Athens (Piraeus), Greece – Wednesday, December 22

Day 5: After breakfast, you will proceed to the Acropolis to view the Parthenon and visit the Acropolis Museum. Enjoy lunch on your own, as well as some time to explore at your leisure. You will then be transferred to your ship to begin your cruise. (Breakfast)

Today is our last day of the Classic Greece pre – extension. Our luggage was out for the porters by 7:30am. We ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel and were ready to depart by 9 am. We were warned by Tara and Laila that our timing would need to be exact today since due to COVID-19 protocol each bus was given a specific time to get to the port for embarkation. 

After identifying our luggage before it was put in the bus’s luggage hold, we were on our way. The Acropolis sits atop one of the 7 hills of Athens. The bus stopped at the base of the hill and we walked up, first on wide relatively shallow stairs with frequent landings. Our guide gave us a rest about halfway up. Soon we were walking up the hill watching for large rocks in the uneven path. It was amazing to see how the outer areas were built around the rocks using them to support the structures. 

The Acropolis began to take on the form of a city when it was fortified by the Mycenaeans in about 1400 BC. In 510 BC the Delphic Oracle declared it to be a holy place of the gods.  After all the buildings were destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC, Perikles began his grand program of rebuilding, building three temples and a monumental gateway, the Propylaia. The entire site is undergoing reconstruction. No visitors have been able to enter the temples since 1975. It is a miracle that anything remains at all, as the ravages of war, the removal of temple treasures and pollution have all taken their toll on the Acropolis. 

Work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, when, under the direction of the sculptor Pheidias, the architects started building a magnificent new Doric temple to Athena, the patron goddess of the city. It was designed primarily to house the Parthenos, Pheidias’s impressive 12-m- (39-ft-) high cult statue of Athena covered in ivory and gold.

Built between 421 and 406 BC, the Erechtheion is situated on the most sacred site of the Acropolis. It is said to be where Poseidon left his trident marks in a rock, and Athena’s olive tree sprouted, in their battle for patronage of the city. Named after Erechtheus, one of the mythical kings of Athens, the temple was a sanctuary to both Athena Polias and Erechtheus-Poseidon.

Temple of Athena Nike is a small temple built in 426–421 BC to commemorate the Athenians’ victories over the Persians. The temple frieze has representative scenes from the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). The temple has been used as both observation post and an ancient shrine to the goddess of Victory, Athena Nike, of whom there is a remarkable sculpture on the balustrade.

The ruins are a combination of old and new as restorers fashion new marble pieces to fit in with recovered pieces. The area surrounding the columns and what is left of the buildings is littered with pieces waiting to be fit together as a giant jigsaw puzzle. From the Acropolis one can see truly amazing views of the city of Athens in every direction. Laila pointed out Mars Hill talking of the debates that were held there. It’s significance to us is the sermon Paul preached on Mars Hill in Acts 17: 22. It was fun to see where we had walked on Monday and to put everything together as you could see so much! After taking pictures, we started down, walking by the other side of the Parthenon, past the Erechtheion and around the Temple of Athena Nike.

We walked down a large pedestrian walkway to the Acropolis Museum opened in 2008. It had been planned since the late 1970s to replace the old Acropolis Museum, next to the Parthenon. The multi-story modern showpiece had the challenge of constructing the building over excavations of an early Christian settlement. Concrete pillars and a glass walkway allow the building to hover over the ruins, which are on view as you approach the entrance. The museum houses original friezes, cornices, statues and vessels that survived and replicas of many that did not or were looted or removed by foreign governments. Many things ended up in museums in  Britain following World War II with Greece continuing to lobby for their return. The statues, cornices and friezes are amazing in their detail. The braids of hair and folds of the dresses of the female statues were so detailed they depict movement, but in stone. The friezes depict real and mythical battles in vivid detail. Probably the most surprising thing to Joyce was to learn of the color that was included in the original creations. The friezes were set in relief on a brilliant blue background. It is hard to imagine when all we see is yellowed older marble or white newer marble replicas.

After viewing the exhibits in the museum, we did a little looking in the museum bookstore and gift shop, finding a Christmas ornament to add to our collection. With then 40 minutes or so we had before meeting our bus, we walked around the Plaka, finding a keychain ornament and some strawberry gelato.

We met the bus and headed to the Port of Pireas, about a 20 minute drive. Embarkation was very different from the last time we traveled. Instead of lots of people in lines, it was only the 16 of us from our bus. There were numerous Viking staff and we were processed quickly. We showed our passports, vaccination card and negative COVID-19 test from last week. We had checked in from home, taking the health surveys, photos, etc., showed our QR code and headed off to screen our hand luggage. After a demonstration of putting on a life vest and identifying our muster station, we headed to our stateroom where our bags and the stateroom steward awaited us. Our first task was to take a saliva COVID-19 test. We will be taking one every morning before breakfast. 

By now it was after 2 pm and Tito, our stateroom steward, recommended we eat lunch as the World Café stopped serving at 2:30 pm. We headed up and ate a lighter lunch, then wandered around the ship exploring. We took a tour of the spa and explored the public spaces. After exploring, it was back to the cabin to unpack. The stateroom is small, but has great storage, using every available space with our suitcases fitting nicely under the bed.

Tito came back and helped us log on to the WiFi and showed Joyce the launderette, which is conveniently across the hall from our stateroom. Use of washers, including soup, and dryers are included. The washers and dryers were not busy, so Joyce quickly did 2 loads of laundry. Joyce was able to call her mom, which was good for both Joyce and her mom. Alan worked on pictures and took a nap. We ate a late dinner and enjoyed the live piano music in the Atrium.