Day 26: Piraeus and Athens

We docked at 0500 hours, at least that is what I was told as I was still asleep. We arose at 0600 in anticipation of our breakfast arriving at 0645. As usual, it arrived early around 0630. After eating, we finished preparation for the day and packing our carry-on baggage.

We were asked to be out of the room by 0800 and to be in the Lounge at 0900. Around 0745 we went to the Lounge and awaited our turn to disembark. We were literally the last group to be called at about 1000. We walked off the ship and loaded on a shuttle bus for a 5 minute ride to the terminal. There, we identified our checked luggage and boarded a mega bus for a leisurely 45 minute trip from the port of Piraeus to capital city Athens.

Port of Piraeus

Time to Depart the Stateroom

Last View of Riviera

Let me take just a moment to, once again, exclaim my abhorrence of the internet service on the Oceania Riviera. Prior to the Oceania cruise, we sailed on the Seabourn Odyssey. At the time, we commented about their "slow" their internet service. Little did we know how bad it could be! Normally, Oceania charged $28/day for internet service stating you could upload photos, keep tabs on email and even do internet research on the ports we were going to visit. What they did not tell you is that rarely you would actually be able to access the internet and, with regards to uploading photos, forget it!. I gave up trying to upload photos after the first day on the Riviera. Even though it was free to us (due to our stateroom status), we give Oceania two thumbs down on the internet. Now that we are in Athens, we can finally get REAL internet service again. Tonight, I will try to add some photos to the text entries of the past week.

We arrived at the Grande Bretagne Hotel (the finest in Athens...at least they think so) around 1100. We were greeted and escorted to a ball room and given a quick orientation before checking in. When I checked us in, I also made reservations for dinner Friday night at their roof top restaurant. Once we were in our room, we unpacked and readied ourselves for a quick lunch and tour of the surrounding neighborhood. It is not a large room, but nicely appointed.

We ate lunch in the hotel restaurant. T had a Greek Burger and I had the club sandwich. They were both very good. Adding a couple glasses of wine brought the tab up to the equivalent of $120.

After lunch we started out just circling the block. So much marble. Even the sidewalks are marble and very slippery when it is raining. We had a few sprinkles during our walk. The hotel is on the north side of the Syntagma Square. The Parliament is just across the street and we watched the changing of the guard, which happens hourly.

We were told their skirts (kilts, or whatever they are called) have 400 pleats representing the 400 years of Turkish domination. T is dubious of the 400 pleats claim.

After the Parliament, we journeyed on down Amalias Street to the National Gardens.

With the busy city surrounding it, the gardens were quiet and peaceful. We visited their little zoo and found a grove of Brugmansia (Angel's trumpet).

We got back to the hotel and had a drink at the bar before retiring to the room for some rest.

For dinner we decided to walk toward the Plaka area. Plaka is the old part of Athens. We did not get far before we found a sidewalk Greek restaurant that T wanted to try. She had calf liver as an appetizer and I had Tzatziki. For the main course, she had grilled chicken thighs and I had veal meatballs, both done in a Josper oven. Very good! Of course we both had a glass (or two) of their local red wine.

  

Grilled Liver (she could only eat half of it)

Tzatziki

Grilled Chicken

Veal Meatballs

It was more food than either of us could eat. The bill, with wine and a very generous tip, was 50 Euros. We spent more than twice that amount at the hotel for lunch for a hamburger and club sandwich. This cafe also serves breakfast which, we will be back for in the morning. I checked the hotel breakfast menu and they want 15 Euros for just two eggs (prepared any way you want of course). Anything else you might want (bacon, toast, juice, coffee, etc.) is of course extra. A full English breakfast at this cafe is only 11 Euros.

After dinner, we walked down Ermou Street along the northern side of Plaka. Ermou is a pedestrian only street with lots of shops, lots of noise, lots of places to eat and lots of pedestrians.

Ermou Street

Just as we were about to turn back toward the hotel, we ran into a march by the Greek Communist Party (KKE) going the opposite direction. There were thousands of them chanting and waving red flags with the hammer-n-sickle. Very entertaining. 

They seemed well behaved, but we opted to go over a couple of streets so as to not inhibit their fun. In doing so, we came across one block which seemed almost exclusively fabric shops. Most were closed or in the process of clothing, but T wanted me to take a picture of a couple of store fronts.

Tomorrow we plan to pass through Plaka on the way to the Acropolis. The lady at the hotel said it would cost 20 Euros to get into the Acropolis and 5 more to go into the museum. We may spend all day there.