My first voyage ‘round the world, part 7

Fifty years ago yesterday, our ship berthed into the Port of Piraeus, the main sea port of Athens, in Greece, the largest port in that country and one of the largest in Europe. There, it didn’t pick any Italian immigrant but from Greece and its surrounding countries to the north. 

We were almost at full capacity with up to 1,594 passengers in tourist class and a privileged 150 in first, among whom could be found the Orange Lifts’ Austrian instructors! In a few days, more Spaniard and Portuguese would soon get on board in the Canary Islands to fill the space still available.

Now that we were in Greece and no longer in Italy and were told that the strike would go on, it became a fait accompli that it would continue at each port of call, delaying our arrival in Melbourne by at least two weeks. 

For reasons explained before (limited amount of pocket money, with now more idle time coming) and also because the weather was so unbelievably hot we spent most of our three day on board the ship, so no Acropolis or guided tour of Athens. 

Before I forget, I must tell you that the Galileo Galilei that was ordered by Lloyd Triestino in 1960 for the Australian immigrant route was launched on 2 July 1961, but wasn’t placed into service till April 22, 1963 when the 700 feet long ship left on its maiden voyage from Genoa, Italy to Sydney, Australia. 

In November of the same year, she was joined on the route by her sister ship the Guglielmo Marconi. Originally the ships traveled to Australia via the eastern route, passing through Suez Canal in both directions, but after the six days war, the return trip to Europe was via the Panama Canal and the trip to Australia was also rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

These routes would continue up until the 1973 first oil shock and the advent of cheap airfares that would put an end to immigration via ocean liners like the Galileo and the Marconi. 

Under the Athens sun, we didn’t care much about that unknown, bleak future, and instead made sure to sip a few glasses of Ouzo while we ambled around the piers and the harbor of Piraeus, knowing that we’d get more to drink later at the free open-bar on the ship…