After 2 days of boat hire, trundling around Paxos, over to Anti Paxos, swimming off the boat in crystal clear water, steaming on white beaches, wandering the streets of Lakka and Gaios in heavenly heat, watching expensive sailing yachts and their tanned slick crews come and go, we are touched by the local life around us and it's contrasts.
Tonight from Roxi Bar which is owned and run by Kostas and family (Kostas being an energetic young man, organising boat hire, his ever-open bar and the local traffic tangles that happen when the bus can't get around the tight corner onto the quayside), we witnessed a lady being taken out on a boat to scatter her husbands ashes on the beach around the headland from here. Yesterday, we witnessed a bride board a boat with her father to head around to the other beach for her wedding celebrations. Both English women and we don't know their full stories despite the colourful Keith who has regaled us with parts of them. Obviously this is a romantic place that people come back to time and time again. The Greek islanders way of life (horizontally laid back mainly) speaks to all of us - easy going and undemanding.
Keith is a regular here, coming to stay for a month every year since his divorce 13 years ago. He knows everyone it seems and has a network of English friends to boat and spend time with. We still get the impression he is incredibly lonely though. We discovered his big dream is to live on a narrowboat - he lives in north London and frequently walks the grand union tow paths, enjoying the smell of smoke from the boat's fires. Didn't seem to put him off us telling him we had ours lit right up until June! I can just see him living that life as so many lone men do.
Tonight from Roxi Bar which is owned and run by Kostas and family (Kostas being an energetic young man, organising boat hire, his ever-open bar and the local traffic tangles that happen when the bus can't get around the tight corner onto the quayside), we witnessed a lady being taken out on a boat to scatter her husbands ashes on the beach around the headland from here. Yesterday, we witnessed a bride board a boat with her father to head around to the other beach for her wedding celebrations. Both English women and we don't know their full stories despite the colourful Keith who has regaled us with parts of them. Obviously this is a romantic place that people come back to time and time again. The Greek islanders way of life (horizontally laid back mainly) speaks to all of us - easy going and undemanding.
Keith is a regular here, coming to stay for a month every year since his divorce 13 years ago. He knows everyone it seems and has a network of English friends to boat and spend time with. We still get the impression he is incredibly lonely though. We discovered his big dream is to live on a narrowboat - he lives in north London and frequently walks the grand union tow paths, enjoying the smell of smoke from the boat's fires. Didn't seem to put him off us telling him we had ours lit right up until June! I can just see him living that life as so many lone men do.
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