Piraeus (Port for Athens)

We had an enjoyable visit to Athens yesterday - although it is difficult to make comments on the visit as it is all over so quickly. Certainly, we could have spent a MUCH longer time in the old part of the city (mainly for the restaurant/taverna dining/drinking and shopping opportunities) and I am intrigued by the possibilities offered by the port of Piraeus with it's dozens of Greek ferries plying their way to the hundreds of Greek Islands.

We were on the upper deck well before Dawn to see the entry of the ship into the Harbour. It has a very narrow entrance and it was fascinating to witness the skill of the Captain and his crew in berthing the ship in such confined waters. Before we went ashore it was announced that they were expecting a strong gale later in the day - and I became concerned that we would not be able to get back out of the Harbour (thus missing the next port of Lisbon). As it turned out, this didn't happen (the gale came later) - but as we sailed out, we could feel it coming. CNN news had told us that Athens temperature would drop from 20C to only 3C during the weather change - and it was only 10C when we left. There was a "GREAT BRITISH SAILAWAY" planned (as sister ship Aurora was also in port) - but this had to be cancelled.

I thought that Athens was very like a lot of other large European cities - somewhat crowded and ugly in the outlying areas with much high density living, but delightful in the old areas. Of course, the old areas are for the tourists, and there are too many of them/us as well!. Also like a lot of other European cities and the giant Asian cities we have visited on this cruise, there are simply too many people, too much motor traffic and too much pollution. I have come to more fully understand during this cruise that although we just have to visit the Capital cities of countries to truly know them - the beauty of these countries (which all of them have) lies in their rural areas. That is one reason
why we largely avoid all areas on the British AA Book of the Road that show as brown urban areas.

As I said before, I am intrigued by Piraeus. I have read that it doesn't have much going for it and is not very attractive - this is true, but the availability of all these Ferries makes it very attractive to me. Now that I have some concept of what it is all about and when we return home, I will have to research this more. Where do these Ferries go? Can you do daytrips on them? What is their cost? Can you tie in hotel accommodation short stays on the islands to their schedules? Etc,etc.

We had a very pleasant (but touristy) lunch in the Plaka. Ouzo, Greek wine, Metaxa Brandy - plus a beautiful piece of lamb - all accompanied by Greek music and dancing. It reminded us of a similar thing that we did in Rome once - a bit corny, but a lot of fun when in company with others. I think I might be feeling the first stirrings of a future Greek land based touring holiday coming on. Isn't it just a shame that we Aussies have to fly so far to get to these places.

You can view a Youtube video about our visit to Athens here