Athens- July 15

We are in the harbor of Athens, Piraeus. It is a major port and

industrial center of Greece. The city has shipyards, flour mills, and factories in which agricultural equipment,

textiles, rugs, glass, and chemicals are produced. Piraeus was laid out about 450BC. It w

as destroyed by the Romans in 86 BC and only resumed importance after Greece became independent in the 19^th Century.Athens, the Greek capital, ranks with Rome,

Cairo and Istanbul in terms of important artifacts that we have seen. It is a bit of a confusing town with high-rises and office complexes mixed among the historical remnants of the past. These remnants have been preserved carefully in the shadows of the many steel-and-glass towers.

Hadrian’s Arch is right on a main street. It was built in 132AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and was the gateway to the ancient city of Theseus’ Athens and Hadrians’s new “Athens”….which he planned to call Hadrianopolis.

Our traveling companions did a tour of the city, which we have done before. They reported huge crowds of people especially at the Acropolis- which of course means the high place in the city. The renovated Acropolis is an icon of Athens. The Parthenon is beautiful- although the work is not yet complete. Ancient gods presumably lived in the clouds, so high places brought people closer to those they worshipped. Historians say the first residents moved to the mountain in 3500BC and by 1400BC it was a royal dwelling. Most of what you see today was begun in 432BC. For the touring Kemps and Stitts the day was long- including a visit to the Archaeological Museum.

The day was also very hot so we were glad to be able to watch the city from the cool of the Noordam. We discovered this bar by the pool and thought the barstools the look like standing fish were really cute.

Together the 6 of us watched the sail away from Pireaus while we sipped wine and recounted the activities of the day. What a great life!

For dinner we all went to a special Italian restaurant on the 9^th deck- Canaletto. The food was tasty and the atmosphere quiet and unhurried. This ship features an up-price restaurant, The Pinnacle Grill, which we will sample later. Except for the noise we have all been happy with food in the regular dining room, the Vista Dining Room.