Live from Silver Cloud 1432 - Istanbul to Piraeus

[jpalbny]

10/30 - Corinth:

 

After enjoying the birds-eye view of the Peloponnese from Acrocorinth, we headed back down the mountain to our waiting car, and drove back down closer to sea level. We didn't really know what to expect from Ancient Corinth itself, but decided to stop in and see what the site had to offer.

 

The dominant sight when we arrived was the Temple of Apollo. After parking, we wandered around the perimeter looking for the entrance. We found the exit, but had to backtrack before we could actually enter the site. The views of the Temple dominate the site:

 

 

There is a small museum on-site that has some nice mosaics:

 

 

And a few nice statues as well. There was an interesting description of the great robbery that took place here in 1990 - the investigation took more than 10 years, but the criminals were finally caught (in Miami), and almost all of the artifacts were returned to the museum. It was fairly empty today, and I guess we understand why the staff was keeping a close eye on us!

 

We headed back outside for more ruins, and saw the Bema of the Roman Forum, where St. Paul had been brought to trial for "conducting illegal teachings" before the Roman proconsul:

 

 

A few more ruins; this was once a large fountain that supplied water to the city:

 

 

And a well-preserved Roman Road - the Lechaion Road. In the background, the massive mountain of Acrocorinth dominates the view.

 

 

We took our time and enjoyed the site. Lots of history to read about here.

[jpalbny]

10/30 - Corinth, continued:

 

On our way out of Ancient Corinth we stopped for one last look at the Temple of Apollo. The strong backlighting, with Acrocorinth as a backdrop, made for an interesting composition.

 

 

We saw some vintage photos on display - this tour looks fun! Where can we sign up for this?

 

 

The ruins made me get all philosophical about Man and his temporary creations, vs. Nature and her much more permanent creations... We may think that our creations are permanent, but Nature always reclaims them. Or maybe my strange thoughts were due to the fact that I hadn't had lunch today?

 

Back to our car - we headed towards the Corinth Canal. It took us a few minutes to explore some back roads, but eventually we came to an old rough dirt road that paralleled the canal. We found a nice spot to stop and walked right up to the edge:

 

 

A little smaller than Panama, but still an impressive amount of rock to cut through. The water doesn't look very deep, though. We wanted to find a better overview, so we headed back to the main road, then drove to one of the bridges that span the canal. We found a shopping plaza, parked, and walked halfway out the bridge - pretty! Sorry about the shadows...

 

 

Unfortunately the light isn't great because its now 3:30, and because there's no DST, the sun is already low in the sky. We have until about 6:00 to return our car (last tender is 6:30), so we will try to cram in one more stop. We figure we're only a few hours from Athens by car if things go awry...

 

Our last planned stop is Epidaurus. This site was renowned for a large sanctuary to Asclepius, the Greek God of Medicine and son of Apollo. The asclepeion here was the most famous healing center in the ancient world - or so they say - and a large settlement was built here to support the sanctuary. There is also a theatre here that is supposedly renowned for its acoustics.

 

The drive was pretty, and we took some back roads along the way. Here is a fish farm, but even though that part isn't too pretty, the overall scene at this viewpoint along the highway was gorgeous in the late afternoon shadows. The water was so still, and the colors reflected from the sky made us want to linger there and enjoy the view longer:

 

 

But no time for that! Onward we raced, as the sun got lower in the sky...

 

 

It's a good hour's drive from Corinth to Epidaurus. Luckily, it's not far from there back to Nafplion, so as long as we make it to Epidaurus before it closes, we should be OK. We think that they are still operating on summer hours, but if they've changed to winter hours, they will be closing at 5:00, and then we're probably out of luck!

[jpalbny]

10/30 - Epidaurus:

 

We made it to Epidaurus a little after 4:30 and were relieved to find that they were still operating on a summer schedule. That meant we could take about an hour to look around before we had to get back to Nafplion. There wouldn't be much point in staying later anyway, as it would be getting dark soon.

 

The theatre was fantastic; it alone would have been worth the trip. People were sitting everywhere, just enjoying the spectacular view.

 

 

And truly, the acoustics were just as good as advertised. An obliging gentleman stood in the center of the stage and gave a heartfelt rendition of Ave Maria, which carried throughout the whole theatre. It was really breathtaking!

 

The museum was OK; here is a statue of Asclepius so you can say you've seen him too...

 

 

The site is pretty much in complete ruins; some of the sanctuary is being rebuilt but it looks too modern. There just aren't enough ruins here to rebuild, I don't think.

 

 

The view from the stadium was better than what's actually left of the stadium:

 

 

But it was a nice stop and we're glad we did it. Now that we've finished this whirlwind tour, back to the car, and one last push to get back to Nafpion on time! There is a new road between Epidaurus and Nafplion, and we made great time, chasing the sun as it set behind the mountains.

 

 

***

 

The drive back to town was easy though getting gas was a pain. It seemed that all of the stations were on the wrong side of the road. We eventually refilled, dropped off the car, and walked back to the pier to catch the 6:00 tender. Though there was supposed to be a tender every half hour, and the last tender was scheduled for 6:30, the pier looked dark and deserted as we approached at exactly 6:00. What's going on?

 

We reached the spot where the tender had left us that morning, and finally saw one lonely SS security guy who was waiting. He seemed relieved to see us, and pulled out his radio to tell the ship that the last two passengers had arrived! Strange - everyone has been back on board for quite a while now, and they are worried about our whereabouts, but we're not even close to being late!

 

So in keeping with the morning's experience, tendering back was a bit of a pain too. As there was no tender waiting, they had to bring one from the ship to pick us up. This didn't arrive until 6:15. Then we sat at the pier for 10 minutes - the driver (one of the higher-ranking officers on ship) offered some strange explanation that "Even though our computerized system says that everyone else is on board, we still have to wait until 6:30 in case the computer is wrong..." Well, at least we made it and all is well.

 

***

 

After getting ready for dinner, we headed over to the bar to spend the last of our OBC. We decided that the 1997 Chateau d'Yquem for $295 was our best bet to use up the last $300. It is a little overpriced compared to what I found on line, but with our OBC it will be free, so that's hard to beat... It's almost certainly not something we'd splurge for at home, so it will (hopefully) be a real treat for us. Plus, it's a half-bottle so it will be easy to pack and carry home.

 

We had our last dinner in the main Dining Room which was nice, as all have been. The staff have taken such good care of us these past 9 days! Appetizers were duck carpaccio, and salmon sashimi. We both had fettuccine alfredo for intermezzo. Entrees were wild boar ragout and scallops.

 

We did most of our packing then headed to the bar to say goodbye to our favorite staff, and to take one last look to see if the quartet had livened up any. Varien at the bar was happy to tell the quartet to kick it up a notch, so we had some fun before heading back to finish packing and get some sleep.

 

Tomorrow, Athens! No big plans as we've been here a few times before. My former colleague Anastasia has recruited her Mother to meet us and take us to the Acropolis Musuem - Anastasia's parents took us to Delphi 2 years ago, so it will be a reunion of sorts. She has other family in Athens as well, so between our old and new Greek friends, I think we will be well-guided.

[duct tape]

I really enjoyed the trip and the memories. Thanx.

[spinnaker2]

Nooooooooooo, it can't be over! Please say it isn't so!

[jpalbny]

Nooooooooooo, it can't be over! Please say it isn't so!

 

There is still a little more to report, but we are rapidly approaching the end. And we felt a little letdown too, because we don't have a future SS cruise booked! In fact, when we disembarked we had no future cruises booked at all, which was painful to think about. :eek:

 

Since returning home, we have booked a river cruise for next spring on the Rhone so we have that to look forward to now. It should keep the long Albany winter at bay for a little bit. :D

 

Will post a little bit about Athens in the next day or so when I have a minute. But we didn't do too much other than visit the Acropolis museum. After the crazy all-day tour of Nafplion, that was fine with us. After all, I have heard that vacations should include a little relaxation! :rolleyes:

[brimary]

Enjoy the rest as much as we have enjoyed your reports of a great adventure.Thanks.

[RachelG]

Thanks for the pictures of Corinth and Epidaurus. They were also closed when we were there (due to the election), and I was really disappointed as they were two of the sites I had most looked forward to. But we did have a great grilled Greek lunch at a roadside restaurant instead, one of those places that doesn't have a menu, but they just keep bringing out food.

[spinnaker2]

When we went to the Acropolis they were having near gale force winds. It was a struggle to stand up.

I also had issues with the slipperiness of the steps, even with running shoes that had good traction elsewhere.

We never made it to the museum because we ran out of time. I hope to go back someday.

Loved your travelogue and am grateful you shared with us.

We too have not booked another silversea cruise yet, although they did offer some great deals while we were onboard on the crossing. We have two dogs and one is quite elderly and ornery. We have to find the right dog sitter to come to our house. Silversea is offering some other deals now, with OBC, but they aren't quite as good as the ones that were offered onboard.

I do have a question about one of the stops you made, but want to find the photo I took when I was there and try and post so I can ask you about it.

Thanks again

[jpalbny]

Enjoy the rest as much as we have enjoyed your reports of a great adventure.Thanks.

 

Thanks, brimary. Still disappointed not meeting you on Silver Cloud this past August. Hopefully another time!

 

Thanks for the pictures of Corinth and Epidaurus. They were also closed when we were there (due to the election), and I was really disappointed as they were two of the sites I had most looked forward to. But we did have a great grilled Greek lunch at a roadside restaurant instead, one of those places that doesn't have a menu, but they just keep bringing out food.

 

That sounds like a great meal! We had been getting better at stopping for lunch, while out on our own the past few years. This trip we seemed to suffer a relapse... Oh well, fewer calories to burn off on the treadmill this winter!

 

Those sites were great - glad to share. Worth the trip back some day, just for the acoustics at the theatre in Epidaurus. I've always heard that those ancient theatres had great acoustics but this was an amazing demonstration.

Edited December 3, 2014 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

spinnaker2, happy to try and answer questions. Fire away!

 

Friday 10/31 – Piraeus/Athens:

 

Up early this morning, and done with breakfast in La Terrazza by 8:00. We were disembarking independently today, and we were scheduled for 9:00 so we lounged up in the Observation Lounge while waiting. Our 9AM disembarkation was called at 8:30... They must have been worried about their wine supplies if they kept us onboard too long. So we sadly made our way down the gangplank, with our favorite wine steward Yudi offering to carry our bags to make sure we were safely on our way.

 

Once we were off the ship, no trouble finding bags or a cab. Silver Wind is docked here too so there were two sections of luggage, but as each ship is small, and we were near the end of the disembarkation line, it was easy to find our bags.

 

Our driver gave us an nice tour of the coast as we drove through Piraeus, and traffic wasn't bad until the main drag in Athens leading to Syntagma. The cab cost only €20 to our hotel - The Grande Bretagne - and we were there by 9:30. The very friendly and accommodating staff at the desk found us a room even at that early hour (and they upgraded us slightly; love those AMEX benefits) so we were settled in, and ready to head out by 10. We certainly didn't expect a room that early, and offered to just leave our bags for later, but they insisted otherwise. Very nice, considering we'd only booked a basic room on SPG points!

 

Here is a shot of the room, and the view out our window of the Greek Parliament:

 

 

We headed down to the lobby at 10:00, and Anastasia's mother Katerina met us within a few minutes. It was very nice to see her again, and she had brought us a box of delicious cookies in case we got hungry! We walked to the Acropolis museum, which we've been waiting several years to see. The building is very modern, but it overlies ancient ruins which they take pains to keep visible:

 

 

Great display! The lower floors are full of statuary, and we hadn't realized that many of the white marble statues were originally dressed up with colored pigments. The reproductions of how the temple friezes would have looked when fully colorized were impressive!

 

On the top floor, they have mounted many of the surviving blocks from the frieze, pediments, and metopes, and they are mounted in a rectangular array corresponding to shape of the actual Parthenon. So it's a chance to see how they would have looked in real life, full-sized, and in the right spatial context. You walk around and through the exhibit to see everything - nicely done, and very happy that we've finally had a chance to visit.

 

No photos allowed in the museum, which is lucky for those reading this report. Otherwise it would be much longer...

 

We met up with Anastasia's cousin Maria for coffee in the museum café (which was nice too; unfortunately, a little cold to sit outside). After we went back to the museum to finish our circuit, Maria and Katerina took us on a walking tour of the surrounding area. An interesting spot was Anafiotika - a small enclave within Plaka where the houses look like you're wandering the Cyclades. This is a street!

 

 

And another view:

 

 

In fact, the houses in this neighborhood were built by workers from the island of Anafi, who were brought to Athens in the 1850s for construction work. So that explains it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anafiotika

[jpalbny]

10/31 - Athens, continued:

 

We had a very relaxing afternoon with our hostesses. Maria and Katerina took us on a nice stroll down from Anafiotika. The view of Lykavittos Hill was nice as we walked down. It's been a number of years since we climbed that!

 

 

We passed by the Roman Agora and the Ancient Agora, pausing from time to time to admire the view:

 

 

From this side, the Erechtheion is the closest structure visible on the edge of the Acropolis. I neglected to mention earlier that the caryatids from the Erechtheion are on display in the Acropolis museum. Many miscreants were taking pictures, but we were good tourists and played by the rules! Here is a link to what it looked like.

 

We left Plaka and wandered into Psyrri, which until recently was the happening, popular part of town, and had started to become gentrified. But Maria says that this trend is over and there's a new hot spot elsewhere. Psyrri has lots of shopping, and craftsmen. I was intrigued by this bathroom sink, made from an old sewing machine. Beautiful copper!

 

 

We wandered through some of the shops; Maria is looking for a laundry basket but we couldn't find one that she liked. We ended up at Monastiraki, which has some nice buildings as well as another great view of the Acropolis. On the left, the Ekklisia Kimisi Theotokou Mitropoleos and on the right, the Mousio Sillogis Keramikon:

 

 

Time for lunch - but first, Maria has to leave us for a Grad School seminar. So we say goodbye, and head off to lunch with Katerina. Anastasia's sister Elpida will be joining us soon to continue the tour.

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate greatly your wonderful trip down memory lane. Especially with your pictures and details on Ancient Corinth (wonderful sunny day for your visit), the Corinth Canal, Epidaurus, Athens, etc. Before our June 2006 cruise on the Seabourn Spirit, we did a one-day private tour around these Peloponnese. Super loved these varied areas and this sampling of historic and charming Greece. Fortunately for us, no elections and/or closings impacted or limited our visits there.

 

Now that you have completed your wonderful trip/photo sharing, any added Silver Cloud insights, tip, secrets, etc., to post? Only 52 days till we start our Silver Cloud Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back adventure sailing from Barbados to San Juan.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 165,258 views. Appreciate the interest and follow-up questions/comments!!

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Edited December 4, 2014 by TLCOhio

[TLCOhio]

We too have not booked another silversea cruise yet, although they did offer some great deals while we were onboard on the crossing. We have two dogs and one is quite elderly and ornery. We have to find the right dog sitter to come to our house. Silversea is offering some other deals now, with OBC, but they aren't quite as good as the ones that were offered onboard.

 

Good luck to our Florida friend, Candy, in find and doing a future Silversea cruise adventure!! For her and others, we have had good recent luck with a website called Rover dot com. We have two labs, Rudy (male, age 8, yellow) and Roxie (female, age 11, black). Things have worked well for us through this service. Love getting pictures and reports on our dogs from them, what they are doing, etc., while we are traveling.

 

During our upcoming Amazon/Carib cruise, we are hoping to find some good on-board booking options/pricing for doing South Africa on the Silver Cloud in early 2016.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 87,657 views for this posting.

[jpalbny]

Thanks, Terry. One more post before I'm done, though...

 

10/31 - 11/1 - Athens and departure:

 

We went to a restaurant with outdoor seating and soon met Elpida for lunch – delicious souvlaki, chickpea salad, roast pork, broccoli salad, local red wine... After lunch, Elpida took us to a coffee shop which was a very interesting experience. It's an art gallery, museum, and coffee shop rolled into one. From the outside, it doesn't look like much:

 

 

Inside, the vibe is interesting. It's like an open courtyard or atrium, surrounded on 3 sides by low brick buildings with row houses that open into the courtyard. One side is closed in by a modern structure and the others are much older:

 

 

The old buildings, according to Elpida, were once a kind of community / group housing for poorer city residents - they had rooms of their own but shared common facilities in the center of the complex. Now the courtyard is roofed in and has become the coffee shop / art gallery. Some of the rooms are open and one of the buildings is 2-story. So you can visit the rooms and see how people lived in this place, and also get a good overview of the courtyard.

 

 

An interesting place, and definitely one we wouldn't have found on our own. Unfortunately, after coffee, Elpida had to go back to work for a few hours, and we had to walk uphill all the way back to Syntagma and our hotel. We will meet up again with Katerina and Elpida for dinner.

 

***

 

We rested at the hotel for the afternoon and met up again for 8:30 dinner at a restaurant that Eplida's friends had recommended. Local ingredients, cooked in different (nontraditional) ways – Chris had fish and chips and I had mussels with lemongrass and chili peppers. After a nice dinner, it was finally time to say goodbye to our wonderful hostesses, and get ready for our impending departure in the morning:

 

 

Back to the hotel, we enjoyed our bottle of Turkish rose, along with some of Katerina's delicious cookies, while winding down and packing our bags. What a great time we've had!

 

Unfortunately, there's a note under our door that a political demonstration is planned for tomorrow at noon in Syntagma Square. That will result in the Metro station closing some time prior to noon. That will interfere with our plans to take the Metro to the airport and arrive some time around 1:00PM for our 3:00PM flight... Time for plan B!

 

***

 

Saturday 11/1 Athens:

 

Had planned to take the Metro to the airport today but we had found out that the policital demonstration today would close the Syntagma station. Our concierge recommended that we take a cab, and be ready to leave by 11:00. Otherwise, there was a risk that traffic would be closed around the hotel,and we might not be able to leave...

 

We thought about taking the Metro from Monastiraki, which is about a 10-minute walk from our hotel, so we set out to do a little reconnaissance mission. Grabbed some coffee from a shop in Syntagma, but we had a gut feeling that this plan wouldn't work. Even as we left the hotel at 10:00, the police presence was already strong, and a crowd was assembling in the Square. We headed out of Syntagma, enjoying this iconic view of the Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea along the way:

 

 

When we arrived at Monastiraki, we found that a large demonstration had gathered there too! We had flashbacks to our time in Rome 2 years ago...we seem to attract these... Back to the hotel, and grabbed a taxi to the airport, arriving at 11:30 – way early for our flight, but at least we were safely there.

 

The check in gates weren't open for another 20 minutes, so we waited patiently to drop off our bags. We met up with another couple who'd been on our cruise, Kelly and Sharon, and they were also on the first leg of our flight. So after we finally got to check our bags, we met up in the lounge for lunch and wine - followed by some more of those delicious cookies! We have a lot of them still, and we were happy to share.

 

***

 

The flight to CDG was on-time and the connection was fast and very smooth, even with changing terminals. We arrived at JFK early but waited for a gate, then waited endlessly for luggage (global entry just changes the place you wait, not the duration), and headed to our airport hotel for a night's sleep before driving home.

 

***

 

So, it was a really great trip with amazing ports of call, great archaeology, excellent food, wine, and service. We saw more than we expected, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We didn't book another cruise while onboard though, which is a little sad. We will have to rectify that situation in the coming weeks.

 

Will share some overall thoughts later, but happy to answer any questions.

Edited December 4, 2014 by jpalbny

[duct tape]

Thanx for sharing the trip. Really enjoyed it!