Athens Birthday

On my birthday we docked in Piraeus, Greece, which is close to Athens. We made a dedicated trip to visit the Acropolis in the centre of the capital.

It was incredible seeing the remains of the ancient city and structures that we had studied at school (I made a model of the Parthenon in 3^rd form :P). The Acropolis is positioned on a large rock/hill in the centre of the city and the views of the city were amazing.

We then walked to see the Temple of Zeus and ancient Olympic stadium which were in the same area, and finally sat down for a cold beer and Souvlaki before returning to the ship.

Our group

The Temple of Zeus

The Parthenon

Me with the Parthenon

Sam with Athens

The Parthenon being repaired

The boys with the Acropolis in the background

Sam being an Egyptian

The Temple of Zeus with The Acropolis in the background

We were fortunate enough to have the night off and we dined in the ship’s main dining restaurant with a group of friends. Penelope had organized a birthday cake which arrived and surprised me after the main course. It was a delicious chocolate cake with Dulce de Leche filling.

Tuscany

Sam and I were very fortunate to be tour escorts on a wine tour of the Tuscan countryside. We were on separate buses and didn’t cross paths throughout the day, though we visited the same places in different orders.

We visited two medieval walled cities, both positioned on hilltops. I saw San Gimignano in the morning (and Sam in the afternoon). I had heard of this town before and knew it to be famous for its beautifully preserved medieval walls and numerous towers. In its heyday the town had 72 towers, but now only 14 remain. I loved the little city with its steep, narrow paved streets, open squares and precarious towers.

The Square in San Gimignano

Towers of San Gimignano

A street in San Gimignano

For lunch I went to a winery, where I did wine tasting accompanied by antipasto, local vegetables and lasagna.

San Gimignano from a distance

Lunch venue

 In the afternoon I visited Volterra (which Sam saw in the morning), which was a similar city, without the towers. What Volterra had that San Gimignano didn’t, however, was an Ancient Roman Amphitheatre dating back to before Christ.

Amphitheatre

It was a long but very special day, and quite unlike anything that we’d experienced before. Sam and I both discovered that we very much enjoy the famous local red wine, Chianti.

Monaco

The ship docked in Villefranche, and nice little french town, which is a gateway to both Nice and Monaco. We decided to make the trip to Monte Carlo, Monaco with a small group of entertainers. The train was a short 10 minute ride and only 6 Euro return.

The city was so tidy, clean, beautiful and perfect and just oozed wealth on every corner. It was a very pleasant place to spend the day. Sam recognised some of the main streets from playing racing games imitating the Grand Prix. 

With my favourite car

We struck out very lucky and found that the Grand Prix Historique was on that day, and with free entry! It was quite an experience watching the cars race around the streets and hearing the insanely loud and powerful engines. 

Of course we saw a range of expensive cars and took a classic photo on the steps of the Casino.

Rich people sitting in their yachts watching the race

Me with Luiza, who is a circus performer in the cast

Barcelona

At the end of drydock our ship docked in Barcelona to pick up our next round of guests. We had a 5-hour window to get off the ship and take a preliminary look around the city. Our priority was to see the main centre, some of Gaudi’s buildings and eat at the market.

 It was a beautiful city and we found it a lot easier to navigate than Seville and Càdiz. The Sagrada Familia was breath-taking and we are looking forward to visiting the city again.