Porto Leone (Piraeus Lion) - The World (cruise ship) passed by, beautiful place in Athens, Greece

Porto Leone (Piraeus Lion) - The World (cruise ship) passed by, beautiful place in Athens, Greece
The World is a ship serving as a residential community owned by its residents. The residents, from about 40 different countries, live on board as the ship slowly circumnavigates the globe — staying in most ports from 2 to 5 days. Some residents live onboard full time while others visit their floating home periodically throughout the year. It is operated by ResidenSea, headquartered in Miramar, Florida.[1] At one time ResidenSea's headquarters were in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.[The World flies a Bahamas flag and has a gross tonnage of 43,524 tons. The vessel is 644 feet (196 m) long, 98 feet (30 m) wide, and has a 22-foot (6.7 m) draft, 12 decks, and a maximum speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h). The crew numbers 250.

The ship has 165 residential units (106 apartments, 19 studio apartments, and 40 studios), all owned by the ship's residents. The ship carries between 100 and 300 residents and their guests.
The World was the idea of Knut U. Kloster Jr., whose family had a long history in the cruise ship industry. The ship was built in Rissa, Norway, by Fosen Mek. Verksteder A/S, and launched in March 2002.

ResidenSea in Miramar, Florida, remained the management company responsible for operations and administration of the ship, including hiring the hundreds of employees that offer services such as housekeeping, beauty treatments, photography and other amenities. The residents, through their elected board of directors and a network of committees, provide guidance to the management about the ship's itinerary, finances and lifestyle.
The World has facilities similar to those on board a regular cruise ship, and also some that are unique due to its residential nature. They include a small grocery store and delicatessen, a boutique, athletic facilities that include a golf simulator, putting green, casino, full-sized tennis court, jogging track and gym.

There are five restaurants that supplement the full kitchens in all apartments and dining ashore. For on-board entertainment there is a movie theatre, library and music performances. In addition to shore excursions, classes have been offered on board in topics such as dance, navigation, language, cooking, arts and crafts, music, computers, and photography. The World provides Internet access in each residence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_(cruise_ship)

The Piraeus Lion is one of four lion statues on display at the Venetian Arsenal, where it was displayed as a symbol of Venice's patron saint, Saint Mark. It was originally located in Piraeus, the ancient harbour of Athens. It was looted by Venetian naval commander Francesco Morosini in 1687 as plunder taken in the Great Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire, during which the Venetians besieged Athens and Morosini's cannons caused damage to the Parthenon only matched by his subsequent looting.[1] Copies of the statue can also be seen at the Piraeus Archaeological Museum and the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm.

The lion was a famous landmark in Piraeus, having stood there since the first or second century AD. Its prominence was such that the port was given the name Porto Leone ("Lion Port") by the Italians.[2] It is depicted in a sitting pose, with a hollow throat and the mark of a pipe (now lost) running down its back; this suggests that it was originally used as a fountain. The statue, which is made of white marble and stands some 3 m (9 ft) high, is particularly noteworthy for having been defaced some time in the second half of the 11th century by Scandinavians who carved two lengthy runic inscriptions into the shoulders and flanks of the lion.[4] The runes are carved in the shape of an elaborate lindworm dragon-headed scroll, in much the same style as on runestones in Scandinavia. [5] The carvers of the runes were almost certainly Varangians, Scandinavian mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine Emperor who had been sent to Greece to put down a revolt by the local people.
The inscriptions were not recognised as runes until the Swedish diplomat Johan David Åkerblad identified them at the end of the 18th century. They are in the shape of a lindworm (a flightless dragon with serpentine body and two or no legs) and were first translated in the mid-19th century by Carl Christian Rafn, the Secretary of the Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab (Royal Society of Nordic Antiquaries).[6] The inscriptions are heavily eroded due to weathering and air pollution, making many of the individual runes barely legible. This has required translators to reconstruct some of the runes, filling in the blanks to determine what words they represented.
There have been several attempts to decipher and translate the text. Below follow Hrafn's early attempt (1854) and lastly Eric Brate's (1914) which is considered to be the most successful one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piraeus_Lion

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[peterkald]

Piraeus Lion in Athens? No, they had stolen him! You have to take back the lion from Venice!

[flyingonagoose]

What is the name of the song?

[mene14387]

no athens.... PIRAEUS...........