Ithaca Arrival - Following in the Footsteps of Odysseus

 

The busy port of Vathy, Ithaca

Sunday, July 10 - Trip Day 11

Our port location today is on the island of Ithaca - home of Homer's grand and complex hero Odysseus. We approached the capital, Vathy, from the north east, heading deep into the bay that serves as the port.  Vathy has been the capital of Ithaca since the 16th century, built around the natural amphitheater formed by the surrounding mountains, which forms a secure port.

We anchored near the small island in the port, known as the Lazaretto.  Remembering from earlier ports, the Lazaretto was originally the place where travelers were supposed to wait in quarantine for 40 days before being able to enter a city.

Approaching the port of Vathy - the small Lazaretto island in front of the town

Motoring into the port of Vathy and preparing to anchor:

Ithaca is a long island in Greece's Ionian Sea.   It is composed of two large mountain masses, connected by a thin isthmus of land.  Immediately west is the island of Kefalonia, where my friends Pauline and John have a villa.  Pauline and John were at their place while we were traveling through, but circumstances of the tour didn't allow us to get together.  Next time!

Blue dot shows our Sea Cloud anchor location in the bay by Vathy

Houses dot the shoreline at Vathy

We will travel the high road (white line) to visit a Greek Orthodox monastery at the very top

We're old hands at traveling in the Zodiac now - heading into port

View of the Sea Cloud anchored at Vathy, looking back from our Zodiac

At Vathy's harbor, we met our two Greek guides that would travel with us on the Sea Cloud for the rest of our trip:  Laura and Effie.  The town of Vathy has lots of restaurants and shops along the shoreline, and a number of statues and representations of Odysseus, including a larger than life statue at the port's quay.  We would be speaking a great deal about Odysseus for the next few days.

Harbor quay at Vathy

Larger than life statue of Odysseus