Last 3 nights in Greece

1st - 4th October
We left Syvota and our villa at about 10am. Drove to Lekkada town where we had another wander around these pretty alleyway streets and a coffee in the square. Then bade our farewell to Lefkas island and headed back to Parga and the Kanali Village apartments where we started our hols. We had an upgrade room on the first floor this time and could see Valtos beach from our balcony. Very basic accommodation but all we need.

The next morning whilst idly looking at BBC news online, we saw that Monarch airlines had gone bust. Given that we were 3 days away from travelling back to the UK with them, this was slightly alarming. We logged on to the advised website and were informed that we needed to check back about our flight.
This slightly marred our time here as we were considering the options we had and whether to ring our insurers as to what they would cover in respect of further car hire and accommodation. We are very lucky that we do not have jobs to get back to or pressing commitments of course and actually couldn't think of a nicer place to be stranded for a short time.

2 more days of beach, swimming and eating and drinking and we now are reassured that the chartered flight back is on time. Tomorrow we shall see.

Meanwhile goodbye this lovely country of olive and Cyprus trees and dry, dusty countryside, kindly people, hot sunshine and warm glittering seas.

As a postscript, our chartered flight was on time and more comfortable than a Monarch plane, so a pleasant journey home, connecting well with a train from Gatwick to Emsworth with one brief change.

Home again with the fire alight in the evening, but we are glad to have warm English Autumn weather in the day. Now to try and tame the garden again!


view of Valtos beach

Last day in Syvota

30th September
Since arriving in Greece on 30th August, the temperatures have gradually dropped from the 32/33degrees and necessary air con to 22/24 with cool nights aiding sleep. We have seen fantastic thunderstorms on the horizon and witnessed one over us and had one rainy night when we went out to a roadside taverna, the Plane Tree, under a vine strewn glass roof, raindrops pattering, where I needed a scarf around my shoulders to keep off the damp chill. But still the beautiful weather continues, with gentle winds and hazy or full sun.

We watch the sailing flotillas leaving the harbour and drifting below our villa heading for Meganissy or Kefalonia - their season has clearly not come to an end. We optimistically took our beach things to Ammousa today for one final swim, but the wind was chilly and the umbrellas and loungers largely packed away so we headed back to the shelter of the villa pool. You couldn't ask for a better alternative.

Then after a swim and sunbathe at the villa and finishing up the wine we still had, we headed down to Stavros' taverna for our last supper. Our favourite waiter told us he finishes his season at the end of October and spends his holiday with family South of Parga on the mainland. He works very hard and will deserve his time off. We wonder if you become blasé about these beautiful surroundings when you live and work in them everyday - probably.

A fine dinner of fish, then back to the villa to 'sleep' for our last night. We had been warned that the villa above and to the left of us was hosting a wedding party until late. The music was as if it was in our garden because of the echo from the hills around. To start with there was a lovely live ensemble playing Stefan Grapelli type music, then a female blues singer which was pleasant, but after going to bed we were awoken by louder manic disco beats - the whole mountainside must have been rocking. We think it finally went quiet around 4am and had slept fitfully until then. It doesn't help that you find yourself trying to name that tune! Maddening.

 preparations for the wedding

Seems like they had a great wedding reception though and we met our villa host/owner, Philipe, on the way down the bumpy road as we left the next morning who cheerily asked us what kind of night we had had, with a wry smile. What can you say but a little broken but congratulations to the bride and groom and what a fab setting for their wedding.

we've already eaten the red snapper!

Mr Skinny Legs enjoying the last rays

A day in busy Nidri

29th September
As we woke up to a cloudier day after rain in the night, we decided to revisit Nidri, where we had stayed on our original visit to this island in 1995 (?). Back then we used push bikes to explore as well as a little boat to find secluded bays. The main street running parallel to the busy harbour in Nidri was always manic, full of cafes, restaurants and tourist shops and local drivers who know how to weave in and out of walking tourists - it's hard to navigate by car, but now is easier because a bypass has been built at the back of the town. Twice we stayed in apartments behind the main street; 'George's ' and we have tried to find them again this holiday on other visits to Nidri. This time we succeeded as we recognised the supermarket we used to use, near the chicken run alleyway we took to get back and forth to them. The chicken run and scruffy gardens with vines and patchy veg still line the pathway to start with, but beyond these there are new apartment blocks. George's are now called Sunny Gardens Apartments, still a pretty, quiet location despite much more building having taken place around them. When we stayed here, there was nothing behind the block but olive trees and mountains and sheep grazing next door. Now there is another block but we were glad to see it didn't spoil the view from the swimming pool.

We had lunch at Tom's again at the 'beach' end of the harbour. We think this is where (or near where) we ate all those years ago with our toes in the sand and away from the bright hubbub of the strip of tavernas all along here. It's hard to tell as our memory is of a deeper beach - now there is an Ibiza style bar next to Toms, with loud music and decking covering the sand and posh wooden built upholstered sun loungers right to the sea edge.

At this end you can see Scorpios island which Onassis once owned and the other side of the bay at Nidri. We got talking to the English couple from Reading at the next table and ended up sharing a glass of wine with them, swopping stories about our travels and lives. A very pleasant hour or two was spent chatting and consequently it was nearly 5pm before we set off back to the villa. They told us that Scorpios was now owned by Russians and that some people who had attempted to moor on a beach there were greeted by armed guards who sent them packing. Not the Greek hospitality we are used to.

There is plenty to watch from here: the ferries coming in and out from Kefalonia and Meganissy, trip boats which have toured all the remote local beaches on this island and others, and individual craft of all sizes. Not sure who the enormous Elada belongs to - what a peculiar looking ship!

Goblin beach

27th September
With the help of the Scottish lady in Carrefour supermarket and with Olly's reccy, we found Ammousa beach. Small, only 20 minutes away and down a pretty quiet olive tree lined road which was not too steep. The beach has bamboo umbrellas, cheaper than the other beach at 4euros per pair and a bar and a taverna. Quiet and secluded except when R decided to race along the boardwalks shouting loudly. We played making zoos and space rockets and towers from the pebbles which quietened him for a short time at least. We were aware of older folk dozing on their loungers!

In 1995 or thereabouts we drove to a beach here and an old lady requested a lift from us. She sat in the back of the car in her traditional black dress and headscarf, not saying a word and we thought she would alert us to where she wanted to be dropped. She didn't and got out of the car with us at the beach and sat on a low wall, where she remained for most of the day. We wonder to this day what she was up to and whether we completely misinterpreted her intentions and had dragged her to somewhere she had no desire to go to. We now believe Ammousa is the beach as it has a low wall and the road enters it as in our memories. We half expected to find her still sitting there!

So we have renamed this beach Goblin beach. This is because on that same holiday, the lovely Yorkshire family next door to us in our apartments told us that their 8 year old son had seen a black attired old lady with her walking stick and asked, "is that a goblin?" That stuck!

Beach umbrellas slowly being taken down as it is the end of the season, the pole gets pushed down into the ground up to table level:

Charades

26th September
On the beach in front of us was a young foursome of we know-not-what nationality, possibly Croatian. It was hard not to watch their game of charades after their lunch and before they resumed their snorkelling as one girl was particularly good. Her mime was elegant and precise. She raised her right hand and indicated something rising from it and also indicated that she was wearing a robe: first word. Then second word; mimed eating, and a triangular shape on her plate - her friend cried 'torte' and then got it.

American Pie. Funny how I got it too! She was good!

Lefkada old town

24th September
We assisted OFRL back to the airport as we doubted they would be able to get all their clobber in their car. I was quite tearful saying goodbye especially as R had grown so quiet after a wrestling match back at the villa to get his clothes on him. He had got used to running around naked and wanted to go on the plane like that. We told him he would have to tell all his 'hanimals' about his holiday adventure when he got back to London, but he still looked confused.

Once we had said goodbye at around 11am, we drove into Lefkada as we had never been there. Two waterside strips are lined with touristy eateries with moored craft on the seaside. Very pleasant but the menus were dull and not particularly Greek: club sandwiches,crepes and pizzas. So we headed for the old town where fisherman and their families would have lived years ago when this was a tiny fishing port. Most of the streets were alleyways and pedestrianised and it was immediately quiet apart from the odd TV playing in a house. A cyclist and a motorbike went by but no one else - it was coming up to siesta time. Little houses with pretty balconies of flowers and shuttered windows. We found the centre square with its church, where children were playing football surrounded by bars and tavernas. It all made such a change from the beach and we spent some time wandering around just taking in the buildings, churches and a library square. We ate in the centre in the shade from the blasting sunshine : 'shrimps' (more like langustine) and fennel salad. Fantastic. This felt like the real Greece - not too touched by tourist demands.


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Family visit

17th - 24th September
Drove to Preveza airport after dark to meet O, F and the children. Their plane was on time and we saw it land as we neared the airport. So exciting to see them. R whizzed about, L smiled.

The week with them has been a sharp contrast to our so-far lazy holiday. Early mornings in the swimming pool with R and 'Mr Skinny Legs' ? His name for his inflatable turtle. It was a lucky thing that this was still inflated as our visiting cats had stretched out on it and punctured it with their claws! Mended by yours truly with a dozen plasters and much determination! R was swimming with his armbands on by day 3 and delighted with his achievement.

The sleeping arrangements at the villa didn't quite work as we had intended as R is still getting used to being in a bed and was in danger of falling out, so his mezzanine bedroom wasn't right for him. He slept on his mattress on the floor of his parents room, with L in a cot beside their bed. Just as well the room was big enough.

Lots of fun all week, bbqs, late dinners with O and F in the balmy evening cooked by O, more lunches and dinners on the beach and at Stavros' in the harbour. We were able to take our grandchildren to the bakery for a morning out. R having a very large freshly squeezed orange juice and fruit pancakes. A joy to be able to do this. And O and F managed a night out on their own, whilst R had a late supper with his grandparents.

I had a mad session with R in the shallows at Mikros Galios beach as the pebbles and gentle waves plus my dodgy knees were enough to stop me being able to get to my feet after my swim. Neither of us could quite manage to stay on our feet and R was not happy when he got a sip of salt water! Of course I got the giggles which made it even harder to get upright. We rolled about for a short while like this , R sitting on my legs, and eventually found our way out. R appeared to have enjoyed it but sadly didn't want to go in again. Certainly not with unreliable Granma.

Games on the turtle and with water balloons were the best fun. Funny how grown men take to this hilarity as much as 3 year olds. O hurtling a water balloon over the trees by the use of the enormous pool sieve. Pete deciding it was just as much fun to squirt the water out of the ballon before tying it.

L took all of this in her stride. Her running entertainment is watching her brother whom she clearly adores especially when he sings and dances. Broad smiles for him and for us whenever you talk to her. The Greeks are so fond of children, lots of comments about her chunky shape and smiley disposition and waiters chat to them both. R is very shy and not willing to tell them his name, but they pat his head and chat to him anyway.

F's gentle way with both their children pays off, I know I am biased but they are the best. O provides the madness games and clever distractions - transforming R into a chicken souvlaki wrapped in bread (a towel) stopped some tears over a grazed toe.

As for Granpy, his bonkers games with speed boat turtles and counting shoes in R's hammock 'shoe shop' whiled away some hours and kept R engrossed. Not so good when F tried to have a relax in the hammock, (not knowing the game) and got covered in beach shoes.

A frenetic week, but so enjoyable.






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Porto Katsiki and honey

16th September
We decided to take a trip to the west side of the island, where the beaches are backed by high cliffs and the sea is open.

The journey up and down hills took us past many honey and oil seller stalls, the products glowing gold in the sunlight. What inticing hand written signs these are: honey, olives, olive oil, wine, thyme, oregano. Of course we had to stop at one. We bought dark oak honey and 4euro plastic bottle of local rose wine. The wine little rough but great when properly chilled.

On to the beach, glaring white pebbles in the sun. The trip boats were coming in when we arrived. Nidri Star blaring Greek music whilst its passengers disembarked onto beach and into the sea. Then 2 more big boats came in, one playing Macarena on a loop, which was a little peace shattering! People diving from the top deck! Happily they all sailed off to leave the beach layabouts like us in peace. The climb down here is a long steep one, so a taverna at the top offers a food and drink delivery service which was helpful. The conveyors must be fit - I wonder how many times a day they walk up and down those steps. Their alert when they bring food is a daft hooter or they just call 'beep, beep', which amused us of course. Great system.

A few swims and a lounge book-reading and we headed back along pine scented roads sticky with sun cream and salt (us that is, not the roads!).

Freshly squeezed orange juice

14th September 2017

Our friends flew back yesterday. We had a meal on the terrace of Stavros' taverna the night before and wished Simon a happy birthday for the 13th. J and S not happy to be going home I don't think - their 10days on this island was only just enough for them to have unwound from their incredibly busy lives.
We had been somewhat blown off the beach earlier - the wind quite strong so that umbrellas had to be closed and the sea pushed you about if you dared to swim, quite fun though. Back at the villa, the wind was welcome, the pool barely ruffled.

The Internet connection at the villa is practically non existent - weak and in and out, so frustrating. However it gives you the excuse to go down to Syvota Bakery where the connection is fast and you can have a coffee and a pastry or a freshly squeezed orange juice in a jam jar. Most of the yachts had left for the day by the time we got down there today; 11. So the little streets were very quiet. There is just the faintest of breezes and the sea looks very calm, viewing from the villa the white sails were abundant. A rowdy bunch of Greek youths took off in a catamaran with eeky deeky music blaring and girls dancing - that's gonna be a riot of a day!

We are still confused as to the islands we are overlooking here. We are at the most southerly end of Syvota and can see Meganissy on the horizon, but in our foreground are 2 islands that someone told us were Ithakas, although one is called Akouda. Then further to the south there are more, the furthest being Kefalonia. Oddly the paper Lefkas Map we have (which is very basic) does not show them and we have struggled to find them online on google maps. We may have to resort to a shipping chart to really identify them.

Karya and Katouna

9th September 2017
We took a trip inland to Katouna where a house was for sale. This little village was once inhabited by fishermen but now is a tiny hamlet of only 50 or so people. That said there were 3 tavernas to service them. The little narrow streets were flanked with shuttered windows in pale blues and greens and windows adorned with the local cut work lace, so pretty. I imagine some properties are holiday homes or owned by non Greeks. I could hear a radio through a window with commentary in English. The house for sale would have lovely views from top windows and balconies and it had a sweet little garden. Certainly a place to consider if you wanted to live here.

On Saturday we chose to travel up to Karya where we have been before as it was overcast and windy. Another little village where we bought some bread and then had coffee and cake in it's verandah town square. Several touristy shops here selling rugs, clothes, olive wood products and olive oil toiletries and hand made lace. I bought a piece.

Back down to the villa and a meet up with Jackie and Simon, who had spent their day at the beach - off for dinner in Syvota. It's a hard life!

Property viewing

12th September
Days of beach time, fantastic bbqs with J and S and plenty of relaxed times around the pool. We have decided our favourite taverna is Stavros in Syvota harbour. At night you can sit on the first floor terrace looking out over the boats as it gets dark. Old Stavros shakes your hand as you leave and his staff are amazingly efficient and multi-lingual. Jackie is a great help with her bits of Greek language - and Pete and she practice on each other the little they know. I can just about manage eferisto (spelling?) and kalimera.

Since arriving here, Pete and I have discussed possibly buying a home here and we decided to view this penthouse in Nikiana. The owner/estate agent said he started this project in 2007, before the Greek economy crash. The building was finished in 2014 and the penthouse is still incomplete. It is a nice space with a mezzanine bed area, but it's most stunning feature is a 67sq meter terrace with 180 degree views of the bay looking back towards the mainland. They seem to plonk buildings wherever they choose and the usual open and scrappy olive tree groves surround you low down, mountains behind with plenty of green trees plus a small house and another 3 storied mess of a building! All this reached by a narrow steep rough road you would never dream of taking in any other circumstances - it's entrance from the easy to miss.

Hmmm, we will think about it ------- maybe.

Friends

7th September

Friends, Jackie and Simon arrived to spend a few days with us. We had shopped in Vasilikki for BBQ stuff and then met them on the harbour for a late lunch of souvlaki and of course local wine. Great to see them and although we did not have room for much more food once back at the villa, we ate dips and drank more wine well into the warm night under the scented jasmine canopy with our two frequently visiting kittens playing around by the pool.

Good to have friends to share this area with.

Simon at the BBQ

Jackie in the pool......

Boat trip

6th September

We hired a little motor boat from Syvota bay and tootled out following the Lefkas coast to find sleepy bays to swim in. There are lots of these plus a couple of cave inlets. Dropping anchor and swimming off the back of the boat was bliss. However, the wind got up around midday and the sea became quite choppy. We crossed to Meganissy and dropped anchor for some picnic lunch, but the slow undulation of the sheltered waves brought on my sea sickness! I swam for shore to get some respite.

We did manage to find a tiny bay that was like a millpond after this so all was good. Swimming, sunbathing watching the bigger boats come and go made for a lovely day. My only other problem however was my inelegant way of getting back into the boat up the stern ladder with my bad knees. With Pete's helping hand and some peculiar manoeuvres I managed it by getting my foot into the engine well which was lower than the landing deck. Not before I had somehow pushed the ladder out horizontally with my feet which meant I was face down on the deck!

On the way back the wind got stronger. We were lifted and dumped unceremoniously - oddly this doesn't make me seasick, I think because it is irregular. We were both quite glad to get back into the peace of Syvota Harbour and Pete brought the boat in perfectly. It was not the easiest thing to drive, the wheel was stiff and the throttle jerky - you were either in full pelt or snail pace, no in between. My thinking is the laid back Greeks are not too bothered about maintenance!

About 5pm, we were sitting comfortably in the nearest bar with a beer, listening to a sailing flotilla crowd being given their talk about where to explore. We wish them luck in those seas if it stays as windy.

All things Greek

In Parga, the apartment's owner so kindly gave us fresh tomatoes and figs from the garden. The figs were superb - we can never get them like that in the UK. And tomatoes juicy and tasty - never seem to be in UK anymore unless you grow them yourself. At night, the nicotiana flowers throw out their honey scent and moths fly in to drink the nectar.

In Syvota, the verandah is covered in jasmine which morning and night scents our eating place. The harbour is buzzing with port to starboard touching moored boats all along. The restaurants table virtually touching their mooring lines. Owners vie for your custom and lure you in with displays of fresh fish; bream, snapper, swordfish and of course calamari. A busy but tiny port which we remember as being only half full of boats in the 90s. We spoke to the boat owners nearest us - Shiraz of Gosport, because we were intrigued to know if they were actually from there - Gosport being near us. They were actually from Eastbourne and had been sailing for 4 years all around Spain, Portugal, Italy and were waiting to take a berth in Lefkada town for the winter.

The new intake of sailing crews had just arrived to take out their holiday boats, so the place was a hubbub of people getting to know one another. Another threesome of gentlemen we talked to were off on their own boat the next day to Sicily.

Terraces of olive groves, their nets furled beneath them ready for the harvest, local honey being sold from makeshift stalls by the side of dusty roads, old ladies in their black dresses and headscarves walking from where to where we know not, skinny cats on the harbour side waiting for scraps, papery bougainvillea in its resplendent shocking pink glory, blue jasmine, wild thyme and oregano, friendly helpful people with no rush about them, turquoise seas with busy ferries, flotillas of sailing boats and all manner of craft down to paddle boards...........that's the Greece we know and love.

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Syvota Lefkas

5th September
On Sunday, 3rd, we left Parga. Our last day had been at Sarakiniko beach, south of Parga, where we walked up a steep flight of 130 steps to a taverna for lunch; sardines, mousaka and the most perfect view. It is still just school holiday time so plenty of families still around and the small beach and taverna were busy.

We had to take the car back to the airport (an hours drive) and swop it for another because rental agreement couldn't accommodate the whole span of our time here oddly. We got a better car in anticipation of the climb to the villa we were about to encounter. Sorting all this out took some time but we made it to meet Tasos, the villa owner's partner by 2.30. The last 2.5km of the road here is unmade and incredibly bumpy, but once there the setting is stunning. This is the most luxurious villa we have ever had with its own pool. It is completely quiet with a view out over the sea to Meganissi . Two smaller islands before that baffle us as they do not appear on the map.

Now we are 2 days in. A trip to Vasiliki for supplies, souvlaki to BBQ, ouzo and metaxa for stock! And lots of salad, fruit and yoghurt. Perfect. And relax.