Sailing east, Istanbul beckons

If you say out it loud all together it sounds just like you are saying “thank you” in Greek!!! But I digress.

Docked in Athens this morning and spent the day on a very well organized guided tour around the city, but focused on the Acropolis. Kinda freaky standing on the same rocks where Socrates stood 2500 years ago, where so much of our modern accepted political norms and ideas were birthed, honed and from time to time, beat up.

The Acropolis has to be seen while you have a knowledgeable guide explain what you are looking at. There is sooooo much symbology and history of various gods and deities on display in multiple temples and venues.

Greece had been conquered and occupied by the Turkish empire and as conquerors do, they built their mosque on top of the most sacred place of their vanquished, the Parthenon atop the Acropolis. But in 1687 a Venetian army besieged Athens, trying to take the city back as part of Europe and an errant cannonball struck the mosque. Being made of huge stones, little damage would normally have occurred but the Turks were using the mosque as their powder storage and it blew the Parthenon to bits.

Until recently, that debris lay scattered across the grounds but now it has all been carefully 3D digitally photographed and by using special edge geometry software, the puzzle pieces are being digitally reassembled into their original shapes and positions so that the actual corresponding stone debris pieces can be restored and rebuilt

A massive job that will take decades of time and patience but a very cool project.

Leaving Europe tonight . . .Читать далее

By comparison, Vancouver is a tranquil port city.

I counted 48 freighters within sight of our ship there are probably hundreds in the immediate area.

It is a busy happening port city!