Saturday, October 1, 2011
Athens, Greece then sailing toward Kushadasi, Turkey
So, this morning is Athens, the big time. Our tour took us to the same places, pretty much, as the one two and a half years ago, and truthfully not much has changed in that time. Familiar now, the walk up the steps to the Acropolis (high city) was less arduous than I recall, but the marble slabs are much more slippery and great care is needed in walking on them. The Parthenon is still under renovation with the scaffolding remaining on the one end and a pair of large construction cranes in place. The crowds were large and voracious, particularly the Asian tourists (most commonly Japanese) being very agressive and shoving others out of the way to get close, and cutting in front of others who are walking. No matter, we stuck close to our tour guide who was extremely informative and knowlegable. Last time we ignored our guide completely and wandered, lots more pictures taken, as her voice was hard to hear in the winds and crowds. This time we had headsets and her voice was broadcast to us, much better.
Many things I learned, but the one that stuck with me this time was Nike, the winged goddess of victory. One of the sites of Rome that struck me most was the 'Winged Victory' statues on the Vittoriano, again 'victory' wears wings. From today I learned that victory always wears wings because she never stays in one place, she always moves. Victory is fleeting, transient. In other words, what we conquor doesn't stay conquored, we have to continually work to maintain our victory. And each new victory makes it harder to keep what we already have, given the 'maintenance' requirements stipulated by the fleeting nature of victory itself. A lesson from the past still true today.
Back down from the Acropolis, and a visit to the old olympic stadium (no longer used as the track within the stands is the correct length for field events but is too narrow so the corners are too sharp for modern Olympic standards), we headed into an area dominated by Hadrian's Arch for our lunch break. This was our doorway to the Placa, the souk, the market, the tourist trinket shops. And lunch and leisure, two and a half hours to just play. Jan and I had a wonderful lunch in a family-run restaurant, 28 Euro for two, fixed prices, including water, a half liter of wine, five dishes, bread, and desert. Expensive, but the food was excellent and so was the wine and the view. Jan and I planned our return to both here and Myconos, our two favorites so far.
Back at the bus point a bit early, I sat on a bench while Jan browsed the shops a bit. An african guy approached me, a handful of watches in each hand. Wanna buy a Rolex, genuine, such a deal only 80 Euro, he asked? After haggling and negotiating, easy for me because I had a walk-away price in mind, we settled and I bought, 30 Euro. That was a good deal for me, a genuine, real, no-fooling Rolex watch, guaranteed Swiss made, the regular price for the Sea-Dweller model I bought is about US$15,000, for only 30 Euro, what a brilliant purchase well negotiated. Sure, Uh-huh. And when I get back to London there is a bridge that they will sell me too. But these things are costume jewellery for men, I like the look of them. And they don't last long, so you have to keep your eyes open fro replacements when you can find them. Just as we started off in the bus, we passed the Greek parliament buildings and the park across the steet, site of a bunch of recent demonstrations. Our guide said no big deal lately, the demonstraters went away for a summer holiday and haven't returned yet. Soon though, more protests, she said.
Then a ride back to the ship, back on board, pre-dinner drinks, then dinner, then a production show, and bed. Tomorrow we do it all again, this time Turkey at the port of Kusadasi.
