Day 326, In the Ionian Sea, on our way to Patras, Greece
We slept soundly until the 4:30 wake up call for the first port. A purser opened our door to confirm that we were going to the only other stop, since few people stayed on until then. He opened the door and yelled in, “Patras? Patras?” Took me a minute to realize what was going on. We weren’t sure if he was calling for our stop, so Paul went down to the reception desk just to make sure. 
This morning we got up to find the boat almost deserted. All the trucks are gone and there are maybe 15 of us still on board for Patras. We ate breakfast in an empty restaurant. With no wifi, the girls decided to go back to sleep, and easily slept until the afternoon. If teens have no wifi to wake up for and have a dark room, I think they could sleep for days.
The boat docks at 2pm in Patras. From there we don’t know where we are going since we haven’t booked a place to stay in Greece. It’s not that Paul hasn’t been working on it, it’s just that some options we were looking at became unavailable, more options also become available last minute, and we are waiting to have wifi to continue booking conversations about the wifi. Everything is wifi driven, the actual booking and where we book. This is the closest we’ve ever cut it, not having a place booked for the same evening. And yet, none of us are worried about it. We knew we’d figure it out once we got connected again.
Here was our executive breakfast. 
At the port we went to the terminal and got a little wifi enough to figure out where we’d lay our heads, sort of. We booked our next apartment for a week, but only starting tomorrow night. Tonight we’ll grab a hotel.
We were all pretty hungry and couldn’t find a restaurant open in the off hours between 3 and 7 pm, so we went to a grocery store and got picnic supplies. I’ve been in Greece, but this was the first time for Paul and the girls. We love exploring grocery stores in new places, especially the fruit and chocolate sections. Next we went to a little park across the street and watched a few fishermen, ate our sandwiches and Greek pickles, and looked at the beautiful water, which is very green in contrast to the blue grey mountains.
We pointed the car down the coast, toward Corinth, a few hours away. Because the road was often elevated, we had a fantastic view to go with our driver. The town we are staying in is called Loutraki, and it just past Corinth. We chose Loutraki because it’s a smaller town on a stunning bay, with a boardwalk, plenty of restaurants and night life (should we ever need a dose). We like the mix of staying in smaller towns as well as major cities. The online photos didn’t lie. Loutraki is on the Gulf of Corinth and has one of the most beautiful bays I’ve ever seen, with the Geraneian mountains spill into the large swaths of turquoise colored water. Once again, Paul knocked it out of the park.
Once in town, we went a restaurant that was half your grandma’s kitchen, and half a place to sit and eat her cooking. You could watch three generations of women in the making your meal. Comfort food in a comfy setting. Even more endearing, the wifi was sweet so we hung around for as long as what seemed reasonable. One of the owners named Angel, came and talked to us about all the highlights of the area. The name fit her. She was so kind and helpful, telling us things about the town and surrounding area. There are friendly people everywhere in the world who have a gift of making you feel like you’re family. It’s a rare and wonderful gift, especially if you’ve been away from family for a while. What I loved about her restaurant was that the large open kitchen and how you felt you were a part of what was happening in the kitchen. Reminded me of all the parties we had in Canada, and how everyone stays in the kitchen because that’s where the house’s heartbeat lives. So cliche, so true. Somehow Angel knew this, and half of her restaurant is the kitchen so you feel like you’re family. We’ll be back for more of that vibe.
So this is what an authentic Greek salad looks like. They don’t scrimp on the feta here. I’d already eaten half of it off the top.
We stayed in a local hotel for the night, since the house will be ready the next day. This hotel was an adorable family run place. There were orange cones in the parking space directly in front, which they removed to let us park. Our room was on the top floor and came with a large bowl of fresh fruit. The oranges, which looked a little sad on the outside, were the sweetest, most delicious oranges we’ve ever eaten anywhere. The next day Paul went in search of the market and vendor of the amazing oranges, and on the second try, found them. Will never forget those oranges.
Our room was on the roof, because that was the only large room that could fit a family of four. We had a little roof balcony, and could see down to the street. As is often our amazing luck, the day we landed in town, we stumbled on a local event. Below, a crowd was gathering. It’s Good Friday. We had come into town just in time to see a processional in the streets. They called it a parade, but I’d describe it more as a religious processional. I’ve never been above a parade before, always at eye level. It was beautiful watching all the people floating through the streets with candles, singing.
We went down to the street to watch the Mass which was held in the town square. There were hundreds of people dressed in their Easter best. 
I’m glad we are only getting into our house tomorrow night. Otherwise we would have missed the aerial view of this religious event. Everything always seems to work out for the best. Difficult to believe we woke up at 4:30 am on a ship in the Ionian Sea, and are falling asleep in Loutraki, Greece to the sounds of singing in the streets. What a day.