Birthday celebration in Galaxidhi and Itea Greece!!!

So we left Patras early in the the morning and headed to Itea. On route we tried our hand at fishing... some new lures on hand ... but no luck. A last minute decision and we changed course for Galaxidi, a small port 5NM (nautical miles) from Itea.  We got a prime spot... we were the only visitors in town... but not for long. The following day we woke up to a Canadian boat in front of us ... what a surprise! They had sailed across the Atlantic from Canada, been to Ireland and then to the med. More interesting was they were coming from where we are going Marmaris Turkey. They couldn't say enough nice things about the place! Which is very reassuring.

We headed to Itea that afternoon in order to rent a car.  My birthday was the following day and Joseph had planned some R&R... but we needed a car... this seemed impossible to organize online. The bus ride was very interesting. We saw things I'm not sure we would have seem in a car and of course the people interactions can be so funny. We had the car for two days, so we could run a few other errands ... Joseph always has a few... but never tells me until we are on the way to do them... he claims he need a translator :) I guess that me :)

We headed back to the boat from dinner. We were leaving the boat for the night because we were heading to Delphi. We had dinner in a nice taveran and the owner helped us find a guide for the following day. It's unbelievable the number of cats in the town. Here is a picture of the latest addition to the family. They are even welcomed into the restaurant !

I woke up on the morning of my birthday to Joseph singing happy birthday to me. Now as you know we are living within 42 feet of one another all the time and he still managed to collect two little cakes for a morning surprise. The night before he also took a couple of boxes of matches.. not something he would normally do. Look closely... matches as candles... he tires :) So resourceful!

On entering Greece you are required to obtain a permit to sail, it's called DEPKA. The night before we tried to get one but the office closed at 2.30pm so the first task after the birthday celebrations was over to Itea to see if we could get one. After waiting 30 minutes for the office to open this customs officer appeared. Now the process was anything but simple! We filled out the paper and it seemed that something wasn't right ... but in the end he gave us what we thought we needed. He asked for 60 Euro, we paid and were on the road to Delphi.

The drive was interesting, we saw fish farms... shanty houses, but the highlight was when we came over the top of a hill, a flock of sheep were standing in the middle of the road... what a sight :) Phone camera at the ready...

We arrived at Delphi, this small town at the top of a big hill. The typical village we had come to know here in Greece. We had a delicious lunch and then we were ready for the the tour of the ruins. Our tour guide, Vicky was fantastic. We certainly would not have gotten as much out of the place without a tour guide. Earlier in Italy we missed the opportunity to hire a guide for Agrigento and I believe we missed out.  Every country believes its the center of the world or the greatest place, and the Greeks are no different, they even tried to prove it :) We had a great day and I can honestly say we learned a lot. The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi extends over a series of terraces in the foothills of Mount Parnassos, between two enormous rocks, called the Phaidriades. For many centuries it was the religious and spiritual center of the ancient Greek world. According to tradition Delphi is the geographical center of the world, the omphalos ("navel"), the meeting point of the two eagles dispatched by Zeus from the ends of the universe to find the center of the world. The tour was fantastic! You have to Google more or go there yourself to find out more... I think we will do more tours in the future.

With the tour finished we set out to do the parts of the day I wanted... a soak in a bath and a message. I was in for a little more! The hotel was beautiful and the message was fantastic. The girl also gave me a facial. I was finally getting relaxed. Next it was a soak in the tub .. Boat life is great.. and when the water is 85 ... we have the biggest bath tub... and while the air temperature has not dropped off to much the water temperature is no longer the bath tub we came to love in Spain. 

It's off season here in Greece so for this hotel it was between seasons as they ski close by in the mountains. The hotel dinning room was closed so we headed back to town for dinner. As the picture shows, we had the place to ourselves. The food was great. We ordered steak and rabbit. Yes the fury pet ... The steak was the biggest I'd every seen. I think they could feed a small island with it. There was no way we were going to finish it. The rabbit was a sweeter version of chicken. It's not uncommon to get a free dessert. It's not unusually sweet but this was quite nice. Pear and honey. Joseph ate his... but I was full! Then we headed back to the hotel. We had great internet so I was able to skype with the Jacobis and the Memphis Kranzs and of course my birthday buddy..MOM! I also listened the Red Sox on the computer...Go SOX!!!

the view from our hotel...soccer fields!

We had been told about a monastery  that was worth a stop on the way back to Itea. So that was the plan for the morning. I forgot to mention earlier that on arriving at the hotel we were greeted but the lawn mower. Yes it's a donkey! The hotels owner's father keeps his donkeys on a piece of unused land beside the hotel. I tried to pet one... but he didn't seem too friendly.

Sun set from the hotel room

 

In the morning we headed for the monastery. It was a 30 minute drive... we knew we had the right place when we saw the tour buses. We were told that we could probable just join a tour. But we figured this wasn't going to work here as it was a Japanese tour :)... I think we might have stood out.

The place was beautiful. It was in tack as the pictures show. 

beautiful alter...

The strangest sight was a casket of the saint that founded the place. The body and in this case the hand was clearly visible. WILD!

 We were told that the route home would bring us over the mountains and the views might be amazing. Itea is the picture... the picture doesn't give the true magnitude of the mountains. 

 

In the morning it was on to Corinth, the town at the head of the canal...