Our tour guide was fantastic! She talked the whole drive to the Acropolis telling us about the city of Athens, the history of the people, and any landmarks we drove by. Once we arrived, we were given headsets and she led us up to the entrance where we walked by the ground floor of the amphitheater and started ascending up the hill. The marble walkways were a bit challenging since they were slippery in some areas and broken up in other areas. I was glad I wore athletic shoes!
We were then at the entrance to the Acropolis and man, was it impressive! They were working on restoring parts of it so there was scaffolding, but it was just breathtaking to look at it all. We had time to walk around and explore on our own for a bit before we had to be back at the bus so we took it all in, got some pictures, and walked through a few shops outside of the Acropolis before going back on the bus.
We were then driven to Plaka where our tour guide started us out to show us the path to the shopping and restaurants. We had 3 hours to be on our own before the bus would pick us back up and take us to the ship. We strolled through some shops and bought gifts and then our mission was to find the best gyros, complete with french fries on them! 20 minutes of wandering around and reading menus and we found a great spot with free wi-fi and were shocked by how cheap our bill was. Lunch was great!
At 12:30pm we started walking towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to see the changing of the guards at 1:00pm. It was a bit of a walk, but at least it was a straight shot down the main road. By this point it was pretty hot and we were in the full sun watching the changing of the guards, but we thought it was cool to see.
There was still a bit of time left before our transportation back to the ship so we walked all the way back to Plaka to take a look at the churches our tour guide told us about and to do a little bit more shopping.
Back on the ship we decided to swim and cool off for the rest of the afternoon. We skipped dinner in the dining room to just have a more casual dinner at the Windjammer and lucked out with a chocolate fountain and buffet for dessert! We played putt-putt, watched the sunset, and watched Apollo 11 on the big screen by the pool. It was a relaxing evening!
Friday morning I got up early and went to the gym to get a run in and the timing was perfect because I got to watch the ship pull up into Katakolon and dock. We had no real agenda for the day, but figured we would get off the ship in the afternoon to check out the town and grab a late lunch. After breakfast in the Windjammer we enjoyed having the pool practically to ourselves and our pick of the lounge chairs. We laid out in the sun and swam for two hours then went back to our room to get ready.
It didn't take long to shop as there was only one main street with shops along it, but we picked up a soccer jersey for Sean of the Greek National team and sent a postcard to the boys. We decided to eat lunch at a restaurant that, ultimately, we felt really uncomfortable at. Pushy waiters trying to get Scott to order fish (it was expensive!), kids coming up and begging for money, and a cat that begged for our table scraps like a dog. The food was okay, but we were anxious to get out of there. We went down the street to have a few beers and just relax until it was time to FaceTime the boys.
Back on the ship we went right back to the pool! After a while we needed to go back to the room and get ready for our last formal night dinner in the dining room. We didn't get as glammed up as we did the first formal night and Scott was disappointed to find out it was a seafood buffet up in the Windjammer so we actually went to the Windjammer after the dining room so he could basically have a second dinner.
We enjoyed another movie on the pool deck called, "Fighting With My Family" and some late night pizza.
Saturday was our day at sea heading back to Rome. We spent the majority of the day laying out at the pool, swimming, reading, and taking a nap. It was absolutely perfect. We saw the volcano when we went through the Straights of Messina and later in the afternoon the staff did a parade of nations that was fun to watch by the pool.
We opted to have another laid back evening, especially since we needed to pack. We did dinner in the Windjammer and played putt-putt as the sun was setting. It was gorgeous! I was sad to be leaving the ship, but also excited to see the boys soon.
Sunday morning was time to get up and grab our last breakfast before they started letting people off the ship. We weren't in any hurry since our ride wasn't coming until 10am. We did not pay attention to any of the directions and decided to do our own thing and stay on the ship as long as they'd let us. We were finally ushered out at 9:30am and had time to weigh our luggage in the port before our ride came. It was smooth sailing driving back into Rome and heading to our hotel at the Hilton Airport. Check-in went well and our room was ready. The hallway was super creepy...like straight out of The Shining with the red hallway.
Our original plan had been to stay at the hotel and swim, lay low. But, the pool was disappointing and you had to wear a swim cap, which we didn't have. We found out the hotel offered a free shuttle into the city center running every hour. We made a last minute decision to head back into downtown Rome for another stroll through Trastevere for lunch/dinner and I'm so glad we did! It was fantastic! Hot, but fantastic! We really did enjoy this neighborhood. I grabbed a few more gifts to bring home, another gelato, and a few beers to take back to the hotel. We ate at a great restaurant where Scott had lasagna and I had carbonara again.
Back at the hotel we took our showers in the evening so we wouldn't have to do so in the morning with our early flights. We figured out how to get to the terminal we needed to and grabbed one last beer in the hotel bar with some crunchy snacks and then it was time to get some sleep.
Monday morning we were able to eat a light breakfast in the hotel restaurant before walking over to the airport (perks of staying at the Hilton Airport). Everything went relatively smooth flying home. Our flight from Rome to Amsterdam was smooth, the airport in Rome was easy to figure out (although their food options were lacking), and we did a quick run through some stores in the Amsterdam airport to bring home Gouda cheese and Stroopwaffles. It was a long day of travel. We watched a ton of movies (I feel all caught up now on my adult movies!) and had a moment on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit where we were both hysterically laughing that helped make my day. I'm talking, tears streaming down my face, hysterically laughing.
And look at that cutie! Mark and Janet picked us up from the airport with the boys in tow. We were all very excited to see each other! We unpacked as much as we could, gave the boys their gifts, grabbed some carry-out, and we all slept together that night...at least at the beginning.
What an amazing trip we had! I'm so happy to have gotten the opportunity to show Scott Rome and for us to see Greece together. I think Scott sees how great international travel can be. What's up next?! Ireland and Scotland for our 15th anniversary?! Time will tell...
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