After a night of pitching and rolling through various storm systems, we awoke early in the morning at our intended destination, the Island of Ithika on the western side of Greece. We were a bit disappointed to learn that the bus tour planned for the day had been called off, but happy that we could take more time to enjoy our delicious breakfast, complete with fresh and warm banana pancakes. We waited in the harbor and watched the impressive lightening light up the sky all around us as we waited for customs to clear our ship into the country. Once we got the okay from the port authorities we immediately set off towards calmer and sunnier weather down south, hoping to reach Olympia as soon as we could. Luckily, our expedition leader made sure we had plenty of activities to keep us entertained throughout the day.
First we were treated to a presentation by our historian, Robyn Woodward, about Olympia to get us ready for our visit the next day. The rain and wind started to pick up so Bebot, Theresa and the galley team sent up a steaming hot caldron of chicken and ginger broth to keep us warm. It eventually, however, became too wet and cold up on the Lido so many of us retreated to our cabins with a book or took a nap while we waited out the storm. After lunch we got cozy in the dining room and watched a presentation by Doug about Antarctica. It seemed very fitting as we all huddled in blankets trying to keep warm, sipping hot beverages. Next, Krista taught us how to take our travel photography to the next level with her tutorial called, “Beyond the Postcard.”
After hours and hours of more stormy weather the clouds finally began to break up and the sun finally began to peek through right before sunset. We sipped cocktails and watched the rays on the golden sun filter through the pink and purple clouds before we went into the dining room for a lovely four course meal. We chattered the night away and attempted to dance and sing for our Greek guide Sophia on her birthday. Before we knew it, it was time to go back up to the Lido which after a few minutes was flooded with 20 sailors in white tackle blouses. Everyone joined in and sang along; we even attempted to sing in German and Tagalog! It was fun to chat with the crew before we went off to bed, praying that the weather gods would be kind to us the next day!
