Days 9 and 10- Anniversary Cruise

The final two days of the cruise finds Mr. and Mrs. Retired Brickman in Athens, Greece.  We arrived in port the morning of Day 9, had all day, overnighted in port, then disembarked on Day 10.

Our excursion this morning took us to the Acropolis of Athens and the structures on top.  The most famous of all being the Parthenon.  A restoration project begun in 1975 was in progress still, but reconstruction moves very slow. A top priority for Greece, an estimated 100 million Euros($109 million dollars) has been spent so far.

The Porch of the Caryatids(Maidens). Part of the Erechtheion, an ancient temple.






We drove around the city an saw a few more sights, but only from the bus. 

As we were overnighting in port, there was no hurry to get back to the ship. We took another tour that took us outside the city some 50 miles to the Corinth Canal.

A partial view of the Canal
from our bus on a bridge over it

We begin our journey through the Canal

The Canal was first proposed in the First century, but construction only began in 1881, a mere 4 years before The Murbach Coal and Supply Company was formed. Plagued by problems, it was finally completed in 1893.  It is 4 miles long and 70 feet wide at its base.  In its beginning, it played a great role, however now, because of its small size, very little tonage is moved thru it( today's ships are too large).

After our trip thru, we of course had to come back the other way.  It was a nice relaxing trip and allowed time enough, after pictures, to consume complimentary alcoholic beverages (hey, we weren't driving)!

We we got off the boat, as part of the tour, we went across the street to a Greek restaurant, where we were given an authentic Greek dinner, complete with wine, ouzo, and live music.

After dinner we had about an hour drive back to the ship, and packing for the trip home tomorrow.

Before we left for the trip, I had arranged online, a taxi service to pick us up at the ship and take us to the airport.  Since our flight wasn't until late afternoon, I asked the taxi service if they would also do a tour of some of the things we didn't get to see the day before. "Of course we can!" was the answer.  It turned out to be one of the best tours we had since it was just us and the driver.

We started with the Arch of Hadrian, built to honor the Emperor Hadrian when he visited Athens.

Our next stop was the Panathenaic Stadium.  The only stadium in the world built entirely out of marble was constructed in 144 AD and seats 50,000. It was excavated in 1869, refurbished, and was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as 4 of the 9 contested sports in the modern day, first, 1896 Olympic Games.

We were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guards at the palace.

Standing on the new Acropolis(which means the tallest spot in the city), we were able to see how Athens has grown and spread out over the years. The spot was not even in the city back when the original Acropolis was built.

We also took a brief tour of the National Archaeological Museum. Wow! 

     It was then on our way to the airport to catch our flight home via Paris and New York. Funny story, I wanted to get rid of the remaining Euros I had. I asked our driver if it was possible to pay him cash and put the balance on a credit card, "Sure, no problem", was his answer.  He called his boss, the gentleman I communicated online with to set it up, and he met us halfway to the airport. He popped up the back door of the van he was driving, I gave him my credit card and Euros, he whipped out a credit card machine, and our transaction was completed!

Winging our way home after a great European Vacation!

Coming next :Some of our Explore Ohio Excursions

Day 7- Anniversary Cruise

Today finds our roving anniversary couple in Rhodes, Greece.

This was our view from the ship dock of the City of Rhodes. 

The walled area encompasses the medieval section.

Our first stop was to a local family pottery shop(cha ching), where they make and(I know you are surprised) sell the pottery.

We did purchase a small, very

pretty piece that would travel

well in a suitcase.

Then it was back on the bus and headed south to the ancient city of Lindos.  Lindos is a quaint, beautiful city of typical white houses. Our tour stop was the acropolis upon which sits The Temple of Athena Lindia. The lower level houses the Castle of the Knights of St. John. We started up the hill walking(the only way up), with great intentions. Mrs. Retired Brickman's knees were bothering her, and like a good husband, I stopped with her. We were about 2/3's of the way up. We rested, took a few pictures and then conducted a very democratic confab, do we keep going and have a really tiring walk back down, or give it up and head back down now and have a nice cold drink. Well... Yeah, you guessed it, the cold drink was too hard to pass up on that warm day!

The third stop was back near the ship and the medieval walled part of the city of Rhodes. Contained within the city walls is the Palace of the Grand Master. Originally built in the 7th century, parts were destroyed and rebuilt over the years. The most recent was done by the Italians between 1937-1940. It was to be a holiday residence for the King of Italy, and then later for fascist dictator Mussolini. His name still appears on a large sign near the entrance.  Out of the 158 rooms, only 24 are open for touring. When the Italians left, the castle was looted of anything of value by them.  Whatever remained, walked away courtesy of the townspeople.

 Interior shots of the Palace

Floors-made from individual mosaics

more floor mosaics

The beautiful sunset as we bid farewell to Rhodes!

Up next: Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey- No wait, Turkey was cancelled based on the State Departments Travel Advisory in regards to "an uncertain environment". A shame to miss out on Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary, but I think all on board were relieved based on the problems at the time. We were given another sea day as it was too late to book a different port, oh well. so next up:Athens!