Today after breakfast in La Grande Bistro (Captain’s Club) we set out on our own for a walk around Katakolon. Going into Olympia for the sites of the original Olympics sounded good until I remembered that I will be here again in the Spring. That time with Viking. If it is not part of the included tour, I can so an optional tour then and probably for way less than Celebrity seems to be charging even just for a ride into town.
The tiny fishing village is a cruise stop just because of the access to sporting history. Carol and I pretty much covered the whole town in about 2 hours. Along the shore there was a park with a nice playground for the children and a parking lot. We did have good views of the ship up close and personal so to speak.
Facing the sea were several small restaurants with local people having coffees at the sidewalk tables. Most of the cafes did not have but one or two inside tables. There was a bakery where it seemed local people were buying bread.
The first street had shops. Our only stop was at a jeweler. He seemed to have nice things I might want to buy for Maddie, but he didn’t have what I was looking for. When I said he was from Atlanta he showed me the Olympic Torch he carried there! He had pictures with the President and mayor. And lots of photos on a back wall. Carol admired a bracelet. His cousin offered her a discount as it was the end of the cruise season. I believe it was genuine and that they made it at their workbenches in the back room.
Every shop had the owner or salesperson on the sidewalk inviting you inside and dropping prices as you walked away. We went into a larger more commercial and more expensive jewelry store and looked at chess sets. Christian was not going to end up with one of those for sure!
We walked through the park and up about five blocks until the sidewalk ended on both sides of the street. A few small homes were here and more boats that might be owned by families. Walking back on the other side of the street climbed up to a very pretty, little but locked church. The steps, the walls, the bell tower were all marble!
There was a small museum of technology. As that street veered a little to the right a new block became reachable. Carol continued up the hill to see if there were homes or a good viewpoint. I went straighter and found myself just on the other side of where we first walked! I did go in and look at some olive wood chess sets and bowls but bought nothing. The olive wood bowls reminded me of the Monkeypod ones we bought and impressed company with at home when returning from Hawaii! I think maybe Karen still has some of my old ones, but I knew none of us need more stuff to use once in a while.
I saw Carol at the far end of the block, and we crossed back to the first jeweler’s shop. Carol bought that first bracelet that she saw with tiny Evil Eyes in all different colors placed nicely along a soft silver chain.
We walked the two short, roughly paved blocks back to the ship. Took more pictures of it. Had a leisurely lunch visiting with new friends we have met. Some afternoon Trivia before the All Aboard at 3:00. Very early but no reason not to be!
Dinner was delicious in the Tuscan restaurant but not at all traditional. The Beef Short Rib Pappardelle with a Cognac Crem Sauce was really good and preceded by the free Shrimp Cocktail! Desert was oddly out of place as a fruit topped Crème Brulé! But delicious.
The evening entertainment at 7:30 was Charity Lockhart Redux. I thought it would be a repeat of the first show so wandered around exploring the ship while Carol enjoyed Gospel Music! Had I known I would have gone because I like Gospel. As a side note, I especially like to listen to the Elvis Station on Sirius XM on Sunday mornings when they play his Gospel songs. Elvis really just wanted to be a Gospel singer to please his Mom!
We met up after for a cup of tea, always my bedtime takeaway and a treat. This time at al Bacio so we could listen to the music of the Grand Plaza for a while before retreating to the cabin for an early stop at the highlight of Athens tomorrow!
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