Tuesday, October 25, 2011 – Piraeus, Greece – Mostly Sunny – 70s

A beautiful day in Piraeus…

Today, we plan to explore Piraeus on foot.  The weather is pleasant.  We were told that the country is on a one day strike today so the traffic is heavier than usual and that there will be a lot of taxis around.  Our first experiences with the drivers in Greece is that pedestrians are fair game.  They will stop for signal lights but not at crosswalks or street corners.

Breakfast consisted of orange juice, an omelet, cheeses, toast, tomatoes, and chocolate cake (cream filled), and coffee (no decaf in macho Greece).  I thought it was OK.

The hotel is in a nice little neighborhood with shops and a pedestrian walkway.  You can reach a lot of Piraeus from the hotel.

We passed by a number of small parks.  The lady below is the centerpiece of one of these parks.  I don’t who she is (writing in Greek).

 

Although there are a lot of eateries near the hotel and near the port area, we finally settled on one of the semi-fast food places.  Splitting a tuna sandwich (a little like Potbelly’s) and freshly made fries did the trick (the challenge is still avoiding the ever present cigarette smoke). 

After walking back to the hotel, we explored the area behind the hotel.  This marina – the Zea Marina – looks like the place where the Rich and Famous of Piraeus hang out.  We saw quite a few restaurants and found one we wanted to come back to later for dinner.

Ellen at the Zea Marina

Back at the hotel, we got the new room we had asked for earlier and at the same price.  This room, on the first floor, was beautifully decorated in the most modern Euro style.  It was on the street side and a bit noisy but it was a great room for the price.

Our Upgraded Room (above three pictures)

We returned to one of the Greek Restaurants at the Marina for dinner. We ordered a Greek Salad (it came with a half pound slab of Feta Cheese on top),  Baked Cod and Pasta.  The dinner was good and not too expensive.  I also had a Greek Beer - Alfa.

At Dinner

 

My Alfa Beer

Authentic Greek Salad

A long day of walking and exploring.  Piraeus turned out to be more that we thought it was.  The next time we are here, we’ll know where to stay and eat.

Tomorrow, we embark.

Pedometer: 11920 steps/5.65 mi/583 cal

Sunday, October 23, 2011 – Monday, October 24, 2011 – Chicago to Athens – Travel Day

Following brunch with the kids, we get a ride to the Airport.  Our flight is on time and our plane is waiting.  The 777 has been changed to a 767-300 but we are lucky enough to have kept our precious exit rows (21HJ).

 

AA86 767 Ready to Go

 

Climb out Chicago

The trip to London LHR was relatively short – 7 hours 30 min – so we did not get much sleep.  The flight was relatively smooth so we had a chance to move about.

The sequence of pictures below are of the sunrise over the Atlantic and UK. 

Final Approach to London as the Sun rises

The layover between flights was about four hours – some of this involved getting from Terminal 3 to British Air Terminal 5.  BA632 is the first non-Airbus plan we have flown from LHR.  It’s a 767 and we do not have exit row seats for our four hour flight to Athens. 

Gates are announced within an hour of flight and everyone hopes that they will get a gate in the A concourse (where everyone waits).  We lucked out and our new gate was right where we had been sitting.  A good thing, since I was so tired from the flight and no sleep that taking a train out to one of the other concourses would have been annoying.

 

BA632 Ready to go- A17

Climb Out LHR (Top two photos)

We flew over the Alps (not sure which country) as we made our way to Athens (bellow).

The coast line of Greece is visible in the photo below.

The final approach into Athens is quite dramatic – turning around a number of hills and into the airport.  One of the attendants made me turn off my camera (“because it runs on electricity”) even though it has no WiFi and emits negligible em radiation.  I usually get more pictures of the landing but the one below is all I could get.

Our luggage also made the trip to Athens and our driver, Bogdan, was there with our name on a sign (always wanted to see that).  We picked up another couple and an hour later (about 7 PM) we were at the Phidias Hotel in Piraeus. 

Our room was  on the fourth floor in the older part of the hotel but the rate of 30 Euros/night (5 Euros for breakfast) seemed like a good deal.  The free WiFi signal was strong and we were able to catch up with everyone and everything.

The room was quiet and we did get some sleep.  I was still on Chicago time and it would take another two days to catch up to Greek time.

The Adventure begins….

Sunday, September 18, 2011 – Valletta, Malta – Sunny – 90F

A warm day on the island of Malta

We are in Malta instead of Naples because Naples was overbooked for cruise ships.

Malta was the last official home of the Knights of St. John (a military order originating from the Crusades).  Much of the architecture on the island is the work of the Knights of Malta. 

Malta Facts

Maltese: Only Semitic Language in the EU (not Arabic or Hebrew)

Malta: Second most densely populated nation (Singapore #1)

Malta: 9th Smallest Country in the World

The Sail In to Malta was very scenic.

Valletta Sail In

The Port is right across the street from the town.  There are a few shops near the terminal but the real village of Valletta is on the hill above the harbor.

Mariner of the Seas docked in Valletta

We are on tour today - “Panoramic Malta”.  The bus is comfortable and the guide speaks English perfectly.

The first stop is near the harbor and gives us look at some of the architecture including the churches in the area and some of the fortifications the Knights of Malta built to protect the city,

The Marina at Valletta

 

Always a Cannon in Town

Our next stop is the fishing village of Marsaxlokk (according to the guide, the “Marsa” designation indicates “port”).  So this would be the port of Xlokk.  It is Sunday, and everything is closed but some restaurants.  There is a lot of cigarette smoke and few vendors so not much to see.  In addition, we have to walk a ways from the bus to the water due to the tight streets.

  

Fishing Village of Marsaxlokk

The bus ride continued around the island – Destination: Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto, visible from the cliff above, is an interesting rock formation.  Some people take boats and check out the grotto up close.

On the way, our guide points out an oil platform in the Mediterranean.  It is not a functional platform (no oil on Malta) but it is parked there until it can be moved to its intended location.

 

Oil Platform parked in the Sea

The pictures below are of the Blue Grotto taken from the cliff area above.

    

Our next stop is the Mdina Palace.  It is a magnificent structure complete with moat.  It sits in a park area of the city.  We didn’t go in and I did try to find some free WiFi with no success. Mdina Palace pictures are seen below.

A local (not too animated) greets visitors to his shop

We left the tour near the entrance to Malta – wanted to find WiFi and check out some souvenirs.  We did find a McDonalds with free WiFi but my phone wouldn’t connect.  We did get some shirts for the kids and some nice Malta pins (thrown in).

Valletta Main Pedestrian Walkway

Square of the Siege

Fountain near Bus Station – Near Valletta Gate

We found our way back to the ship in time for dinner.  I was able to pick up some free WiFi intermittently from the deck facing the city.  Checked out e-mail and that was about it.

Down the hill to the Mariner of the Seas

I was able to get some very interesting pictures of our night time sail away (using my cell phone camera).

Headliners:  Emperors of Soul; Motown cover group.  Did some Temptations, Four Tops, etc. Entertaining and personable.

Pedometer: 13,139 Steps; 6.2 miles; 643 calories; 2 hours 46 min.

Monday, September 19, 2011 – At Sea – Mediterranean Sea – Cloudy and Rainy – 60s

A not so great day at sea…

On my way to breakfast, I spotted the note below outside one of the cabins.  It asks anyone walking by to knock on the door and wake up the occupants.  It could be a nasty prank…but funny.

The ship is still moving through a seemingly endless group of Greek Islands (below). 

It is also a good day to head up to the Observation Deck to Kindle and read or just relax.

Although it is cool outside (but clearing up), some folks are still game for walking the decks and hanging out around the pool.

My real last talk, “The Mysteries of the Romanovs”, is well attended (full house – 150).  We also had a chance to meet the Destination Speaker, who attended the final talk.  The talk got off to a bit of a late start because the Cooking Competition ran a bit late.  The Romanov talk is one of the shorter ones and I was able to still finish on time.  I think all of the talks went well and the venue was just perfect for this audience.

Tomorrow: Disembarkation

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 – Civitavecchia, Italy – 80s – Sunny

Quick breakfast and equally quick disembarkation.

Caught the port bus and dragged our wheelies to the train station.  Got our tickets to Rome Termini and arrived in plenty of time to make our connection to the train to Fiumicino Airport.

 

Glitch:  The credit card that worked so well all along would not work for purchasing a train ticket to the airport using the automated ticket machines.  No ATMs around. The line for the ticket window was enormous so I had to search for a money changing store.  I eventually found a travel agent who would change dollars for Euros so I could buy the tickets.  The rate was terrible – no choice.

We ran to the train (a mile away, literally) and got there with a couple of minutes to spare.  In an hour we were at the airport, found our gate and were pleased to see our plane sitting there.

Climbout from Rome

Climbout from Heathrow

Above the clouds and on our way

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean

The most exciting part of the flight was the passing of two jets in front of us (yes, in front of us) and our plane passing through their contrails.  I was able to get a photo of one of these flybys. Look closely and you can see the other plane right at the horizon.

A pretty nice flight and soon we were back in the Chicago.  A weary cab ride home and we were at the complex. The front security gate didn’t work and Ellen had to walk up the hill to the house and open the gate via phone – not the way we had scripted it.

Good to be home…