Day One: Athens, Greece

I suppose this should be day zero, but since my day count is calibrated to the cruise, let's just call it day one, okay?

After coffee at the hotel, we were led by Vasia, our guide, on the "Athens and Acropolis tour." The first order of the day was a hike up the Acropolis of Athens, the most important site of the city. It is guarded by the doric and ionic columns of the Propylea, the monumental gateway to the Acropolis. Dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the magnificent Parthenon truly is a wonder of the ancient world. Beside it, the Erechtheion, with its famous porch of the Caryatids, was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus, the two principal deities who, mythology holds, fought for the name of the city of Athens.

The driving tour of Athens brought us back to the present with a well-timed photo stop at the residence of the Prime Minister, to witness the elaborate changing of the guard.

The tour ended in the port of Piraeus, where the gracious 793-passenger MS Prinsendam was moored, waiting for its sail-away at sunset. Standing on the deck as the sun set on the blue Aegean Sea, watching the greek shoreline receding in the distance, I distinctly felt a burden lift off me. The vacation had truly started.