LIVE from Viking Sky - Greek Odyssey cruise - Nov 26-Dec 6

[Australia08]

Homer writes of the sacredness of the this area from at least the 8th century BC.  The Temple to Poseidon was constructed between  444 and 440 BC on the foundation of an earlier archaic temple which had been destroyed during the Persian invasion.

[Australia08]

Graffiti by annoying tourists - Lord Byron in this case (middle block, lower left)

Edited December 6, 2022 by Australia08

[Australia08]

Beautiful from every angle

[Australia08]

Even a silhouette view is great.

[Australia08]

The Greek theatre at the archaeological site at Thorikos

 

There is evidence of a community here since Neolithic times.  Presently, Bronze Age tombs are being excavated.  The theatre was constructed in the 5th century BC.  Mining galleries are scattered on the nearby slopes where silver ore was extracted.  These silver mines produced wealth that allowed Athens to emerge as a leading power of the time.

[Newdaytrippers]

Loved following along with you. Thank you for taking the time to post.  Fun to read, very informative and great photos!  Safe journey home.

[Goosebear Mum]

Thanks for all the posts. I really appreciated them all. Safe travels home.

[Sleep7]

Loved all your posts.. so well written and such beautiful photos.

Thank you for taking us along with you!

Wishing you an quick and easy journey home.😃

[Azulann]

Loved your trip report and the  great photos of Greek ruins. They are spectacular after all these centuries.

I also love the way you travel  before and after the cruise ends. No need to rush to airport after a cruise.  I too love to savor the whole experience  at a nice hotel or post extension, before flying home. 

Thank you again for taking your time to take us along on your adventure.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Azulann

[aungrl]

Thanks for taking all the time to share your detailed activities and some beautiful photos.  It takes a lot of effort and commitment to do this during a trip, and it's much appreciated.  Really enjoyed following along!

[TayanaLorna]

Gorgeous photos.  Thanks for all the posts.

[milling73]

How did you get from Athens Hotel to ship?  Do taxi drivers know location of ship?  We booked advance nights stay ourselves before our Viking cruise, and are now wondering how to get to ship.  Thanks for assist!!

 

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, milling73 said:

How did you get from Athens Hotel to ship?  Do taxi drivers know location of ship?  We booked advance nights stay ourselves before our Viking cruise, and are now wondering how to get to ship.  Thanks for assist!!

 

We just had our hotel call a cab for us.  The cab driver knew where to go.  Your docking location is at the bottom of the page in the e documents you should have received about 2 weeks before your cruise, but we never needed it.

[milling73]

Mich3554 --- Thanks you!  What hotel did you stay at in Athens?  Was the location good for eating / walking to sights?

[Australia08]

And, we are finally home.  We’re very happy that we stayed the extra day.  We enjoyed our tour and had a good night’s sleep before the non-stop from Athens to JFK.  Since our flight was at 12:15 pm, we didn’t have to leave the hotel in Rafina until 9:00 am.  The shuttle ride only took 15 minutes so we were there a full 3 hours before flight time. It only took about 20 minutes to check our 1 bag and go through security, so the 3 hours in advance was overkill.  However, since we were flying business, we headed to the generic business lounge that services Delta flights out of Athens.  Our flight started boarding at 11:20.  The flight back provided more service than our flight over (daytime flight versus overnight flight).    I definitely didn’t feel like sleeping so I watched quite a few movies.  

 

When we arrived at JFK, we claimed our bag and headed over to the TWA hotel.  We’ve been wanting to stay there, but the timing never worked out before.  With our Athens flight scheduled to arrive at 4:30 pm (actually arrived about 3:30), and no onward flight to catch, we could finally try it out.  While I don’t think that the hotel is reaching its full potential, I have to say that the architecture and nostalgia won us over.  Mike and I are originally from St. Louis so the fact that Eero Saarinen had designed the building that was opened in 1962 was certainly a drawing card (Saarinen also designed the Gateway Arch). Even though our bodies felt that it was 7 hours later, we spent several hours touring the building, trying out the bars, investigating the rooftop pool (heated—though we didn’t swim, only watched planes taking off for a few minutes), and checked out all the nostalgia alcoves (a Twister room, a museum of TWA flight attendant uniforms--several by renowned designers, the room specially decorated as the Pope’s resting room when he visited NYC, etc).   Our room was a terminal view room.  It was a fun place to stay.  We had breakfast in the Paris Cafe the following morning (extremely overpriced, but fun). By 11:00 am on Thursday, we were ready to check out and make the trek to our son’s house in NJ where we had left our car.  After some family visiting time, we drove home, arriving late afternoon. 

 

I have a few overall comments about our Viking experience, but will address that in another post, probably tomorrow.

[Australia08]

The view from our room at the TWA Hotel at JFK (note some of the mid-century modern design elements)

[Australia08]

The sunken living room bar at the TWA Hotel at JFK

 

Outside the window, you can see part of the Constellation - now another bar

[Australia08]

The Constellation Bar at the TWA Hotel

[Australia08]

Amazing interior design

[Australia08]

On 12/7/2022 at 1:10 PM, milling73 said:

How did you get from Athens Hotel to ship?  Do taxi drivers know location of ship?  We booked advance nights stay ourselves before our Viking cruise, and are now wondering how to get to ship.  Thanks for assist!!

 

 

We booked an airport to hotel car service when we first arrived, but honestly, I’d never do that again.  We found that using Uber was so easy and inexpensive in Athens.  It was always a yellow cab that picked us up when we arranged for Uber so they must have some kind of agreement with Uber.  We always had an Uber within 3 minutes, even one evening when we left a restaurant at midnight.  We were quoted a fee of 33 Euros to get us from hotel to port by the car service (which was also a yellow cab).  Instead we called an Uber and it was 14 Euros.  I’ll stick with Uber in Athens.

[OneSixtyToOne]

13 minutes ago, Australia08 said:

The sunken living room bar at the TWA Hotel at JFK

 

Outside the window, you can see part of the Constellation - now another bar

My one and only time in the TWA terminal was as a kid in 1970 when I flew to Europe with my father.

Looks like they did a fantastic job preserving an architectural treasure.

[FetaCheese]

Thanks for such a fine review!  Enjoyed re-living our Greek Odyssey, through your eyes.  

 

Uber in Barcelona also uses yellow taxis.

 

We flew out of TWA terminal in the 80's.  Was, and still is an architectural gem.  Thanks for all your Greece and TWA photos.

Edited December 10, 2022 by FetaCheese
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