We have arrived at the port of Piraeus, located about thirty minutes from Athens itself. The weather is pleasant and the seas were calm. Of course Athens is the place of the Panathenian Stadium built in 329 BC. It was the venue for the first Olympic games of 1896. The Acropolis is here some 230 feet above the city and is probably the most famous attraction in Athens. Athens was also the site of the 2004 Olympics and one sees the improvements made for it in electric trains, new stadiums and buildings as well as improved traffic arrangements.

I am a stranger in a strange land on this ship. Most of the passengers are wealthy Republicans. Hardly a safe haven for a radical Democrat and especially not one for a plaintiff trial lawyer. Clayton, who is on this cruise for 60 days, bought his wife a seventeen caret Sapphire ring surrounded by yellow diamonds at the last stop. I bought my wife a beer. When someone who knew Ron Motley brought up the tobacco litigation he was involved in, the retired banker next to me immediately said "what about personal responsibility?" This group is like picking a jury in King County. In fact these are the kinds of people I usually am suing. I’m keeping sober and trying to maintain a low profile.

We had dinner with a nice couple who spend their summers on Whidbey Island and their winters in Palm Springs. Her daughter owns a coffee shop in our home town of Gig Harbor. He is in construction and knows people and I know as well. We enjoyed our conversation steering clear of religion, politics and litigation.

I expected the sky here to be the same dirty brown color of Cairo and Turkey, but it is not. At least not today. In Cairo standing four miles away from the Pyramids they were covered with a very visible haze. Visibility was limited everywhere by serious smog. Seeing the clear sky is a relief. The other difference was the constant horn honking until late into the night in Cairo. There is virtually none in Athens.

We got a taxi and took a 45 minute ride today to the Grand Resort Lagonissi. Harpers ranked it as the most luxurious resort in Greece in 2003 and we were curious. It is a beautiful resort with individual unit swimming pools along a beach. It is impressive to see. Rather modern and a very large property. Too "clinical" for my tastes. I like something less modern and not so far from everything. Afterwords, we ate lunch at a recommended sea food restaurant near by. We arrived at noon and they were startled to see us, but agreed to seat us. Later we learned the customary lunch time is 2:00 or 3:00 pm. Stores close at 2:00 and open at 5:00. Stores close at 8:00 so lunch is around 2:00 and dinner is after 9:00 pm. Since my customary bed time is 9:00 O’clock, we are going to eat on the ship. I haven’t even seen the shows they put on each night on this ship because they start at 9:45 PM.

At lunch we sat outside overlooking a long brown sandy beach with blue green water. There must have been 400 to 500 lounge chairs on the beach from the water edge to the back of the beach and all along the length of the beach. Each one was covered with a bright blue cushion, with white chairs next to them as well as a white umbrella. The breeze made the edges of the hundreds of umbrellas flap adding to the color. The sight was one of amazing colors and very beautiful. The beach had many people and there were groups standing in the water in circles bouncing a volley ball from one to another. Men 65 and older wearing small tight fighting swim suits with their tan stomachs hanging over them  show no embarrassment. I tend to wear loose fitting tee shirts so I admire their courage. I hear the group in the water below talking Italian. There is a collection of languages all around us. There are bird sounds in the trees and butterflies as well. There is constant activity going on below us on the beach.

The lunch was as good as I have had anywhere. A salad of very fresh lettuce and fresh octopus with shrimp and caviar. Lita had pasta that was excellent. A good Greek beer to go with it and with this view I was ready to move in. We are back on the ship and I intend to take a nap so I am ready for tonight. I am still looking for a lone Demoncrat, but have little hope of finding one on this ship.