Sunday October 22, 2023
Hi again Gang! I already sent the pictures so I wanted to add a little more about what our day was like today. We arrived at Igoumenitsa at 7 AM and were supposed to start our excursion at 8 AM but like the rough seas we experienced last night, this morning the seas were still rough and the wind was still blowing hard but luckily no rain. But that wind and high seas prevented our tour guides from taking the first boat over from the island of Corfu and so our excursion started at 10 AM.
But a little about Igoumenitsa. It’s on the Northwest coast of Greece near the border with Albania. It’s a big logistics location for transporting goods (and tourists!) to and from Europe. There are ferries between Igoumenitsa and the Italian ports of Brindisi, Bari, Ancona, and Venice as well as the Greek islands of Corfu and Paxi.
Our tour took us to the towns of Iannina and Dodoni. We first went to Dodoni which was about a 45 minute bus ride away. The modern village of Dodoni is located near the ancient city of the same name and site of the ancient oracle of Dodona. The main thing it’s known for is the archeological site where they found an Ancient Greek theater that could hold 2,500 spectators, two temples and the city gates. For some strange reason there were also lots of dogs and cats hanging out amongst the ruins. Go figure! Another cool thing was the tree of the Oracle. People still to this day come to the tree and post deep questions about life they want to ask the Oracle. We saw a bunch of them hanging from the tree but we didn’t have any paper to post our own. Maybe next time!
We then drove to Iannina where we walked thru the walled city. There was a monastery there called the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. There was also a museum of the Greek Revolution there as well. We didn’t tour either of those but saw them from the outside. That whole walled city sat right on this beautiful lake with tall mountains right behind it. So pretty!
We came back and grabbed a quick snack at afternoon tea and then got ready for dinner. Tonight we ate at one of the two specialty restaurants called Toscana (Italian you probably guessed!). The menu was huge (I’ll try posting the pictures tomorrow while in port) and the food was excellent. Best food we’ve had so far on this ship. We tried a lot! Here is a sample of what we tried: Octopus carpaccio, Beef carpaccio, Sautéed Jumbo Shrimp, Calamari,
Caprese Salad, Lobster, Filet Mignon, Bone in Veal Chop, Sicilian Dark Chocolate Cake, and Tiramisu! And yes we ate it all!!
After dinner we went to see the show that was supposed to be done last night but wasn’t because of the high seas. It was the Oceania Production Cast singing various Broadway show tunes. We knew some of the songs but others we had never heard. It was really good!
After the show we listened to the piano player, pulled a few slots and called it a night. We have another early excursion tomorrow at Kotor in Montenegro. They say the Bay of Kotor is supposed to be beautiful sailing into it so I may have to get up extra early to check it out!
Hope everyone had a great weekend and that your favorite NFL team won!
The Wandering Italian 