Romance on a boat ?

My parents and I had been traveling around Europe for almost six months when we decided to go to Greece. Since we were in Italy, we planned to take an enchanting cruise ship from Bologna to Patras. The name of the ship was “Saronic Star”.

We were a group of forty-three people out of whom I was the youngest by far. Since most of the couples on the trip had left their kids behind, they all treated me as if I were their own daughter. I had like twenty fathers and mothers, which was, sometimes, really inconvenient. Back in Florence, we had celebrated Mother’s Day and I had given each of the moms some roses and a handkerchief.

My mother had bought a doll back in Venice and, when we were leaving from Bologna, Italy, she asked me to tell the tourist guide, Aldo, that the doll was mine. That way, he would take care of it. Aldo literally hated my mother because she hated him. They disliked each other more than severely but when my mother needed a favor from him, she used me to do so. Aldo was Italian, he had a pair of emerald eyes, and his skin was tanned. He liked me a lot and wanted to have sex with me; however, I didn’t give in. Aldo was forty-five years old and I was only twenty-one. Actually he had a daughter who was older than me and whom we met in Genoa.

We finally left Bologna toward Patras in Greece. The voyage was absolutely beautiful, we were leaving the Adriatic Sea to enter the Aegean Sea. The color of the water was unique. Turquoise, light greens and blues, they changed according to the depth. It was paradise and the sea seemed to welcome us through its gorgeous resources. We would later see the Corinth Canal where the waters from both seas get together. I was astounded, it was one of the most awesome views I had ever seen.

Once we arrived in Patras, we went straight to Athens. Old stunning Athens! The museums, the Parthenon, the Epidaurus, the graves of the gods, the catacombs and so much more to see and visit. One night, we went to a tavern located in the neighborhood of Plaka, where you can dance Zorba and taste Greek cuisine. The guys were wearing skirts such as I had seen them in Athens when the Greek soldiers displayed themselves while changing guard.

Of course, the first time I saw these almost seven-foot tall men bouncing their skirts during the event, I started laughing so badly that my Dad had to tell me to go away. We, youngsters, sometimes do silly things.

We also visited some of the Greek islands, such as Santorini, Mykonos, and Hydra among others. The Greek were kind, most of them didn’t speak English very well at that time but they made themselves understood not only through gestures but through their hands. They had told us to be careful of them because men like touching women very much. And guess what? It was true. I had not had any personal experience until then but some of the ladies had experienced some embarrassing moments.

Regrettably, the time came for us to leave Greece and we took the same cruise ship to go back to Italy. During the voyage, there were several celebrations on the ship. Most men were dancing Zorba – which is generally a dance for men – and one of them caught my attention. His name was Spiro, he was one of the officers of the ship, he was tall, handsome and a little arrogant, but he had a nice figure and a manly face. I realized he was staring at me and, out of the blue, he came toward me and invited me to dance. There were lots of people dancing and so were we. However, at a certain moment, he asked me if I wanted to go for a walk around the ship, and, I ingeniously, accepted.

When we got out of the ball, the ship started to look like a maze. I didn’t know where I was or where to go next, but as he was the guide, I felt quite at ease.

The day was absolutely beautiful, and the sides of that maze looked all the same dressed in white. Suddenly, Spiro asked me if I wanted to visit his room to which I said no. He insisted and became aggressive, but I kept on refusing. At a point, I realized that it was turning a little dark and that he wanted to have somebody to spend the night with so as to not waste any time for a romance.

I started to speak loudly while he tried to push me in. I began to scream and told him that I was with 43 people and, that if I didn’t return to the dancing room immediately, they would start looking for me all over the boat. He got even more agitated, but, since I was almost shouting, he didn’t have any other alternative but to help go back to where everybody was. I felt really bad about it, but I didn’t say a word. There was a divorced lady in the group, and he tried to seduce her as well, probably thinking that, due to her marital status, she would accept the proposal, however, she also refused and therefore, he had to spend that night alone.

What it had started like something fun, turned to be almost a nightmare.

Now, almost forty years later, I’m still proud of myself for not accepting his stupid proposal which had sounded more like an order to me. Obviously, he was used to seduce women easily, otherwise, he would have not reacted in such a way.

I have returned to Europe several times and visited many countries, but that first trip has remained in my mind forever. I was young, gracious, beautiful, naive… and, I had no competition among the other women. I had a blast, it was wonderful!