Greece

Piraeus is a bustling port with over 40 ships in dock. We set off in the morning to Cape Souvion to see the Temple of Posiden. It’s amazing to see the old marble columns and read about the legends. It was a smaller tour than usual so we were able to move quickly and see a lot. This is a shot about 10 minutes out from the Temple.

The drive there was along the coast and it is spectacular, it reminded me of South Australia’s rugged coastline, rocky beaches with rolling mountains and little vegetation. The Greeks really make the most of the Aegean Sea, we saw lots of people swimming, fishing and walking and could see a few of the famous Greek Islands along the way. It was disappointing to see quite a lot of rubbish and some graffiti too. Nice views - shame about the litter !
We then relaxed back on the boat for the afternoon, won team trivia (again), packed our bags and met our friends for a wonderful dinner and karaoke.
We left the Insignia at 8.30am and headed straight to our hotel in Athens. Fortunately we were able to check in early. Unfortunately though it was raining and our plans to go to the Acropolis were dashed. There was also a major demonstration/riot some people have each year so the city was closed from 1.30pm so we couldn’t even go to the museum. The concierge recommended a 3 hour taxi ride around the city, provided we left before 1pm so we jumped in a cab with Yiannis who showed us the sights around town. This is an image of the guard at the front of the Presidents residence.

We went to the tallest hill in Athens and got some great views. This one is looking out over the city to Piraeus where we docked.

Luckily it stopped raining so we made a quick dash for the Acropolis and had a good look around for 45 minutes until the rain started again. It is quite steep, rocky and uneven ground, certainly not safe in the rain. We then saw the wonderful stadiums built for the Olympics last year, very impressive. There were many Police stationed on most streets in big groups, apparently over 8000 Police were deployed. We saw a few hundred students getting together and heard only a couple of sirens tonight so I think nothing major happened. The rain would have kept a lot of them away too.
We are quite tired and with the rain and demonstrations we decided to get room service and have a lazy night. I have enjoyed reading the newspaper and we are both looking forward to coming home. Our flight doesn’t leave until 6pm so we will visit the museum tomorrow then head to the airport. Athens to Frankfurt, then a stop in Singapore, Sydney then Brisbane.