Overnight ferry to Athens

When we took a Blue Star ferry from the Åland Islands, in Finland, to Helsinki, the boat was a massive cruise-ship sized thing with multiple discos, casinos, fur coat shops, you name it. We'd expected something similar here, but it was just a ferry, with a few lounges, a restaurant, and a snack bar. Our room was quite nice — we'd chosen the Lux variety, which gave us a couch and two large windows — completely worth it. Dinner at the restaurant was surprisingly good, although we were the only diners there. Everyone else ate at the snack bar. Our waiter was delighted to have some company, and we chatted amiably about the islands, Greek food, his family.

Ria, as we were pulling out of Rhodes

Arriving at the pretty port in Symi, where we'd spent a day earlier in the trip