After an early morning pickup by Mr young Greek taxi driver we were off to the port of Piraeus which is about 25 minutes from the centre of Athens. We boarded efficiently with the compulsory welcome photo, and settled in. The ship didn't seem to be crowded and we learnt that there were only 700 odd passengers on a ship which could host 1460. This would make for a very pleasant cruise.
As this was going to be our final relax before heading home we were determined not to commit to too many shore excursions.
So with first stop Mykonos, we passed on the excursion, instead making our own way to a local beach (15 mins walk) and swam for the first time in the Aegean Sea. Gorgeous! The water is blue, really blue, and so clear. It was stunning! (another wow! moment). It was warm and quite salty and we floated easily as if we were lying on air beds. And it was calm. In fact the Mediterranean is apparently like a mill pond most of the year except in winter. We couldn't resist going in a number of times. And to the amazement of the locals, Kim dived under and swam (local women don't put their heads under - presumably to not wet the hair or ruin the makeup).
After a couple of hours, Bill reluctantly left to return to the ship and we departed for an overnight sail to Kusadasi in Turkey (about 99 miles - another reminder of the comparatively small distances in Europe compared to Australia).