Pandemic Diaries - Mediterranean Cruise - Katakolo, Greece

26 October 2022 – Kalakolo, Greece

 

Our day started with the crew participating in emergency drills that included taking various lifeboats down and back up.  I knew our “view” was between two lifeboats, but I somehow forgot about the winches, rolls of cable, all the mechanical parts that raise and lower the lifeboats.  So, that’s our real view, lots of sunlight coming in the huge windows the size of sliding glass doors, but a close up of the lifeboats and related mechanisms.  Oh well, it’s quiet other than the occasional drill day when things whiz and whir and move about.  And in an emergency, we could break the window and climb out into a lifeboat if necessary.

 

We have no idea if today’s drills are at all related to yesterday’s person overboard, and the difficulty getting him out of the water.  Drills are run frequently, and we’ve heard the bells and announcements involved previously.  But it does make me wonder.

 

Anyway, on to today’s port call!!!  My family lived in Greece the year I was 19, so I was looking forward to spending a day in this small town, just to practice the several phrases I remember, and have authentic Greek food.  Plus enjoy the sunshine and just being somewhere on the Mediterranean.

 

I waited until late morning, packed up what I needed for the day, and disembarked.  It was a gorgeous sunny day with skies as bright blue as the Greek flag, and calm seas in this very small port.

Katakolo turned out to be a very small town, located on the northwestern corner of the Peloponnesus, that lower half of Greece that really is a giant peninsula.  Apparently Katakolo is the port town closest to Olympia, the big tourist town in this region.  I’ve been to Olympia, so chose to skip that and stick with wandering around this small town that is new to me.

 

Katakolo seems to have three main streets running parallel the length of the town, curving a bit around the bay.  These three streets are maybe ten or so blocks long.  Most of the ground floor places along the waterfront are either shops or eateries.  On the next street in, again, ground floor shops and a few cafés thrown in.  I didn’t make it to the third street.

 

But it seemed that the upper floors (usually just one upper floor, maybe two in rare cases) might be residences.  And the cross-streets seemed to be primarily residential as well.

 

It was a cute little town, with colorful boats bobbing in the water along the waterfront.  There was a wide cement walkway, the perfect spot for evening walks before choosing a restaurant for drinks and the sunset, or maybe for a dinner with friends. 

 

I practiced my little bit of Greek, and got a lot of smiles.  I was able to say good morning to the port guard, who was very happy with my polite “kali merasas.”  I managed to buy postcards and stamps, and found a waterfront café with Wi-Fi.  So I sat down to check that our ballots were accepted by our county, and they were.  (We vote as “overseas” voters, which is the perfect solution for full-time travelers.  YAY for Washington state!)

 

Once the café opened for lunch, I ordered mezzes (pronounced ME-tzez).  Greek for appetizers, though many Mediterranean countries also use the word.  I had spanakopita, the Greek feta and spinach pies.  Sometimes these are little folded triangles, sometimes this is baked in one huge pan and a square is cut out for each serving.  Here, I had little folded half moons, like large pot stickers.  Really tasty spanakopita!  I also ordered korokethia, which is fried zucchini, usually served with tzatziki, that yummy garlicky Greek yogurt.  Here, the korokethia was shredded zucchini in a little batter, then fried, so it was more like zucchini fritters.  Really wonderful with tzatziki!!! 

 

I finished with a cup of Greek coffee, which is called Turkiko café – Turkish coffee.  The proper way to make this is to put the grounds in a special brass or copper pot, and add water.  Put this on a burner and let it boil away for a while.  Add a lot of sugar, mix well, and serve.  It’s supposed to be super thick and sweet, though I asked for medium sweet.  (Even medium sweet is super sweet!)  And after drinking the coffee, there should be a good quarter to half inch of sludge on the bottom of the cup.  Those are the coffee grounds, which settle out of the coffee and need to be avoided with those last few sips.

 

I really wanted a bite of dessert, and my favorite Greek dessert is galaktobouriko – think baklava with a thick layer of custard in the middle and less phyllo dough.  I asked at my lunch café, and no, they didn’t have that.  The waiter told me it’s his favorite, but it doesn’t keep well so they rarely carry it.  So that became my quest for the next while – I walked to each and every waterfront café as well as the places on the inland main street, and everyone had the same exact story.  That galaktobouriko is also their favorite dessert.  That they don’t have it because it needs to be eaten the day it’s made, because it doesn’t keep overnight.  One man even told me that his wife makes really good galaktobouriko, and it’s his favorite too.  I had to laugh – I finally told him that it seems to be the favorite of everyone in town, so his wife should make some when the cruise comes in.  Tourists could buy some, then he could take the rest home and eat all the leftovers before the next day.

 

So no, I never did find galaktobouriko.  But I checked the menu for Richard, and our cruise ship is serving this tonight as a special Greek dessert, so I might just have to get some!

 

Several people asked me if I was Greek, since I knew this less-famous dessert and spoke a little Greek.  (I look very non-Greek with my blue hazel eyes and fair skin.)  I tried explaining (in Greek) that my family lived in Greece for a year, 50 years ago.  Numbers are often a problem for me in foreign languages – one man laughed at me, because I said I lived in Greece 500 years ago.  I laughed and said no, I’m not that old – I meant fifty.  He thought that was too large a number, but I assured him in English that it was correct.

 

Eventually I ran out of things to do in town, since I really don’t need more clothing, nor knickknacks for our non-existent house.  Back to the ship for photo editing and blog writing.

 

The captain just blew our ship’s horn, so that means we’re ready to set sail.  We’ll cruise across the Ionian Sea, as wine dark as Homer described in his writing thousands of years ago.  Tomorrow is a sea day as we cross the Ionian, then pass the foot portion of the Italian “boot,” rounding the “toe” and heading north along Italy’s west coast.  Our next stop will be Naples, so new adventures and more wonderful Italian food!!!

 

Later that night – For dinner, I headed to the dining room as usual, it’s just easier and safer with my food allergies.  It turned out that the buffet dining area was featuring Greek food, including galaktobouriko for dessert – but it wasn’t available in other areas of the ship.  However, the dessert on the dining room menu that I had selected turned out to be an error, and it wasn’t available.  So I nicely asked, and the servers very kindly sent someone up to the buffet to get a portion of galaktobouriko for me!!!  I thanked them profusely, of course!  It turned out to be a very large portion, so I was able to share it with the other people at my table.  After telling them about my galaktobouriko quest in Katakolo, because the need for this special dessert didn’t make sense otherwise.

 

It was funny, but one of those moments of “OMG this is SO delicious” as I enjoyed my little Greek treat!  And vaguely Shakespearean, as “all’s well that ends well.”