Thursday, 7 July 2011
Day 21. 5th July. At Sea, the Mediterranean
Today was an At Sea day, this quite literally means we are at sea all day. While the concept of staying onboard all day may sound boring this is so far from the truth. There is just so much to do on a ship like this.
I stumbled home a little after 5:30am from a fun night with my new cruise buddies, and promptly slept in (though I don’t really know that it counts when you also don’t get to bed at a regular time) till 11.
Then we had a Meet and Greet event to attend for a group of people who use the website Cruise Critic. Here we met a brilliant couple from England who spent quite a lot of time with throughout the day.
I had entered the silly art action competitions - while drinking the free French Champagne. I got not only a phone message but also two letters inviting me to the art auction and announcement of the winner of the guess the price of the artwork. The fact that Raina entered too and didn’t get an invite made me greatly suspect that I may have won. I didn’t, I was off by $100. Actually this makes me a little bit glad. I really didn’t want to win an art package of weird paintings of olives drinking martinis and such, worth thousands of dollars. I don’t get that art.
After that we went to see the Ice Dancing Show, which was incredible. All the dancers were really good and two were guest stars and were absolutely incredible. This girl was crazy talented and did an act where she skated along while hoola-hooping six hoops. Then we saw a Motown Show, with four male singers. This also was really good and just a fun thing to do.
Our favorite bar was Boleros - those guys made the best Mojitos! The Navigator was a great ship!!!!!!
I met up with most of the people I met the night before and again stayed out till the wee hours of the morning. Not the best idea when Athens is tomorrow but oh well, holidays aren’t made for being smart. :P
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Day 22. 6th July. Athens
The plan for today was to get up early and off the ship as soon as possible to catch a taxi directly to the Acropolis to beat the crowds and beat the heat. Unfortunately – as you may be aware – Greece is in the middle of a major financial crisis and as a result is having major strikes. Today’s strike was the taxis. So scratch that plan. We started walking (the minimum 20 min walk) to the metro station and were, to be honest, starting to dread the trauma that the day may have been turning into.
Just then a man in a yellow car pulled up and asked if we wanted a taxi. We jumped at that opportunity and got in the car. After a minute or so the vision of us being whisked into an underground car park never to be seen again did occur to me, but as I am writing this we must have survived.
Immanuel, was braving the scorn (and potential danger) of working despite the strike. I think it is very unfair for there to be any pressure on those who wish to work, after all, the country is in a terrible situation which means the individuals are too. Immanuel was a single dad with a son and needed the money I gather. So him, guarded by his hat and sunnies and the agreement that we were second cousins of his cousin George visiting from Australia, we set out for the day. :P
We go the Acropolis and I do believe it is a good sign that you may have been successful in avoiding the crowds when they are hosing down the footpaths and stairs for the day ahead. Especially when the stairs a deadly slippery marble. I doubt they would open themselves to that kind of liability if they were expecting droves of people at that time. It was looking very good.
Raina, in her obsessive researching had found that you should arrive BEFORE opening time and to bring shade and water.We were among the first twenty people through the gates. The climb that had been built up as truly awful was actually no struggle. It was hot, very very hot but definitely not a struggle - eben with Raina's knees.
There is not really much I can say about the Acropolis, I mean, that’s it, it’s the Parthenon and it doesn’t get much better then that. I have been somewhat obsessed with the Parthenon since I was 15 and here I was looking at the real thing.
This place is obscenely beautiful, I was expecting the Parthenon to be stunning of course but I didn’t know about the views. They are spectacular, the whole city surrounds the Acropolis and being mostly all white it is picturesque. Also you get a superb view of the temple of Zeus at the foot of the Acropolis and other monuments and ruins.
We spent a solid two hours looking and taking photos. Taking photos here is ridiculously easy, every way you turn the view is one of the best anywhere. Also we – in our excellent timing – managed to get photos with no one in them. We sat under our umbrellas, drinking cold water and pinching ourselves. Was this real? As we were leaving, the place was beginning to swarm with people and that opportunity was well and truly gone. The crowds were horrendous, so very many people. The ship tours were disgusting. 45 people following the leader who held up a spot. So many people, and we missed it all :D.
Next Immanuel drove us to the temple of Zeus. This place is (and I am running out of superlatives here) magnificent. There is really not that much left of it but what is there is indescribable. It looks as though it should by no means should be still standing, the few pillars and small amount of roof just don’t look stable, yet here they are, still standing thousands of years latter.
We went to the Pierre de Coubertin stadium, which is were the modern Olympics were first held and where the Olympic flame was lit for the Athens Olympic touch relay. As well as the Library of Hadrian and the Agora and several other temples and ruins.
It was so damn hot, and the heat got to me for a while making me light headed, but this was fixed effectively by some good Greek food. Now I have never really cared for Greek food but I can now say, there just isn’t good Greek food in Australia (like Japanese, which I have never had of really good quality in Aust).
Feeling better we set off again to explore the markets and streets.
One major observation
GREECE IS AWESOME!!!!!!
It is wonderful, the people are so friendly (and have amazing English, again making me a lazy tourist, we did get the word for thank you, phonetically Aff-Gad-istall) and the place has a strong vibe and connectivity.
We looked at the meat market first which was a huge shed full of stalls selling meat. And not just steaks and chickens. What they had here ranged from whole goats, pigs, sheep, chickens and rabbits to pig heads, tripe (stomach linings) in five different shades, organs and tongues with the under jaw muscles attached. And a whole lot more. The weirdest thing I though was the skinned animals with heads attached and eyes still in place. That is a freaky sight, the stuff of horror movies.
The market was fantastic though, the sellers all yell as you pass to advertise their products. And they also were very interested in us. Many of them seemed to magically know (or could we possible be that obvious) that we were tourists and would immediately start speaking English to us, without ever trying Greek.
I got mobbed by several guys. They came up and hugged me (getting a little bit handsy lol) and kissed me on the cheek. I got my second marriage proposal of the trip. And I think I will have to ditch the Italian boy for the Greek. They were so fun and vibrant.
We also went through the fruit markets, which sound just like they do back home, all the sellers being Greek. :P And the fish markets. The fish market was a blast, just as much variety as the meat and the sellers were so loud. The atmosphere was ecstatic and the chaos was brilliant. Less of these guys pegged us for tourists right away and were yelling at us in Greek. Everyone was so happy and friendly. They encouraged us to take photos of their stalls and all wanted to know where we were from. One asked if we were from the US, when we said no, Australia he said sorry. :P I liked that.
We saw spice markets, which smelt so good I wanted to move in and a coffee shop that smelt like heaven - the richest, deepest coffee bean smell I have ever experienced. We bough some olives a good two double handfuls that cost only 1 Euro. And were delicious.
Then we went to the pet shops, with all the normal animals plus some pretty exotic birds but coolest of all was the Chinchilla (a rabbit sized rodent that looks a bit like a fat mouse) and chipmunks, they were so damn cute. And only 30 Euro. Oh how I want a chipmunk. Horrid mother wouldn’t let me though. Sad face
The Greek people were amazing, I loved them all. Especially Immanuel (our driver) who was one of the nicest guys I have ever met. They are helpful for nothing, always smile and just make you happy. They seem to love life and thrive in it.
We did a fair bit of shopping here, there is so much to get, beautiful trinkets and jewelry. And the people are good to bargain with (this probably comes down to the financial situation and a need for money) I always find bargaining fun and like to see how I can get the best deal.
We went to see the famous changing of the guard ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some people were worried about going to Athens after the strife there. We ended up at the house of parliament where the protests were. All it was was signs though and truly no concern at all. There were police everywhere too so really it was completely safe.
Waiting for the ceremony there was a man being followed closely by a horde of pigeons. He would put seed in your hand and on your head and take a Polaroid for 5 Euro. It was pretty fun and one pigeon stayed on my head for about 5 min.
Then the changing of the guard started. I was prepared to laugh at the hysterical lifting of the legs and the pom poms on the men’s shoes. And I was very amusing that the guards needed a guard to guard the guards so the guard of the guards could stop anyone messing with the guards. The two guards have to stand completely still for an hour without moving no matter the distraction. They wore a belted tunic with pleats, a hat with a long tassel that hangs over one shoulder and these ridicules shoes that have pom poms on the toes. Every hour they do a ceremony where they do this ridiculous walk lifting their legs to shoulder height in front of them and stamping their tap shoes. So I was prepared for the hilarity but it wasn’t actually all that funny in the end because there was such obvious skill involved and the effort did incite some respect. It was quiet beautiful.
When Immanuel picked us up again he had his mother with him and was in her car. Apparently a few taxis on the city had been damaged for working through the strike and his mother was worried about him so came along to make it look less like a fare. She didn’t speak much English but was lovely and it was so nice to see them together. The way I see it though, he was working off the books and not strictly as a taxi driver. He was more tour guide then anything else so how dare anyone think badly of him. I think he will forever be referred to as cousin Immanuel.
Oh and he only asked for 100 Euro for the entire day driving us right to each location and giving us perfect directions on how to find everything. He got more.
We crashed out for a few hours as soon as we got home (well after a mojito). After dinner we played the Movie Love Song Trivia game with the English couple from the day before. Then again, crashed out for the night.
All in all a spectacular day, one of the best ever. Truly.
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