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| Me with my Greek frappe and 'grandmothers whiskers' |
It was yet another wonderful day. We tried once again to sail, but there was not much wind after they got the sails up. We were in front of the island of Ithaki which was our destination for the day.
Our alarm went off at 7:30 and went out on our deck for some coffee. Then we went to breakfast. The 'special' of the day was French toast which was good. I had that along with some fruit and bacon. Then we went out to watch them finish putting up the sails. This is quite an endeavor and very interesting to watch the crew climb up so high.
After the sails were set, they lowered a couple of zodiacs and took us out in groups of 8 to photograph the Sea Cloud in full sail. That was fun, and I did manage to get some good pictures.
It was a fun hanging out of the ship morning. The boutique opened, but there was nothing I wanted to buy since I got my t-shirt a couple of mornings ago. They were selling mostly shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, scarves, and Sea Cloud jewelry all of which was rather expensive.
At noon there was a buffet lunch on the Lido Deck: stuffed zucchini with ham, calamari with saffron mayo, braised fennel with orange vinaigrette, carrot salad, couscous salad with almonds, celery with blue cheese, chilled cucumber soup with buttermilk, oven roasted whole duck, pan fried red mullet, cauliflower, bread and mushroom stuffing, kohlrabi, and blueberry cake with vanilla ice cream. Bill and I are both learning to take small portions of the items we want to try.
At 1:30 we boarded the tenders to head to the dock at Vathi to board our two buses for our tour of Ithaki. It was a little hazy, but the drive up the center of the island looking back on the water and city was truly beautiful.
We drove about 30 minutes up switchbacks to the monastery. It was a lovely church with lots of icons, a bell tower, and an incredible view down to the bay and Vathi.
From there we drove up and inland to the tiny village of Anogi where we stopped to see another church and bell tower. As we were boarding the buses, an old man was sitting on a bench across the small street watching us. I smiled and tried my Greek 'good afternoon'. He waved me over and asked where I was from. I told him, and then he asked my name, and I told him. He reached out to shake my hand and then he tried to draw me in for a kiss. It was funny, and I managed to avoid that. The folks already on the bus got a big kick out of this encounter.
We continued driving inland over the steep hills. We saw lots of goats tromping nimbly up and down the cliffs of old olive trees. We also saw cows. We finally arrived at the little town of Stavros. There wasn't much here except for a lovely little park. We did go to a restaurant for coffee and pastries.
Our new guide Sophia will be with us through Athens, and she did an amazing job of getting everyone in, relaying orders, exchanging payment with the shopkeeper. I got a Greek frappe and the pastry known as Grandmother's Whiskers. It is a wonderful nut filled pastry rolled in a shredded wheat type item and then drenched in honey. We only had a half hour there, but everyone got served.
We left and headed back down the other side of the island to Vathi. Same switchbacks with a nice view. We arrived back in Vathi, boarded the tenders and were back on board by 5:30.
Bill and I got drinks and went forward to watch the sunset and so he could smoke his cigar in a little out of the way spot.
Dinner was on the Lido Deck since some people went to town to eat. We were served a lovely green salad with a parmesan tuille and olive vinaigrette. Then we had a Greek dish that is cooked in parchment and contains lamp, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and what we thought was paprika. It was tasty. Dessert was a nougat ice cream, semolina mousse, and a melon ragout.
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