Waking up in Ithaca early in the morning, I went to my balcony to look at the view. It was breathtaking! Sea Cloud was sailing into the harbor of Vathi, everything was oddly calm, and the sky was blanketed in blue and grey clouds. The light was almost magical and the colors were so vivid.
We waited for guests to disembark next to the statue of Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), since Ithaki was his kingdom according to Homer. Incidentally, our travel agent on the island is called Homer Travel, my taxi driver is Laertes, and his dad is Odysseus, all of which I consider very appropriate.
We started our island drive on the way to the monastery of the Virgin Mary, where we focused on the Byzantine Empire, the Orthodox Church, and its doctrine and art. The driving was very exciting on the narrow and difficult roads, and all the goats running along the steep cliffs made it fascinating. We drove through the villages admiring the rugged landscape, with a break in Stavros village to enjoy a Greek coffee before returning to the port of Vathi to check out the little shops.
Sea Cloud sailed away in the afternoon and Aeolos (the god that controls the winds) surprised us with a sudden storm that rocked us more than a little bit. Most of us were thrilled by the rough sailing, even though much of our Caesar salads were blown into the Ionian Sea!
Our National Geographic Balkan Expert Grace Fielder gave us a very interesting talk on the Fourth Crusade, which is always a controversial subject for the Greeks. We prepared for a dinner that revealed a great surprise: we were sailing between Ithaki and Cephalonia with great views of both islands, and our starters were great delicacies of Greek cuisine. The winds had calmed a little and that gave us the chance to enjoy the waxing moon and starry sky to compete our first day in Greece with all of our shipmates.
