From Athens: full speed ahead!
Our youngest author-skit writer Slavyana YS has prepared several stories from a cruise adventure in Mediterranean Sea. The journey begins and ends with Athens.
The history of this inland waterway for the Roman Empire is long, interesting and instructive. The geography of the islands is unique. Let’s not be misled, because before that it was Greece, and almost at the beginning it was Egypt…
Almost!
………………………
Athens is the capital of Greece
For us Bulgarians, the city itself hardly represents any great interest; of course, we are not talking about the historical and archaeological attractions of the city, such as: Parthenon.
Athens itself is noisy, congested, and for many people the walk around the city can be nerve-wracking. Especially for me.
• The port in Piraeus It is one of the closest cruise ports to Bulgaria. It is located 11 km from the central part of the city and there is a direct connection from the passenger terminal to line 1 of the metro to the city center.
• It also offers convenient paid parking for those tourists who have decided to travel by car to the starting point of their cruise trip.
• If you’re traveling by plane, you have numerous safes to store your luggage and explore the city if you have the time. That’s exactly what we did on our return trip.
Start of my cruise adventure!
Our trip to Athens was by plane, but my mother wisely arranged for a car to take us from the airport to the port, because there was less than two hours between our landing and the departure of the ship. And since the city is notorious for its traffic jams and deadly traffic, she decided not to take any chances. We had at least some minimal guarantee that the ship wouldn’t depart without us…
We landed, fortunately, without any delays. And a driver with a sign was waiting for us. We had a huge suitcase with us for about ten days because everything on the train is minimized. Besides the driver, a representative of the company was waiting for us, who asked us if we could take a guest who was important to them. There was a mix-up with the information, and they didn’t expect it and didn’t send a car… My mother and I looked at each other and invited him. The transfer wasn’t cheap: 60 euros at that time.
It turned out to be a nice chubby uncle with glasses, an Asian from Malaysia who was an important person – he inspected the drinks and food of the entire company. He didn’t have much luggage and we got together.
We got stuck in traffic and arrived at the port last. We were immediately taken care of like VIPs – here the uncle took matters into his own hands. Without lining up in the already long queue, we were also admitted and went through all the checks very quickly. Our suitcase was waiting for us in front of the cabin.
For information, I will mention that the checks for the ship's entry are much more serious than those at airports. You load your luggage onto a conveyor belt, and they take you in a minibus and drive you to the corresponding gate on the ship.
It itself is huge, several floors high. Ours had a crew of 2000 people and 3000 tourists.
A whole floating city. It was exciting. You go through sanitary control, customs, and then through the weapons detectors accordingly.
So, we were VIPs. Cool!
The cabin was definitely not huge :).
With a small bathroom – like on an airplane, metal and plastic, but with everything you need. We had a window and we were above the water. Far from the engines, I personally organized this. I looked at the ship’s drawing and we figured out where we should be… There are also inner cabins – without windows. It’s cheaper, but it’s a different experience to watch the ocean, in this case the Mediterranean Sea.
My father was obviously very excited. He had always been afraid of getting on boats (because neither me nor my mom can swim) and now he was terrified that my mom had dragged me on a cruise, and sent us an emotional poem. Nice and funny.
As soon as we entered, the intercom went on and at least in 6 languages they invited us to the deck for an instruction briefing. They told us to get our emergency vests. They were in a special cabinet disguised as a sofa. Ultimately they invited us in.
We got on – according to the room and floor we were arranged in a specially numbered place on the deck. There were maybe 40 of us. In front of us we saw a boat with a floor number. A uniformed instructor from the staff was waiting for us. First, we were given instructions over the intercom about how much time we had to respond, and then the officer showed us how to get in order and remember our seats. In case of an emergency – like if we hit an iceberg, for example – we had to build up and not panic to take our seats in the boat.
At first we smiled and giggled. But the staff was mega serious and the jokes quickly evaporated. We followed the instructions with attention and tried to remember everything.
Then we immortalized the event with a photo shoot. That's an attraction in itself, but let it not happen.
When I was little – maybe 7–8 years old – my favorite movie was „The “Titanic". I remember my mom made sandwiches and water and we went to watch it as a family. I didn't eat anything – almost 4 hours. I was singing along to the song of Seline Dion. Then, after many requests, they bought me a videotape and I had learned it by heart…
That is why I took the instructions with the necessary seriousness.
Meanwhile, they lifted the anchors – there were two in front of the bow – and we slowly set off.
Beauty! The wind caresses your face; it is so clean and tidy, and the views are breathtaking. You can see Athens with its hills, the houses, and the small boats in the harbor. The weather is perfect.
The important thing is to be on the right ship and to sail in the right direction!
And if there is wind in the hair, nice views and something tasty, preferably sweet, I leave the nautical terminology to the captain. ⚓
Please forgive me…
We wished for a gentle sail! And a gentle wind!
And before you set off on a ship, you must definitely read the advice for this type of trip – TEA there is a whole section „Unsolicited advice“ – in which we have paid special attention to „What is good to know while cruising“ .
