Distance from Valletta to Piraeus: 521 Nautical Miles
Local Information: Athens is the capital of Greece and has a current population of 4.5 people – the city of Athens is nestled against the hills like a coat of white flowers. Seven miles from Athens is the busy seaport of Piraeus. Piraeus is an important industrial and tourist harbor and sports a population of 600,000 people. The main attraction in Athens is the Acropolis and nearby archeological sites.
An incredibly hot day in Piraeus, Greece.
Piraeus from the Silhouette
This may the warmest temperatures we have every dealt with in our many travels. Our intention is still to go out and seek as much shade as we can find. We are pretty familiar with the city, having been here many times. We have two goals for today. The first is to go the main pier and take advantage of their free but spotty WiFi. The second goal is to locate a health spa – we could both use a relaxing massage.
The last few times we have been in Piraeus it was on a Sunday and just about everything was closed. That wasn’t the case today and the city was buzzing with activity. We last stayed in Piraeus in a hotel down by the Marina (over the hill from the Cruise Port). While walking the Pedestrian Walkway from the hotel, we had noted a salon called “The Beauty Spot” in a partially complete commercial building. The Beauty Spot was either closed or the staff was out – no one was there.
We ran into the Beauty Spot again on this walk and we went up to check it out. This time is was open and staff by at least three women. We asked about massages and were told that they ran 80 Euros each. Before we could say anything, the woman in charge said that they had a special rate – 100 Euros for two one hour massages. That seemed like a reasonable price. There was only one therapist so we each had to wait an hour (thank goodness for smart phone apps). The massages were great – involving a lot of stretching. The most interesting about the visit to the Beauty Spot was the pet turtle that roamed the salon. I got a nice picture of “Leonides” (remember the movie “300” – he was the good guy) as he nipped at my New Balance shoes.
Leonides – the Salon Turtle
Drenched from the heat but relaxed we made it back to the Terminal. After checking our e-mail again, we took the shuttle bus to the Ship. We survived what one passenger told me was 42C (107F) – once you get above 100F, does it really matter.
Dinner in the Grand Cuvee gave us another nice view of the sail away.
Piraeus Sail Away
Showtime tonight was variety night – Jon Courtenay, Karen Grainer, and Lisa Richard combined their talents for tonight’s show. They all did a great job. We stopped by to say goodbye to Karen.
Pedometer: 6819 steps; 3.23 miles; 338 calories; 104F
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