Waking up in the morning I realized that the winds had picked up. At last Zeus was favoring us with strong winds for excellent sailing from the Ionian Sea approaching the Aegean. We could see Kythera as we sailed along the southern coastline of the Peloponnesus. Antikythera was slightly visible straight ahead. Another Greek island that became famous in the beginning of the 20th century when sponge divers discovered a roman shipwreck carrying Hellenistic cargo consisting of works of art from the Greek isles and Ionia. Amongst the exquisite statues and glassware the archaeologist found an incredible device used to study the planets and organize the “calendar” of the major ancient Greek festivals, for example the Olympics that we studied yesterday in Olympia. The device is called “the Antikythera Mechanism” (the great world for machine).
After breakfast some of us visited the engine room in order to discover the mysteries of the Sea Cloud, and then after a short lecture on the history of Modern Greece and its eternal influence on maritime evolution throughout the Greek past we—Greek guides travelling on board—tried to offer our personal viewpoints on what is happening to Greece today.
Max, our photo instructor, collected photos for the group slideshow (one of my favorite moments during the cruise) which we could see later in the afternoon. The lunch was superb as always. Of course I ended having ice creams despite me resolution earlier on not to. I got dressed up for the Captain’s Cocktail Party and Farewell Dinner. Gaynor, our pianist entertained us under the Mediterranean stars ending another glorious day on the Sea Cloud.
