Off to Greece

Rebecca had been wanting to go to Greece for many years so we promised her a trip as her graduation present from the University of Alabama. We booked a nine-night cruise on the Celebrity Infinity out of Piraeus and scheduled several nights in Athens beforehand to see the sites. Our Uber arrived at 5AM and our driver was not pleased to see the amount of luggage we had. This is partly Uber's fault for the app not allowing someone to select the number of passengers but also the driver's for not thinking an airport run might involve luggage. We were dropped off at MCO and checked our bags with United and passed through security without an issue. We were in the wrong terminal wing to use the United Club so we sat at the gate and waited for our flight to Newark. We had paid for Polaris class to Athens which meant first class to Newark and we were pleasantly surprised the domestic flight also had the lie-flat Polaris seats.

We arrived in Newark where we headed straight to the Polaris lounge which was not yet crowded to grab some lunch and snacks and recharge our electronics for the next flight. We had a little walk to the gate and boarded our nine-hour flight to Athens. Food service was efficient and the food was good and then we tried to get some sleep for the long day ahead. We breezed through immigration without a question but had a long wait to get our bags. We sent Rebecca out to find our car service while we waited and then we met our driver from Athens Transfer Service who took us to our hotel with a little guided tour of the city. We dropped off our luggage at the Electra Palace and used the facilities and started our tour of Athens.

The Acropolis Museum

The walk to the Metro station from our hotel was about as far as the walk to the Acropolis Museum, so we decided just to set out on foot through Plaka down to the Museum. We got a little lost since GPS directed us to the driving entrance but we finally found the main entrance. The lines were not too bad and we were inside the museum by 11AM. We wished we had realized they had a guided tour available on your cell phone so we would have brought headphones to listen to the tour. The tour begins on the first floor that contains finds from the Acropolis slopes and the early history of the Acropolis. On the first floor are sections devoted to the Archaic period (700-480 BCE) and Perikles' building program with exhibits ranging from the 5th century BCE to the end of antiquity. The exhibition includes sculptures and architectural members from the Propylaia, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion, including the famous Karyatids. The second floor houses a cafe and bookshop while the third floor accomodates the sculptures of the Parthenon. The outer walls incorporate the relief-carved blocks of the temple's Ionic frieze, mounted in the same position as they held on the monument. We had decided to the Museum first because we thought it would give us a better sense of what we would see the next day at the monument itself but realized we would have appreciated the museum more afterward.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus

When we finished with the museum, we made a short walk to the Arch of Hadrian, built in 131 AD to celebrate a visit from the Roman emperor who was an Athenian citizen. From there, we walked around to the entrance of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Construction began here in the 6th century BCE but was not completed until the 2nd century AD. At its height, it consisted of 104 columns and was the largest temple in Greece. 16 of the columns have been restored as part of the excavation project begun in 1889.

Holy Church of Saint Catherine and Choragic Monument of Lysicrates

We stopped for lunch at a cafe, Salaounis Christos, near the Museum, for our first tastes of Greek food and beer. We sampled the local beer, Mythos and had souvlaki and moussaka. We began our walk back towards our hotel with a stop first outside the Holy Church of Saint Catherine. The church was constructed atop an ancient temple dedicated to Artemis and dates back to the Byzantine period. It is the oldest example of the cross plan, four-columned church with a central dome that can be found throughout Athens. Further along our walk, was the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. Built in the 4th century as a trophy base, the pedestal is the lone survivor of the many choragic monuments that once lined the city street.

The Electra Palace Athens

By now the long day had caught up with us so we headed back to our hotel. Rebecca ran afoul of the cobblestone streets just as her brother had done when he visited a few years before and she twisted her ankle. We walked into the hotel lobby with her crying in pain. While J. R. got our luggage and checked in, the hotel staff brought her some ice and we headed up to our room with its view of the city and view of the Acropolis itself. Janie and Becca headed to the rooftop pool so she could soak her ankle in some warm water and J. R. joined them a little while later to soak in the sun. Then it was time for bed as we were all quite exhausted.