October 18 - 21, 2012 - GREECE

Nauplion to Monemvasia to Pylos

Thursday with the national strike freezing up most of Greece, Bob and I spent a leisurely day in Nauplion, sipping coffee frappé by the water, along with many Greeks who used the strike as a great day to relax and meet up with friends.  There were noisy demonstrations early in the morning, but we missed them all and only saw the last of the riot police and signage as we went to the Carrefour grocery store for a few last items.  It’s like we’re biding time waiting until we can get on the ship, forcing ourselves to do something, when what we really want to do is start sailing. 

In the evening, dinner again with ‘Steve Jobs’ (real name George) at SAVOURAS fish restaurant which was again very busy. Sadly, around us many of the restaurants were closed either in solidarity with the striking workers or because there just wasn’t enough traffic to make it worth their time to open.  We feasted on fresh calamari, fresh Sargos – a black sea bream, a bottle of wine and off to bed we went.

Friday, on a beautiful warm blue sky morning, we bid adieu to our lovely hostess, hopped into our Yaris and within two hours were back in Athens. A flawless, easy trip which left us in town with plenty of time to have lunch with Mr. Phyl  at the school cafeteria while we tended to two loads of laundry in the basement of the school.   I extended an offer to help out with the school, anyway that I can, since I very much want to see it survive these difficult times just in case Jessie gets the idea that she would like to come to Greece under its aegis. Forty-five years later and it remains one of the defining periods of my life, and so Mr. Phyl has asked me to write an article for the alumni magazine with reflections on the school then, and now. 

Saturday – at last we’re truly on our way.  We taxied down to Piraeus where buried amidst the many hydrofoil ferry boats, and a huge cruise cube called the Crown Princess, was our cute little sailing boat just waiting for us. It looked so miniscule sitting amidst these behemoths, and we’re set to sail it across an ocean. As we stood on line waiting to be checked in, we examined our fellow travelers to get a sense of who they were. Because the trip is broken up into four segments, there are those who are on for as little as 5 days, and others like us who will be aboard for the full 35 days.  Those who have the time and the wherewithal to do the entire trip are of an older nature; those who are on the shorter segments definitely under the age of 40. Everyone is a bit on tenterhooks as registration proceeds:  do we have the right paperwork; is our credit card ready for them to swipe; what happens to our passport (yes, yes, and they keep it). And that’s it. Through security, on to the transport bus, and voila - we’re on board being handed our welcome drink, shaking hands with the captain, and locating our new home – cabin 332…starboard side, one deck down.   And then there came the surprise of our life:

Three years earlier we had been on an Oceania cruise, from Istanbul to Singapore, where we had been part of a merry team of travelers: Doris, the oracle and inveterate traveler, who at 80+ years of age had been everywhere in the world; George and Betty Lou  a retired couple from Calgary, Canada;  and Russell and Di, from Australia and New Zealand, who worked on seismic ships helping oil companies to locate future oil ‘reserves’ under the ocean.  We have kept up with each other through Christmas letters, email and Facebook, and had agreed that we all needed to sail together again someday.  Well, as I’m unpacking in the cabin and Bob is topside enjoying a beer, who should knock on the stateroom door – but Russell and Di.  They had taken our idea that a clipper ship sail might be fun and had secretly booked themselves on to our same cruise way back in February, and had managed to keep this a secret throughout the year as we nattered back and forth on email and Facebook.  Just two days ago we had sent them a note telling them that we’d be in one of their home ports – Palma – and were sorry they wouldn’t be there.  Di had written back that she was sorry but they wouldn’t be there – what she didn’t happen to say is that the reason was because she would be WITH us on the ship. 

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Suddenly this whole trip has become that much more fun to contemplate. Russ and Di are a party all by themselves. They are energized, witty, smart and engaged in the world with all the gusto they can muster.  Whereas we may cruise two times a year, they seem to be cruising almost continuously; only stopping long enough to get on a seismic ship, earn some revenue to refuel their cruising coffers, and off they go again.  As Di quotes:  “no pets, no kids, no plants”  ie: no responsibilities. Their life on land is probably less than 3-5 months in a year, and for the rest they’re on the water either working or playing.  And here they are with us for the next 35 days!

 

Pure joy.  

Having downed a few celebratory drinks, gone through the life-boat drill, and eaten a fairly simple dinner, we all headed for the main deck for the sail away at 9:45 pm.  Sail away is always a dramatic moment as they hoist all the sails, play the music of Vangelis from the movie “1492” (all about Columbus), and with a starry sky above you feel the wind grab the sails and you’re off!  (Granted, as soon as we’ve all gone to bed, they tend to go back to motor; but it is still is a wonderful introduction to a sailing vessel). 

And suddenly it’s Sunday and while we were supposed to stop in Monemvasia for six hours. Unfortunately, we  had to cancel that idea because the seas were too rough for the tenders to pull up next to the ship without the risk of someone falling overboard or losing a limb as the two floating units attempt to be linked.  So no sooner were we anchored, than once more anchors were raised, and we set sail for our next port on the western coast of the Peloponnese – Pylos. In Greek lore, Homer writes about Nestor, a famous Mycenaean ruler who lived in Pylos,  and there are remains of his palace. But as importantly, it is known to Greek children as the port of Navarino where there was a famous battle in the war for Greek Independence when the combined ships of the British and French navies, overcame the Turks and resulted, ultimately, in Greece becoming a nation…with its first capital at Nauplion.