Today is our leisure day. Nothing has been planned. Alarms weren’t set. It’s a day for relaxation. Tonight we had a time change which made sleeping in feel even more dramatic. We almost missed the breakfast buffet which ends at 10am.
I discovered that there is a smoothie bar onboard and today I ordered the Energizer. The waiter asked if I wanted the shot or the smoothie. I said the smoothie. The sign for the Energizer showed a drink with carrot, ginger, pineapple, and orange. My smoothie came out and it was purple. The waiter’s question made more sense once I realized there is also an Energy smoothie. Energy is a mixed berry smoothie and the Energizer is a shot of fresh juice. So I had both and they were both fantastic.
We gathered our belongings and walked off the ship. It was about a five minute walk to the terminal and then buses arranged by the cruise line were available to take us into old town.
We were dropped off in front of the old fort. There was a long line to enter so we continued around town. We walked through old town where there is a lot of shopping. Surprisingly, I think there is more shopping here than in Venice. There are also several cafes and restaurants. The temperature is climbing and finally feels like vacation weather. It’s time to jump in the water!
The landscape here doesn’t have many beaches, and the coastline is mostly cliffs. We do spot people swimming and make it our mission to find that place. It’s a little tricky to get to because you have to go down this somewhat hidden driveway. We find the “beach” and now it’s time to change into our swimwear.
The one thing I don’t like about Europe is the 1€ charge for the toilet. It means you need change and you can’t get change from the bank ahead of time so it seems like a constant struggle to have enough coins. I try to avoid paying this on principle. Instead we go to a beautiful Greek cafe and order 22€ of drinks and snacks so we can use the bathroom for “free.”
Our chosen cafe sits along the water’s edge and we sit down at a table with a beautiful view. Corfu, Greece is known for their kumquats and I see a drink that says kumquat. I order it. Brian goes for a banana milkshake and a coke. My kumquat drink is soda and it’s really good! It’s so good that wasps start to surround us. Our relaxing cafe experience isn’t as relaxing anymore. I also order some feta with pita bread which was absolutely amazing. The wasps love this too. We eat and drink quickly to hopefully get the wasps to go away. We then use our “free” bathroom to change into swimwear.
The concrete beach is surprisingly welcoming. We find a spot for our towels and Brian prepares to spend as much as I can handle basking in the sun. I setup my towel and prepare to enter the sea.
There are a few ways to enter the sea and I’m debating between them. I go to the closest entrance where this is a pool ladder into the water. It’s covered in algae and from it I can see there are normal steps on the other side. I walk towards the normal steps and realize that I can’t access them without going back up and around the restaurant. It’s a bit of a journey. Back to the ladder. Brian tells me there are another set of steps so I check those out. These steps are great, but they don’t actually go into the water. You have to jump in from the last step. I stand at the edge and look at the water. It seems too shallow to jump. You’d land on the rocks and it looks painful. I wait to see how others handle this. Everyone does a shallow dive. I’m wearing my prescription sunglasses so that’s not really an option. I end up going back to the ladder.
The water is so refreshing. The coolness feels amazing and the best part is the salt content. There is so much salt that you don’t really have to tread water. I swim out and float. The water is crystal clear when you look at it from above, but it’s hard to see through when you’re actually swimming. I’m sure if I stuck my head underwater I could see, but I don’t do that. Eventually I make my way back to the ladder and wait for it to clear to climb out. The water is shallow enough to touch the bottom near the ladder. I stand on some rocks and feel a crab nip at my foot. I shake it away and pretend it didn’t happen. I’m having flashbacks of my Puerto Vallarta experience. I tell myself it’s not a crab. It happens again and I climb out quickly. No thank you. Brian goes in later and the crab pays him a visit as well.
We finish at the “beach” and head back to the ship. We can take the bus back, but we decide to walk. It ends up being a bit of a journey that takes us an hour. We’re along the coast the whole time so the views are great.
Tonight is the White Night and at 4pm the crew begins transforming the deck. The pool chairs are put away and dining tables put in their place. I move to deck 10 to relax on one of the few loungers left. White night starts at 6:30pm so at 5:30pm I walk back to the cabin to get ready. We arrive to White Night at 6:35pm and we are clearly late to the party. The tables are all full. We walk around trying to find a spot. No such luck. We ask a gentleman who is at a table of 6 by himself if any of the chairs are open. He says that his friends aren’t responding and that we can sit at two of the chairs. Phew, we have a spot!
This cruise is filled with the most interesting people. Everyone has a story to tell and almost everyone is very well traveled. We’re sitting with a table of people from Australia. The one man asks us where we’re from and we say Ohio in the US. He pauses and says. I’ve been there. He continues to tell us a story about visiting the US while he was studying in Canada. He said it was 60 years ago and he was in New York. He finds out that American car manufacturers have a program you can signup for to deliver cars. He rings a company in Detroit for details and sure enough a $100 cash deposit gets you a brand new Chevrolet to drive and deliver. The car he gets needs to go to Washington and he has three weeks to take it there. Sounds like a good deal!
The Crew has gone above and beyond for white night. The food spread is unbelievable. My plate gets lamb chops, flank steak, and vegetables. Brian has a bunch of fish and lobster on this plate. They also have a fruit table with a chef who freshly cuts whatever fruit you want. I have mango, star fruit, and kumquat. The kumquat is so flavorful. There is live music during the event and servers coming around frequently for drinks. Drinks are included with Azamara which has been really nice. It was a wonderful evening and we even stayed up past 10pm!
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