September 8 - Acropolis Museum, Sea Cloud

Today we checked out of the hotel mid-morning and took a taxi to the Sea Cloud hotel.  We had planned to get two taxis because of the large amount of luggage.  However, the first taxi driver was sure he could get all of our luggage in his trunk.  It required leaving the trunk lid wide open and tying it down with three bungee cords.  It was a packing masterpiece.

Then we had a scenic drive through much of Athens as the driver, who spoke minimal English, misunderstood the name of the hotel and took us quite a ways out to the Marriott instead of the Electra Metropolitan.  Once we showed him the itinerary with the name and address of the hotel he then took us to the Electra Hotel, instead of the Electra Metropolitan.  The Bellman there gave him instructions and we eventually got to the correct hotel.

We checked in with National Geographic/Lindblad, gave them our luggage, hung out for a while in the lobby and then joined the rest of the guest for luncheon at the restaurant at the top of the hotel with views overlooking the Acropolis, from a different angle.  This gave us a chance to meet many other guests.

We then boarded buses for a short drive to the New Acropolis Museum, which we had visited 2 days earlier. However, we had a different guide and he covered different things, or the same things only differently, so it was a good visit and not boring.

One very interesting thing about the museum is that when they started work they  fully expected to find many ruins at the site.  And they did.  So they built the museum above the ruins and included many viewing places around and in the museum that allowed visitors to view the ruins.  They expect that in another year or two the walkways around the ruins will be completed and visitors will be able to walk among the ruins.

Then it was back on the bus for a not too long drive to Piraeus, the main port of Athens, where we went through security and then boarded the Sea Cloud.  This trip has been a year and a half in the planning and we are all excited to finally be here.

Our staterooms are quite adequate and the bathrooms with beautiful marble finishes.  This will be good.  And the ship herself if a beauty.

The seas around Athens are very busy and it was interesting to see so many ships on the horizon.

We cast off about 5:00 and sailed out of the bay under power.  It rained a bit off and on but nothing major.  We had drinks and a brief orientation at the Lido Bar and eventually dinner.  Dinner is served in the dining room and what was the original sitting room/lounge.  There are about 54 guests on board.

About 9:00 the ship reached Cape Sunion, the farthest point of the area called Attica, where we had great views of the Temple of Poseidon.  By then it was quite dark and the temple was well lit.  We had seen this temple just a couple of days before during the day and it was lovely then.  However, lit at night it was absolutely beautiful.