Athens

We slipped into Athens [Piraeus] before I woke. It is the third [?] largest port on the Med. All that was visible to me was room for maybe four cruise ships, lots o’ yachts and some ferries. It is actually a complex port with small peninsulas separating small bays. Dionysus [“call me Dennis”] met us at the gate and led us to his car, a late model, black 6-door Mercedes. Dennis is tall, blonde and handsome. He is dressed in a pinstriped suit and light blue open-collared shirt and he is sporting stylish black sunglasses. Instantly, he takes over. We briefly discuss what we hope to see and we tell him we plan to forego visiting the Acropolis. He is appalled; “you cannot visit Athens and not see the Acropolis.” So, we head there immediately to avoid the crowds and heat.
He drives us up to the ticket entrance as no one is on the road yet. He says it is impossible to do this after 9AM. Craig and I head in. Dotty and Jim will spend the time at a café across from the site. I was surprised by the ease of the climb. The marble roads are slippery but with the proper shoes there is little danger of falling. The steps are uniform and there are new wooden ramps and stairs taking you to the top. We were there in minutes. What a mistake it would have been to miss it. The most striking revelation is the view. 360 degrees of Athens must have validated the ancients’ pilgrimages to the temples that grace this incredible rock. Leaning over the side one can take in the bustle of the agora, view the temple of Zeus and find all the places you will visit [or not-visit, in the case of the New Acropolis Museum]. I had recently seen a documentary on the restoration of the Parthenon and they are going “gangbusters.” They are not rebuilding it so much as completing certain areas so as to enhance the scope and beauty of it. As you will see from several of the photos, the new marble, from the quarry used for the original structure, is stark white while the aged fragments are a soft gold. The reconstructed columns illustrate the repairs best, but there is one lintel that has only a small piece of the gold fitted into its face. This new piece of marble [costing about $1,000,000] will soon be hoisted into place over two completed columns. The fitting of the piece is done with computer imaging and mechanical as well as manual chiseling. The effect is like an archeologists reconstructive drawing but this is a fully realized reconstruction of “Monumental” proportions.
We walked back down and met Dotty & Jim at the café. It’s a lovely place with marble everywhere, all of it from the quarry that built the Acropolis. We paused for refreshments and then went on a quick drive through the city with Dennis providing a rapid-fire commentary of the high points of Greek culture, history and politics. The Greeks don’t like the Turks. And based on comments from Mel yesterday, the feeling is mutual.
Our original schedule involved lunch at the Grand Bretagne Hotel roof garden. Dennis suggested that we stop by to see if we could change the reservation as our 1:30PM time would severely limit what we might see. He suggested that we would spend at least 2 hours there. Well, we could not change the time so I canceled and Dennis promised us a good Greek lunch elsewhere. “ The Grand Bretagne does not serve Greek food.”
Our lunch was in another part of town in an unassuming bistro that looked a little like a cafeteria. Dennis did the talking and we were seated and served. First there was a typical Greek salad with sliced tomatoes, onions, olives green bell peppers and a big block of feta on top. Then came a dish of fluffy rice with a big chunk of lamb falling off the bone. This was followed by a dish of large beans with a stuffed tomato. A Greek version of lasagna came next followed by lamb meatballs and wonderfully tasty broiled potatoes. As an all-around sauce we were served a big, cool dish of cucumber-flavored yogurt. The price came to 72 Euros and was well worth it. I am sure the price was even inflated as we were “wealthy” tourists and would not know the difference. I did not get the name of the restaurant but will and I recommend it highly. The staff does not speak English but the food is all on display and you can point and choose to your heart’s content.
Our next stop was to be the National Archeological Museum but they were closed for lunch. We drove to the Benaki Museum.
This private collection housed in the Benaki Family’s converted mansion is exquisite. It is not a “Greek” collection but an international one. It offers artifacts from the Neolithic to Contemporary. The ancient jewelry collections could rival any museum in the world. There are reconstructed rooms, costume vignettes, an extensive fabric and needlework collection and some of the most elaborate liturgical artifacts I have ever seen. This museum is in the real sense of the word, a gem!
We were all quite spent after the Benaki so with one last “tour” of the city Dennis brought us back to the ship. I think I slept for 12 hours.
We are at sea right now headed to Messina, Sicily. We should arrive there around 8AM tomorrow.