Thursday 30th August
At sea on Kriti II
I sat on deck partly in the sunshine, watching the islands on the starboard side and then the land mass on the port side, under a clear blue sky, and thinking how lucky I was. Quiet and gentle music started on deck at 11 a.m. possibly as a distraction whilst three overalled ANEK men painted today whatever it was they were hammering yesterday.
Another deck hand was filling the swimming pool with a hose; many of us simply walked around the whole deck, admiring babies or toddlers, watching dogs sleeping and comparing them with their owners, reading, avoiding passengers still asleep on deck, trying Sudoku like the two German ladies I sat near to do the same at one point, and generally enjoying the warmth and scenery. On one circuit of the deck I walked towards a young lady with her little white dog in a handbag on her shoulder. That dog was obviously not going to get much exercise, with its little face peeking out from the top of the bag.
Lunch was available in the Self-Service Restaurant and then it was back to doing nothing much on deck again. I saw a gap in the land mass on the port side and photographed a distant ferry – very distant – and realised it was coming from Dures, in Albania, so it was found to be IONIAN SPIRIT.
Following another good dinner in the a la Carte Restaurant, the ship called at Igoumenitsa, where we could see what seemed to be a new terminal building, ferries, and a dredger in the darkness. Many people left the ship and many more got on, ready for our call at Corfu a little later.
After that call, the ship settled for the night on the final part of the journey to Patras, where we will arrive at an early hour.
Ships seen: Silver Sea?, Ionian Spirit, the weird looking vessel of Saipem company (I wonder which one it is?), Agia Theodora, Ionian Sky, Bridge, Cruise Olympia, 2 Superflexes Agios Nikolaos and ? ex Reggio, Pantokrator, and Aichaios at Corfu, plus 1 double-ender with prow masts
To be continued….
