Day 4 - Athens, Greece
We had two tours planned for Athens - the two included one for the afternoon and the up-charged four hour morning tour. We took the former and then passed on the latter having already seen most of that itinerary.
Our day began de-boarding and then being bussed around a good deal of Athens - seeing largely the harbor(s) and beautiful beaches. The first thing we noted was that though still in the Aegean Sea, the architecture already had a Mediterranean look more similar to Barcelona (which we've visited before) than to Istanbul. The "piece de resistance" of this visit was not surprisingly the Parthenon atop the Acropolis (pictures below).
We also then boarded a "shuttle-like" train that took us through the old town. We saw the "recent remains" of the 2004 Olympics as well as many other interesting sites That said, Athens did not rate very high on our list of places we enjoyed.
Now, on night four, we had our first meal in the "standard restaurant" - remarkably known as "The Restaurant". It was at least Manfredi's equal and we preferred it to The Chef's Table. Here's the irony. I can't count the planning hours I spent making sure we took full use of our 24 "specialty nights" - and now we're pretty much indifferent.
Update: By the end of the trip we were bigger fans of the main restaurant - The Restaurant - than we were of either of the specialty choices - though we enjoyed them as well. What set The Restaurant apart was a continuing changing menu including something local to each port we visited. Check out the dessert below. - always real whipped cream.
Our day began de-boarding and then being bussed around a good deal of Athens - seeing largely the harbor(s) and beautiful beaches. The first thing we noted was that though still in the Aegean Sea, the architecture already had a Mediterranean look more similar to Barcelona (which we've visited before) than to Istanbul. The "piece de resistance" of this visit was not surprisingly the Parthenon atop the Acropolis (pictures below).
We also then boarded a "shuttle-like" train that took us through the old town. We saw the "recent remains" of the 2004 Olympics as well as many other interesting sites That said, Athens did not rate very high on our list of places we enjoyed.
Now, on night four, we had our first meal in the "standard restaurant" - remarkably known as "The Restaurant". It was at least Manfredi's equal and we preferred it to The Chef's Table. Here's the irony. I can't count the planning hours I spent making sure we took full use of our 24 "specialty nights" - and now we're pretty much indifferent.
Update: By the end of the trip we were bigger fans of the main restaurant - The Restaurant - than we were of either of the specialty choices - though we enjoyed them as well. What set The Restaurant apart was a continuing changing menu including something local to each port we visited. Check out the dessert below. - always real whipped cream.
Tour Rating: GRPIR02 - Elegance and Style of the Ancients ($49/person) ... B