Morning arrival at Monemvasia
After a very hectic day in Piraeus it was a pleasure to wake this morning and look out of the bridge window to see this sight.
Monemvasia is a small town on the east of the Peloponnese peninsulas in the Laconia region of Greece. It lies on a small island linked to the mainland by a causeway. On top of the island is an old medieval fortress founded in 583. It is also the first port of call on this cruise to Venice. Incidentally, in 2005 I was anchored here on the Minerva 2, the ship I was on before I joined Seabourn. Beside me was anchored Seabourn Pride. I remember looking across at her and thinking what a pretty little ship she was. I did not know then that I would go on to command her when I joined Seabourn.
The old fortress lies atop the cliffs on the island centre right above the old walled town.
As you can tell from the photo the water was calm and the sky was blue. This was most fortunate for today was also marina day when we got the toys out of the stern of the ship. The Staff Captain Kai and I took a wander down to watch the Bosun and his men rigging the marina. It is tough doing this. The last time I sat on a marina toy with Kai was in the marina on Seabourn Pride where I was giving him some ship handling tips on a pedalo.
I know its tough. But somebody has to supervise.
At the end of a successful day we packed it all away. The guests were all back onboard by 16:30 and not a moment too soon. For the wind picked up quickly from the WSW to 30 knots. It was a windy night as we passed along the southern tip of the Peloponnese peninsulas to enter the Southern Ionian sea. Mind you, not enough to disturb our wonderful welcome gala dinner down in the restaurant.