Day Seven: Cruising to Patmos

We had a later wakeup call  and a more relaxing morning that usual on our last day in Turkey.  We were the last EF group to leave the hotel so we could take our time getting ready for our next adventure, cruising the Greek Islands.  We said farewell to Suleyman, our fabulous guide in Turkey. He was a fabulous guide and we learned so much about Turkey in a few short days.

 It was a short drive to the port where we were met by Carol, our new Tour Director.  Carol travelled with us for the rest of our tour.  We dropped off our luggage and boarded the ship.  Our group was very lucky because all of the students were given twin accommodations instead of four to a room.  That would have been very cramped quarters for a couple of days!!  Our rooms were on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th deck.  We went to our rooms to grab our life preservers and then headed to the Lounge for the safety meeting.  then we headed to the Dining Room on the 4th deck for lunch.  There was a beautiful buffet lunch with so many choices.  While we ate Carol looked after paper work for our group such as our beverage plans, optional tours and other details.  She had also arranged for a birthday cake for Jon and we all sang "Happy Birthday" and then Carol sang to him in Greek!

Our  cruise ship, the Olympia

Happy Birthday

By the time we were finished lunch our luggage had been delivered.  Many of our group went up on deck and enjoyed the view,  explored the ship, ate ice cream, had a nap and visited until we arrived at Patmos at 4:00 PM. The ship could not anchor in the port so we had to take a tender boat to the island.  Since everyone was getting off at the same time we had to wait our turn. In the meantime, we met on the 7th deck for tea and cake and waited to be called to disembark.  There was a variety of cakes, cookies and scones along with tea, coffee and other beverages.  Certainly enough to tide us over until dinner!!!

We boarded the tender and headed for  our first stop Patmos, one of the Dodecanese Islands.  First we went to visit the Cave of the Apocalypse.  It was a steep climb about halfway up the mountain.  Some of us went into the cave where it is believed that John wrote his Book of Revelations.  We could see the Monastery of St. John at the top of the mountain.  On our way down we stopped for a group photo. We had a bit of free time for shopping and some of our group stopped for ice cream and to check their email.

Up the mountain we go

A view from the top

Windmills

Monastery of St. John

Ice cream and email

Preparations for the Easter Vigil

A very happy group

We headed back to the ship and got ready for dinner.  Most of the students decided to have dinner at the buffet on the 9th deck, while most of the adults had dinner in the dining room.  There were many items to choose from and all of them were delicious.

At 10:00 we boarded the tender boat again and went back to Patmos for the Easter Vigil.  We were very lucky that the Greek Orthodox church was celebrating Easter at the same time as us so that we could take part in the service. Carol handed out white candles to all of our group and we made our way to a small church in a square nearby.  We arrived early enough to find a spot and many of our group quietly went to see the inside of the church.  Just before midnight the priest and two others came outside and stood on a platform.  A flame was passed from person to person and the priest called out "Christos Anesti" and everyone else joined in.  The church bells began to ring and there was lots of fireworks.  It was a wonderful experience and we are so fortunate we could be a part of it.  With our candles still lit, we made our way back to the dock. 

The priest outside the church

Lighting our candles

"Christos Anesti"

When we arrived back on the ship Carol told us that the Greek people would be gathering for a midnight meal.  There would be Easter bread called Tsoureki and dyed red eggs which represent the blood of Christ and the rebirth.  The Greek people also enjoy Mayiritsa, which is a lemon lamb soup eaten at the midnight meal.  When we were walking near the cave earlier in the day, Carol and her daughter Victoria commented that they could smell the soup cooking nearby.  A few of us went to the dining room to see the food but we were all too full from dinner to sample the food.