Home » Greece » Piraeus Is and Piraeus Was

Slow roasted gyro spices and the waft of numerous cigarettes intermingle in a sea air aboard the F/B Lato. We leave a 2,800 year old port behind, our captain blowing his horn to a passing ferry less than half our size as we leave the harbor’s entrance. It’s a seaman’s greeting. The response is reciprocated.
With the Great Harbor, commonly known as Piraeus, this horn echoes round the surrounding hills. In the dark, they’re illumined with stacks of geometric apartment housing whose lights twinkle as the skies above. Honestly, the harbor is much more beautifying in the dark. Daylight shines upon the grime and modern hub of businesses built to the Greek ferry system and the extent of large shipping companies.

Piraeus Is and Piraeus Was

Camron Karsten
2006-10-07 13:37:03

Displayed times (last time: )

Slow roasted gyro spices and the waft of numerous cigarettes intermingle in a sea air aboard the F/B Lato. We leave a 2,800 year old port behind, our captain blowing his horn to a passing ferry less than half our size as we leave the harbor’s entrance. It’s a seaman’s greeting. The response is reciprocated.
With the Great Harbor, commonly known as Piraeus, this horn echoes round the surrounding hills. In the dark, they’re illumined with stacks of geometric apartment housing whose lights twinkle as the skies above. Honestly, the harbor is much more beautifying in the dark. Daylight shines upon the grime and modern hub of businesses built to the Greek ferry system and the extent of large shipping companies. According to the Independent Travellers’ Greek Island Hopping 2006, when in Piraeus “it is difficult to conceive of a spot more removed from the dreamy idyllic island most tourists are in search of.” I can vouch for this.
Albeit, close your eyes and transcendentally transport yourself back to the 5th and 4th century BC when the harbor was a sister city to the great Athens. With the Acropolis sitting resolutely only 8km northeast, the port stood proud carrying the pride of the great classical sea-built maritime nation. It was home to Athens navy and spent years under the leadership of the many Athenian greats.

From the lit harbor bathed in the street lamp’s mellow light, black smoke puffing under its glare from the numerous lines of ferries—ANEK, Minoan, NOVA, NELL, etc.—we return to the present shipping modicums that will one day vanish and enter an imperceptible horizon melting into the guidance of the ancient stars.
My pocket watch reads 9, and due to the dark, and the remembrance of the days passed, I translate that into 9 PM instead of 9 AM. But at this point in the journey, it’s questionable.

The Following is in Transit

Two ferry rides, four plane flights with two ...