We Take Ourselves With Us

Our second stop on the cruise was Athens--we'd be there for two days, so when we were planning the trip, it seemed to make sense to book a tour of the Acropolis on day one to anchor our trip.  Then, the European heatwave made itself known like Hephaestus bringing all the fire.  The forecast said 101 as a high, and in fact, it was so hot the day before  we arrived in town that the Acropolis was closed for the entire afternoon. Luckily, we at least had the sense to book the earliest Acropolis tour we could.  Our group was small--just 8 people, and we'd all been together on the Olympia tour as well.  (Highly recommend Travel Insiders, a local team we booked these two excursions with.)  So, we were through the ticket gate and on our climb up to the Acropolis quickly.  One observation about the climb: the entire walkway to and from the Acropolis is made of marble--shiny, slick, no-traction marble, which made for an interesting journey up (and down) the ...

Our official first port on the cruise was Katakalon--the gateway to Olympia, home to the first Olympics.  Like pretty much everyone on the boat, we booked an excursion to Olympia, but unlike most, we booked with a private tour operator (Travel Insiders), so our tour group numbered only 15 rather than 25-30.  Right on time, our guide Zoe was at the port waiting to share her love of her home with all of us.  She won Ned over right away by referring to him as blue-eyed and blonde  just like Northern Greeks.  He turned to us all with a big smile, mouthing "blonde" as a personal victory. One thing to note, all of our guides have made reference to the significant economic challenges facing Greece, some more pointedly than others.  Zoe noted that the high unemployment rate for young men in Athens has led some to return home to work their family farms--a role they ran away to the big city to escape. As a result, Katakalon's olive oil, raisin, and other agricultur...