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 ...

When in Rome, one must do the Colosseum, and in July, one must do it as early as possible before it reaches max occupancy and stops accepting visitors and those visitors melt in the summer Rome sun.  So, we woke early and grabbed what was a delicious, giant, and apparently free buffet in our hotel.  Well, no one ever asked us our room number or charged us, so grazie! We again dined al fresco at a table made for slow Italian meals with seats arranged to overlook the hotel's interior courtyard, complete with too familiar pigeons. After trying and failing to get a cab, I ubered it, which meant we got to ride in Rome to the Colosseum in a sporty Alfa-Romeo driven by a hipster Italian youth with slick hair and aviator sunglasses.  Living the dream, people :) It was a full-sun 90 degree day when we caught up with our tour guide, Fabio--an enthusiastic individual who seemed to speak at least English, Italian, Spanish, and a bit of Japanese.  To engage ...