Bicycle Tour of Peloponnese, Greece,
From Korinth to Olympia
September/October, 2018
Day 7
We went to the Seaside Port of Killini to take the Ferry Ship to the Greek Island
of Zakynthos.
However, the Winds and Big Waves from an emerging Hurricane caused the Ferry Ship
to Cancel.
We had Waited at the port for 4 Hours and then our Group Returned to the Poseidon Palace Hotel at Patras.
Above Left: A view through a crystal ball in the lobby of the Poseidon Palace Hotel.
Above Right: Our Ferry Ship was on standby waiting for the deeper ocean water waves to subside (it turned out that our ferry ride was not going to depart for two days). The nearest two guys are Don and Craig who are walking to our bike tour group and our bikes.
Nearly as I can tell, the ship's name is PEIRAIAS which is a port city located in Attica, Greece. Attica, or the Attic Peninsula, is a region that encompasses the city of Athens, it is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Sea. The other name on the shipside is an island, for which the ship line is named in English dot-com which translates to Kefalonia/Cephalonia/Kefallinia/Kephallenia.
Above Left: Ron's facial expression captures the moment, we don't know if we are going to go or not and we don't know whether to finish unloading the bikes or not. That is the Bee on the roof of the van.
Ron is a Tour Guide for Classic Adventures (the same company managing this tour) and leads the Crete Island Tour, but for our tour, Ron is another Bike Tourer.
Above Right: Another view of our Ferry Ship, the Peiraias. We are located in a protected port, so we cannot actually see how rough it is out there.
Above Left: That is the Port Authority's office.
Above Right: We found a Café and started sharing travel stories. We really made a good time of it, Chairetismós!
L-R, that is my hand, Greg’s hand, Linda, Don, Linda, Sharon, and Craig’s hand.
Above Left: Retsina - Retsina is the name of a wine whose reputation goes back to the Greek's ancient shipping days of transporting wine in sap/resin lined amphora jugs. The resin lining kept the ceramic wine jugs waterproof and leakproof. Many of the sailors developed a taste for the sap lined wines.
To me, Retsina tastes like Turpentine, but I can honestly say that I have tried it.
Above Right: Somebody had a nice party.
Above Left: Our restaurant, bar, and holding area. That is a rib from a whale hanging on the ceiling, the wind has disturbed the blue and white Greek flagging display.
Above: The Ionian Sea, our local water has an island across the way to reduce the severity of rough waves.
A Map of Zakynthos Island and It's Most Well-Known View, Shipwreck Beach
Above: This is where we were supposed to go via the ship ferry, unfortunately the Mediterranean wind and waves were too rough for safe travel, so our group leaders, wisely, re-booked another night at the Poseidon Palace Hotel back in Patras.
That evening, while watching the news, did we learn of the Mediterranean Storm, it was called a Medicane, which is an acronym for Mediterranean Hurricane.
Summary
We did not get to go to the island of Zakynthos, which was only a teeny disappointment. Our leaders made a very good ad-hoc decision to re-stay at the Poseidon Palace Hotel. The change, of course, interfered with the Tour Company's plans and pre-booked reservations on Zakynthos Island. Everyone felt sympathy for all of the added work load on the Tour Group's Leaders/Guides (they really did a good job of managing it).
On the following day, we would wait to see if the Ferry Ship could take our group to Zakynthos for a day trip, but it was not to be. I have to say that amongst the members of our riding group there was not a single complaint, we all understood the environment around us and no one wanted to experience a rocking boat in turbulent ocean waters.
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