Athens, Greece

Day 40 - Port Piraeus (Athens), Greece

Athens is the Capital of Greece with a population of over 4 million and the country of Greece has approximately 12 million people. Athens is on the mainland of Greece and there are over 1000 islands. Greece is known for its ancient ruins, beautiful beaches and crystal clear blue seas. Greece depends on tourism for its main income.

Our tour included the Acropolis, Corinth, Ancient Corinth, Corinth Museum and the Corinth Canal. Our first stop was the Acropolis which sits atop a hill in the middle of the city. It's where the ancient Greeks built the temples to honor their Gods around 400 BC. The Acropolis, including the famous marble-columned Parthenon, The temple of Athena Nike with its intricately carved roof, and the Erectheion, which features statues of human figures as columns, all sit atop the hill. The site is amazing and beautiful. The ancient Greeks were great architects. Advice to anyone visiting the Acropolis is to were good shoes because the marble is slippery and you climb at least 80 steps uphill. Next we drove to Corinth to a hotel for lunch. We had a great traditional Greek lunch and walked out to the beach and pool area, the sea was a beautiful blue. Next we went to Ancient Corinth.

Ancient Corinth was Greece's wealthiest city because of its location. In ancient times they moved ships overland at this point from the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Corinth is in the early stages of excavation. This is where Paul the apostle preached to the Corinthians and converted a large group of Greeks and slaves to Christianity in 56 AD. We then toured the small museum on the site which houses Mosaics, Pottery and Statues. Our last stop was at the Corinth Canal which is 4 miles long and 7 5 feet wide. The canal was built between1881-1893. Yachts, small cargo ships and small oil tankers use this canal today to save 180 miles on the way to Italy from Greece.

We went back to the ship and Princess had hung the American Flag and made a hugh American Flag cake to celebrate The 4^th of July. We took a picture of our Australian friends with our flag. (There are only about 50 Americans on this ship of 2000 passengers, but we appreciate the thought)