Italy & Greece Tour Part VIII: Adriatic and Ionian Seas
My Journey: Day at Sea
4/2/2023
Ancona, Italy
Once on board, we got our room keys and we made our way to the cabin where I preceded to down some Ibuprofen and settle in.
It was awhile before the the ship left the port of Ancona. Once the ship was under way, we headed below deck.
As soon as it was announced that the dinning hall was open, we headed to dinner. It was a cafeteria style dining experience. This ended up being the best actual sit down dinner I had since Tuscany, leaving me with high hopes for the food in Greece. It may not have been pretty, but was damn good. Tony, Dez’s dad, is a more picky eater than me. I swear he lived off of bananas and Pepsi.
4/3/2023
Adriatic Sea
After dinner, we went to bed. The next day, we had some time to either sleep, which is what Dez did, or to explore the ship. There was not much to see until late afternoon when we approached Greece.
Ionian Sea
By midday, we were off the coast of Greece, and at some point, we were no longer in the Adriatic Sea and had entered the Ionian Sea.
Igoumenitsa, Greece
The ferry stopped at the port of Igoumenitsa to offload before heading off to its next destination, our port of call. The day was rainy and overcast, even so, the scenery was beautiful. It is easy to understand the role that ships played in ancient Greece once one sees the terrain of mountains and water.
We remained on the ship while passengers, vehicles, and cargo were off-loaded and new passengers, vehicles and cargo were taken on board.
Igoumenitsa, Greece
After some time, we were back at sea. The boat was running so late that we missed our dinner that was scheduled in Olympia. The ferry company comped our tour a dinner and of course it was my favorite thing, spaghetti… not. I was so tired of tomato sauce by this point. Well, at least the bread was good. I had to beg for butter, though.
Spaghetti
As I finished my dinner, by dinner I mean I ate some bread, I saw the white cliffs which I knew meant we would soon be passing the light house.
Φάρος Ακρωτηρίου Λευκάτας (Light House)
I rushed to the deck to take pictures of the light house and was treated by a full rainbow.
Φάρος Ακρωτηρίου Λευκάτας (Light House)
It was times like this that I wished I had brought a long lens. I definitely took a lot of pictures with my phone.
With the light house behind us, we began the approach to our port. Along the way, we passed the Island of Atokos.
Atokos
As we got closer to Patras, it was quickly getting dark.
Patras, Geece
Finally, we arrived at Patras. The process to get on the new bus was delayed as the escalator of the boat was not working and people were literally falling down the escalator. Then, someone in our tour group lost their bag disembarking. They did eventually find it.
I had hoped we would get to Olympia in time to have a late dinner at one of the restaurants there as many stayed open to 11 and 12. That sadly did not happen. Instead, we were off to bed.