Athens

We landed in Athens about 9:30am… Immigration was easy… just outside in the terminal we found an ATM and got some Euros… then across the street and upstairs to the train and metro station.   We purchased a ticket from a live agent… (signs said the fare was 8 Euros, but we ended up with a group ticket for 2 for 14 Euros)  

We went downstairs to  the platform…  the signs are a bit confusing for non greek speakers, with two trains, one the metro, the other the suburban train both going towards Athens.   We figured it out, found seats near the luggage rack (yes, luggage racks on a subway) and headed into town.

Our hotel was about 4 blocks from the metro station, but matching maps and finding signs was a bit difficult (that Greek language thing again) we asked a couple of police men who directed up “the Souvlaki street”…  It turns out the first block or two of Mitrpoeos street is now a pedestrian mall lined with Souvlaki restaurants and that is how they recongnize it.  We found our hotel (the Plaka, very nice) checked in, sent a couple of emails to tell folks we had arrived, then headed over to the historic sites…  Walking out of the hotel door, the Acropolis and Parthenon is above to the right… right there…   You know you are in Athens.

We found the Ancient Agora first, bought tickets which work at most of the historic sites, then started working our way upward through the Agora to the Acropolis.

The sheer number of sites, and the layers of ruin upon ruin is a bit overwhelming.  The litter of marble column caps and blocks is amazing.  You climb to the top, amid a press of humanity from all over the world.   It’s a steep climb, frequently on stairs, frequently covered by crowds, sitting and resting, or gathered around their guide.  The groups are effective traffic barriers, blocking everything while they pause as a group along narrow walkways.  

Both of us had been here before, but not for many years.  Since, the crowds have apparently grown, and more of the top is roped off.  Restoration seems to be ongoing… signs spoke of projects completed in 2004, but  based on the equipment, the 2004 date referred to only one phase of a many phase ongoing project.   Who knew there was a narrow gauge railroad on top of the Acropolis (its a tramway used to move blocks for restoration about.  They have crane-ways suitable for a good size ship yard as well.  It appears that as projects end, the cranes remain… to be used for the next restoration effort.  I suspect there will not be a time in my lifetime that there won’t be cranes on top of the Acropolis or around and even within the Parthenon.

Having seen much, we worked our way back down, this time down the back side of the Acropolis, to the new Acropolis museum.  All the guidebooks said it is amazing… and it is… Built on piers with exposed ruins underneath (much of the floor is glass allowing you to see them) it is a modern building… with modern displays of rich collection of artifacts.  So many artifacts that at first it is overwhelming and seems chaotic, but as you work through the displays it starts to make wonderful sense.  One side of the 2^nd floor is about how the white marble statues were not white, but painted, with original stature next to modern reproduction painted as they believe it was… in one case they offered two replicas, one painted by a German museum, the other by local archeologists… suggesting that while similar, they still were studying the issue… there were staff archeologists wandering to answer questions…  all in all the museum exceeded our (high) expectations.  

The top floor is dedicated to the Parthenon and its decorations.  The outside gallery surrounds a inner building the same dimensions as the Parthenon, and the hold a mix of fragments of the original marbles, with casts of some held elsewhere, as well as models of what they think might have been in each location.  Throughout the ancient sites there are lots of comments about the Elgin Marbles held in the British Museum…  the Brits believing they were saved while the Greeks believe they were looted.  My take is the Brits saved them by looting them, but its time to return them… The Greeks are now able to house, display and protect them…

We ate lunch at the café in the museum…  on the terrace looking up at the acropolis and Parthenon.  Salads, with wine and beer…

Afterward we walked around the acropolis through the Anafiotika  neighborhood… small crooked streets, island style houses, settled by people from the island of Anafi… . Back to the Plaka, back to our hotel… then off exploring through the flea market, looping back to dinner at one of the Sovilaki places as recommended by Rick Steves, then back to the hotel to sit on the roof top garden and bar to watch the sunset and the acropolis as they turn the lights on…  pictures were taken… but as we watched, eyelids got heavy and after 28 hours without seeing a bed, the bed called…  We have seen much, but there is much still to see…  the unseen may have to wait…

The next morning…

I got up early (Tina didn’t) showered and went for a walk in search of the Central  Market…  I arrived as they were setting up for the day… the butchers cutting and chopping… the fish mongers laying out catches… across the street the vegetable venders were unloading and setting up their stalls for the day…

I returned to the room to find Tina still asleep and wanting to continue to sleep, so I checked email and posted the blog post about the flight and the lines, and packed…  I discovered I didn’t bring a camera cable, normally not an issue but one chip won’t read in the computer, but will read through the camera, and I don’t have a cable to connect the camera, so the early photos of the trip are likely trapped until we return… Tina eventually rose, we went to breakfast (spectacular, Greek salad for breakfast along with cappuccino and fruit and bacon and all things needed for breakfast including beans for our fellow English travelers)

We checked out, made our way to the metro station and took the train to Piraeus, then a cab to the ship…

Eventually we rendezvoused with the rest of the party…  yesterday one brother lost his wallet to a pickpocket on the metro, today the other lost his to a pickpocket on a bus…  One sister’s luggage is still in New York… the airline says it will forward it to Istanbul, but for now she lacking baggage…  Such is the uncertainty of travel.

Now, after sail away and dinner, and a walk about the promenade deck we are getting ready for bed…   We are tired and ready to sleep… tomorrow we are mostly at sea, but late, about 4:00 arrive at Istanbul and the next adventure.

Randy

Flying - It's all about the line

An alarm at 4:30, is never good, even when signaling the beginning of a vacation.    The animals mill, confused...

The airport was already busy... Security trumps customer service...  Show your boarding pass to get in line to check bags... Wait inching slowly forward,   We get to the counter... They check documents, scan our passports, weigh the bags and decide that there is an issue, and send us to "special services", to wait in line again...  When we again reach the counter, they again check documents, again scan our passports, again, this time check our bags and send us on our way... To security, where they check your boarding pass before you enter the line, check it again half way through, sorting us by flight boarding time, before the TSA man checks boarding pass and passport, making notes and randomly circling some items, before sending to the line where you lose shoes and belts, hat & jacket and disassemble your carefully packed luggage into plastic bins for scanning.  The line for the body scanner was mercifully short.

Now, apparently vetted as safe, we regather our dispersed possessions, dress, grab a coffee (a line may have been involved) and locate our gate where boarding has not yet started, but lines are forming...

Announcements are made... But with 8 gates in close proximity, with one gate calling pre-boarding, while the next is calling group 2, confusion seems the order of the day.  They call "traveler C Hees, please see the gate agent" so she (the agent) can once again check passports, (thankfully without a line this time) and begins a lecture about showing passports when checking in...  (We had) checks them again and clears us to fly, or at least to stand in line where they would check boarding passes and join the line which extended from the plane and through the jetway...

We find our seats and sufficient overhead bin space... We settle in while the crew make repeated announcements imploring passengers to find their seats, get out of the aisle, stow luggage in the overhead bin wheels first...

Eventually the close the cabin doors, ask us to turn electronic devices to the O-F-F position, and we push back, so the plane can join the line of other jets awaiting its turn to take off...

Delta has changed it's safety video... Much like Virgin America's cartoon delta's new video is filled with humor, tiny suitcases, a passenger stowing his antique typewriter so he can close his tray table and passengers peering over setbacks looking for the nearest exit "which might be behind you"only to find an embarrassed man leaving the loo...

Now, above 10,000', Electronic devices again welcome,   I blog while The Sierra Nevada, then Nevada passes below... Dry hills with occasional circles of irrigated alfalfa.    We seem to be taking a northernly route...  North of lAke Tahoe and I-80, and eventually north of Salt Lake (both the lake and the City) We are seated on the left side of the plane, so there are few land marks to gauge progress.  We  now we are more than an hour into a 5 1/2 hour flight to JFK, where we will board a different plane for the 10 hour flight to Athens...  It's going to be a long day.

We pass Jackpot Nevada, on the Idaho border....  There are more farms, more trees on the mountains... We reach the Rockies at about two hours out...  Hit rough air and the fasten seat belt light comes on...  We fly over Bear Lake Idaho and the town of Monticello... Butch Cassidy and the hole in the wall gang robbed the bank there... The Tetons are visible beyond...  White peaks through the white clouds.

As we closed in on the Black Hills the clouds closed in... Somewhere below is I-90, The valley of Roosevelt's nose, Wall Drug and the Badlands but from 39,000' it is just white to the horizon.   We turn northward.   We are now north of I -90....   the clouds thin a bit...  We are crossing the Missouri River and the landscape changes from open range to farms...   We have left the west...  We turn north again... We are now nearly over North Dakota...  We have been airborne for 3 hours

Now turning southward... I am seated over the wing, and the shadow raising and falling on the engine serves as an inclinometer...  The little map on the back of the seat shows a different kind of line... a yellow line showing where we have been, following a stair step pattern turning northward, then eastward.  Then north again, then east again...  suspect the pilots are searching for clear air... Our course is carrying us further and further north.   With a green line showing us headed for JFK, a line that shows we will eventually need to turn south.

An hour out of JFK finds us over Canada, well north of Lake Erie... 50 minutes out while over Lake Ontario, the shadow on the engine disappears as we bank, turning sharply southward.   The cabin crew starts picking up trash...

As we drop below 10,000 I turn the IPad off...

We land a few minutes late, deplane and head for gate for the next flight...  They are starting the early boarding as we arrive... There is no time for foor or other diversions...  They start with wWheelchairs, people mobility issues or small children, then first class, business class, gold nap medallion members,  sky club member... It's a long list...  Only tThen do they allow the rest of us to board.  1st class and club members board in a lline with a blue carpet...  Steerage gets no carpet...  We are boarding group 3... It's airline speak for "no room in the overhead bin"...   Here at JFK the line is a concept which was not embraced...   instead the prefer to mob the gate, any attempt at order abandoned.  We board, find space for our bags and wait while everyone else looks for their seats.

This is a 9 hour flight... The previous was 5 1/2...  With the time change the trip  will take just over a day... Time to power down again...   Once off we reach 10,000' quickly...  I pad back on...

Now an hour plus into the flight...  International flights still include now mostly forgotten services including meals, complimentary beer  and wine...   a beer makes up for the hectic connection...   Outside the world is literally fading away...  From New York we neared northward,  across the Canadian maratimes...  The was a quick glimpse of shoreline a bit ago.  The sun is receding behind, the world outside tuning blue grey,  details lost as light fails.. . Ahead a full moon shines...

Randy

PS... I am posting this from our hotel in Athens... Compliments to the cabin crew on our Delta flight to Greece... Blogger offered me instructions in Greek with as so often said is Greek to me, but I have blundered through it.   Yesterday we wandered about Athens... today we will join our ship... there will be more blog posts...

Back to the blog, and to travel

After a period distraction and change, I am back… and blogging

I have retired… It was more work and longer days than expected…  It was a distaction... but it is over and life begins

I retired a week ago… I ended up back at work or in close proximity 4 days in the next week… It appears work has a gravity not described by Newton or his apples… the gravitational forces are weakening so there is hope…

On the upside the house (our house) is clean, cleaner than before when we had a cleaning service… It turns out I am a pretty good cleaning lady… Of course I had to bring the work hats home, overwhelming the hat shelf high in the closet…  The other things now home cover the dining room table… I am working my way through the piles…

Beyond retiring and all that it entails, T and I are off on a trip… Athens, Istanbul, some miscellaneous Greek islands, Ephesus, Athens a second time, more islands, Ephesus again, more islands then Athens again…  I am packing… (three days ahead of departure… I feel like I am way ahead of the curve)… It is also a challenge… 16 days… one small suitcase (up to 50lbs) and a backpack, international baggage rules, planning for no laundry… several (4) formal nights, so a suit is in order… We are planning on taking the subway from the airport to our hotel in Athens, then from downtown to Piraeus to join the ship… so light and compact is the order of the day.  Mid day today I packed the suitcase… checking off the each item as I packed it on my list (Tina, aka the wife would be sooooo proud)  I didn’t pack the suit… wrinkles being an issue, but without the suit its about 37 lbs… all is good.

We have guide books… we have done web research… both of us have been to Greece before, and Tina has been to Istanbul, twice.  We are joining Sig and Toby, T’s older, older brother and wife and a couple of friends, and Tanya and Karen, the older sisters, and Erik and Mia, younger older brother and wife… Erik and Mia are already on a pre-trip exploring Israel.  Sig and Toby are in Virginia visiting their daughter and family.  We leave Thursday very early… Karen and Tanya follow us a day later… We will all rendezvous aboard the MV Rydam in Piraeus on Saturday.

Tina bought up some Turkish Lira from a co-worker… this is the magic of the Google… you have coworkers from everywhere… an email found three with lira… we now have lira… This was an issue, as we arrive in Istanbul on Sunday afternoon… and depart late the next day… the Hagia Sofia is not open on Monday so we need to rush to see it on Sunday… arriving by cruise ship limits currency exchange opportunities… so having lira is good.

So, with 36 hours to go, this is finally becoming a travel blog again…

Randy

Next trip… Into the desert…

Wednesday, a couple of days from now I am off into the Nevada desert to camp with friends…

There will be a dozen of us, more or less, more over the weekend… we will camp at Ft Churchill, next to the Carson River… From there we will explore… the desert… The fort and nearby ranches… The Carson & Colorado Railroad grade… the Pony Express train runs through the camp site…  We will not be at a loss of things to explore…

We are camped in the group campsite to the east of the main area… along the river, several miles east in a camp ground most commonly used by Boy Scouts… We are not Boy Scouts, nor do we aspire to such…

Strangely, there is a decent cell phone connection with data, and I should be able to check email…  I probably can’t steam video or music, but I will be connected…

There is a shared dinner each evening… not well planned but always shared… I am bringing Jambalaya and  green corn chili, Tasha and her Gabe are bringing a leg of lamb and some venison…  We will eat corn dogs at the Lyon County Fair one night… we have all covered…

Randy

I want to hear the Airplane crash...

There was a airplane crash on the runways of SFO today… about 11:30 a.m. a 777 from Asiana airlines landed short of the runway, losing its tail, hitting hard, and after a merciful few minutes the allowing the passengers to evacuate, caught fire…   There were 307 passengers and crew aboard… 2 have died, some are in critical condition in area hospitals, but most walked away generally ok…  It is our west coast version of the miracle on the Hudson… a survivable jet accident… We likely won’t have a Skully as a hero… but will have Skully as a commentator.  The Skully lives nearby across San Francisco Bay.

For me, and family it was disruptive… at the time of the crash the wife and daughter were on a United Jet, on the tarmac of Vancouver Canada about to take off for SFO… they didn’t… the flight was eventually canceled and they are expected home tomorrow.  

We could hear the sirens… it bothered the neighbor’s dogs… mine slept through it.

I am flying to Alaska tomorrow… I heard about the “incident” from the wife, who knew something had happened, but not what had happened… I turned on the local news… they had photos of the plane… I called Alaska Airlines about noon, and with the help of a wonderful customer service rep (Paula) who had seen the alert, but didn’t know the extent of the accident changed my outgoing flight to San Jose… at O-dark-100 in the morning…   Now some 10 hours after the incident the news is all about the delays… 

Being a historian and researcher… and a traveler I did a bit of research on aircraft and accidents and SF bay… 

There have been accidents before (this would be the place for the base drum roll….)  but I don’t think this is the time to worry much about the safety of commercial aviation…  Particularly associated with SFO…

So, we need to remember that there are about 600 landings or takeoffs at SFO everyday…  25 an hour on average… something like 220,000 per year… With all that traffic this is not the first accident… The South San Francisco Patch is reporting that this is the 14^th accident in the history of SFO (or Mill’s Field as it was previously known….)  If you accept all listed as SFO related  (one took place in Yosemite, heading to Arizona in 1938, one in Mendocino in 1943, and two in the Pacific in the mid 1950’s, several are the result of crazy folk taking down the plane, one took place off LA… ) If you take all the losses associated with SFO, the airport has lost 270 passengers in 14 crashes in 75 years of commercial aviation.  

If you only count the nearby flights, there are only 4 seemingly tied directly to the airport…

In 1953 The Resolution, operated by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) Flight 304/44 crashed while on approach to SFO with a loss of 11.  There is a trail in the hills dedicated to the crash…

In 1964 a Flying Tigers cargo plane crashed into Mt San Bruno with the loss of the crew of 3…

In 1968 a Japan Air went into the bay… with no loss of life…

Finally, there is today’s incident… a Asiana Boeing 777 with 307 passengers, with the loss of two lives…

Even the most paranoid among us should note that this is 5 deaths in the 58 years since I was born… and at least 3 were crew (they probably wore red shirts too... (gratuitous Star Trek reference unrelated to aircraft crashes in San Francisco before the 23^rd century when Kirk and crew will crash a Klingon bird of prey into the bay under the Golden Gate bridge… with hump back whales aboard… ))

Tomorrow I will fly… to Seattle then to Alaska… I am not worried…  but I am avoiding SFO… it will be crazy so I will fly from San Jose… but Wednesday expect to land at SFO on my return… And, I don't plan on carrying any whales in my carry-on luggage...