After the our visit to the Acropolis and the acquisition of the small trinket that my kids will one day have to take to the Goodwill or throw in the garbage, it was time to head to lunch. The bus ride to the Grand Hyatt, the fancy hotel we’d eat at, took about an hour. Athens traffic is HORRIFIC! I think I’d have preferred a cute little mom and pop place with gyros, but instead we were shown to a nice looking buffet surrounded by tables with white cloths and fancy dishes.

If only the food was as good as the lobby was pretty. It just wasn’t this time. The moussaka was far too full of cinnamon, the meats were either too dry or too salty, and I dunno, the spread just lacked anything really special. There were a lot of salads and goodies we could try, and I did get full, but the baklava was the only thing that really tasted great. Lunch was so ho-hum, in fact, that I didn’t even bother to take one single photo of the buffet.

Sadness prevailed.

Then again, we were all feeling like crud this day and just worn out. It was at that point I wished they’d put a Sea Day in the middle of our itinerary.

After lunch, we headed to the bus where I almost got hit by a car. Quite literally. Mikki pulled me back from stepping out into the street just as a car was zooming by and I had failed to look both ways like a responsible adult should. The honking and middle finger were an extra special touch. 

Do as I say kids, not as I do.

Saved for another day of spilling coffee down the front of my shirt or wondering why I decided to go on a keto diet for a few weeks, we boarded the bus again for the long journey south to Cape Sounion.

Google says it was about 1 hour and 8 minutes from the hotel to the Cape where we’d see another temple of Athena (how many temples does one chick need?!) and another for Poseidon.

I will admit the journey was quite lovely and it did help me see why so many folks go to Greece for seaside vacations. The water was so crystal clear, the towns are very well developed with tons of amenities like bars, restaurants, groceries, vacation rentals, etc…., the weather is perfect, and the people are friendly. I get it! We passed loads of little beachy coves that were strewn with sunbathers of all ages taking in the glorious sunny day and warm waters.

We finally got to the ancient ruins on the jutting cape overlooking the Aegean Sea. A short walk from the parking lot on an accessible cement sidewalk got us to the few, still standing columns and foundation.

To be honest, after the Parthenon, it was incredibly anticlimactic and all 3 of us later said the day would have been far better to have just cut that side trip out completely. It was 2+ full hours of driving, and the ruins just didn’t justify it for any of us really. Yes, the drive was very pretty, and yes, it’s cool that I can now say I’ve been there, but this just put our “tired and cranky” over-the-top.

I consoled myself with this:

It was delicious and just the perfect little treat to enjoy with the bit of free time we got at the little restaurant at the historic site. The view was ridiculously amazing as I sat all by myself for 20-30 minutes taking in the peace and quiet as Dad and Mikki were still making their way through the ruins.

When they got back, they each got a bottle of water before everyone boarded back onto the bus for the long drive back. We all dozed a bit on the return journey and soon enough we were back onboard the Constellation where we spent the evening doing…. something. I have no photos and zero recollection.

I surmise we ate in the Main Dining Room where we’d been getting superb service all week. Since we had the late 8:00 dinner seating, we had to find something to do until then. Luckily, we discovered that our favorite part of the evenings was sitting in one of the wine-themed lounge areas where the string duet played classical arrangements. This helped pass the time until our seating was called. My dad talked their ears off and had plenty of requests. I can’t remember which evening it was, but I had to tactfully intervene at one point so they could actually get a drink of water or potty on one of their breaks.

A few more thoughts on our dining experiences: Our waiter remembered every evening to bring hot tea for Mom, an extra bread basket for Mikki, and Oregon Pinot Noir for me. The others changed their wine orders every night, so he sent the sommelier to the table when we arrived each evening. It took forever for her to get to us as we were probably the lowest rollers in the house, but when she was with us, she was friendly and knowledgeable. As I’ve mentioned the food was very hit and miss. Some things were quite good, others were very forgettable. Generally, the pasta had almost no sauce no matter what kind we ordered; steaks and meats were rather flavorless, and some of the soups were good and some not-so-good. We usually ordered a couple different desserts to share around the table and those were pretty good. It’s hard to miss with ice cream. I liked that the portions were small, so we didn’t feel like we were wasting a lot of food. Sorry, this really wasn’t a foodie sort of trip report from the ship portion. It just wasn’t a highlight for us at all. Side note: If you are food-focused on your cruises, the best fare, IMHO, can be found on Holland America Lines.

Surprisingly, there are only 2 ports left on this cruise- Chania, Crete and Zakynthos, Greece. I hope you’ll stay tuned for that and all that I have in store for you as we transition into 2 ½ weeks of a grand tour of Italy.

Until next time, Friends!