Excursions from Perei to Athens

The famous sailor Thor Heyerdahl claimed that the sail appeared before the wheel and that the first long journey man made on water.

It is difficult to verify whether he is right, but as far as the Greeks are concerned, the life of most of them is inextricably connected with the sea. Remember the Greek flag, which looks like a veal. And of course, the wandering cunning Odyssey.

For those who are attracted by the sea breeze and the cry of gulls for a stern, we offer a fascinating trip to two cities at once: Piraeus and Athens. Let’s start with the “shipman” of ancient Athens, in the port of which anchors have been abandoned for more than 25 centuries.

You will see the blue dome of the church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant in a neoclassical frame, the bronze camp of the god Poseidon greened from time and wind, the statue of which is seen by everyone leaving the Bay of Piraeus.

Then, on a comfortable tourist bus or a spacious car, we will show you two more old harbors, which are smaller. There is peace and a measured rhythm of life: yachts, fishing boats, moving or sitting Greeks, drinking Greek coffee and going through bone rosaries. It smells like fried barabula and baked octopus, which you can eat after the tour.

Next, our path lies in the direction of Athens, which has been tightly pressed against Piraeus for the past 100 years. You will see the white-stone Olympic stadium that hosted the restored Olympics of 1896, the hill of Lycabetus with the snow-white temple of George the Victorious, the Royal Park with the statue of Byron, who sang Greece in his poems.

The next stop is near Parliament, the former Royal Palace of the 19th century, from which Greece was tried to rule first by German and then by Danish kings. Near the relief monument to the dead Greeks of the whole ecumene are stately guardsmen in skirt-shaped kitels with scarlet caps on their heads and shoed in the same scarlet shoes with black pompoms.

You can take with you photos of these tall soldiers, who are specially assembled throughout Greece for the greater joy of tourists around the world. Then we will go to the sacred hill of the Acropolis, from which the history of Athens began. 6,000 years ago, the first tribes settled there, leaving a nomadic way of life.

On the Acropolis you will learn the main milestones of the history of the fortress, the temple center and the ancient bank. You will find the marble Parthenon of Ictinus, Callicrates and the unsurpassed Phidias - the great architects of the 5th century BC. Marble female statues of caryatids adjacent to the temple of the Parthenon Erechtheion will take you back 2,500 years and you will imagine a festive and dressed procession marching past the Acropolis shrines to the eastern entrance of the Parthenon on the birthday of Athena.

After the guided tour, you will have time to admire and photograph the views that open from the Acropolis: the mountains and the sea that frame the cradle of European civilization.

The tour ends with a tour of monuments of the 19th century - the famous architectural "trilogy" of Athens: the Academy of Sciences, the University and the National Library, which resemble ancient temples, only well preserved. If you still have time before returning to the cruise ship, you can take a walk around the old town - Plaka, buy souvenirs and gifts at the flea market and have a delicious lunch.

And finally, we wish you seven feet under the keel and new interesting encounters with the rich culture of the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea.