Friday 13^th August – Athens trip: Areopagos, Piraeus, Messolonghi

38:21.668N 21:25.004E

Areopagos

This morning we had a more leisurely breakfast and then headed off to see Areopagus, the hill on the west side of the Acropolis, where the supreme court of the city had its home and said to be the place where St. Paul addressed the Athenians.  The viewing point has extremely slippery steps up the rocky outcrop.  On the way we visited the nearby remains cut into the Hill of the Muses popularly known as the ‘Prison of Socrates’, though nowadays this is believed not to be the case.  Apparently in the Second World War the structure was used to hide the antiquities of the Acropolis and the National Archaeological museum, sealed up by a thick concrete wall.  We then headed back to the hotel, packed and checked out.

Athens:  ‘Prison of Socrates’

Athens:  Areopagos and surrounding views

Piraeus

Leaving our luggage with the very friendly and efficient reception staff, with a few hours in hand before our coach back, we headed off again.  We decided to do something different and took the Metro down to Piraeus, the main ferry port to the islands.  It took over an hour to get there as we went to the appropriate station to change lines only to discover that the line was closed at that station due to engineering work.  So, two more changes later, we were finally on the right train.

Piraeus was just what you would expect from a port; loud, dirty, built up and crammed with ferries belching fumes.  We walked around the port and then over the hill to see Zea Marina.  On the way, the area improved and I decided that once away from the port, Piraeus was quite nice though still very built up.  Then on the way down the hill to the marina, the feeling went again – the middle bit on the hill seems to be the best bit!  Zea Marina is one of the expensive marinas, full of large motor boats and super-yachts, that we would not be taking Pyxis to on the basis of price.  Having seen it, albeit very briefly, I wouldn't be taking Pyxis to it even if the price wasn't prohibitive – the area just isn't that nice.

Athens:  Piraeus

Athens:  Zea Marina

We came back to the hotel much faster now we knew the detour and collected our luggage.  After cooling off a bit, we headed off to the bus station to catch the late afternoon bus back to Messolonghi.  The bus station was like an oven; full of buses, taxis and fumes.  This weekend is the Assumption of Mary so it was particularly busy with extra buses for people travelling to be with family on Sunday.

We arrived back at the marina around 8.30pm.  Pyxis was where we had left her, but only just.  We met our neighbours at the gate on the way in, along with Lucky.  They reported that they had been asked to move whilst the marina had been lifting boats out beside them, they decided to have a run down the canal and anchor outside.  Unfortunately they had snagged our lazy line on the way back in.  Apparently the marina had tied us to the neighbouring yacht whilst doing the lifting and so they simply dropped our lazy line to sort it all out.  Still, it seems all went well in the end.

Athens:  Kifissou Bus Station

© Pyxis 2010