Today was another amazing day. We had to get off the ship by about 7:30 and
our bus was waiting for us. I think
Cosimo, our Italian bus driver had missed usJ He had spent the three days in Greece while
we were on the cruise. We took the bus
back to Athens and did some sightseeing there.
Our first stop was the acropolis.
I learned that the word acropolis actually means “the highest spot in a
city”. So acropolis is the name for the
hill where the buildings like the Parthenon and stadium and other temples to
Athena, etc. are standing. It was a long
walk up. We have discovered that everything
in Greece involves walking up a hill or walking up steps…..good exercise to
help with all the good food we have been eating. The buildings were amazing. Actual excavation and restoration was going
on while we were there. It was
fascinating to watch the men and women who were working on the renovation and
cleaning of the structures. They work
for hours and days sometimes on one tiny area
of a column or pedestal. After a
couple of hours there, we stopped at the sight of the Olympic stadium for the
first modern Olympics. It is also where
the torch (which starts in the city of Olympia) comes to be handed off to the
country where the Olympics are to be held.
We had some time for lunch in Athens and then headed for the port of
Patra where we would be taking an overnight ferry to Italy. On our way we crossed the Corinth Canal. We stopped to take a look at it. It was dug so that boats did not have to
travel all around the isthmus in the south of Greece when they wanted to get to
Patra. It was also exciting to be in
another city that is talked about in the Bible where one of the seven churches
was. We arrived in Patra about 5:00 and
got on our overnight ferry. It is just
like a small cruise ship. We have our own
cabin and got served a lovely dinner.
Our bus is on the ferry also, so when we get to Italy tomorrow, it can
drive off. Then we drive to Rome. We will not be getting to Italy until about
5:00 tomorrow.
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| Corinth Canal |
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| Olympic Stadium |
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