Athens, Greece
This is still the DH catching up on all of our pictures. We did an overnight in Athens, Greece on April 21 and 22. On the first day we did the included tour consisting of a driving tour of Athens, and a visit to the National Museum.
In every other location we have been we were allowed to walk right among the ruins that were there. I was surprised in Athens that we could only see the Acropolis from a distance. We did have an opportunity to go up to the Acropolis, but it would have meant climbing over 100 steps (with no hand railings). This is a very geologically active area with quakes being recorded quite often. We could see that there were a lot of repairs going on to shore up the Acropolis and some of the other standing ruins.
On day 2 in Athens we took a bus ride to Corinth. We were in Athens on the Orthodox Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, so this was the first day of a long holiday weekend. There were a lot of people trying to get out of town for the holiday, and we got stuck in traffic. What should have been a 1.5 hour ride, took almost 3 hours. However we were still able to see Corinth, and spent a nice afternoon walking among the ruins of that city.
On the evening of the first day, we were taken out to a local event center for a traditional Greek dinner and a folkloric show. Our hosts provided a very nice buffet with some delicious foods. After dinner we listened to a duo playing Greek music, and watched some traditional Greek dancing.
However, what is a Greek celebration without some plate smashing! Our hosts brought out stacks of plates that were promptly smashed on the cement floor. After that they came around looking for volunteers. I'll let the videos that the DW took tell the rest of the story. Make sure you stick around long enough to see my reaction to the Uzo.
Naples, Italy
From Athens the Viking Star made its way to Naples, Italy. We had a sea day in between these 2 ports, and we took advantage of the time to relax.
In Naples we visited the ruins of Herculaneum. When we visited this area in 2018 we went to Pompeii. Our tour guide explained that Pompeii is on one side of Mt. Vesuvius, and the winds blew the ash and rocks that direction destroying the city immediately. Herculaneum is on the other side of Vesuvius where the hot mud flowed down over the sea port. It took a couple of days for the destruction to fall on Herculaneum, so many of the inhabitants were able to flee. However they recently found some remains of victims in the docks area of the city.
We spent an amazing day wandering the streets of this ancient city.
Civitavecchia, Italy
Our next port-of-call was Civitavecchia, Itay. This is the port for Rome, and there were several excursions that would have allowed us to take the 2 hour bus ride to Rome. However we saw Rome in 2018 when we visited this area, so instead we decided to stay local. We went to a nearby town to visit an Etruscan (i.e. pre-Roman) Necropolis and Museum.
It is amazing how much of our trip has focused on burial grounds, but we learn so much from the way that past cultures treated their dead. The Etruscans had a firm belief in life after death, and left gifts for their loved ones that they thought would be useful in the after-life.
The necropolis (i.e. graveyard) was in a beautiful setting, and we had a lovely day walking in the warm spring sunshine.
Next up is Florence, Italy, Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Spain.
More soon ...
Love your reaction to the Uzo! ;)
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