Back when we were about to go ashore to see the Pyramids, we were waiting in line for our tour sticker (the one HAL has you wear and is a dead giveaway that you are a tourist). I was talking with a lady who was also on our tour and she noticed that I had my watch on. "Aren't you afraid of it being stolen? They told us not to wear jewelry."
I answered with, "It is an old watch that has so many scratches and has lost its sheen that I don't mind replacing it if I have to." We came back after our tour and the watch was still on my wrist. Fast forward to our day in Athens.
The white blouse that went missing in the laundry had been returned and I decided to wear it to dinner. It's a nice blouse, sleeveless with pockets that decorate the front. I laid my skirt and blouse on the bed and tossed my watch on top of my blouse so I could put it back on after my shower. I put my blouse on just as Bob returned from exercising and caught him before his shower to help me get the internet through a hotspot on my iPhone. Being distracted by all that, I didn't think about not having put my watch on until we were halfway down the corridor toward dinner.
I reached to adjust my watch, a habit, and suddenly realized I didn't have it. We turned back to the room. I knew it would be on the bed. That's where I'd tossed it. Nope. I looked on the floor. Nothing. It was getting late for our reservation so I figured our stateroom attendants would probably pick it up when they straightened the room.
After dinner and evening activities, we returned to find our room prepared but no watch to be seen anywhere. I took out a clothes hanger and ran it around the floor under the bed. Nothing. Bob got down on hand and knees with the phone light and found nothing. I gave up. It was gone. Funny, now that it was missing, I wasn't happy at all about replacing it. I had it so long, it was a part of me.
Feeling a little out of sorts, I sat down to work on my blog As I was looking at the computer on my lap I noticed a funny bump in the pocket of my blouse. I reached in and pulled out my watch. It had been there the whole time. Now the question is why didn't I or for that matter Bob notice it? It was a strange lump. Oh well, case solved and a good laugh.
We arose Sunday morning to begin out trip back into the city of Athens to see the changing of the guard again and this time supposedly with a band and more fanfare. We followed the same routine as the day before with the bus but this time when he got to the stop at the Acropolis he told everyone on the bus we had to get off there. He could go no farther. The roads were closed.
We got off and considered taking the Metro the driver had suggested but when we looked on Google Maps, it was only a 25 minute walk. We opted for that and soon found out why the roads were closed. There was a Race For The Cure event and there were thousands of people in promotional T shirts lining up for the walk part. I believe the race was already over.
Weaving our way through the crowds we finally arrived at the Parliament Building and found a spot to watch the guards. The problem was we had another 20 minutes to wait and the sun was getting very warm. I left Bob for a spot in the shade that wasn't perfect viewing but it was cooler. He opted to join me shortly after. We stood eagerly listening for a band but all that appeared were the new guards in the formation we'd seen the previous day. When I discovered that, I let Bob watch and I found a spot out of the pressing crowd to wait for him.
Since the roads were still not open, we sat a bit in the park and then decided to visit the restaurant we'd had lunch in the day begore. Hopefully the bus would be available after we ate. This time we ordered pita bread with tzatziki dip which is Greek yogurt flavored with cucumbers, onions and garlic. We also ordered some sausage that was a little spicy but good and came with what looked like homemade chips but not so crispy. It was all good and we took our time. Onboard time was 10:30 pm and we would get a cab if necessary to get back before dinner.
The bus was a bit later than scheduled but it showed up and we rode back to the cruise terminal. The ship had not moved but the check in point was now at the next terminal down so we had a bit of a walk and a lot of confusion to get through before finally getting back to our stateroom. It was turnaround day, the day that passengers not continuing debarked and new passengers were embarking.
Tomorrow would be a day at sea before we begin visiting and revisiting ports including an overnight adventure to Israel. Stay tuned.
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