borders and byways: October 13, 2017 Departing Athens and crusing to Hydra

October 13, 2017 Day 12 (Day one of Cruise) Athens in the morning and Departure to Hydra

We took a break and got up later, breakfast at 8:00. Usual good stuff, the waitress now even knows to bring me hot chocolate rather than offering coffee, and while I was eating too much there, I was sorry to depart from the friendly confines of the Electra Palace Hotel.

After breakfast we set out on foot for the Roman and Ancient Agoras, the last sites on our monument ticket from two days ago. Out to the left and then another left, but before we got to the Agora we stopped at the Athens Cathedral, a large and relatively new church. Built in 1862 it is the seat of the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Athens. Very impressive and ornate inside. Not at all like the austere churches in western Europe. We ducked into a small market to pick up some bottled water. I thought that the prices were significantly bigger that I experienced at home. We passed through Kalogrionl Plateia Arbaia Agoras, a large plaza which had stands piled high with fruit.

The Roman Agora was the roman market. It had a lot of ruins at the side we entered, columns of varying size lining the sides and at the other end the well-preserved Gate of Athens Archegetis flanked by 4 columns and built during the regime of Julius Ceaser. The well-preserved Tower of the Winds was built in the first century BC by a Syrian astronomer. Its octagonal shape functioned as a sundial, weather vane, (no longer present) water clock and compass. Each side had a picture associated with the wind at that point. When the Turks occupied Athens, this site was a temple for the Dervishes. Off in a corner was the ruins of the 1^st century public latrines.

We then walked to the Ancient Agora. This was the administrative, commercial and political center of Athens when it was a world superpower. Socrates expounded here, and St Paul preached here. Today it has some well-preserved ruins in a lush, peaceful garden setting which also includes a museum. It was first developed as a public site in the 6^th century BC, but was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. It was rebuilt and flourished during Pericles’ time and continued to exist until 267 AD when it was destroyed by a marauding tribe from Scandinavia.

We entered at the southern entrance and immediately came upon the Church of the Holy Apostles, although that was not immediately apparent at the time since we had great difficultly determining where we were. We there passed some former government buildings and the jail before coming to the Temple of Hephaestus. This was the most impressive structure in the Agora. It was the highest point in the site, very well preserved with lots of columns and a roof. We were not permitted to enter the temple which was dedicated to the god of forge. As we made our way down the hill form the temple we passed the foundation for the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios which was one of the places where Socrates expounded his philosophy. Sort of like the Speakers Corner of Athens.

We then went to the Agora Museum. The Stoa of Attalos is a two-storied walkway built in 139 BC that served as a shopping arcade and people gathered here every four years to watch the Panathenaic Procession, a festival honoring Athena. Now its many well-preserved columns serve as a facade for the museum. Inside there was a model of the Agora and lots of busts and sculptures of famous Athenians. We got in trouble with a guard for attempting to take a picture embracing, without touching, one of the statutes.

On the way back, we stopped off at Hadrian’s Library. This vast 2d century complex had a central courtyard that originally consisted of 100 columns. Few remain today.

Arriving back at the hotel at about 12:30 we checked out by 1 and loaded our luggage (it was a tight squeeze for the four of us) into the waiting taxi. We had a drive through business and commercial Athens before the driver got us to the “small” port. Athens is a frequent stop for the major cruise lines and their large (and getting larger) cruise boats, but we pulled up to a small dock. Perhaps I should not have been, I had looked at the pictures, but I was surprised at how small our boat was. Some of the yachts I saw in San Troupue, France were bigger. We were early so after downing a welcome drink and checking out our cabin, we walked around the port area.

The boat departed about 3. After the safety talk and welcome by the Captain, we were told that there were unspecified weather issues and that cruise would essentially be done in reverse, so we would be going first to the island of Hydra. We arrived at the island about 5 and took a walk around Hydra Town. There are no motorized vehicles and the cobble stone streets are very clean. While during the early part of the 18^th century Hydra was a major Mediterranean maritime power with 130 battleships and 28,000 people, now it is a quiet town with less than 4,000 inhabitants. Its sailors and ships made lots of money running the British blockade during the Napoleonic Wars and its fleet dominated the sea during the Greek War for Independence. Now it has lots of yachts and is just chic.

After our stroll around town we had dinner on the boat. It was a sit-down dinner, but the food was not very good. The passengers who had booked the tour through a tourist agency sat at reserved tables. The remaining 12 passengers, “the independents” were segregated at 2 tables. After dinner I and my friend returned to the now darkened town and took another walk. We were referred to the “best” ice cream shop and sampled its offerings. We also strolled up some small back streets and envied the aroma from the many patio restaurants.

We were back on the boat by 11 and the boat remained in port until about 3:00 am when it took off for Monemvassia.