Acropolis & Corinth........We're in Athens

Greek Acropolis & Corinth


We arrived in Athens as the sun broke the horizon. We got going earlier than usual so we didn’t miss breakfast. The joke on the elevators is “Heavens forbid we miss a meal! I had my usual two eggs over easy with toast, bacon and sausage. After breakfast we went back to the room, collected our day’s essentials: cameras, water, tickets, Euros, MA’s lipstick, etc. and headed to the Explorer’s Lounge where we met up with the rest of our tour group, destination the Acropolis, a lunch at a seaside hotel, the ancient city of Corinth and a photo stop at the Corinth Canal.

We boarded a really nice motor coach outside the docks and after a 45 minute ride through Athens we arrived at the Acropolis and started up the stairs to the top of the hill. They said it would be 180 steps, but whose counting!

Along the way we met a nice old guy all dressed up in traditional Greek clothing. He offered to pose for a photo for one Euro. We quickly produced the right coin and he let us take three photos. Despite hundreds of tourists at this Greek monument this morning somehow I managed to get most of them out of the photos. We walked around, taking in the history of the site, and finally headed back down the hill to find our bus, Red #4.

The next stop was the Kalamaki Beach Hotel and lunch. We arrived, got off the bus and headed for the buffet that had been prepared just for our group. It doesn’t take me long to figure out what to do. I grabbed a plate, made sure I had a little of everything and found us a table. As it turns out we had joined a couple from San Diego, CA, Capt. Todd Cheney and wife Kristin. He is a US Army Chaplin currently stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY and he will be deployed to Afghanistan next February. He is a Southern Baptist minister and went to seminary with a pastor from Second Baptist, our church in Houston. We enjoyed their company for lunch and I later took a photo of them on the coastline where the Apostle Paul landed near Corinth. All you prayer warriors out there can put Pastor Todd on your prayer lists along with Kristin who has to come into Houston on a regular basis and get checked out at MD Anderson. They have three young children.

Our next stop was the ancient city of Corinth, a few miles away. We did a walking tour of Corinth and found the place where the Apostle Paul was to have been put on trial. It’s called a “Tetra”. The walking tour was enjoyable and we ended in time to stop at the Corinth Canal linking the Crimean Sea with the Aegean Sea. Later I checked out everything we had seen with my pocket New Testament, it was right on!

Our bus ride back to the port was delayed because of about a hundred protesting truck drivers. They blocked the freeway and the traffic came to a standstill. I think some cops arrived and got them moved to a single lane and we made it back to the ship just in time to enjoy the sunset over the hills of Athens. The planet Venus has come out over the horizon, I think that means it’s time to join our dinner companions. Later! WW

Venice Panorama Sailaway

1st Full Day at Sea

Our first full day at sea began with a knock on the door from one of the stewards delivering coffee and juice at 7:30. We enjoyed the ocean view and I did some photo editing. We are on the 11th deck toward the back (stern) on the starboard (right) side. The breakfast buffet is all the way forward on the 15th deck. We journeyed to breakfast and later MA elected to go to the “Sanctuary”, an area on the boat reserved for adults and a designated quiet place for sunning, swimming, reading, and, yes, even cookies and milk in the afternoon.

I went back to the room to solve a Greek puzzle. Every time I brought up the blog to post, all the links were in Greek. When someone says, “That’s Greek to me,” I now understand what they mean. I managed to solve the problem and got the blog posted that you read yesterday.

Spent most of the rest of the day editing pictures from Venice. Some of the best were taken on the sail-away which you see on the blog.

Wandered around the ship, checking out things, then we tried our hand at the Trivia game and got 11 of 20 right. Oh well! Who knew what musical instrument used to be known as a “kit” (Violin) or what type of fruit is known as a tsatsami (orange).

We met some really nice people from Canada at the coffee bar. Supper was at 8:30 and met our other two table mates, Bob and Peggy from Manchester, England. Bob is a taxi driver and an avid Manchester United football (soccer) fan. These two days are our “laid-back” at-sea days. On Friday it’s put on the walking shoes and get ready to spend a full day ashore in Greece. Wonder if Zorba’s still around! Later !!

St. Marks Square from the top deck of the Ruby Princess

Venice skyline