27 September 2023

Diane

This morning in Nafplio, it was overcast and a little gloomy at first, but Dan, Tom, and Skip/Jim went up to the top of the highest hill where there was a castle/fortification. They said it was a gorgeous 360-degree view of the surrounding area. Meanwhile, Val, Deborah, and I went into town and did some window shopping and regular shopping, too. An open-air market had lots of clothes, all of which looked like they were in Filene’s Basement and would have taken some serious searching through. We gave it a pass.

Lunch was George’s papoutsakia (“little shoes,) sort of like moussaka but not quite. They were little round zucchinis that were filled with a meat mixture, cheese, bechamel, parmesan on top with a beetroot puree in the bottom of the bowl. Really scrumptious.

After lunch we went from Nafplio to Xinitsa Bay at Porto Heli and anchored for the rest of the day. Skip, Tom, Val, and I went swimming. While it was nowhere near as warm as a few days ago, it was lovely once we got in. Tom and I swam around the boat for our exercise of the day.

This evening, the crew threw us a surprise anniversary party, complete with veils for all three of the “brides,” paper flowers and funny glasses, along with balloons and “diamonds” strewn on the table in the shape of hearts, as well as the wedding march playing when we all went up to the flybridge.

Ensign Maria-of-all-trades was wielding a sparkler while Captain Niko presented a cake with candles. Then we had a wonderful supper prepared by Chef George of vegetables, cheese, pastrami, spring rolls, and much more. It was just wonderful! They had champagne for us and balloons with confetti. Next came the gifts: lovely bracelets for the women with a Greek eye at the center to protect us from negativity. The men received Pythagoras cups. You fill them to a certain point, and the cup holds water. If you overfill it, all the water runs out. The moral of the story: if you take too much, you’ll lose everything. To end the evening, we all had a dance, or a sway, as the case may be. What a wonderful evening!