Early this morning we sailed into the deepest harbor of the Ioniank Sea, on the island of Ithaca. It is named Vathi, which means deep, and indeed it is not only the deepest but also one of the most beautiful!
We used Zodiacs to land at the picturesque town of Vathi from where we did a tour of the island. We gazed at small narrow roads that ran through the beautiful coastal area, dotted with olive trees and cypress trees, ending down at the tiny beaches with the blue green turquoise water.
As we listened to our Greek guides narrating we realized that this was once upon a time the home of Odysseus, the king of the famous kingdom of Ithaca. So here we were on an island that we knew about in the Homeric epics, it was incredible to think of this! The story of him fighting in Troy for 10 years then traveling for another 10 to reach his homeland…and all during these year his wife Penelope was faithfully waiting for him!
We reached a high mountain of Ithaca from where we could look down into the port of Vathi and enjoy an incredible view of the sea and the mountains of mainland Greece. We visited a monastery of the 17th century filled with byzantine icons and frescoes. It was interesting to visit a Greek orthodox church.
From there we drove to the village of Stavros where we were able to view the three coves of Ithaca as mentioned in the Odyssey. We saw a model copy of the building associated with the ancient history of the island. We enjoyed a nice Greek coffee and ice cream while taking in the view.
We drove back to the capital town of Vathi where we wandered around the narrow streets and stores of the town.
Later we returned to Sea Cloud for another great lunch. In the afternoon we listened to an interesting talk from Tom about the importance of myths. A Recap followed, putting everything into perspective! We finished the evening with a great meal!
