Today on our trip, we got a tour of the Piraeus port by bus. From outside and throughout the port, it was covered with multicolored shipping containers stacked in neat piles and sections. When we entered the port, we crossed over railroad tracks that stretched straight out, parallel to the dock, and were used for unloaded and loaded train cargo. On this tour, we got to see the 2nd and 3rd docks of the port, which had rows of ship-to-shore cranes that unload and load the crates from the ships and were on rails, which allowed them to move up and down the ship. They unloaded the crates onto trucks that were lined up in rows, back to back, so they could move the boxes as fast as possible. The ships that were docked at the port were the largest that I have ever seen. The crates, which were mostly 20 x 40 feet, looked miniature when compared to the ship. This trip really makes me appreciate all the scientific and technological feats that we have made as a society. The fact that we can transport this much stuff with such large vessels is only possible due to the combined efforts of many different groups of people working together.
Days 8 & 9 – Dock and Roll
