We were not due into port until midday, but for some reason they decided to schedule breakfast early. Of course we woke a bit late ourselves (Vivian had a bad night), so missed the early morning cuppa, but made the MDR with 10 minutes to spare. After breakfast Vivian had lemon, honey & hot water, which helped a bit.
Our port of call is actually Argostoli and for the last 4 days we have been preparing for using the tender system, as we are the second ship to arrive today. Well, as we were walking back from breakfast we saw a smaller cruise ship on our starboard side, heading south. The good news was that this was the Azamara ship which was supposed to have berthed ahead of us. Due to fairly strong winds etc. their captain elected to by-pass the port and therefore we were able to berth, rather than anchor.
Coming into a port around midday ensures the maximum passenger audience and I should say that the mooring pontoon here is very small and even the attached "dolphins" are not really designed for a ship of our size. So in this case, the distance the crewmember had to throw the light line ahead of our mooring line was far greater than usual. He missed 3 times! Then the tug came along and guess what- missed twice again. Then tug to pontoon - correct - missed! The roar of enthusiasm when rope got to shore was outstanding.
We didn't have time to watch the rest of the tie-up procedures as we had a ship's tour to meet. He chaos continued throughout the day, with an absolute bottleneck in the stairway to get off the ship, not helped by a member of the entertainment team organising his group ahead of earlier #s. Happily on our bus heading north & once again confusion. This time the driver went the wrong way & had to turn around (well at least he wasn't the only one). The roads here are both narrow and *very * windy.
From here on though things go much better. A fair bit of crossing the island as we first called at the Melissani Sea Cave at Sani on the east coast. Magnificent cave structure which takes in sea water and is part if a system which pretty well extends across the island. The only problem was that about 30% of the ship all turned up at the same time, so much queuing in the afternoon sun. Eventually we got down through the cave entrance to the water, where locals rowed us out in small boats. Ours insisted in singing Italian (very good I must add). Beautiful experience.
Our next stop was at Fiskardo which is at the top of the island. What an absolute treasure. It was so peaceful, beautiful water, quaint shops etc. A tourist mecca and we were so enthralled that had 2 fresh sandwiches, glass of orange & wine sitting right on the waters edge for just EUR18. We could have stayed there for hours, but simply enjoyed our brief experience. What I forgot to mention is that pretty well all of the island apart from Fiskardo was destroyed in the massive 1953 earthquake. This explains in part the rubble and abandoned houses etc. we have been noticing on our travels.
On our way back to the ship, we paused for a photo opportunity above one of the west coast beaches. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy by then, but we got the overall impression of the clear blue water of the Ionian Sea. In my ignorance I was unaware of this sea, between the Mediterranean & Adriatic Seas. This is obviously why one does World cruises 😁😁😁
Day 39 - 9 July - Corfu
Mundane news - Vivian wanted to wash her hair, so up early 😁. Room service breakfast at 7.00 and down to the Wheelhouse Bar by 8.00 (10 minutes early this time), but no waiting, just straight off the ship and onto our coach. Our tour is called the Best of Corfu and is 8 hours including lunch. I think that we, along with the majority, had high expectations after yesterday but were disappointed with our tour today.
Corfu is a much larger island and certainly more commercialised but we did not find the scenery as enchanting and there was more evidence of rubbish & general disrepair. Just as we were boarding our coach, a large Celebrity ship arrived, so there were yet another 3-4,000 passengers doing somewhat similar things to our 2,000. Interestingly, when we returned to the ship at 4.30, Celebrity was nowhere to be seen. Seems Americans like it short & sweet.
The main thing in common with Cephalonia were the narrow hairpin or switchback roads. Today, being Monday and with Corfu a major tourist destination, I am sure that many tourists driving little rental cars are having nightmares tonight! We traversed & climbed he roads from the east coast to the west, taking in a small monastery and passing through traditional villages with just inches to spare.
There were some great views when we got to the heights but a lot of the time we were driving through scrubby countryside. The western area we visited (Paleokastritsa) is simply a maze of hotels, resorts, b&b.s. etc. The beaches are a mix of stone & sandy and were overcrowded to say the least. We had about 10 minutes there before being herded back on the bus to head back over to the east.
On the way we stopped at Archillion, a mansion built 1890 for Elizabeth (aka Sissi), Empress of Austria & Queen of Hungary. Well, the place is unkempt and although our guide was exclaiming about the gardens- there really was nothing to see. Inside we had about 5 minutes walking down the stairs from the 3rd floor (not open to the public, nor as the 2nd) and then told we had 10 minutes for "free time". This was eventually followed by another 10 minute walk in the midday sun to the bus.
Onwards & backwards and forwards to the east and we drove along the coast, past Mouse Island, which we were supposed to visit, but didn't, around the airport and up to the hotel for a "traditional Greek lunch" - NOT. By now readers can probably get the idea that we were not happy. This was compounded by our 1 hour lunch (originally told it was 90 minutes) being shortened to 45 minutes.
We (just) finished lunch & took the opportunity to visit the bathroom, and when we reach the appointed meeting spot she had gone!!! She took most of the group down the road to photograph Mouse Island, which of course we had avoided before. When she came back I remonstrated with her for not counting her group before leaving.
Finally we got to the Old Town and although we were supposed to visit some of the buildings, this was not provided and we were given 20 minutes free time to wander and make our way back to the bus. Then it was flat-out to the port. Now this is funny - in the morning the buses were all at the end of the pier, but on returning they were not allowed through and we had to disembark, go through Security #1 and then board a port shuttle. Of course we then went through Security once again before boarding the ship.
Seeing as we'd missed coffee throughout the day, we called into Crooners and had a delicious coffee (they can get it right about 80% now). Sailaway was at 6.00, but by 6.30 we were still stuck in port as our gangway which is stored on Deck 7 had become stuck. Eventually they decided to simply tie it up securely to be fixed another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment