Day 95-96 – April 10-11, 2015

We are now in Greece. To be exact we are in Piraeus. It is about 10 minutes from Athens. We are here for two days. Athens is known as the birthplace of democracy and serves as Greece’s capital city and is one of the oldest cities in the world, dating back 7,000 years. We visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Acropolis. Also frequently considered one of the most important structures in Greece is the Parthenon. This temple was completed in 438 BC and was dedicated to Athena, a Greek goddess and the patron of the city of Athens. Also to be seen is Panathinaiko Stadium, where the first ever modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. The original structure was rebuilt and is now the only major stadium made entirely of white marble.

Piraeus is Greece's third largest city in terms of population and its biggest port in Grrese. It is the third largest port in the Mediterranean.  It was first settled in the ages of Themistocles, when the Long Walls were built (478 BC), and the town was being laid out to the plans of the architect Hippodamus. It gained considerably in importance when Athens became a naval power. The ancient harbors of Piraeus were Zea and Munichia. Athens, the city with the most glorious history in the world, a city worshipped by gods and people, is a magical city. The enchanting capital of Greece has always been a birthplace for civilization. It is the city where democracy was born and was home to most of the wise men of ancient times. The most important civilization of the ancient world flourished in Athens and is relived through some of the world's most formidable edifices. Athens is situated in the prefecture of Attica and extends to the peninsula that reaches up to Central Greece. It is surrounded by mountains Ymmytos, Pendeli and Parnitha, northwards and eastwards, and the Saronic gulf southwards and westwards. The population of Greece is approximately 11 million and the greater Athens area, which includes Piraeus, is about 4 million.

We took a Holland American tour the first day and toured Athens and the Acropolis. We did not have a very good guide, but did enjoy the tour. The Acropolis is not quite as impressive after you have seen Ephesus. Acropolis is made up of two words; acrop means top of the hill and olis means the city., meaning the city on top of the hill. Hence Minneapolis must mean city of minis. There are a lot of acropolises in Greece, and they were originally built as castles. The Acropolis we visited was built as a castle for the King of Athens 4000 years ago. When they got rid of the king, it became a temple to Athena. She is the goddess of wisdom called Athena Sophia. She is said to have been born out of the head of Zeus. The symbol for Athena is the owl with blue eyes. The Parthenon sits at the top of the Acropolis. It was built on the ruins of another building, which you can see.

In the 4^th century AD the Byzantines made Christianity the religion and paganism was prohibited. All the temples were abandoned and they were used as quarries to build other buildings. The Olympic Games were also stopped as they were a tribute to the God Zeus and were not restarted till 1896. The original marathon started in Marathon Greece and they raced the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens. Every November they run this race and it finishes in the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. Before each Olympic Games the torch is lit in Olympia and brought to this stadium to pass to the team hosting the games.

On the second day we walked around Piraeus. It was very interesting, we stumbled upon a fish market. This is a little like Ground Hog Day in that it is Easter weekend again. This time it is the Greek Orthodox Easter. The temperatures were in the high 50’s on Friday and 60’s on Saturday, with lots of sun. Quite a difference than Thursday when we had high seas and winds up to 78 knots (force 10), and it was raining.

1 – Volleyball stadium built for the 2004 Olympics

2 – City street

3 – Columns from Roman Temple of Zeus

4 – Stadium used for 1896 Olympics; reconstituted in the 19^th century. It is made of solid marble.

5 – Building (Zappion – not sure of spelling) in the middle of the Royal Garden built by the first Queen of Greece, Amelia.

6-8 Parliament House with Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

9 – Catholic cathedral

10 – Academy of Sciences and the Fine Arts – Left column as Athena at the top and right one has Apollo

11 – Church dedicated to St. George

12-13 Ordian (spell??) a music hall that hold 5000

14 – View from the Acropolis

15-23 Acropolis and Parthenon

24 – Marble walkway at the Acropolis

25 – Old Cistern

26 – Us

27 – Neo-classical building - Piraeus

28 – Church - Piraeus

29-30 Fish Market - Piraeus

31 – Church – Piraeus

32 – Sidewalk in Piraeus; not the ‘line’ in the walk and it is like braille. We think this is to aid those that are blind

33 – Church in Piraeus

34 – Port terminal – dog at rest

35 – Our room door with laundry bag on handle. We made 4 Start Mariner (award level for Holland America). With this level we get free laundry, no more doing laundry for the rest of the cruise