Alfonsino Castle aka Argonese Castle aka Castello Rosso...

Castello Rosso

Marina di Brindisi owes a lot to their concierge - Greta.  One of the many recommendations from Greta was the "Red Castle".  We see the castle every day so it seemed only fitting that we walk the short way over and participate in an inside tour.  We were not disappointed.

The inside port of Castello Rosso

The port of Brindisi is now and has always been an important, deep water natural port.  The name of the city is actually named for the shape of the port which is said to be the shape of a deers antlers.  In 1481, Ferrante of Aragon felt it was important to build a fortress to guard the port from the Turks.  Hence, it is called the Argonese Castle.  But then in 1485, Alfonso of Calabria transformed it into a real castle.  Hence, it is called the Alfonsino Castle.  The castle was constructed of Carparo blocks that take on a reddish hue when the sun sets behind it.  Therefore it is also referred to as the "Castello Rosso or Red Castle".  Many names - one castle.  

Embrasures for cannons

Castello Rosso was a defensive castle and they actually shot the cannons from INSIDE the castle.  You can see all the openings for the cannons.  Seems like a poor idea until you consider the thickness of the castle walls.  They are an astonishing 2.5 meters (8 feet) thick!!  Both the trapezoidal shape and the thickness of the walls made the fortress impregnable.

Dining Hall - Castello Rosso

But they found that invading forces would just sit in the harbor engaged in a waiting game.  So a fortress was built to house fighting troops.  Forte A Mare (the garrison) housed troops all the way up to 1984.  Castello Rosso/ Forte A Mare has never been taken.  Even during WWII when the castle was attacked it was not taken.  Which is good as it guards a very important and useful port.

The added garrison - Forte A Mare

The garrison (Forte A Mare) was more like several mini apartments.  Soldiers stationed here would sometimes have their families with them as they would live at the Castle/Fort for extended periods of time.

Forte a Mare

Castello Rosso is currently undergoing some extensive restoration.  Currently, visiting the castle is only possible if you have scheduled a time in advance.  While the Castle is well worth a visit now, visiting after the restoration is complete will be even better.  

The entire town of Brindisi is well worth a visit - likely not high up on the list of places to visit by tourists but a truly historic town. 

 

Decision made - sailing on to Brindisi

Brindisi coastline

We reached Otranto around midnight as expected.  What was not expected was the vast amount of ship traffic in the region.  There were huge cargo ships all around and it was a very dark night.  The more we thought about crossing the shipping lanes at night and going into an unknown port to drop anchor the more reasonable it seemed to just keep going.  It was another 40 nm to Brindisi so we thought we would likely be arriving after the sun was up.  If it looked like we would arrive too early we could just slow down a bit.  So the decision was made, we would sail on to Brindisi.

Marina di Brindisi

Once we decided to keep going we knew we had to get away from all those big ships.  We decided to sail closer to the coast (within 3 to 5 miles) which would put us out of the shipping lanes.  What a relief it was to finally get away from those ships!  At last we were able to get tad bit of sleep. Our decision to carry on ended up being a really good decision as the wind decided to turn north early.  The swell got rough as the wind picked up to 18 knots on the nose!  Consequently our speed dropped way off and we were barely making any headway.  At one point we were barely making 3 knots - a crawl.  No worries that we would get in too early now😒.  

 

Fishing off the sea wall - Brindisi

 

 

After a couple of hours the swell calmed down and our speed improved.  We were still making only 4.5 knots but better speed than earlier.  All night there was lightening all around but never a drop of rain.  We were hoping it would hold off until we were docked.  As it turned out we reached the Marina at 1000 Greek time and 0900 Italian time.  As we were docking it did finally start to rain but at least we weren't sailing all night in the rain😄.  We really wanted to sleep the day away but a nap was the best we could manage.  There are always a lot of formalities when you arrive in a new country that must be attended to no matter how tired you are.  We were so glad that we made the decision to carry on as the next day was rough.  High winds and rain.  Not only was it like that the next day but it remained rainy, cool and very, very windy for the next two weeks.  As a matter of fact after a week of that we said to heck with it.  After securing the boat well we rented an apartment for the weekend and just settled back to enjoy the stillness.  But now the sun is shining every day and its 70 degrees outside.  Pretty perfect!

Othnoi

Big dent from hitting the whale

One day before we departed from Corfu a boat came in and docked beside us. On board were a group of young people with the Captain being from Germany and his wife from Vermont!  They had been sailing since June from their starting point in the Baltic Sea. As we were talking we noticed a big dent in the side of their aluminum boat and inquired about it.  Somewhere off the coast of Sicily, near Licata, they had hit a sleeping whale.  Whales don't show up on radar and are hard to see at night!  Fortunately, their boat is aluminum so there was not serious damage to the hull.  It would have been a different story if the boat had been fiberglass.  We made a mental note to watch for whales in Sicily😄.

 

Pass between Greece and Albania - Greece on the left, Albania on the right

Greece does not make it easy for you to leave Greece the right way.  As a sailing vessel you are required to "check out" of Greece with the Coast Guard and turn in your "transit log".  All fine except the only place to "check out" was Corfu.  Our plan was to sail to Erikoussa or Othnoi (or both) and then it would be just a 45 nm sail over to Italy.  We were told you can go to the outer islands but then you have to come back to Corfu and check out.  Well, of course, we had no plans to sail back to Corfu as we were just stopping at those islands for a night to shorten our distance to Italy.  Our options were to stop at one of the outer islands even though we were already checked out or sail all the way from Corfu to Italy.  By law you must be out of Greece within 24 hours of checking out so if we stopped we would be outside of the law.  We checked with the agent who assisted us when we entered Greece and he told us to check out in Corfu and then go to Erikoussa.  He said if anyone questioned us that we were to say we needed to seek a safe harbor and have them call him.  Assurances were made that we would not be fined or worse.  We had tried for days to reach Erikoussa to reserve a spot but never reached the harbormaster.  Eventually, we decided to skip Erikoussa and just sail to Othnoi.  Yes, there is bureaucracy everywhere!

Othnoi, Greece

Once the storms had passed we set sail for Othnoi.  It was a nice day for sailing, breezy but the winds were not too strong.  We reached Othnoi an hour earlier than expected and even though we had contacted the harbormaster there was no-one around.  It was a veritable ghost town.  So we tied ourselves up to the quay and thought things through.  We noticed that Talaria was hobby horsing with just 10 knots of wind and the wind would pick up over night.  It is shallow all around the entrance and we started thinking of how difficult it might be to get out of there at night should the wind from the east pick up to the point where we were really uncomfortable.  We also knew that once we reached Italy we would not have much time to make it to Brindisi before the wind shifted north.  Quite possibly we would get stuck in Otranto for days as we had no desire to battle a head wind.  After some thought and discussion we decided to heat up thermos of water, eat something and then keep going to Italy.  

Sun setting on the way to Italy

 At 1630 we untied and set sail for Otranto, Italy.  We thought we would just sail overnight while the seas were calm.  Our working plan was to sail to Otranto and then decide if we wanted to approach the harbor at night and make it to Brindisi the next day or just sail on to Brindisi. 

Historic Corfu

Old Fortress

 Corfu's Old Fortress dates back to the 14th century, over the fortress's many years it endured siege after siege.  WWII is but the latest chapter of the fortress's long and storied history.  Corfu had been occupied by Italy after a diplomatic incident in 1923 led to Mussolini bombing Corfu and then occupying the island.  After Italy surrendered to the Allies, the Nazis gained possession of Corfu and the Old Fortress.  Under Nazi occupation Jews living in Corfu were rounded up and jailed in the fortress prison until being transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

Byzantine Collection

The Old Fortress buildings that remain include the clock tower and the prison.  In addition, the fortress now houses a small but magnificent Byzantine collection that includes frescoes saved from Byzantine churches.  Also housed within the Old Fortress are a library and the Ionian University music school.  The first couple of days that we were in Corfu and the weather was nice our time was spent visiting the Old Fortress and the Old Town of Corfu - a UNESCO world heritage site.

Panagia Mandrakina

 Off to the right when leaving the Old Fortress is the Panagia Mandrakina (Church of Virgin Mary Mandrakina).  The eye catching pink Greek Orthodox church overlooks the Mandraki port of the Old Fortress.  And past the church is the Palace of St. George and St. Michael (the Royal Palace).  

Palace of St. George and St. Michael

 The Palace was initially built to house the British High Commissioner and the Order of St. George and St. Michael.  Now the building is a Museum for Asian Art.  Michael and I continued strolling through the Old Town with no real purpose in mind.  Following a maze of narrow lanes we were a bit surprised to find that we were no longer anywhere near the Old Port.  As we tried to find our way back (no Google maps to assist) we ended up just walking around in circles.  So... when all else fails get a taxi.  When the taxi dropped us off at the Old Fortress we could not believe how far we had walked!  Our site seeing came to a bit of a halt with the weather but we still ventured out some when the rain let up.  Corfu is a beautiful town with a different vibe from the other Greek towns we have visited.  Perhaps because they see far more tourists.  Overall it was a great visit and a town that I could visit again and again.

Corfu Island

 

Old Fortress of Corfu

Corfu is the northernmost Ionian island with the Albanian border being less than 15 nm away.  It was a quick sail to Corfu from Paxos but there was a lot of traffic ... pleasure boats and ferrys.  We had reservations to stay at Mandraki Marina which lies just the other side of the Old Fortress.  The marina is a bit rugged but historic.  You actually have to go through the Old Fortress to get out into the city which is very awesome.  Mandraki marina is actually run by the local sailing club and is a great place to stage a visit to the city of Corfu.

Mandraki Marina

 The city of Corfu is flanked by two huge castles that have protected the city over the years.  Although, the island spent years under Venetian, French and British rule before being reunited with Greece they can lay claim to never having been defeated by the Ottoman's.  Corfu is known for being a heavily fortified city and the only European capital flanked by two fortresses.

 

Sea Moat separating the town from the fortress

The city of Corfu was separated from the fortress by a sea moat - a divider really between the fortress and the town.  They used a moveable bridge to cross over between the two.  Now there is a permanent bridge linking the two.  While the Old Fortress is now largely a tourist attraction is also houses the library and the Music School for the University.  One of the best things about the marina was listening to the piano music wafting down from the music school each day.  

Old Tower at the Old Fortress

We had initially planned to spend just a few days in Corfu but the weather did not cooperate.  First a one day delay and then another and then another as the wind and rain pummeled the island.  Boats were scrambling to reach a safe harbor as we saw 54 knots of wind!  We ventured outside in the rain by foot but Talaria stayed put until it all subsided.  Our lines reinforced we just rode it out as we thanked our lucky stars that we reserved a spot before the storm hit.  Michael and I have decided that Greece is possibly the windiest place on the planet.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn't but just when we thought we had seen the highest wind we would see... it just got stronger.

Corfu town

The weather delay did however give us some extra time to visit the city so no complaints.  For those of you who are James Bond fans you will recognize the image above as it was a scene in the movie "For Your Eyes Only".  The movie was, of course, filmed on the island of Corfu. 

Mandraki Marina

 Once the weather breaks we will be leaving for the most westerly Ionian islands on our way to Italy.  Our plan is to stay a day or so in Erikoussa and maybe a day in Othnoi before heading over to Otranto, Italy.  And then on to our last stop for the season - Brindisi, Italy.  Talaria will spend the winter in Brindisi while we head home for the holidays. 

Paxos, Greece

 

Anchorage at Paxos with Corfu in the distance

When we first anchored in Lefkada there was only one other boat at anchor and it was a Canadian boat.  In the evening, they stopped by to say hello and as it turns out she is American but has lived in Canada most of her life. Oddly enough her father actually lives in a town near us (DuQuoin, Illinois), now what are the chances that you run across someone at a anchorage in Greece who has family in your neck of the woods.  Unbelievable.  All we could do was shake our heads and marvel at the smallness of our world.

Close quarters!!

 Initially,from Lefkada we were planning to sail to Preveza and go to a marina but we didn't need fuel or water so we decided to sail on to Paxos instead.  The wind was supposed to be out of the east but instead it was out of the northeast.  The waves were big and the seas rough.  Later, in the morning the wind did finally shift east so we were on a beam reach but the waves were on our beam as well.  Hoisting the mainsail meant steering into some big nasty waves so we just limped along with the staysail until the waves calmed down a bit.  Of course, no sooner than we had the mainsail up the wind shifted again and was now behind us.  The mainsail is not good for downwind sailing so the mainsail came down. Some folks describe the wind in these parts as an adolescent who never knows which direction to go.  We can certainly attest to the winds fickleness😉 

Image from anchor alarm

 We had decided on an anchorage on the north end of the island called Lakka.  That is actually the name of the little village there.  Mind you this is the "off season" but you sure would not know it looking at that anchorage.  It was crowded!  When we first arrived it actually wasn't bad but all day long the boats kept coming.  By 1800, I counted 38 boats in the anchorage.  Of course, next morning a departing boat pulled up our anchor with his which we did not discover until the anchor alarm notified us.  This time we put a  float on the anchor before we re-set it.  We then went into town for a bit for some WiFi.  Wouldn't you know it in that short amount of time another charter boat came in and then pulled up our anchor trying to set theirs!  What the heck - twice in one day😕.  We re-set the anchor yet again and hoped for the best.  That sort of thing happens all the time over here as there are a lot of charter boats. and overall just a lot of boats.  Later that night I checked on our anchor alarm and was stunned to see that there were three boats showing up in our "swing circle".  I have never seen that occur before - boats were close, very close. Thank goodness the next morning we were able to get out of that mass of boats without any drama and set sail for Corfu.

Lefkada, Greece

 

Vassiliki on the island of Lefkada

I just really liked this little Island.  We sailed over from Ithaca and anchored in a bay near the village of Vassiliki.  Its a windy spot but the holding is good.  So windy, in fact, that they have named their wind.  Eric, the named wind, shows up every day without fail.  Needless, to say they take advantage of this predictable wind and do a lot of windsurfing and sailing in the bay.

Taverna in the village of Vassiliki

We enjoyed the afternoon watching the windsurfers and sailing classes.  What really surprised us was that the sailing "students" were not children but older adults.  It looked like a play place for retired ex- pat Brits!  How nice... a beautiful little island that is so close to the other islands that its an afternoon sailing to the next island and back.  And to boot, Lefkada is connected to the mainland via a causeway.  Not to mention the great little bay for sailing, windsurfing, kayaking or swimming.

 

Seagull perched on the Greek fishing boat - Vassiliki

The only downside that I see is the winding mountain roads.  But I suppose you get used to driving on them.  I actually found a little spot where we could build a small house that was not all the way up the mountain!  I suppose the other downside is that Vassiliki is a resort town but when the tourists leave I am sure its heaven💝.

Ithaca of Homer's Odyssey

Baby Church (coming into Vathy, Ithaca)

Once we had reached the Peloponnese we were struck by how green and lush the land is and that proved to be true of the Ionian islands as well.  Comparatively,  the Dodecanese and Cyclades are barren and dry.  Those islands see little rainfall and by the end of summer they are bone dry.  The Dodecanese and Cyclades have no fresh water source and are totally dependent on rain which occasionally does not occur all year.  They capture rainwater in a collective reservoir and rely on that water until it runs out... then they have to have water shipped to them.  Unlike, Bermuda they do not have rain collections systems on their roofs nor do they have de-salination plants.  By summers end the islands just look parched.  But in the spring (if it rains) they are green like the Ionian islands.  

Vathy Harbor, Ithaca

Ithaca, the home of Homer's Odysseus in the Osyssey, has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC.  It is a beautiful island.  Green, lush and mountainous.  The sail over to the island from Zakynthos was a bit rough but smoothed as we neared Ithaca.  And suddenly there was a ton of traffic - mostly sailboats.  We reached the harbor early since we left at 0400!  It was a very nice large harbor with few boats at anchor.  After what we felt was a well deserved nap we went to town for a bit.  Most shops were closed as the tourist season is over but it was nice to have a look around. 

Ithaca

All around the island there are claims of proof that King Odysseus was there.  Scholars disagree as to whether or not Ithaca is even the actual island described in Homer's epic poem.  There are those who believe it may have been another island altogether based on the descriptions.  Regardless, its a beautiful laid back island that we enjoyed. 

Lots of sailboats

While Ithaca may not be on the land "tourist" track it certainly is an island that is visited by sailboat.  We saw more sailboats out sailing there than we had seen our whole time sailing in Greece.  It is a popular cruising ground.  With the Ionian islands being close to the mainland the sailing is in more sheltered water for those who do not enjoy rough seas.  We also prefer to have calmer seas but our route took us a bit further off shore.  From Ithaca it was a nice sail over to Lefkada, another very nice island albeit more touristy.
 

First stop in the Ionian Island chain - Zakynthos

Talaria and the Ferry

After a few days of rest and relaxation we left Katakolo and the Peloponnese behind for the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian. There is a nice harbor there with a fellow who has mooring balls that you can tie to if you eat at his restaurant.  We thought we would give it a try.  It was a nice sail over to the island but when we got in to the harbor we did not find the fellow that handles the mooring balls so we just tied up to the city quay.  Once we were secured Michael went down to talk to some Brits on another boat to see if it would be okay for us to tie up there and they said it would.  Meanwhile I had  reached the fellow with the mooring balls and he also said we could stay at the quay or tie up to a mooring ball whichever we chose.  Michael chose to stay at the quay but I was a bit hesitant due to the huge ferry that comes into this small harbor.  The ferry docks very close to where were tied up... way too close for my liking😔.   But Kosta (the fellow with the moorings) said so long as we were behind the yellow line it was okay.  We stayed.

 

Fellow selling his homemade wine and other goodies

After a bit we decided to walk around the little community and have some dinner.  Sadly, that did not turn out well as Michael got choked again and actually aspirated his fish.  The rest of the night was rough with me wondering where the nearest hospital was.  It did not come to that but I was more than a little worried.  I went through my medical kit and started him on an antibiotic (not the ideal one) to try and keep him from developing aspiration pneumonia.

The fellows delivery vehicle

The next day was windier than the first but Michael wanted to rest after his choking spell the night before.  All day long we were getting bashed into the quay and I kept adjusting the fenders to no avail.  Finally, we decided enough was enough we would just go pick up a mooring ball.  So we called Kosta and after about an hour he helped us get secured on a mooring.  Typically, he has his patrons drop their anchor as well for added security but he told us he thought we would be okay just tied to the mooring ball.  The mooring balls are all quite close together, which is a bit nerve wracking, but there would not be much swinging since everyone was on a mooring ball.

Boats all crowded together in the harbor

Kosta said it would not be too windy that night but we would need to find better shelter the next night because the wind would shift to the north and the harbor would not be safe.  That was okay with us as we were planning to leave the next morning anyway.  We thanked him for the heads up and enjoyed the peace now that we were not being bashed in to the quay!  We thought we would get a good nights sleep and be ready to go in the morning.

Ferry heading out the very small pass

By now you know how this story is going to end😅.  About 0230 it got very bouncy (sound familiar?).  I looked out and saw that the wind had shifted north early and there was a huge swell coming into the harbor.  Folks all around us were out messing with their boats.  And then the ones at the pier started leaving.  We tried to tough it out but it was pretty uncomfortable so at 0400 we also left the anchorage and set sail for Ithaca (can't sleep, might as well sail).  And of course, since the wind shifted north early we once again were beating into the wind and waves.  Ugh!!  In all the time we have been sailing we have only had to leave an anchorage in the middle of the night three times.  And all three of those times have been here in Greece!!  The old adage about the Mediterranean is that there is either "too much wind or not enough wind".  So far in the Aegean and Ionian it has almost consistently been too much wind.  Its been the rare day where it blows a steady 15 knots in the same direction.  In the course of a day the wind will be all over the compass.  Its the craziest thing and something we are not accustomed to.  On top of that the weather forecasts are not very accurate.  Apparently, they have a very hard time forecasting the weather here as it changes so frequently.  Definitely, the wind forecast changes very often.  Its an entirely different sailing environment but we are learning!

Birthplace of the Olympic Games - Olympia, Greece

 

Olympic Stadium

The reason many sailors make a stopover in Katakolo is because of its close proximity to ancient Olympia. We were surprised to find that the birthplace of the Olympic Games was in the Peloponnese, far from Mt. Olympus in the northern part of the country.  But how convenient for us as we were able to literally walk a few steps from Talaria (at the municipal marina) to the train stop to board the train for Olympia.  The train stop was just the other side of the parking lot!  

Walkway to the Stadium

 The sanctuary of Olympia is vast and a bit hard to decipher.  Although the ruins of various structures remain it takes some imagination to see it as it once was.  The stadium itself was a bit of a surprise it was smaller than I imagined and there was no seating.  Spectators just sat on the sloping ground to the sides of the stadium.  There is an archway that the athletes walked through to enter the stadium but it was hard to get a photo as there were, of course, tons of people from two huge cruise ships here at the same time as us.  

Temple of Hera

 We now think of this site simply in terms of the Olympic games but it was also a major religious site.  Sacrifices were made to the Gods here prior to the games in a dedicated sacrificial site.  Both the Olympic games and sanctuary flourished until the decision was made to squash pagan religions.  In 426 AD,  emperor Theodosius II closed all ancient sanctuaries and the Olympic Sanctuary fell by the wayside.  With that the Olympic games came to an end.  The games were not resurrected until 1894.  The Olympic games of antiquity were only open to athletes that were free Greek men.  Women were not even allowed to watch the games!  When it was decided to resurrect the games athletes from all over the world were invited to participate in order to honor excellence the world over.

Practice area for wrestling and boxing (yes - boxing!)

 The archaeological site consists of practice areas for athletes, administrative type buildings, guest buildings, baths and of course, temples for the Gods.  Without doubt the most important temple was to honor Zeus.  Through the ages the sanctuary was built up and monuments to honor different leaders were constructed - such as the one for Alexander the Great and his father King Philip.  

 

What is left of the Temple of Zeus

 

Monument to honor Alexander the Great and King Philip II

 Although the columns, stones and other structures remain on the site the sculptures that were once there have been removed and placed in museums.  There are two museums on the site with the most important one being the one that houses many of the statues.  

The Nike Statue (Winged Victory)

 You could easily spend many, many hours at the site and the museums but we had to catch the last train to Katakolo which limited our time somewhat.  That being said we were able to walk through the entire site and one museum in about three hours.

The Statue Hall

Such an amazing place... we were stunned that so many of the statues and structures have survived so long and look so good.  The sculptures in particular are breathtaking.  If you ever go to visit the site do not miss the Olympia Archaeological Museum - it is a must see!
 

Koroni and on to Katakalo

Koroni, Greece

  We left Port Kagio mid morning.  I let Michael sleep a little later than usual as he wasn't feeling the greatest.  When he woke up we took off.  It was pretty windy and the seas were choppy as we set off across the bay.  We arrived at the anchorage in Koroni, Greece in the afternoon.  The bay was large with plenty of places to anchor and it wasn't too deep.  

Koroni, Greece

All in all we felt pretty good about the anchorage.  The anchor set quickly and all was right with the world.  Once we were settled Michael laid down to rest as he still wasn't feeling top notch.  A couple hours later a few more boats came in including the Swedish couple (Sven and Lisa) that were on the same path as us.  One boat anchored kind of close but at the time I thought it would be okay due to the direction of the wind.  Boats at anchor will all swing the same direction as their boats head up into the wind.  Therefore, sometimes even if a boat is a bit close it may not be too much of a problem.

Sunrise on the way to Katakalo

 However, one thing we have noticed here is that folks tend to not put out much scope when they anchor.  We put out 5:1 (so for 20 feet of water depth we would put out 100 feet of anchor chain) but they often put out 3:1 or less.  That means that they don't have as good of a grip and they don't swing on the anchor as much as we do. Everything was good and then about 0400 it got very bouncy.  The wind had changed directions 180 degrees and now the boat that was in front of us was behind us.  There was a lot a swell coming into the anchorage and we were stretched out on our chain which put us closer than we wanted to be to the other boat.  Because they had less chain out their boat did not move back as much as ours.  So... at 0400 we decided to just be on our way.  We pulled the anchor and started out for the next anchorage (Pylos).  

Katakolo

 Before long we looked at our AIS (automated information system) which tells us what other boats are near us and we saw Randivag (the Swedish boat) had left the anchorage as well.  Guess we weren't the only ones not happy about all the swell coming in to the anchorage!  By the time we reached Pylos we had changed our minds and decided to carry on to Katakalo.  There we would just stop for a few days and do some sightseeing.  Olympia is nearby - the site of the original Olympic games. And we were done with anchoring for a bit!

Greek fishing boat

It was a 75 nm day which is a long day for us but we were still in by early afternoon.  Katakalo has the most amazing harbor master making it a perfect stop.  And the town is just very nice with the only downside being the cruise ships that come into that harbor.  I am sure y'all have figured out by now I am not fond of cruise ships!  

Greek fishing boat

 

There is a train that goes to Olympia from the marina.  You actually just walk across the parking lot and get on the train.  So we will take the train to Olympia and see the archeological site which will be a fun day.  Next up -Olympia.