Live from Seabourn Encore Athens to Istanbul and back October 20-November 3

[English Tim]

My wife and I will hopefully be joining Seabourn Encore this coming Sunday after two nights at the Port Square Hotel, Piraeus, Athens. 
 

We’ll be flying BA from LHR to Athens on Friday.

 

Our son Luke got married last weekend and he and his wife our honeymooning in Thailand, so we are also looking forward to some relaxation.

[English Tim]

Well we are now on board in the suite 807 and are very happy despite me losing a post crown in my cheese pie on the flight over from London, which was also three hours late due to fog in London. When we arrived in Athens, we decided to take the X 96 bus to Piraeus, rather than the Metro, as we didn’t particularly want to ride the metro in the dark and also thought that the bus journey on the coastal stretch would be quite attractive. It took about the same time in one hour and stopped at the same place almost to our hotel which offered a very nice welcome. Room was very comfortable and had a lovely hot powerful shower.

 

Breakfast was perfectly adequate, although it was a very cramped space. We spent the morning trying to sort out my dental problems In the end i decided to call my own Dentist on Monday, but as my Dentist is married to our window cleaner, I was able to call him and he asked his wife.

 

Then we took the Metro to Central Athens and walked around the Plaka, before having a leisurely lunch in restaurant Scholario, which we had been to before and they served a fantastic meal. The whole time we were there, people were queueing outside. Then we walked to Syntagma Square, then the Art Foundation for a coffee, before taking the tram back to our hotel. There are several good Cafes and bakeries around.Piraeus, which makes it an excellent base prior to going on a cruise or a ferry trip.

 

This morning, we took the 843 bus to the ship. Our total transport costs in Athens for the three days were 10 Euros each.

Edited Sunday at 06:03 PM by English Tim
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[SLSD]

5 hours ago, English Tim said:

 

 

This morning, we took the 843 bus to the ship. Our total transport costs in Athens for the three days were 10 Euros each.

It sounds like part of your fun is saving money on transport costs.  There is nothing wrong with that.  However, we prefer to book a car through our hotel and travel that way.  To each his own.  Have a wonderful cruise.  

[branndie]

Have fun on your getaway. You have a beautiful family.

[whogo]

On 10/20/2024 at 6:31 PM, SLSD said:

It sounds like part of your fun is saving money on transport costs.  There is nothing wrong with that.  However, we prefer to book a car through our hotel and travel that way.  To each his own.  Have a wonderful cruise.  

You can ride or drive in an automobile almost anywhere, I have been doing so all my life. I get a thrill out of taking a train, tram, or subway ride, would love to live in a big city where I could do so regularly. I remember a man on an Athens tram that had eyebrows that dwarfed the Oz gatekeeper's, they were a candidate for topiary. I have fond memories of wooden tram cars in Vienna in the 1970s and of their more recent low floor models. I regret that I did not ride a tram in Lisbon.

 

My city tore up its tram lines in the 1940s, passenger rail service to Chicago ended about 1980. I have to travel to enjoy riding the rails.

 

I'm looking forward to your next report, English Tim.

[English Tim]

On 10/21/2024 at 2:31 AM, SLSD said:

It sounds like part of your fun is saving money on transport costs.  There is nothing wrong with that.  However, we prefer to book a car through our hotel and travel that way.  To each his own.  Have a wonderful cruise.  

On this occasion, having a car was not possible until mid afternoon, due to a charity event closing most of the roads.

[English Tim]

Yesterday, as we didn’t have anything arranged, we decided to walk to a local beach. It was a lot longer than tonight and anticipated, but having got there my wife had a fantastic swim in the sea, whilst I had an orange juice at a local hotel. We then had to walk back to the port, as there didn’t seem to be any alternative, but it was excellent exercise and saved going to the gym, not that that stopped my Wife after a long run, walk to the beach and back and did the swim. I wish I was as energetic.

 

Today, the ship messed up our arrangements as instead of tendering to the middle of the old town, we docked some way out and then got a shuttle bus. I understand why they didn’t tender because we just stayed on the ship, the sea was so rough. Then we struggled to find a place we expected to rent bicycles and by the time we check prices for renting a car, this was not viable, so we wasted the day. It was my wife’s birthday and so we went back to the ship via a local bar where she had a glass of Cretan wine.

 

Tonight we had dinner in Solis, which was a great disappointment, but I’m sure some people would’ve loved it. I returned to our suite not having gained much weight, say no more. We had the pleasure of a phone call from our son who is on honeymoon in Thailand.
 

Tonight, we are experiencing some movement as there is quite a wind, which we expect to continue at Mykonos tomorrow.