Athens

Saturday morning saw the beginning of our last day, with twinges of sorrow but (reluctant) acceptance of reality. Today it was straight on to the bus for a half-hour journey in to the centre of Athens. We decided to admire the Acropolis from afar, as we’d been there before and we wanted to conserve as much energy as possible for the National Archaeological Museum.

We were stunned by the beauty of the objects on display. Gold always performs well, but in some respects it was outdone by the bronzes and other artefacts and statues. I loved the little jockey on a huge horse. We must go back and spend some more time there, as it’s really too much to take in before the brain switches off.

Before lunch we had a stroll round Plaka, the old centre of Athens which always seems so welcoming with elegant souvenir shops sitting in harmony with flags, garish ornaments and posters. We had a pleasant, if ordinary, lunch, where the company was better than the food but the overall package was delightful. Some of the company decided to stay in town for the remainder of the day, but we headed back to the liner for a brief rest.

After siesta time we had a last turn round the upper deck and took advantage of the extended happy hour. Conversation was generally about how much everyone had enjoyed the trip, with praise being heaped on the quality of input from most of the tour guides and Kelly as the tour organiser. We couldn’t speak personally for Alex’s input as Tour Director as we were rarely in attendance for onboard events like Salsa, Belly Dancing and the Trivia Quiz, preferring to spend our evenings ashore, but others appeared to have enjoyed them.

Unfortunately, our last meal on board was nearly as bad as the first one, without being lightened by a bit of humour. We won’t bore you with the details, but can only note that of all the complaints we heard, 99.9% were about the restaurant. Almost everyone agreed that the A La Carte food was excellent and the staff willing and helpful. What appeared to be lacking was direction, guidance and any sort of system. (Karmanie)

Aegina

Another overnight dimensional leap brought us into a bright, sunny day, heading towards Aegina. It didn’t involve a particularly early start, but it was worth getting up a bit earlier than normal for another look at the Corinth canal. It really is a fantastic work of engineering and I loved the telescopic mechanism for opening the bridge. I’ve seen bridges rise up, or swing apart, but never retract.

It was calm, peaceful sailing until we reached Aegina, the largest of the Saronic islands and the one closest to Athens, only 45 minutes away by hydrofoil. We’d visited Aegina before, but many years ago. It looked unfamiliar until the first sign of the pistachio nut stalls, then it all came flooding back.

The bus took us first to the far end of the island, were we experienced yet another fantastic sight/site, the Temple of Aphaia. Another uphill hike had the muscles screaming again, but we heard wonderful tales of how the island got its name from a persecuted nymph. Unfortunately, the guide we had on this occasion was not up to the usual standard. She was difficult to follow and lacked the enthusiasm of our previous guides.

We passed on the museum, saving ourselves for the next visit, to the site of another temple of Apollo, at Kolonna, just outside Aegina town. Only a single column remains standing, but it’s a major landmark on the island. While we were ashore the liner pulled away from its mooring to allow another ship to dock and didn’t return until 6:00 pm. We passed the time having lunch, reading and chatting and watching the to-ing and fro-ing of ships and hydrofoils. It’s grim life, but somebody has to do it!

After a short siesta we returned to explore Aegina Town by night. We had a couple of ouzos inn a picturesque bar behind the fish market, wrapped in the smoke of grilled octopus and other fish and seafood. We finished the evening with some Greek pancakes full of ham, cheese and tomato, with herby cheese spread over the folded circle. Again, it was all locals in the place, with lots of friendly banter going on between the customers and the waiters.

As we were returning to the boat, we met Stelios again. He recognised us from our previous encounter and asked if we’d had a good time. He seemed genuinely pleased when we assured him that we’d had a brilliant time and thanked him for making it possible. It may have been an economy package, but it was a mega-rich experience.(Karmanie)

Evening in Itea

After a brief siesta to recover from the exertions of the morning it was ouzo-hunting time again and an opportunity to do some more socialising with our companions. We ended up in a restaurant where lots of the locals were having a night out as part of their Carnival celebrations prior to the abstinence of Lent, which falls later in the Greek Orthodox calendar than in the Roman one.

A live trio provided some fine music ranging from modern Greek ballads to traditional rembetika on guitar ands two bouzoukis, while Bob and friends, from California, provided the craic, an Irish word for chat and charm. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. (Karmanie)

Chatting with Kelly

After lunch we had a long and interesting chat with Kelly Agathos, a charming and intelligent young woman who is the Classical Greece Coordinator at easyCruise. Both Kelly’s parents are Greek, but she was brought up in the USA and Belgium and speaks perfect English, French and Greek. She studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, where she met Stelios when he was invited to speak at Cambridge Union Society about his businesses and his life as an entrepreneur. She was invited to join easyCruise as soon as she graduated in Summer 2007.

Kelly explained that her main role on board to ensure that the Classical Greece tours functioned smoothly and that she was responsible for selecting the sites to be visited and for local arrangements, such as employing tour guides. When the tours are not running, she markets and promotes the Classical Greece Cruise as well as selecting the sites and excursions for the following season. We asked her why easyCruise, a company known principally for offering low-cost, high-value leisure cruises, had chosen to enter this market. She explained that they saw it as an unexplored niche market which presented opportunities for attracting a new client group and extending the cruise season at both ends. No other company offered a one-week trip which included visits to so many major archaeological sites.

She felt that the company also had a commitment to promoting and supporting the Classics, as shown by their recent sponsorship of a Cambridge debate on the Parthenon Marbles. In some cases, this support could have very practical benefits, for example, including the little-visited but important site of Kolonna on the island of Aegina in this season’s cruise itinerary. Taking easyCruise guests to this site could affect its future by showing the Greek Ministry of Culture that it merits longer opening hours and more maintenance.

Kelly noted that the cruises were attracting a unique client-group, across a wide variety of ages, country of origin and background, whose only common bond was a shared love of culture. This presented challenges in marketing the cruises, but they were trying to attract interested clients through classics societies and classics journals. She said that Stelios himself believed that was important to make culture accessible by making it fun and exciting. She compared the cruise to an affordable 21^st century version of the Grand Tour, the 19^th century practice of visiting the cultural centres of Europe, enjoyed by the leisured classes.

We thanked Kelly for her time and wished her every success for future cruises. We are certain that her own obvious commitment and enthusiasm will play a major role in ensuring that this happens. We know that she welcomes comments from any of the passengers, so if you have anything to say, please let her know.

Delphi

Thursday already, and we’ve now moved along the coast to the port of Itea. It looks pleasant enough, but there’s no time to explore, as we’re heading straight off to Delphi. A half-hour drive took us through planted fields and farmlands sprinkled with pigs and sheep until we started climbing and arrived at Delphi about 10:00 am.

We started in the museum, viewing wonderful marble statues (the winged sphinx was particularly impressive) and other artefacts in gold. Our guide Elektra (I’m beginning to detect a pattern here) was amusing, articulate and informed in her presentations. She gave us a fascinating explanation of how the burial process had allowed these artefacts to escape the looting which has bedevilled so many archaeological sites. However, the museum could do with more seats – it’s difficult to be a culture vulture when your legs are aching!

Armed with loads of information, myths and tall tales, we set off along the base of the mound that acts a plinth for the shrine of Delphi. An impressive, if somewhat steep climb took us past the walls where long-gone statues of thanks were once left after successful consultations with the Oracle. We passed empty treasury boxes before arriving at a fine reconstruction of a treasury, mostly done by French archaeologists in the 19th century.

The amazing vistas from the hillside make it clear why the ancients chose this site as to holy of holies. According to legend, Zeus sent two eagles flying round the world, one heading East and the other heading West. The place where they met was Delphi (meaning “from the womb”), which was therefore considered to be the centre of the world and the womb of civilisation, from which the Greek people emerged. We didn’t manage the final climb up to the theatre, but we didn’t feel that we’d missed out because of the wonderful visit we’d had. Our view seemed to be more than shared by our travelling companions.

I realise that words like wonderful, amazing and fabulous keep cropping up in these posts, but there as so many situations where they seem deserved. The guides on these trips have been informed and enthusiastic about their subjects, making the sites come alive. The awareness-raising process gives one an added zest for living in general an not just for the moment.

On our return to Itea we went along with a dozen or so of our companions for a family-type meal at one of the seafront tavernas. We shared a wonderful selection of typical dishes and enjoyed chatting about our experiences so far. (Karmanie)

Evening in Patras

After finding an Internet café and updating the blog, we settled for the easy option – no more walking – and went to the Station Restaurant, just across from where the liner was moored. We initially ordered a large plate of mixed snacks, but on the advice of the waiter, changed to a small one. He was right, the large one would have needed a fork-lift truck to bring it to the table!

During our marathon munchethon we chatted about how strange it was to go to sleep in idyllic Ithaca and wake up in boring Patras. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but Patras seemed like a poster town for modern conformity, with its Pizza Hut, TGI Friday and all the same dismal high-street stores as can be found in any European town. Such are the joys of cruising in and out of Ancient Greece, with EasyCruiseOne acting as some kind of interdimensional portal. (Karmanie)

Olympic Sprinting

Who was it who said that those whom the gods would destroy they first drive mad? In our case it mad with the pain of exhausted legs due to some confusion about the way back to the bus after the museum visit. After traipsing round the wonderful statuary and artefacts, we left early, not through lack of interest, but to allow time for a leisurely walk back as the guide had made it clear that she wanted us all back by 2:00 pm. We walked for about a kilometre, crossing the bridge back to where the bus had dropped us off and waited for our companions to appear. And waited, and waited …

Eventually it became obvious that neither companions nor bus were going to appear, so we made our way back to the museum. As we approached it we could see the buses waiting in another car park, on the other side of the river. We stopped some passers-by and asked how to get over there and they were adamant that the only route was back the way we had just come.

With aching legs, we made our way back across the bridge to the original car park and made our way in the general direction of where we had seen the bus. Eventually it came into view, but just as we reached the car park it started up and pulled away. All the curtains were drawn, so no-one could see us. At that point, we noticed another bridge, leading to the museum a couple of hundred metres away!

We decided that our best option would be to get a taxi to take us round the town, figuring that since it was fairly small a restaurant with three coaches outside should be easy to spot. However, as we approached the taxi rank we met a search party out looking for us and Saskia gave us a lift to the restaurant, which was only a few hundred metres away.

In my heart and in my head I felt like Odysseus, reunited with his old dog on returning from his travels, but in my back and in my legs I felt like Sisyphus, who had to push his stone up the hill. Apologies to everyone who had to wait for us and to our guides for being so kind, and not even cross with us. (Karmanie)

Olympia

A quick breakfast passed without misadventure. The staff seem to be getting the hang of things. It was a longish and relatively uninteresting drive from the sprawling port of Patras up to the idyllic calm of Olympia. This area suffered badly from the fires that devastated large areas of Greece at the end of the scorching summer of 2007. However the museum, the temple area and the stadium were spared obliteration by divine intervention, or perhaps just by a stroke of good luck – is there a difference?

Our guide, Saskia was first class. She was clear, interesting, knowledgeable and patient. It was incredible to stand on the Olympic site and see the fabled columns and the stadium where history lived and breathed. What words can explain the tingle felt when standing in the gymnasium where the naked athletes trained? What phrases can sum up the magnificence of the temple of Zeus or the majesty of the fountains built to provide water for the participants and the attending throng. How can you express the thrill of passing under the ancient archway into the arena, seeing the starting line and putting a tentative toe into the groove. Some of the younger members of our party decided to try an Olympic sprint themselves, but we felt it more prudent to head back towards the museum.

We were truly privileged today as we were the only three busloads of visitors exploring this vast site. It certainly added to the splendour and grandeur of the site seeing it relatively tourist-free. Like the visits to Corinth and Mycenae, these digs help us to maintain a sense of continuity from the past to the present day, and give us hope for the future, despite our apparent headlong rush towards annihilation

Cultures rise and fall with appalling regularity, whether through god-sent or man-made disasters, but somehow we always triumph above our ineptitude and stupidity. There’s always some Odysseus or Heracles to wear the laurel wreath and devise a means or put in the effort to scale the heights again.

Of course, it also helps to appease the Gods. My vote currently goes to the level-headed, but rarely-seen God of Common Sense, to lead the new Pantheon. Suggestions for other potential members are welcome. (Karmanie)

Ithaca by night

Our evening started with a short but interesting Greek lesson on board, followed by a quick sniff at some typical Greek herbs. We then set out into Vathy to find an Internet Cafe and restore our plummeting ouzo levels, hoping to find some tasty snacks on the way. Once both the blog and the ouzo had been updated, we found a little Greek-filled bar serving excellent food. I can see the attraction of an onboard meal package from a budgetary perspective, but to get the full flavour you have to see Papa behind the BBQ in his greasy apron and Mama doling out baskets of toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. We had dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) and chicken souvlaki (kebabs), washed down with retsina from a copper carafe.

Heading back to the liner, we met up with fellow passengers Don and Maureen from St Albans and joined them in another bar for a couple of nightcaps, or was it another couple of bars for a nightcap? In either case, it was a wonderful end to another enjoyable day. (Karmanie)

Ithaca – a jewel of an island

Not an early start this morning, but we set out from the picturesque port of Vathy into a perfect day of sunshine and blue skies, with strands of mist whispering to the mountain. We quickly climbed aboard the coach, in time to get good seats with extra legroom and set off up the mountain. It was Hairpins R Us, as the driver took 3-point turns to get round some of the bends. There were a few anxious squeaks and squeals, but the views were worth it.

Our first stop was at a monastery, unfortunately closed, but the location gave a splendid view over the port of Ithaca and we could see our liner bobbing about like a toy on a shiny pond. The goats were funny – big ones, little ones, black ones, whiter ones and every size and colour in between, running about everywhere, clinking and clanging like Tubular Bells on crack.

After driving over the narrow isthmus that links the two parts of the island we arrived at a village that clearly showed the ravages of the 1953 earthquake in scary scenes of ruined buildings and broken lives. A village that previously had a population of more than 1500 now has only 20 permanent inhabitants. Although the earthquake left most of the building in ruins it left the church, with several marvellous old frescoes, intact, apart from downing the top of the bell tower, which has since been restored.

We moved on down the hill to the crossroads village of Stavros, an ancient meeting point for the exchange of goods between the North and South of the island. It was a beautiful village, with a fine state of Homer, looking just like Ted before his haircut. I think Ted has lost his heart to this island – no police, no crime, virtually no traffic. As Billy Connolly once said of the Scottish Highlands, there’s hee-haw but scenery.

A short stagger up the hill brought us to the island museum, whose displays of reconstructed shards from various digs showed the timeline of human existence on Ithaca. An enthusiastic lady curator explained the significance of the findings and waxed lyrical about a particular piece which she assured us proved the authenticity of Ithaca as the home of Odysseus. Perhaps Ithaca isn’t the best place to debate this.

Another half-hour of hairpin twists brought us down the other side of the island, overlooking sparkling waters of aquamarine and turquoise, with picture-postcard rocky beaches, unspoiled by buildings. The only dismal aspect of the journey was the occasional glimpse of broken hamlets, distorted and emptied by the earthquake. Swooping seagulls and soaring buzzards searching out food in the herby thorngrass of the pine-dotted slopes created an ever-changing movie over the heavenly-blue background of the Mediterranean skies. Maybe I’ve lost my heart a little too.

The first part of the day was rounded off by another delicious Greek taverna meal, sitting in the sunshine at the water’s edge, where there was no trace of oil or debris, paradise indeed. (Karmanie)

Mycenae: the home of Agamemnon

We moverd on next to Mycenae, where we started off with a visit to the tomb of Agamemnon, a tholos, also known as a beehive chamber becauselooks like a giant conical beehive inside. The walls and floors were bare other than the faded remains of some ancient painted inscriptions.

The gentle stroll up to the main entrance of Mycenae’s Acropolis was delightful, with the warm morning sun shining and pine trees and almond blossom scenting the air. One thing that never fails to amaze me is the sprawling size of these sites. This one was home to Agamemnon, but possibly not the king of the same name who was a prominent figure in the Trojan War. It was a flourishing, wealthy community with the engineering skills to construct huge buildings from enormous stones, sophisticated water delivery systems, brisk trade and structured religious practices.

We declined the opportunity to climb to the top, settling for views towards the sea and the far, snow-covered mountains of the high Peleponese. We didn’t visit the museum either, preferring to sit in the sun musing on what we’d already heard of the history of the area.

Lunch was served in a very modern, purpose-built banqueting suite, rather than the anticipated vine-covered terrace of a traditional taverna, but the food consisted of a very typical salad, followed with heaps of roast lamb and potatoes and finishing with yougurt and honey.

We had interesting table companions from New York, Reading and Manchester, via Kos. Our various journeys to get there would be worthy of another Odyssey. Lamentations about the state of the pound or the dollar against the Euro were mingled with shared appreciation of the weather and the sights we had seen.

Lunch was followed by a trip back to the liner, through greenery and stark unleafy vineyards. The guide sent most of us to sleep with a long litany of the Greek Pantheon. Not that it wasn’t interesting - we were just too warm and comfy!

The evening started with a wine-tasting session, hosted by a rep from Boutari, one of Greece’s largest vintners, whom Ted promptly christened “Alexander the Grape”. The wines were pleasant enough, especially the Cretan red, but we preferred the retsina we later had in a taverna ashore, along with skewered pork and the biggest slab of herby feta cheese I’ve ever seen.

Question of the day: When is a happy hour not a happy hour?

1. when it only applies to the (freezing cold) outdoor bar on the top deck, despite the lack of any mention of this restriction in the onboard publicity?
2. when it was only meant to apply to last year’s trips and shouldn’t have been on this year’s flier at all?
3. when it makes the customers confused and upset?

Answer:

1. if you’re the barman asked to provide drinks, after half-an hour’s discussion with the bar manager.
2. when you’re the girl at the reception desk.
3. when you find yourself having to start another “service discussion” simply because people aren’t willing to provide the facilities they’ve advertised.

The matter was eventually resolved in our favour, but it’s becoming boring having to make complaints to obtain services that should have been provided without question in the first instance. (Karmanie)

Corinthians Too!

We’re off to today to Corinth and Mycenae. We’ve already coped with having a shower while the ship is tilted the wrong way, so the water can’t drain away quickly enough and floods the cabin floor instead. There was no damage other than a wet life jacket, which was needed imminently for the compulsory safety drill. Fortunately, the ship’s carpenter saw Karmanie’s plight and gave her a fresh one. Multi-talented, this guy – maybe we should suggest they reassign him to the dining room.

We strolled on to deck at 8:00 am on a bright, sunny morning, just before the liner was about to enter the Corinth Canal, slightly later than scheduled due to heavy traffic and having to wait for a tug. The canal was incredibly narrow, with huge, sheer cliffs rising on each side. At one point it looked as if you could reach out and touch the sides. The channel runs through solid rock and has been cut fairly coarsely, so there some fascinating patterns to be seen on the rock faces and an amazing number of birds nesting. Karmanie swears she saw a Roc, but I’m not convinced.

A number of narrow bridges crossed the canal at several points, so it was strange to look up and see the lorries passing overhead. The end of the canal was crossed by a low drawbridge which opened gradually as we approached. Drivers and passengers who had had their journey interrupted while the bridge opened showed no sign of annoyance. They stood by the side of their cars and clapped and waved as we passed.

Not long after we had exited the canal, the scheduled safety drill took place and passed without incident. Shortly before nine o'clock we headed up for breakfast. Like the majority of passengers on board, we had delayed going for breakfast until after the safety drill to avoid having breakfast interrupted. The day's excursion, originally planned for 9:15 am had been postponed until 9:45, due to the delay in entering the canal.

One might reasonably think that, being aware of the liner's schedule the dining room staff would be prepared for the breakfast onslaught, but this turned out not to be the case. There was a long wait before our order was taken and another long wait before breakfast was delivered. We had to leave before coffee arrived to catch the tour bus and many of our fellow passengers had the same experience. I suspect the staff are still on a learning curve, so hopefully things will improve as the week goes on.

After a fairly short drive we arrived at the ruins of ancient Corinth where we were greeted by Guy Sanders, the archeological director of the site. Standing in front of the spectacular temple of Apollo, he gave us an amusing and informative introduction to the history of Corinth and its economic importance in aincient times. He gave a hilarious description of how continental drift had shaped the contours of modern Europe and astonished everyone by saying that it was possible that copper from North America had made it's way to Corinth, millennia before the 'discovery' of the Americas.

I was particularly amused when he mentioned, as an aside, that his daughter was named Electra. Well, what else is a Greek archeologist going to call his daughter? When he had finished speaking he gave us a brief tour round some of the other main features of the site. All in all, a fascinating, if far too brief, visit to a site which was easily worth days of attention. (Ted)

Dinner on Board

Tired and somewhat weary, but with that sense of satisfaction that comes from having arrived, successfully checked in and settled into our cabin, we sought physical nourishment from the onboard bar-restaurant. After being greeted by a smartly-dressed maître d’ (far smarter than either of us) we were led to a corner table, where we waited about ten minutes for a menu or a drinks waiter, but none appeared.

As Ted went up to the bar to order the first ouzo of the trip, three people settled into the next table. The same maître d’ bustled around them serving red and white wine. When a waiter brought them menus a few minutes later, we requested some and he asked a waitress to bring them to us.

While Ted was ordering a second ouzo, starters began to arrive at the next table and several more people joined them. There was more deferential plodding about with bottles of wine as the rest of the customers grew hungrier and more and more annoyed. Determined not to moan on holiday, I swallowed my ouzo along with my irritation and waited and waited, but still no-one waited on us. After another couple of nudges to the maître d’ we finally got a menu and placed an order.

We continued to wait. After we had been in the restaurant for an hour, three things happened, more or less simultaneously: the people at the next table received their second course, a waiter brought us the bill for the food we hadn’t seen yet and I blew my top.

The maître d’ rushed over to find out why we wouldn’t pay, and, nearly in tears I tell him that we haven’t had anything to eat yet, despite waiting well over an hour, with numerous reminders. A look of shock and horror crossed his face, not because of what had happened to us, but because the big guy at the next table has noticed that something is wrong and has come over to investigate.

I repeated my tale of woe and he reached out and lifted the bill from the table saying “This should not have happened. This is our fault and we are very sorry.” He handed s a copy of his business card and it turns out that he’s Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man behind EasyCruise, EasyJet and the other EasyGroup companies.

His companion, who told us her name was Penny, asked what they could do to make things right. We said we’d be happy simply to receive the meal we’d ordered and she assured us that it would be there within 10 minutes and at their expense. Within a few minutes a complimentary bottle of red wine appeared. It was excellent, which was just as well, as it was another 20 minutes a waitress arrived carrying our main courses. She was devastated to hear that we hadn’t yet received our starters.

After nearly two hours of waiting, and another bottle of wine, the starters finally appeared, followed rapidly by one main course. Yes, one, as the Moussaka was now finished! So were we, so we declined the offer of an alternative main course. The sweets arrived without incident and after finishing off with a couple of digestifs we were beginning to see the funny side.

So full marks to Stelios for intervening and sorting out the bill, but if the restaurant doesn’t get its act together it’s going to be a major problem. Admittedly, it was the first cruise of the season, with a new and inexperienced staff. They were mostly Rumanian, and all very pleasant and eager to please, but there was a total lack of organisation. Breakfast the next morning was another shambles, with the staff unable to cope with serving most of the passengers between a safety drill at 8:45am and an excursion departing at 9:45 am. (Karmanie)

Milan to Athens

On Sunday morning we were awakened ominously by a ring on the hotel phone at 8:00 am. It was the minibus driver letting us know that it was very foggy outside, so he wanted to leave half an hour early. We roused ourselves quickly and had time for an excellent buffet breakfast before joining the driver outside the hotel. He managed to transport us through the fog to the airport without incident.

However, when we arrived there we encountered complete chaos. No flights were arriving or leaving due to the fog, which also appeared to have paralysed the communication systems, as there was no information available about anything. Milan’s Malpensa Airport is not one of the worlds most comfortable and has a serious shortage of seats, but after it was announced that a number of flights had been cancelled completely, we were able to find a couple of seats close to the EasyJet check-in desks.

Things finally began to calm down and our flight finally took off three hours later than scheduled. We weren’t too worried by the delay, as we’d allowed plenty of time to get to our cruise liner, which wasn’t due to depart until 4:30 am. After arriving on schedule at Athens Airport, we quickly caught thee express bus to the Port of Piraeus, two hours journey away on the other side of Athens. The journey cost us 3.20 euros each (about £2.40) - British airport authorities take note!

Our liner didn’t depart from the main port area, which is immediately adjacent to the railway station, but from Marina Zea, which is in the next bay, about 5 km away. A quick look around the railway station area didn’t produce anything particularly inspiring in the way of eating places, so we decided just to eat on board. Another quick taxi ride took us out to Marina Zea. (Ted)

Setting Out

On Saturday we were up bright and early to start our journe. Our neighbour George kindly ran us to Gandia, 7 kms away, to catch a train for the 45 minute journey to Valencia. From there it was only a short taxi ride to the airport and we were able to check-in at the ClickAir desk almost immediately.

We had plenty of time left to grab a sandwich before boarding our flight. Unfortunately, the young man taking the orders produced the wrong sandwich for Karmanie and did not take it kindly when infomed of this. “What am I supposed to do with this one?” he asked, “Eat it myself?” In her usual colourful Spanish, Karmanie informed him that he could insert it in the orifice of his choice (it loses something in translation), but she would still prefer to have the sandwich she had originally requested. Little did we know that this was an omen of things to come.

There are few direct flights from Spain to Greece, so we had chosen to travel via Milan. Our flight arrived and departed on time and we were soon in a taxi on our way to Hotel Da Mariuccia, some 15 km away. Unfortunately, the driver’s GPS was not fully conversant with some recent roadworks and we found ourselves sitting on a bridge that was blocked at the far side. A quick phone call to the hotel resulted in an alternative route and we were soon there.

The hotel and staff were absolutely charming. There were three restaurants to choose from and we selected the one which looked busiest, bustling with noisy Italian families. The selection of pizzas was the largest we had ever encountered, so we ordered a large Bacon and Mascarpone pizza between us, only to discover that in this instance “large” meant about 40 cm across. We managed to struggle valiantly through most of it, aided and abetted by a pitcher of robust local wine. Before turning in for the night we arranged for the hotel minibus to take us back to the airport next morning. (Ted)

Introduction

Karmanie and I are off to Greece again with EasyCruise. We had a week's cruise with them last summer and enjoyed it so much that we booked several more. This time it's the Classical Greece tour, with organised visits to various historical sites. I've decided to have a go at blogging it day-by-day, so watch this space!