The ferry doesn't leave till 5pm on Good Friday, giving us a chance to see a bit more of the Old Town.
We continue to be amazed, and continue to recommend Rhodes to anyone who's in the vicinity. Most of the shops are still open, and doing a roaring trade with a couple of cruise ships in town. Fighting our way through the crowds (bloody tourists) we manage to get a bit of shopping done. All will be revealed when we get home!
It's down a little back alley where Pauline makes eye contact with an old Greek woman, dressed all in black, leaning out a high window. They exchange pleasantries in Greek, and in broken English and sign language the old woman goes on to explain that Pauline must be very lucky to have a man who takes her on holiday, while her man has never taken her off Rhodes! I smile, of course.
The previous night I'd had sun-dried octopus for dinner. Now I get a chance to see how it's done.
Last view of Rhodes as we slip out of the Harbour and head north. Luckily we're sailing quite close to the Turkish coast, and we get Internet reception. Handy!
As it's an overnight trip we've booked a cabin and get a good night's sleep, setting the alarm for 5:15am in anticipation of the boat docking in Piraeus as advertised at 5:40pm. We should have rechecked - it doesn't reach port until 8am, and we could have done with the extra sleep. A good trip though - the ferry's five times the size of the one before, and we barely notice the swell.
On arrival we pick up the tickets for our next leg, stash our packs, and hop on the Metro to central Athens. We've only got three hours before we leave for Crete, and there's the Parthenon to see. We follow the signs to the Acropolis, and have nearly circumnavigated the hill before finding the entrance. Heaving with bus tourists, we dread the queues for the €12 each entry fee. A pleasant surprise - admission is free today, and we stroll right in.
Built over 400BC (and before Alexander the Great), the Parthenon is unsurpassed in grace and harmony - lines are tapered to provide visual appeal, and proportions are perfect. If you're wondering where the Doric frieze is above the columns, the Brits nicked most of it in 1801 and carted it off to the British Museum, where the pieces are now named after their thief, the Elgin marbles. Despite being asked nicely by the Greeks, the Brits haven't given them back yet.
Our last view of the sprawling city of Athens before we complete our circumnavigation and return to Piraeus. Just in time for a coffee before we're back on a boat. A shame we couldn't stay longer in Athens - would have been fun to explore the flea market and more of the sights.
Perhaps the only jarring note from our brief excursion was seeing the huge amount of graffiti everywhere. You get the feeling that Athens has a lot of very angry young men, and the authorities have no money or authority to prevent the vandalism or clean it up. Reading the news about the riots nearby, and the austerity measures in place, perhaps it's best we're on our way back to the islands, which appear less troubled than the mainland.
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