Day 6--Symi, Greece

The crew is so kind to us that they gave us an extra hour of sleep (due to the time change).  They changed everyone's clock, while we enjoyed last night's meal.  

Bill and I were both so tired we didn't go to last night's entertainment.  Santorina was our least favorite island, but I'm sure that is because of the crowds of tourists.  Patmos was much nicer and I'm sure that the fact that Clio was the only ship in the harbor had to do with that ranking.  I don't know how the harbor being closed affected the big ships, but it was nice that they weren't there.

Symi is gorgeous, however, at first I thought we were lost as my phone said welcome to Turkey.  Very quaint and quiet.  The yellow group was scheduled to leave at 8:15.  Sunday breakfast is always served with champagne. Dolphins were on both sides of the ship.  As we were enjoying breakfast, I remembered Bill was supposed to see the doctor to have his dressing changed.  We made a quick visit to the infirmary to have the dressing changed on  Bill's hand.  

The ship is docked in Symi and our bus was waiting for us as we departed the ship.  The driver took us up to the top of the mountain and the other side.  The scenery was gorgeous.

We then visited a Monastery, the Castle of the Knights of St. John and when we arrived found out that someone was being ordained as a new priest. It was erected in the 14th century atop the remnants of a fifth century monastery.  It was built on the site of an ancient temple to Athena.  This little area is expecting 6,000 people later in the day.

We enjoyed a short walk around the small cove.  Vasilis had told us to use the toilets to our left.  We walked further down the road and saw a WC sign.  These were "eastern squat toilets".  Now I know why he suggested we go left. Haven't seen those since we toured China. 

Our driver took us to the town where Vasilia showed us the statues of the sponge divers.  The divers would go out to sea and stay for long period of times.  The first divers would hold a big rock to get them to the bottom faster.  The daughter of the sponge shop owner told us that the longest record was 3 minutes and 58 seconds to a depth of almost 80 meters (approximate 250 feet?).  Then they advanced to the helmet with the air hose.  The only problem was the bends.  The way they "tested" them was to make sure they didn't come up too fast, was to give them a cigarette and if they could smoke it, they were OK.

The ship had to sail away from the dock at 12:30 to allow the ferry to use the dock.  We were told that we could stay in the village as the ship would be back later, but I think everyone went back to the ship for lunch.  There's two sections of upper decks and everyone was out working on their tans.  

There was a high tea in the afternoon but Bill and I both opted for a nap after getting to much sun.  

I'm not sure how to transfer photos from my phone to the blog, so you'll have to see the photo of Katarinettes on Facebook.  This is where the Germans surrendered control of the Dodecanese at the end of World War II ending Axis occupation. 

We've met some really nice people, who I know will stay in touch.  Once the ship docked again a lot of people walked down to the beach and away from the tourist shops.  I did manage to find a swimsuit coverup for our next trip.  

We only have a few more days on board, and we still haven't had time to open the bottle of champagne that was in our room.  

Dinner was great once again.  We went to the lounge for tonights entertainment and Bill and I left because we were both cold.  Still had our shorts on, and with the door opening for those who wanted to go ashore we could feel the cooler air.  Our tour guides suggested we go ashore as the bars were closing for the season after tonight.  We don't leave for Crete until 5 am. 

Turtle Safely........