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Meeting in fifteen minutes
for the Athens tour. I'm going to try to get a picture of the same
fallen pillare on which Lloyd and I sat for our photo.
Supposed to be 93 in Athens
today though, other than the heat, we've been quite lucky. No rain.
As a matter of fact, I've been very lucky on all my Europe trips,
with the exception of the three solid days of rain while in
Amsterdam. You know, I talk about these places and know I've been
there, but it still doesn't quite compute. I hear people talk of
their travels to exotic spots and am in something akin to awe...yet
when it comes to my own travels, there is an odd sort of disconnect I
don't quite understand.
Well, time to head to the
Ambassador Lounge and the new day's adventures.
Bus to Acropolis. We got
there quite early and, while we thereby escaped some of the heat
later in the day, there were a lot of people already there. Much
reconstruction going on, and I'm really curious to know just how much
reconstrution there will be. I personally would like to see it put
back to its original condition, but that's unlikely to happen.
I looked in vain for the
fallen piller I remember so fondly, but the area where I remember its
being is now covered with construction materials. Perhaps it's been
restored to it's original position. Still the Acropolis is pretty
much the way I remembered it...though with a lot more people than I
remember.
Leaving the Acropolis,
during which time I experienced a couple more minor losses of
equilibrium, we walked (the temperatures had risen considerable) six
blocks or so to the new Athens Archaeological Museum devoted entirely
to the Acropolis and one of the most modern in the world. When they
were looking for a place to construct it in a city several thousand
years old, there obviously weren't many. So they chose a large
excavation site and built the museum over it, incorporating glass
floors on the main floor so you can look right down into the
excavations. Fascinating and brilliant. No photos allowed on the main
floor, but okay in the rest of the museum (no flash, of course).
Returned to the ship where I
found a note slipped under my door saying that because the island of
Delos is indeed an archeological site run by the Museum Union (who
knew there was a museum union), which is currently on strike against
the government, Delos is closed. I had mentioned that we were to
spend half a day on Delos and half a day on Santorini. Wrong again.
We aren't going to Santorini, we're going to Mykanos. I was really
looking forward to Santorini from the beautiful pictures I've seen
from there. Mykanos has windmills. And we will be spending the entire
day there. Oh, well.
Today is the 13th,
which means the trip is nearly over. Mykanos tomorrow, then one more
stop (Izmir?) before Istanbul, where we leave the ship. Why does time
go so much faster looking backward on it than it does looking forward
to it? I only have 50 minutes of internet time left to me, so will
try to stretch it out...though ten minutes is wasted every time I try
to get on line.
I'll survive.
Interesting note about the
ship: it is only half full. Just 168 passengers...fewer than were on
the Viking Prestige, which was less than half the size of the Aegean
Odyssey. No idea why (the economy?). But Voyages to Antiquity has
only one ship, and I'm sure they're hurting.
Another pleasant dinner. Tom
and Mike weren't there when I arrived, so I was joined by Adrian,
Dave (another one of the looking-for-detergent crew) and a very, very
English older gentleman whose name I do not know. Like everyone else
on the ship, they have been everywhere several times and had a lot of
interesting stories.
I do think I've eaten more
on this trip than I have in more than a month at home. It's the ready
availability of small amounts of many things, and I thank God for the
tapas. And I'm not used to 2-hour dinners. Ah, how the other half
lives!
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