Islands

Islands

So then a solitary J got on the bus for the 3 hour journey to Lefkada town and had a wait of a couple of hours for the bus to Vassiliki.  Finally got there about 8 pm, but it was still light so had no trouble hauling my getting bigger and heavier by the minute suitcase up to Dimitri’s apartments once again – felt like déjà vu, which it was.  Dimitri and the family were outside the supermarket and I was castigated for not ringing him so that he could come and pick me up from the bus stop with my suitcase.  As it was he drove me from the supermarket up to the apartments – all of about 500 metres!

Dimitri and 'friend'

That night I had a room at the back of the apartments but the next morning I was moved to the room at the front which was to be my home for the next three weeks and which fortunately had great wifi.

I am not going to bore you with a day by day account of the three weeks, suffice to say I realised after one week that I am not good company – pretty boring in fact!  If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had great wifi connection and could skype and email and even ring people up via skype to my heart’s content I would probably have slit my wrists (joking of course!).  Not that it is not a simply gorgeous place and the people lovely, I just didn’t have anyone to play with!

The first week was taken up with writing the first part of this blog re the Peloponnese and scouting around Vassiliki, talking to agents, apartment block owners, restaurant owners etc.  It was also my duty to try out as many tavernas, bars, restaurants, coffee bars, creperies etc, which I diligently did.  However, after the previous month or so of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, my clothes had started to shrink – something to do with the humidity I think.  So I tried to limit myself to light breakfast and lunches and one meal out every second night.  It did work somewhat in that the clothes did stop shrinking, but they didn’t go back to their original fit unfortunately.

Mary and Gary's quay side taverna Penquins

The nights in meant that I was reading a lot and found out that Vassiliki does not have a foreign language book shop nor a library.  So had to take the bus to Nidri, up the coast, which is very Anglicised in the worst possible way, English beer, chips with everything etc, but it did have a couple of bookshops which sold English books and I was able to pick up a couple of good ones.  Did meet an English couple on the way up to Nidri and another on the way back, but unfortunately they did not stay in Vassiliki, as I thought they could have been good to have a drink with occasionally.  I soon read through those books and was contemplating another trip to Nidri when I remembered Janet from Samba Tours – a lovely Scots lady married to a Greek.  She spoke Greek that I had no trouble in understanding – slow and distinct (even with a bit of a Scots accent thrown in) using simple words and phrases.  Anyway, I thought she might have some books she could lend me and sure enough she had a small library in her office of books tourists had left with her.  She was also very helpful in the information she was able to provide me about tours and the area in general.

Another couple of friendly faces were Mary and Gary of Penguins Taverna.  Whenever I ate there in their taverna in a magic spot on the harbour, they always made me feel welcome and plied me with extra wine, coffees, etc.  Their son, Dimitri (another one!) had Dimitri’s Taverna which sold great souvlakia and gyros.  At Penguins I decided one night to treat myself to garlic prawns.  When I ordered them, the waitress (they were all Lithuanian) asked me pointedly if that was all I wanted, I replied, puzzled, that it was.  When the dish arrived I realised why she had asked – it consisted of three prawns, but in the most delicious creamy sauce – I could have had two plates (better for the shrinking clothes syndrome that I didn’t!).  Nevermind, live and learn.

The first week I also decided to have my hair cut – I researched the problem and spoke with Mary and found out where she and her daughter go.  So went in there and found the lovely Sophia – tee’d her up for Nick, she is 26 and wants to get married.  However, that is where the good part came to an end – we had gone through magazines, decided exactly what I wanted and then she cut it exactly as she wanted – and I don’t think that she was used to such thin, fine hair.  Anyway, as I told myself, the good thing about hair is that it grows!  And it has one month later and it is OK, but I think that I will leave it now and wait for my lovely Sarah at home!  During the course of my people watching, I have noticed that most Greek and Italian ladies have longer hair, so we will see.

Ag Fili

The second week was taken up with doing washing (found the Laundromat), a couple of trips to the gorgeous beach of Ag Fili, just around the corner from Vassiliki and a ferry trip to Friskes in Ithaki, about 1.5 hrs away.  I made the mistake in thinking that I was going to the place Jane, Jeanie and myself went to on our day cruise, but I found out that that place was called Stavros and Friskes was a different kettle of fish – you could explore it absolutely stone by stone, climbing up to the tower overlooking the bay, have a coffee, look in all the shops, all in about an hour – I had another 5 hours before the ferry came to take me back to Vassiliki!  I had a lunch of whitebait and fed the cats that congregated around me, but then was politely asked to hurry up because a tour boat had just come in and they needed my table!  So I was very pleased to see the ferry boat return at 6.30 pm.

The third week I went to Ag Fili again and then decided to go back to Fiskardo, Kefalonia – only an hour away by ferry boat.  Now that was the Fiskardo I had been to before!  And a gorgeous place it is too, but the problem was – that day it actually rained and quite heavily  – and I had left my umbrella in Corfu!  Not to worry, found out that The Hat doesn’t mind getting wet and had a lovely look around the beautiful bays around the corner from the shopping, taverna, coffee shop strip – I would love to come back here and stay in one of the places on the water (with lots of books and a playmate or two!).  I managed to find an Australian flag for the gulet when we are sailing around Turkish waters and I bought a lovely long dress for evenings on the boat.

Rainy day in Fiskardo

In one of my talks with Janet she advised me that there was no way that I could catch the bus from Vassiliki to Igoumenitsa in time to catch the ferry to Paxos.  So I started investigating the price of taxis and was horrified to find out that it would cost 170 Euro.  Anyway, in talking with Dimitri and Orpheus, Orpheus volunteered to take me for 130 Euro – ah well, I contributed to the economy of Greece.

As my departure  day was approaching, I started packing and getting myself ready for the trip to Paxos and catching up with my playmates – Pati and her gang.  However, after a couple of weeks of trying to fill in my days, Kiki told me to contact an agent in Nidri – Yanni of Reflections Travel – which I did and I had to meet him and talk business and of course had to come to an agreement with Dimitri and Panayiota for the apartments for next year, so in the last day or so I was busy again.

Orpheus, Mama and Dimitri

Nevertheless, departure day arrived and the family came out to wave Orpheus and myself off as we headed back up the coast of Lefkada and then on to Igoumenitsa.  In total the trip took about 2.5 hrs with a short stop for Orpheus to pick up some things for his supermarket.  We saw an accident – the first one I had witnessed in Greece amazingly enough – between the local Vassiliki driving instructor and a little pick-up truck.  It was only minor and no one hurt which was the main thing.

Orpheus got me to Igoumenitsa in plenty of time to join the queue of Greeks and Italians heading for Paxos for their two week holiday – it being 1 August and the start of the three weeks of utter chaos that besets Greece every year and which the Greeks in the tourist business look forward to and which the rest of Greeks tries to hide from.  If they don’t make money in this period then it will be a long, cold and hungry winter.

Let me explain a little about my very good friend Pati – we met in Corfu too many years ago to count, but suffice to say that it is amazing that we are still friends.  She was in Corfu working for Spiro and the long-suffering and lovely Mary Lemis at International Rent-a-Car and she had been there a full two weeks ahead of my arrival on the island and my commencement to work for the same company.  In that time every male on the island from the age of 2 to 102 had fallen under her spell. We would go to Corfu Bar in the evening to have an ouzo and work out what the programme would be for that evening and there would be a ring of men three deep gathered around her all vying for her attention – I did not stand a chance.   Fortunately, one of the boys was a bit cleverer than the rest and he looked at the situation and decided to come around and sit next to me, thereby being only one person away from the target rather than being at the back of the group.  Pati was still not interested in him so he started talking to me and was to become my future husband, Miki!

Pati's hat was a bit newer and less battered than mine!

Pati was waiting for me at the port of Gaios in Paxos – of course wearing a Panama hat as the most stylish people are doing this summer! J  She fortunately had popped in to Gaios Travel to see if a transfer had been arranged for me, which it hadn’t, so she organised for Yianni of Gaios Travel to get a car and come down with her to pick me up – thank goodness for Pati, she has been coming here for so many years she knows the ropes – and the locals’ foibles!

View of Gaios Harbour from my balcony

Yianni dropped us off at the Fanari apartments, my new home for the next 17 days – the view was amazing, but so were the steps to get up there! -  and then we went down to the Yana Apartments where Pati and her husband, Jerry, and daughter, Jess, along with friends, Lisa and David with their children, Jake, Katie and Jess, were all staying (you will note of course the predominance of Js yet again!).  There we met up with Pati’s cousin, who was also my neighbour in the Fanari Apartments, the idiosyncratic Weston, and went to Penny’s (in actual fact it was called George’s Corner) for lunch of gyro and aspro krasi.  Weston also had the couple of dishes for which he became renowned  and those were – tzatziki and a plate of chips– he had them for every meal in the week that I was with them!

In the mean time we were joined by Jerry and Jess (the Cate Blanchet look-a-like) and then after lunch headed back to their apartments because they had a pool and there we spent the rest of the afternoon.  It was really great to have playmates again.

Jess a la Cate Blanchet

Weston was very considerate and not only volunteered to get me a six pack of water bottles – a godsend, as climbing those steps with such a weight would have been trying to say the least, but he also showed me the ropes of the apartment and how to get to the various important places, particularly Alex’s Bar which he maintained had a magnetic quality in that he often could not walk past it without having to stop and partake of a retsina or two.

After a little siesta we all congregated at the said Alex’s Bar (owned by Alex and his wonderful wife Loula), as we did every night, and then headed off to one of the delicious restaurants that Gaios has in abundance.  We tried to go to a different one each night but Pan and Theo’s was a favourite as well as ‘Green Chairs’ – our name for the tavern, can’t remember the real name, but I am sure Pati will remind me.

On our way to Ante-Paxos

It was a bit of a boozy night but we were all on deck the next morning (apart from Weston) for a trip to Anti-Paxos – the lovely little island (as the name suggests) which is opposite Paxos – it has a couple of gorgeous beaches and again the water is that beautiful clear aqua colour but with a sandy beach.  As I quickly found out Pati was known everywhere we went and this usually meant special attention.  She had spent quite a few years living on Paxos way back in the good ole days.   She had gone to Paxos after Corfu and had various jobs about the place and as she and her family return to holiday in Paxos most years, she is remembered fondly by everyone.   I just tagged along and said ‘I’m with ‘er!’  However, I have found that the Greeks do have an amazing memory for people and faces, I am have been embarrassed by people remembering me from days of old and me not having a clue who they are – it was 35 years ago for heaven’s sake!

Champers !!

The next few days were filled with boats in which Jerry and/or Jess and/or Jake ferried us around the island, visiting Longos and Lakka, even having a glimpse at the Glyfada Beach Apartments, the centre of the 49ers’ antics in 2009, or down to Mongonissi (where Pati’s name is forever mosaicked into the dance floor!) or the Paxos Beach Hotel where Pati and Jerry’s friends Flora and John were staying.  Flora and John arranged a special night at that hotel to which we were all invited – lovely roast lamb Greek style with all the trimmings.  However, the highlight of the week was the celebration of Pati’s early 60^th birthday party (the real date is 26 August), which we had at Pan and Theo’s of course.  Jerry bought some champers and it was a great night, finished off at Alex’s naturally!

Jerry and Pati with Weston by her side and Jess in the background

Then came the sad day we were all dreading – their departure day.  I made a big effort (coz it was rather early) and got down to see them off at the apartments and was rewarded with a big bag of left-over goodies, as well as a box of cat food to give to Lefteria or Elefterear – a very sweet cat that had befriended the group to the point where they were buying food for her every day.  She had a wonkie left ear – hence the name.  I agreed to eke out the food, gradually weaning her off handouts hopefully and making her self-sufficient.

After seeing them off I slowly and sadly made my way back to the apartment, wondering what I was going to do for the next 10 days.  That question was answered almost immediately because the crunch time had finally arrived for poor darling Monty (my sister’s wonderful dog) and Margaret and Nick had to take him to the vet’s to be put to sleep.  I spoke at length to Margaret and Nick on skype – it was a very sad time for us all, but particularly Margaret – she will be lost without him.

So I started a routine of going down to the free wifi area in the main square of Gaios and emailing and skyping as much as I could whilst downing a couple of G&Ts and then wondering off for a quiet meal or just down to Alex’s for yet another G&T and then home for a sound sleep.  On one of my trips down to the square I met my new neighbour, Phil, who had taken over Weston’s apartment.  He very kindly asked if I would like a glass of wine – silly question!  Two bottles later we decided to have dinner and as it was his first time to Greece, I tried to educate his palate but he could not get past prawn saganaki at Pan and Theo’s and the second time we went there he had to have two plates!  I also introduced him to Alex’s Bar – very important!

During the time he was there we had a couple of dinners and quite a few drinks and a walk to find a beach where there were supposed to be sulphur springs – we didn’t find them.  On another day, I walked to Monganissi and spent the day there – lovely cool spot under the shade of trees

On the road to Monganissi

On the Monday 15 August, which is the Panaghia in Greece, i.e. saints day for the Virgin Mary – a very important religious day on the Greek calendar.  Loula had invited me and another friend of their’s  to go to the Panaghia Island which is situated in the Gaios Bay and has a lovely little church Ag Panaghia on it.  We went over on a ferry and trouped up the pathway to the church, lit a candle and had some lovely bread with herbs in it.  We then took a walk around the island (it is very small) and then took the ferry back.

The hand of God over the Chapel of the Panaghia

I then had a couple of days to wash clothes, pack and organise myself for my trip to Corfu.  However, my last day was upset by the fact that Rita of Gaios Travel in England had got my booking wrong and they had me down as leaving one day earlier.  So I was transferred further up the hill to a traditional house owned by Maria who had been my cleaning lady.  I only made it down the hill once to do some final emailing and final drink at Alex’s.

Sunrise over Gaios Port

So Thursday arrived with an amazing sunrise (but apparently there is one most days, this was just the first time I had been up to see it) and I was picked up by a lovely chap from Gaios Travel – wish I could remember his name.  He took me down to the port and waited with me until the ferry arrived and then made sure that I was on it and left.  One hour and a bit later I arrived in Corfu Port and caught a taxi to Panorama – it was like coming home and felt like I had only been there a couple of days before.  Saki and Sarah made me feel very welcome.

The lovely chap from Gaios Travel - wish I could remember his name!

I then had a swim and a rest and walked down to Ipsos to see Nick – he had arrived the day before and was of course staying with his father, Yanni and Angela – not forgetting the very cute, Lucy, their West Highland Terrier.  It was really great seeing Nick after about 2.5 months – I think he had even missed me a bit!

Joel, Nicko and Christian

That night we headed into Corfu town to meet up with Nick's two mates from Perth , Joel (Jarro) and Christian (Crispy Bum Cheeks) who were on their way to London via Corfu - as you do!  We had a typical Greek dinner and then I left them to go to nightclubs and bars (they didn't want me to come with them, I can't understand why!).

Next day I had agreed to visit the British Cemetery in Corfu Town as that is where Pati's father was buried, as was another acquaintance of their's.  I had to take photos of the graves to show the families back in the UK what the state of the graves was like.  Pati's father's was in quite good order as they attend to it quite regularly, but the other one was in need of quite a bit of maintenance.  I found Pati's father's fairly easily, but the one for Cyril Shuttleworth was quite difficult and I had to enlist the help of the curator/gardener, George, and finally we found it.

After that I of course had to contribute to the economy of Greece and had a look at a couple of the sales, particularly in Marks and Spencers.  Must be my age, but I quite like some of their clothes.

Nick and his lil bro, Yianni.

The next day I got a car and took Nick into town and he also contributed to the economy of Greece by spending up big at a couple of the better stores in Corfu town - all at half price.  We then headed down to Boukari and then further south to Prassina Dendra which had some quite nice sandy beaches.  Greeks go mad for sandy beaches, but they are not a patch on Australian sandy beaches, firstly because they are not white and secondly, they are rather muddy.

Finally a photo of mother, father and son!

I then got Nick back to his father's place in Ipsos and Miki decided we should go to Kassiopi in the north of the island for dinner - and what a dinner that was!  Beautiful seafood and too much of it - in the Greek style - it seems to be the thing to do, i.e. leave lots of food behind.  I know if my sister was there she would ask for a doggie bag!! :)

The next day Nick and I went to Paleokastritsa but he had to return early as he had a hot date - luckily I am an understanding mother!

Nick out at sea!

My last day in Corfu was spent at Kruzeri (something like that) further north from Nissaki and Ag Stephanos - both lovely pebbly beaches with clear clear water.  However, I was on a strict timeframe as I had to catch my plane to Athens to get my connection (at 6.30 in the morning the next day!) to Malaga in Spain to meet up with my friends, Kay and John.  The last plane from Corfu was about 9 pm which meant I had a rather long wait in Athens Airport.  Fortunately, John met me and took me to dinner at a wonderful seaside restaurant in Varkiza where I had amongst other things a most wonderful seafood risotto.  He then very kindly sat with me at the airport until about 3 am drinking coffee.  I then caught my plane to Geneva (yes, Geneva!) where I had a connection for Malaga - never leave your plane bookings in Europe until the last minute! :)  Whilst in Geneva airport I bought a bottle of French champers for Kay and John - never buy anything in Geneva airport - amazingly expensive!

The lady of Fuengirola

Finally arrived in Malaga and was met by Kay and John who had organised a lovely little apartment in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol by house-swapping their mansion in Koh Samui for a month in Versailles and a week in Fuengirola.  More playmates, however, that is another story - more to follow! :)

Kay, John and a glass of Sangria!

Mountains again!

Mountains

After being fairly certain that Jane had manoeuvred her way out of the Loutraki labyrinth of roads, highways and byways, and obviously succeeding where the two of us had failed – which leads me to believe unfortunately that it may have been my influence which caused the confusion on our previous ill-fated attempts to leave towns, John and I (down to two Js again) headed off back into the mountains of the Peloponnese.  My fears of going along those mountain roads again were at once alleviated when I realised that (1) I was not driving and (2) he is a far better and more experienced driver than me on those mountain roads.  And strangely enough even though he drove like a maniac at times (or should I say, like a Greek!), I had complete faith in his ability as a driver.

We had a lovely time – him being the pre-eminent tour guide (I have just found out), being proud of both his country and its history- we stopped to drink water from natural springs, coffee in town squares and eventually arrived at his mountain hideaway.  This was a part of Greece that I never knew existed – lush, green and inundated with fir trees, you would have thought that you had been transported to Switzerland or some other alpine area. 

By this time we had confirmation that Jane had reached her destination as she sms’d that she was having her last Greek coffee at the airport.  She has yet to tell me if there were any trials and tribulations attached to her journey.

In the afternoon, John took me on a further scenic drive around through the mountains, pointing out, amongst other things, the monastery where they first raised the flag of rebellion against the Turks, the place where Theodoros Kolokontronis, the ‘bandit’ leader of the Greek War of Independence (o geros tou moria), was born and various wonderful villages, the names of which escape me at the moment – I shall have to go back! J  One of which we stopped to have lunch and where he met some friends.  I was amazed at the architecture, it was so different to anywhere else that I had seen in Greece – thick stone walls with pointed wooden roofs – obviously catering for the very heavy snow falls that they have in the winter – another reason to go back, I want to see it all snow-covered!

However, there was one glaring heartbreaking anomaly amongst all this cool lush greenery – and that was the many bare scarred mountains denuded by the catastrophic fires this area endured a couple of years ago.  I remember reading about them and seeing them on television, but they never show the full extent and enormity of the fires.  And I have read recently that Greece has had 82% of its beautiful vegetation obliterated by fires in the last few years – most caused, as in Australia and other places, by human hand – either accidentally or on purpose.  You just can’t understand what drives people to do such things. 

That night it was actually cold enough to wear jackets and have blankets on beds, when the rest of Greece was sweltering.  The air is different up there too – you notice how fresh and free of pollution it is.  We ventured out in the evening back to the same village and had a couple of drinks and then returned to his hideaway.  The next morning after breakfast we headed off slowly slowly to Patras, where we eventually found (I am glad he was with me to find it) the badly sign-posted KTEL bus stop for Lefkada.

The amazing suspension bridge from Rion to Ante Rion (near to the KTEL bus stop).