A Lazy Day at Sea

Saturday, 20 September 2008

Today we would be at sea all day, so I had visions of getting this blog up to date.  You see how well that worked!  Believe it or not, I did get up early today, but only because I had a date at the Spa at 8 AM for a hot stone massage – my fave!!  There aren't many things that could get me up that early on vacation (or most days, to be honest) but I make exceptions for things like massages.  Leah, my masseuse, was a delightful young woman with a wonderful British accent, and she did a great job; however, the room was so chilly that even with the hot stones I never adequately relaxed.  And I'm still searching for the hot stone massage that will even come close to the one I experienced in Sedona...it's a tough job, but I'll keep searching and let you know when I find it.  Leah encouraged me to relax for the rest of the day, so I took her advice to heart, went back to our stateroom, and slept until sometime after one.  I finally roused myself enough to go get a bite of lunch, and then I really did blog, read, and download photos while sitting by the pool.

I ran into some of the rest of our group while at the pool, and we started discussing how we would be spending our next day in Athens.  Even though it was short notice and we weren't sure anything would work out, it was decided that I should contact George, the Best Taxi Driver in Athens (http://www.greecetravel.com/taxi/), to see if we could arrange a private tour.  We had done a little research and were pretty sure that we wanted to see these things: the Acropolis, site of the Parthenon and several other temples; the parade and changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which takes place only at 11 AM on Sundays in front of Parliament; the  Temple of Zeus the Olympian; and the Sunday flea market and the nearby ancient Agora.  So I emailed George, but wasn't feeling very confident that we would get anything arranged, and Plan B was to rent a car and try and figure it out on our own.  Thankfully, George got right back to me and we made a deal for a Mercedes mini-bus and a driver named Nicholas to meet us at the docks in Piraeus the next morning.  Bob was a little miffed that we had to get up early, but we were all glad we had a plan that didn't involve any of us having to drive.  Little did we know just HOW glad we would be about that!

Probably before I had digested lunch, it was time for dinner.  I'm not sure how everyone else spent most of their day, but I have a feeling there was a lot of napping and reading going on.  It was formal night in the dining room, and we were supposed to show up not only festively dressed, but also wearing Venetian masks.  We did neither.  Somehow, the men managed to dress appropriately, even though John had forgotten dress socks, Rex had no tie (thanks, John!), and Robert had spilled red wine on his button down shirt, so he had on a polo shirt with tie.  Very dapper.  Bob was completely put together, so he wins the prize.  As for me, I had on the only pair of nice black slacks I brought – they've seen lots of action in the dining room!  The other women looked great, and at any rate, they let us in and we ate and drank lots.  I think everyone went to a show that night, but truthfully I really couldn't tell you.  I went back to the room and blogged away.

And so it was a very restful and easy day at sea!

Hot stoned and very mellow,

Jan