My colleague, Lalia, and I travelled from Athens on Saturday to Ithaca, in order to meet the Sea Cloud this morning. We didn’t have to wait long before we saw the Sea Cloud entering the bay. What a beautiful sight!
We went out to the pier to meet the group and we were ready to start our excursion in Ithaca, the legendary island of Odysseus. It is a very beautiful, green, small island with many mountains, little bays, and wonderful beaches. The port of Vathy, which is also the main town, is located at the end of a very long bay which means it has always been a very well protected port. Upon arrival the statue of Odysseus welcomes you.
We boarded buses and started to drive up the beautiful and mountainous part of Ithaca, which gave us great views of the wild nature in contrast to the calm blue sea. Our first stop was a 17th century monastery with a strong Byzantine atmosphere, which served as the perfect introduction to the Byzantine world to our group. Wonderful views were all around us and we could even look down and see the Sea Cloud below.
We continued to Stavros, a small town in the northern part of the island. The statue of the bust of Odysseus welcomed us at the main square. We also saw a model of the Palace of Odysseus that was made by the local people.
We had a nice coffee break in a little café and had the chance to walk around and explore before getting back on the buses. As we drove back to the port we saw the coast of Cephalonia next to us and the channel between the two islands, which was once the paradise of pirates. Before we knew it we were back to Vathy with free time to walk around and explore. We then boarded the ship and ate lunch as we sailed slowly out of the legendary port of King Odysseus of Ithaca.
