Travels With Talbotts: Mediterranean 2009: Tuesday 4 August

Chris had a bit of a rough start this morning with a long line for the coveted breakfast waffles, but he made due with lesser fare such as Eggs Benedict and fruits a glacé. It is really difficult to have to rough it in conditions such as these...

Left for our tour of Athens at 8:30 am: bus #11, with our first female guide of the trip. She is a rather diminutive specimen called Faye who apparently teaches etymology at the University level, so between the lengthy lectures on word origin, the numerous and quickly recited historical dates, and her strong Greek accent, things tended to get a bit muddy.

Anyhow, we were able to see the 19th century stadium which had been built for the first international Olympic Games, which was interesting, along with a really beautiful piece of contemporary sculpture outside the Museum of Modern Art. The piece depicted a running athlete, and was constructed of a series of horizontal glass planes, placed so as to indicate both the form of the figure and the forward movement of the action. Quite stunning, really.

We then drove on to the Acropolis, where we climbed up towards the Parthenon, passing the Odium. The Parthenon was a bit of a disaster, as the crowds were very dense (in more ways than one) and not overly polite. One group was sitting on the steps where everyone else was trying to walk, and others were just shoving people out of their way (literally... I took a hefty push from a large man who seemed determined to get by and nearly knocked another woman down the stairs because of it.) Anyhow, due to the crowds we decided to forego the hike to the top, and although I know James is disappointed, both Chris and I had had quite enough of the great unwashed for the day. (In an interesting side note, however, even though there were far fewer of the masses on our way down, I was still elbowed by one woman and poked in the head by the umbrella of another... I am sure conclusions of some sort can be drawn from this, but I am simply too tired to do so at this time.)

When we arrived at the bottom of the hill, sweaty, disheveled, and more than slightly annoyed, we added a few names to the basketball dueling schedule, then retired to the shops to indulge in a bit of retail therapy. Bought some nice gifts for friends and family, (pottery, jewelry) then returned to the bus a few minutes before our scheduled time (12:15) to relax and wind down.

[Since the rest of our group will not arrive until almost 1 o'clock (which is, in actuality, 45 minutes late) this is a great time to mention the 48 Athenian dogs that have been adopted by the Athens Tourism folks. Apparently, the city leaders had a grand scheme to "terminate" all the homeless canines in the Acropolis area before the 2004 Olympics, somehow feeling that the absence of dogs would serve to present a cleaner appearance to a city that is otherwise covered in rubbish and graffiti. The Tourism Board (and tour guides) objected to this plan, and banded together to adopt as many of the animals as possible; each dog was spayed and/or neutered, and given a special collar and tag. Now the guides take it upon themselves to place food and water bowls in the shady areas of the monuments, and the 48 animals of questionable pedigree have become rather an attraction in themselves. We saw numerous water bowls scattered about under the trees, and also caught a glimpse of a few canines sprawled out nearby, of whom all I can say is that they could hardly be any heftier if they had lived out their lives with Dan and Ton. Obviously they are not finding the outdoor life too strenuous.]

Anyhow, back to the tour:
Once our rather belated group straggled back to the bus and we were able to get moving, we were subjected to an exhibition of gum-chewing that I hardly thought possible in civilized society. The lady (though I use the term loosely) seated behind me, who, oddly enough, had made Ton's acquaintance at the hospital in Istanbul, was emitting noises with her mastication that one would more readily associate with a barnyard animal, or perhaps with some sort of industrial butter churn. Either way, the effect on my nerves was violent in the extreme. I switched seats mid-ride in an attempt to prevent any violence from manifesting itself in the form of a ruddy good punch on the mazzard, but it was touch and go there for a good while.

The ride back to the ship seemed endless thanks to the steel-jawed female, but we finally arrived in time to take a nap before dinner, which was fortuitous, as the strain of not removing the gum from her mouth and wrapping it around her head (or at least erupting into primal screams to drown out the noise) was beginning to show.

Before dinner, Dan and Ton came to the room bearing gifts: some sort of Greek instrument for James (sigh) and a silver bracelet for me. We were both thrilled, as James of course loves any sort of native noise-maker, and my bracelet was really beautiful: a wide modern cuff formed of delicate ribbon like strands.

At dinner, Paul amused us with his immense skills in napkin art, making a shoe, a tuxedo shirt, and a peacock in a glass. Dan called Mykonos "Meekos", and the boys figured out that they don't have to drink the entire bottle of wine in one sitting. All in all, a most illuminating and entertaining evening.

Went to Dan and Ton's room to watch the sunset behind the islands, and are now entering into some Stephen King-esqe fog. (Or possibly Twilight Zone-ish, according to the viewer's preference....) Either way, I expect we'll soon be seeing some furry creature clinging to the side of ship, pulling up the metal plates and whatnot. I hope the camera batteries are charged.