Piraeus, Athens Cruise Port of Call

Norwegian Spirit in port at Piraeus, Greece

I was so looking forward to returning to Greece. It is a country close to my heart. I was out on deck the evening before we docked in Piraeus so I could catch my first glimpse of the land I think of as my second home.
   Once we were moored in port, most of the ship's passengers boarded coaches to go on shore tours into Athens to see the Acropolis and other wonderful sites of the ancient world.
  But we decided to stay in Piraeus and spend a leisurely day wandering round Marina Zeas, where the millionaires and billionaires keep their boats. We stopped for coffee at an outdoor harbourside cafe and watched some elderly local men pull up chairs and tables for a lively game of backgammon.
  

Piraeus, seen from a cruise ship

Our next stop was at a family run restaurant where we ate huge plates of calamari and sipped ouzo. That was when, speaking Greek with the owners, I felt as if I had really arrived 'home'.
  The port building at Piraeus has free wifi and several shops selling souvenirs, clothes, postcards and stamps.