Cruise Day 7: Athens, Greece

Getting up this morning was rough after that late night movie.  But, it's Athens!  Athens is a great reason to get out of bed, no matter how sleepy you are, and take advantage of it.

After a quick breakfast at the buffet, we grouped up and headed out on our tour.  The bus took us from the port of Piraeus, through the city, to the ancient stadium.  The sun was warming things up, but created a vibrant blue in the sky that we became used to in Greece the last time we visited.  On our previous trip in 2011, we never made it to the stadium.  So, it was cool to get up close this time.  The stadium was completely restored to how it looked in ancient times so that it could be used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.  It was really interesting to see an actual newly renovated stadium made out of marble.  It will make it easier from this point forward to imagine the ruins we see in their former glory.

Oh, the tour bus farm.  Giddy up!

We stopped by the Greek Parliament.  It was just as we remembered: dogs everywhere resting, but no political protesters out front for entertainment this time.  It was pretty quiet.

The view was very clear, as you can see, in every direction.

As the day went on, the crowds developed as expected.  We toughed it out climbing all the way to the top of the Acropolis.  It was apparent how much work has been completed since 2011.  Wow!

A site like this will never cease to amaze me.  Not only are the ruins physically imposing, but they pack a tremendous historical punch as well. 

A cool panorama taken on Katherine's iPod.  The Parthenon is amazing!

The Greek flag almost posed perfectly for this shot.  Almost..

This little lookout area is where Andrew (K's bro), Katherine, and I had our first view of Athens.  We didn't think we would come back this soon.

The caps of some Ionic pillars.

Our tour got us back to the ship before 1:00 pm, so we had some time to rest up before dinner.  Everyone did well in the hot sun and we were ready to relax.  After lunch at the buffet, Katherine and I headed to the theater to see the movie Malificent with Angelina Jolie.  I was surprisingly impressed.  This is not a movie I would normally be interested in, but it was actually really good.  I might even watch it again at some point.  

Katherine enjoying the sunset.

Tonight's dinner was a Greek menu with the servers dressing in traditional Greek style.  Katherine started with spanakopita, and I had the fisherman's soup with snapper, mussels and vegetables.  We both then had a classic Greek salad.  For my main course I had the mixed grill with loukaniko Greek sausage, roasted lamb chop, lemon chicken and grilled beef tenderloin. Katherine had vegetable moussaka.  While what came to the table was certainly not moussaka, but just a bowl of grilled vegetables, it was still really good.  Of course, we all had baklava for dessert.

Our super cool stateroom door.

Tomorrow we are heading to Turkey.  It will be another sunny day and the ancient Ephesus site better be ready for us.

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Cruise Day 6: Sea Day 2

Today was a relaxing, chilled out day.

My dad and I started the morning with an old-fashioned shave in the spa of the ship.  This consisted of an hour treatment on my face which I found a little weird.  I have never had anyone shave my face before, and I found it similar to being at the doctor or dentist.  The very nice lady washed, lathered, massaged, shaved, and moisturized the heck out of my face.  It just took me a long time to relax and go with it.  It was an interesting experience.  The spa is called Senses, and is hooked up.  The look and feel is Asian, and you can get all sorts of fooey, expensive treatments done to almost all parts of your body.  There is a sauna also, which I did not have the pleasure of trying.

Katherine and I had a sit down lunch at Lumiere's, which was quite tasty.  People always rave about the service on Disney ships, and it really is amazing.

After lunch we regrouped and headed to the Walt Disney Theater to watch Planes: Fire and Rescue in 3D.  The movie was good, and the 3D looks stellar in these animated films, I must say.

After the movie, my dad and I chilled out on the deck with a cigar, while Katherine and my mom had a facial.  This was a first for Katherine, which she really enjoyed.  As the females were getting their faces lathered and massaged in all sorts of weird ways like the man folk had earlier, the sun began to set.  Luckily we have our own private verandah from which to witness the beautiful scenery.  When Katherine and my mom came back from the spa, they quickly changed into their glad rags so we could head to dinner at Animator's Palate.  Let the shenanigans begin!

Mom with Sudhir, the head waiter for our section.

We sat down with these papers in front of us, and some markers in the middle of the table.  Our mission was to complete the drawings and then they would come to life later in the evening.  The drawings were scanned into a computer and animated on the giant screens next to our dining tables for everyone to see.  Pretty cool.

Me with Agus, our awesome server.

Below is a photo of Valentina, our other awesome server, and me.  I decided to wear Fred to dinner.  He is not Nemo!  Nemo cost too much.  This beautiful hat came from Laughlin, Nevada where cruising is a little different.  Ha! 

After dinner, Katherine and I decided to stay up late to see the premier of Marvel Comic's Guardians of the Galaxy.  Our ship had the earliest official viewing anywhere on the planet.  We felt special.  The movie was in 3D as well, which looked great in the theater.  The ship was completely quiet and abandoned at 2:30 am as we made our way back to the state room after the movie.  There are no hard partiers on this boat.

Tomorrow our port will be Athens.  Katherine and I are excited to return.  This is where we started our first big trip three years ago.  

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