On May 10th we arrived at our last port, Athens. After 45 days and 19 other ports in 12 different countries, we had reached the end of our epic cruise. As Mrs. Gym had graciously packed everything up the night before, we simply woke up, ate a quick breakfast and shook the Captain's hand good-bye as we beetled off the gangplank. It was a well executed landing, but it was sad to leave the Nautica, after all we'd been through together. However, we had another leg of the journey all planned out. We were to rendezvous with some Athens' natives in the cruise ship terminal to begin the last chapter in our epic.
Sure enough right on time, a local guide and a driver were there at the terminal, with Gym's surname posted on a sign. They were standing beside a comfortable looking Mercedes, our ride for the tour and the transfer to the airport. The guide who was a 42-year old archeologist named Stadi, asked us what we wanted to see and do in the 3-4 hours we had to look around her city? We had two ideas: our first wish was to get rid of a 14 kilogram box of souvenirs and dirty socks that we had carried off the boat with our other luggage; and, our second wish was to see the Parthenon. Stadi and the driver did not disappoint on either request.
On the way to the central post office we got a city tour. We passed the Olympic Stadium which has been used for two Olympic Games. This was a must-see for my dear wife the marathoner because it was also the finishing line to two Olympic marathons. We also passed a number of neoclassical buildings in downtown Athens, one of which was notorious for being the headquarters of the German occupation force in WW2. We then stopped in front of the Central Post Office. Thank God we had a local with us or it would have taken us all day, because everything was Greek to Mrs. Gym and I. Stadi immediately ascertained that we needed to go down the street to another outlet to post boxes which contained turkish delight gift packs and dirty socks. We skittled down to the right office and were on our way minus the box, in 10 minutes.
Our driver then negotiated the downtown core which basically rings the the Acropolis and snuggled us right up to the base of the hill. Then Mrs. Gym, Stadi and I started our climb up to the gates. Stadi bought the tickets for us and as we entered the gates the tour began. Stadi was no slouch in her knowledge of the subject matter and with the limited time that we had she took us around the ruins and pointed out all the broader concepts and then was able to show us the other ruins that lie below the acropolis and in the city beyond. There is an unbelievable view from up there.
I took many things away from Stadi's tour and I will not bore you with all the details but I would like to share a few nuggets with you, my loyal followers. The ruins that you see today are not ruined solely due to natural decay. Two very recent events caused tremendous losses at the site and both of these events were caused by foreign intervention. Greeks had nothing to do with these tragic events. First off, in 1687 the Venetians bombarded the Turks that were occupying Greece and who thought they were being smart by storing their ammunition in the Parthenon. No one would bombard the Parthenon, right? Wrong, the Venetians did, and the resulting explosion did tremendous damage. Then in 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, removed the surviving sculptures with the permission of the Turks and later sold them to the British Museum in London. In two quick strikes the Turks laid waste to the heart of Greece. Today the Greeks want the British to return the works of art that were basically stolen, but so far they have not been given any encouragement by the British Museum, who incidentally also hold much of Egypt's national treasures.
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