Cephalonia

Wednesday 28^th August

It was another early morning, as we did not have too long in port (departing 2pm so on board by 1:30). We met at 9am and walked off the ship shortly thereafter.

We had been told that this was a beautiful town, but at first all I could see was tourist tat! We looked in a few shops and then decided it was time to see more of the island (largest island in the Ionian Sea and sixth largest island of Greece). We took a ride on the tourist road train. It was advertised as taking 25 minutes but we were only on it for 17 minutes! At least it showed us around the town and let us see the main square and the main shopping street, for later reference.

We walked along the harbour to see fishermen selling their catch, and managed to see a few friendly sea turtles swimming around the boats and occasionally rising to the surface to breathe.

Next we attempted to find a taxi to see as much of the island as we could in an hour. The first taxi explained that his licence only allowed him to drive in the town, not in the country. Others were obviously not interested, one of them quoting €150 for the tour! Eventually we found a taxi with a fantastic driver who had lived in Alaska for 10 years and who was obviously a deep thinker. We had a lot of discussion about the political situation of Greece and the world as we drove around, seeing the spectacular coastline and finishing up at Saint George’s fort, an old Venetian fort. He explained that the 6 Greek islands that were not taken over by Turkey (Ottoman Empire) were very different from the rest of Greece in terms of architecture and attitude.

After our ride we wandered through the shopping centre, finding a shop with good jewellery at half price. The others made multiple purchases but unfortunately I could not find anything to suit my needs. We set off for the ship at about 1pm, finding it a longer walk than we remembered. Wadia set off in the opposite direction as he wanted to buy some figs at the local market. He found that to be further away than he remembered, and the rest of us were panicking when it was almost 1:30 and Wadia was still not in sight. We thought we had the distinction of being last up the gangway, but then another family arrived after us!

We just had time for a late lunch before rushing out on deck to take photos as the ship sailed away.

At dinner, dessert was preceded by the Parade of the Baked Alaska, and a small parade of chefs for us to show our thanks. The evening was billed as formal, but I felt I was over-dressed in my black sequinned dress. I’m glad I didn’t pack my long skirt!