Today was an exciting day... we were to have an all-day Mediterranean boat cruise! Five people from our group opted to take a three-day cruise instead, and left our group early. The remaining 11 of us climbed on a beautiful two-level boat and headed off for eight hours of sailing.
The boat made four swimming stops in different coves. We were given about 45 minutes at each stop to swim and explore. The boat had a small hose with fresh water, so we could rinse off the sticky salt water after each swim. The upper deck, where we stayed, had a floor of mats to sunbathe on. I promptly fell asleep in the sun, enjoying the sensation of the boat rocking in the wind. We had lunch on the boat as well. I had sea bass, salad, bread, and spaghetti. Ian had trout. The meal was very good, althought the fish hadn't been filleted, so the heads and tails were still attached. I think the fish were caught that morning right from the sea.
At one point we asked Davut if there were sharks in the water. He grinned and said "Yes there are sharks. Friendly sharks. They like us, we like them." Luckily we saw no sharks, friendly or otherwise.
One of the swim stops we had was called Cleopatra's Cove. There was an old stone building, now in ruins, right in the green-blue waters of the sea. The roof had long since decayed, but the walls and sunken pillars were still there. We were told Cleopatra came here to swim (it seems like we are visiting many place made famous by Cleopatra...) The water was so salty that you couldn't really kick your legs and move your arms when treading water, otherwise you would stick out of the water too far. Kicking slowly was more than enough to keep me afloat. It was fun...no life jackets needed for anyone! I think one would have to try very hard to drown in this water!
Towards the end of the trip Ian and I bought drinks for happy hour. I bought us both gin and tonics, then watched as the bartender poured the glass (empty- no ice) about two-thirds full of gin, then added a small bit of tonic. She informed me that in many places the bar will charge for the gin and tonic seperately, making mixed drinks more expensive. She gave me a happy hour discount (which was rather good, seeing as she practically poured half her bottle of gin in our two cups). The cocktail was hard to drink!
We were tired after sitting and enjoying the sun all day, and were happy to get back to our hotel.
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