(My Apologies- There was virtually no internet on the ship. We have been so busy from sun up to sun down, that here has been very little time to write.)
Yet another beautiful day in Athens. We packed up after breakfast and brought our
luggage down for transfer to the port.
Hundreds of bags and some 70 bike cases adorned the hotel lobby, quite a
sight.
We had planned to join two new found friends,
Art an Linda, for a visit to the Museum of Archeology, but in began to get a
bit late (15 minute or more cab each way), so instead, we walked around the
Plaka with 2 other couples, Cary and
Sarah, and Mary and Jim. Jeri found a
beautiful necklace in one of the small shops in the Plaka with coaxing from
Sarah, and then off for more exploring. We
were searching for the Museum of Modern Musical Instruments, mostly to find out
what modern musical instruments were (Moog synthesizer??).
We were unable to find it, but did manage to
discover a great little taverna, which had the best coffee in Athens, at least
according to the maître d’.
Greek coffee
is very much like Turkish coffee (which we, rather I, will partake in in a few days) which is
thick, strong, and has sludge at the bottom of the cup. Fortunately, I have had it before, and knew
not to drink down to the bottom. We also had Greek apple pie which the waiter
explained was not like McDonald’s apple pie and baklava. The apple pie was
great (different, definitely not McD’s) and although the baklava was tasty, it
did not surpass the gold standard, Marla’s ( my sister) homemade baklava. The table had unique pitchers on it, and the
cups were pretty funky. Sarah and I asked
the waiter if we could buy them, and
after furtively looking around, told us to just take them. We gave him a HUGE
tip!
When we got to the hotel, busses were being
packed with all the luggage and bikes (and people) for our cruise aboard La
Belle D’Adriatique, a beautiful small cruise ship (250 ft, carrying about 150
passengers).
We hopped the first bus to
the port, hoping I could get an early start on the portion of the trip I had
been dreading-bike assembly day.
I wish
that I could inform you, dear reader, that all went smoothly.
First, I was unable to find my instructions
and had poor Jeri searching all the possible known hangouts, only to find them
in the bike box. I began putting the
frame together and was lulled into a sense of false security when I had in
front of me what looked like a complete bike with only derailleur and brake
couplers to reattach.
No problem! That
is until a cable broke rendering the bike non-functional.
Fortunately, I was able to snag one of the
bike mechanics on board to replace the cable for us. But as he was adjusting the derailleur,
another cable broke and had to replace it.
By then the adjustments for the shifting was completely out of whack,
and the sun was dropping in the west, dinner was being served, and a light rain
started. I was covered in sweat and bike
grease (some women may find that attractive, but not Jeri), so after an attempt
to wash up (no shower or change of clothes), I met Jeri at dinner quite
disheveled. After dinner, the bike
mechanic joined me for cycle repair in the dark. We (he) finally had the bike serviceable by
around 10:00PM. I fear this did nothing
for my cycle building confidence.
Tomorrow we are cycling (hopefully it won’t fall apart and will stop
when we want it to) in Paros.
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