Life's Journey

Today we woke up as we were pulling into Athens, Greece. The sun was just coming up and shining over the city. It was exciting to be pulling into a port in Greece. I was surprised by how large Athens is…. I don't even know how to compare it to anything in the states. We ordered breakfast in our room, it arrived right on time and was perfect way to start the day.

Because of our fancy pants suite we were able to meet with our concierge and disembark out the back door before everyone else. This is a super nice perk! No waiting in line, no herds of people, just a stroll through security out a side door.

We hired a private driver for the day. Everything in Athens is pretty far apart so I decided this was our best option. We don't do very well with organized excursions/bus tours. We like to beat the crowds and go at our own pace. We like the freedom to change the itinerary on the spot so private driver was perfect for us. And it was actually a little cheaper than an organized excursion through the ship. I found this driver through Tripadvisor. I highly recommend that you review trip advisor before traveling - it’s a fantastic resource for things to do, places to stay, and good food. Anyway. Our driver was waiting for us when we walked out at 7:30am. It's cool to see someone holding a sign with your name on it Demetrius was our driver and he was top notch. The car was comfortable, clean, and had AC. He was like a walking history book of Athens. He was able to tell us all about the history of each of our stops. He even had a book that showed then and now pictures of many of the ruins that we visited. For me, this was awesome… I was able to envision what used to be there. For example, one of our stops was the Temple of Zeus. He told us all about it's history and showed us that before it's destruction it consisted of 100 columns while now it only has 15 remaining. So cool to see.

I feel like this day went so fast - but we managed to see SO MUCH! We started at the acropolis (this way we could beat the tour buses and crowds). The drive to the site was beautiful. We went along the coast and saw the beautiful yachts and sailboats on one side and beautiful homes on the other side. We arrived at the Acropolis in time to beat the huge crowds (so nice). What an amazing site this is… it's awesome to think about all the history that happened here. When you think about how many thousands of years all of this was developed and that now there is still so much standing is amazing. We spent about an hour and a half here before moving on. Next stop was the Temple of Zeus then on to the Panathenian Stadium. Holy cow this is huge, it seats up to 66,000 people. They still use this stadium for concerts and sporting events including the special olympics. There is a lot of olympic history here. As we continued on we passed the glass statue of The Marathon Runner - this is really cool but nearly impossible to capture in pictures. Demetrius then took us up Mount St George which is the highest point in Athens and we were able to see panoramic views of all the sites throughout the city. Its amazing to see how they have developed a large city all around the huge historic sights. This view was unbeatable. Our next stop was the Parliament building. Here they have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is guarded 24/7 by young soldiers that are hand selected for the job. We arrived just in time to watch the changing of the guards. This was a cool experience and something I will not soon forget. They go through a series of steps, marches, etc. Demetrius was able to tell us all the meaning and symbolism within each step and every garment that they were wearing. Let me tell you it was freakin hot there maybe 95 degrees with a ton of humidity. These soldiers stand in all the gear including a jacket, stockings, socks, and clog type shoes that have nails in the soles (its all part of the ritual of changing of the guards). I can't imagine how hot these kids get - they are only 18 years old btw.

Moving on… we drove past the Athenian Trilogy which consists of The Academy, The University, and The National Library. Next stop was Plaka (The Old City) where we enjoyed lunch and a little shopping through the markets. We also walked through Hellenic Agora which is another surviving ruin full of history. Our lunch was at a little local spot where we had real gyros. This did not settle well with Roy so we cut the rest of the tour day a little short and headed back to the ship. I was fine with this because I was exhausted at this point and felt that we had seen all the big must see sites in Athens.

We were greeted at the ship with water, juice, and a cool wet cloth to clean up a little before heading onto the ship. This is something I have to mention about NCL, they are very good at germ prevention. "washy washy" There are hand sanitizing stations everywhere and any time you go on or off the ship they squirt you with sanitizer. For a germaphone (that’s me now) this is awesome. We got to our room and got cleaned up before a few hours of rest. We are now sitting on our balcony watching the ship pull out of Pireaus (the port for Athens). Always go to the back of the ship when leaving a dock - its' beautiful. There is a nice sea breeze and the sun is setting, I have Jack Johnson playing in my ear and the sounds of the ocean as I type this.

This has already been an amazing adventure and its only just begun. I was excited about this trip but had no idea how amazing it was really going to be. I've been smiling the entire time. It's almost surreal. I don't think it's completely sunk in that we are really visiting all these wonders of the world. This is definitely the trip of a lifetime and I have all my angels out there to thank for it. Without you this never would have been possible. Roy and I are making memories that will last a lifetime. Every once in awhile I get a pang of sadness because I realize that this may very well be my last big trip. I look at Roy and I think about how happy I am and how much I love this man and how happy I am to make these amazing memories with him… when I realize that I don't have much time left with him. I think this part of everything hurts the most. I see the older couples on the ship enjoying growing old together and it hits me that I don't get to do this. So all I can do is make the very best out of every moment that I have with this man of my dreams and create memories that he will be able to carry with him when I am gone. This is one of those bittersweet moments I've talked about when crossing something off the bucket list. One day at a time isn't always easy to remember…. But I try and I know that I am so grateful for the gift of each day!

Hugs and smiles!