend some more time in Greece with a package tour in the morning and then in the evening, we head to Turkey. More than halfway through our trip!!

07/09/2021

Last days

Today was a series of lasts: last full day on the cruise ship, last day to visit the islands, and last day for Kathy’s Z-pack series of antibiotics. The day started bright and early as we had to get up and get our PCR COVID test, which will be needed for the flight to Turkey in two days.  Then we had a quick breakfast, went to the cabin to get cleaned up, and we were off for our next adventure.

The next adventure took place on the island of Crete.  Crete is the largest of the Greek Isles and the 5^th largest in the Mediterranean Sea.  A full 48% of the Crete income comes from tourism.  Most of the rest is agriculture, particularly from the millions of olive trees used in making extra-virgin olive oil.  Since it is less than 200 miles from Europe, Asia, as well as from Africa, its strategic location has made it an attractive island to conquer for thousands of years.

Once the tour ended, we decided to stay on the island and stroll around the streets wandering through shops and eating lunch while doing some people watching. Lunch was a traditional Greek fare that had Dave trying for the first time souvlaki, which was not what either of us expected (Dave had no idea what to expect!). Kathy had a traditional gyro, which was not so Americanized.  The meat comes in pieces, and you put your gyro together.   We walked up some stairs, rounded some corners and soon we were back at the boat dock. Not yet wanting to return onboard so quickly, we decided to walk in another direction where we found some statues that detailed some of Greece’s famous mythological legends.

Kathy’s bladder finally insisted it was time to return to the boat and we boarded in the late afternoon.  We enjoyed a quiet hour or so in the room just reading, dozing, and relaxing. In a quest to get in our steps we decided to stroll around the ship. We meandered up to the top deck where we watched kids play in the pool, mothers get mad at the kids who were playing in the pool, and old people chuckling (and, we are sure, saying like us, “Phew! Thank goodness we are past that!”) While it was fun watching it all play it out, we did not last long in that location, as we were driven out by the smoke from the boat smoke stacks. Instead, we went to the sports bar where the only sports were a bunch of kids playing Wii bowling – seriously!!! 😊 😊

Finally, it was time for dinner, but first we had to change. Dave knew better this time!  He learned his lesson tonight and changed before arriving at the restaurant. While enjoying another wonderful dinner, Kathy noticed that a young boy at the next table was wearing shorts.  On their way out, Dave had a lively discussion with the pants patrolman about sex discrimination and now age discrimination. The answer from the pants patrolman, “Put it in the comment section of your guest questionnaire.”  The staff on the entire ship has been outstanding and their sense of humor matched Dave at every level!  We had a wonderful time.

07/09/2021

Last days

Today was a series of lasts: last full day on the cruise ship, last day to visit the islands, and last day for Kathy’s Z-pack series of antibiotics. The day started bright and early as we had to get up and get our PCR COVID test, which will be needed for the flight to Turkey in two days.  Then we had a quick breakfast, went to the cabin to get cleaned up, and we were off for our next adventure.

The next adventure took place on the island of Crete.  Crete is the largest of the Greek Isles and the 5^th largest in the Mediterranean Sea.  A full 48% of the Crete income comes from tourism.  Most of the rest is agriculture, particularly from the millions of olive trees used in making extra-virgin olive oil.  Since it is less than 200 miles from Europe, Asia, as well as from Africa, its strategic location has made it an attractive island to conquer for thousands of years.

Once the tour ended, we decided to stay on the island and stroll around the streets wandering through shops and eating lunch while doing some people watching. Lunch was a traditional Greek fare that had Dave trying for the first time souvlaki, which was not what either of us expected (Dave had no idea what to expect!). Kathy had a traditional gyro, which was not so Americanized.  The meat comes in pieces, and you put your gyro together.   We walked up some stairs, rounded some corners and soon we were back at the boat dock. Not yet wanting to return onboard so quickly, we decided to walk in another direction where we found some statues that detailed some of Greece’s famous mythological legends.

Kathy’s bladder finally insisted it was time to return to the boat and we boarded in the late afternoon.  We enjoyed a quiet hour or so in the room just reading, dozing, and relaxing. In a quest to get in our steps we decided to stroll around the ship. We meandered up to the top deck where we watched kids play in the pool, mothers get mad at the kids who were playing in the pool, and old people chuckling (and, we are sure, saying like us, “Phew! Thank goodness we are past that!”) While it was fun watching it all play it out, we did not last long in that location, as we were driven out by the smoke from the boat smoke stacks. Instead, we went to the sports bar where the only sports were a bunch of kids playing Wii bowling – seriously!!! 😊 😊

Finally, it was time for dinner, but first we had to change. Dave knew better this time!  He learned his lesson tonight and changed before arriving at the restaurant. While enjoying another wonderful dinner, Kathy noticed that a young boy at the next table was wearing shorts.  On their way out, Dave had a lively discussion with the pants patrolman about sex discrimination and now age discrimination. The answer from the pants patrolman, “Put it in the comment section of your guest questionnaire.”  The staff on the entire ship has been outstanding and their sense of humor matched Dave at every level!  We had a wonderful time.