Well we're coming to the end of our first week in Sicily at Tre Fontane and are about to move to the other end of the island near Catania. Neither of us has formed an attachment to Tre Fontane despite the warmth and staying on the beachfront. Our accommodation is spacious with good facilitities, but is to our minds lacking in some basics. While the kitchen is good and has plenty of pans, dishes and utensils no dishwashing implements or detergent is provided and there are no kitchen knives. Minor things, but they detract from what would otherwise be an excellent beach house. The town itself to me in unattractive, I suppose because, like most villages here, the houses are built to the edge of the footpath (where it exists) or the carriage way and colours are drab. As the streets are narrow and impeded by steps to the houses and parked cars we have found several streers where it is not possible to fit our Renault Clio. Wandering through the town in the afternoon it is a bit of a ghost town with most shops closed, not that there are many of them. The town has a revenue generating scheme charging 1 Euro per hour for all carparks on the major roads, including the 3km stretch along the beach, even though for some of it the only thing higher that a grasshopper is a sand dune. There is a steady parade of parking officers on bicycles with hi-viz jackets passing us as they enforce the fees.
Enough of the negative. It has been good to watch the families on the beach where there is enough space for each group to have 20m of beach to themselves and soccer and volley ball games happen. 100m down the beach is an organised area with sunbeds, umbrellas and "entertainment"- canned music, dancing in the sand lessons and a lifguard. The reat of the 4km is free for the rest of us.
While we've been here we have enjoyed warm weather, a great family beach and peace and quiet.. We made one excursion to Selinunte where there are the remains of a large Greek town including many temples, one of which has been re-erected, while the other are like pi,e of giant lego blocks. The largest of the temples is said to be the second largest uncovered to date and had a double row of columns around the perimeter and a 3 storey courtyard in the centre. The quarry for the stones used is located several kilometres away and still contains column sections that had not been completed. The method of transport explains why circular columns were so popular as a support as the sections could be cut out of the rock as cylinders, broken free, then rolled using horses pulling on ropes wrapped around the cylinders. Square blocks would require rollers or wheels to move them. Not that there was a lack of enormous rectangular blocks lying around the temple sites. One wonders why a community would need the number of temples existing here (at least 8 big ones) until you think of the number of competing churches we see in quite small communities today.. I wonder how the then civic authorities managed to allocate the various religious orders their temple space without upsetting the others.
Tomorrow we plan a major day of antiquities while we travel the length of the island. First the valley of the temples at Agrigenta (Dreek of course), then the Roman remains at Enna before heading to the east coast.
Thursday 28 July 2016
Sunday 24 July 2016
Farewell to Greece
Well the last 2 days in Samos echoed the rest of the stay - relaxed. We spent a morning exploring the west end of the island finding a couple of really nice beaches. We had heard of a restaurant named The Tavern at the End of the World reached by a 3 km track along the coast from Limnionas Beach so looked for the sign with no luck. We headed down a road that looked like it might go in the right direction, bit decided to turn back when it became u rough unsealed narrow track along the cliff. However, when we got back to the beach we saw the sign clear as day. Anyway that particular taverna will have to wait for our nexr visit.
The road to the west from Lampos is surprisingly good with a good surface and wide emough that you don not have to dive into the olive trees when a truck is coming in the other direction. The road climbs around a massive limestone block Oris Kerkis which rises around 600m with shear cliffs on all sides. We dreached the western end of the island and decied to stop and turn. At the point we stopped a driveway left the road towards a few stone buildings below. I would have been nervous to negotiate it in a landrover as it was narrow and very steep with a surface of ruts and loose gravel, but down below we could see a number of vehicles including light vans and pickups that had obviously made the trip.
That night we all went to a taverna that turned out to be the least good of the ones we visited at Kampos. The food was OK but not up to the standard we had come to expect. The next night we returned to Stella at Balos Beach where we had had the best meal of our stay. This time we told the chef that we wanted meat (the previous time had been fish), and he once again exceeded our expectations with an offering of 4 dishes including fried aubergine, marinated peppers stuffed with ham and cheese, lamb and crispy skin chicken.
followed by an amazing frozen nutty dessert. All this and wine for less than $NZ75.
Our last morning we packed, had breakfast, said a sad farewell to our hosts, the family that run the hotel, and our friends from the UK and headed off for our flight to Athens. Arriving at Athens (a very familiar environment for us) we were directed to a gate where there was a flight boarding for Rome, our next destination. Rolling up to the gate we were told "wrong airline"and checked the departure board to find that the gate was right, but our flight was a bit later. We sat reading until around the nominated boarding time I noticed that the gate screen was showing a different flight. Back to the departure board to find that our gate had changed and we did a quick trip downstairs to find a long queue waiting to board. A pleasant flight with Aegean later and we were in Rome. We had been told by our accommodation to call for a shuttle which would cost 14 Euro, but thought that as the accommodation was on the boundary of the airport a taxi would not be much more - it turned out that even sharing a taxi we were charged 30 Euro for a 5 km trip!
We were booked into a small pleasant B&B near the beach at Fiumincino but found there were few places close by for dinner and had to wait for the local pizzeria to open at 7:00pm. A very different type of pizza here with thin crispy base.
We booked a shuttle back to the airport for the flight to sicily and encountered the wonderful world of Alitalia with excessive baggage fees, unhelpful staff and budget airline seating. As our fare did not allow us to select our seats we were placed seperately in seats 2B and 2E.
Arriving in Palermo we headed for the advertised car rental office area to be told that it was not ready yet and to take a shuttle to the old offices where we joined a mob waiting to be served. Over an hour later we were told that we had been allocated a smart car which would obviously not fit our luggage and we could upgrade to a Renault Clio, a diesel automatic. After our little Hyundai I10 on Samos this was a big heavy and sluggish beast, but at least we could fit. Most of the way to our next accommodation was on the autostrade which is a superb motorway and much better than the ones we had used in southern Italy on our last trip. The scenery was not entirely what I expected with the area around Palermo being spectacular vertical walls of rock which morphed into rolong hills and then extensize plains as we moved south. Arriving at Tre Fontane we struggled to find the accommodation as there were almost no street numbers and the place itself had no identifying features at all. With the help of several locals we finally made contact and moved in.
Tre Fontane is a town of beach houses with narrow alleyways, often one-way, between tham. The centre of town which contains a few bars and pizzeria is blocked to all traffic from 9:30pm to 2:00am, though we haven't ventured in to find out what goes on yet. The area we're in is a straggle of houses across the road from the beach, which reminds me of Foxton with a long, wide flat sandy beach and low dunes aong the road. It is very much a family beach with family groups spread along the length during the day. So far we have found very few here with any English so our sign language is improving.
Enoiugh for today.
The road to the west from Lampos is surprisingly good with a good surface and wide emough that you don not have to dive into the olive trees when a truck is coming in the other direction. The road climbs around a massive limestone block Oris Kerkis which rises around 600m with shear cliffs on all sides. We dreached the western end of the island and decied to stop and turn. At the point we stopped a driveway left the road towards a few stone buildings below. I would have been nervous to negotiate it in a landrover as it was narrow and very steep with a surface of ruts and loose gravel, but down below we could see a number of vehicles including light vans and pickups that had obviously made the trip.
That night we all went to a taverna that turned out to be the least good of the ones we visited at Kampos. The food was OK but not up to the standard we had come to expect. The next night we returned to Stella at Balos Beach where we had had the best meal of our stay. This time we told the chef that we wanted meat (the previous time had been fish), and he once again exceeded our expectations with an offering of 4 dishes including fried aubergine, marinated peppers stuffed with ham and cheese, lamb and crispy skin chicken.
followed by an amazing frozen nutty dessert. All this and wine for less than $NZ75.
Our last morning we packed, had breakfast, said a sad farewell to our hosts, the family that run the hotel, and our friends from the UK and headed off for our flight to Athens. Arriving at Athens (a very familiar environment for us) we were directed to a gate where there was a flight boarding for Rome, our next destination. Rolling up to the gate we were told "wrong airline"and checked the departure board to find that the gate was right, but our flight was a bit later. We sat reading until around the nominated boarding time I noticed that the gate screen was showing a different flight. Back to the departure board to find that our gate had changed and we did a quick trip downstairs to find a long queue waiting to board. A pleasant flight with Aegean later and we were in Rome. We had been told by our accommodation to call for a shuttle which would cost 14 Euro, but thought that as the accommodation was on the boundary of the airport a taxi would not be much more - it turned out that even sharing a taxi we were charged 30 Euro for a 5 km trip!
We were booked into a small pleasant B&B near the beach at Fiumincino but found there were few places close by for dinner and had to wait for the local pizzeria to open at 7:00pm. A very different type of pizza here with thin crispy base.
We booked a shuttle back to the airport for the flight to sicily and encountered the wonderful world of Alitalia with excessive baggage fees, unhelpful staff and budget airline seating. As our fare did not allow us to select our seats we were placed seperately in seats 2B and 2E.
Arriving in Palermo we headed for the advertised car rental office area to be told that it was not ready yet and to take a shuttle to the old offices where we joined a mob waiting to be served. Over an hour later we were told that we had been allocated a smart car which would obviously not fit our luggage and we could upgrade to a Renault Clio, a diesel automatic. After our little Hyundai I10 on Samos this was a big heavy and sluggish beast, but at least we could fit. Most of the way to our next accommodation was on the autostrade which is a superb motorway and much better than the ones we had used in southern Italy on our last trip. The scenery was not entirely what I expected with the area around Palermo being spectacular vertical walls of rock which morphed into rolong hills and then extensize plains as we moved south. Arriving at Tre Fontane we struggled to find the accommodation as there were almost no street numbers and the place itself had no identifying features at all. With the help of several locals we finally made contact and moved in.
Tre Fontane is a town of beach houses with narrow alleyways, often one-way, between tham. The centre of town which contains a few bars and pizzeria is blocked to all traffic from 9:30pm to 2:00am, though we haven't ventured in to find out what goes on yet. The area we're in is a straggle of houses across the road from the beach, which reminds me of Foxton with a long, wide flat sandy beach and low dunes aong the road. It is very much a family beach with family groups spread along the length during the day. So far we have found very few here with any English so our sign language is improving.
Enoiugh for today.
Tuesday 19 July 2016
Samos continued
We're now down to our last 2 days on the island and the wind has picked up. Shutters are banging and the trees are thrashing around, but the wind is warm and the sky is clear. There are fewer bodies in the sunbeds.
We had another excursion around the island yesterday going to Posidonio a small bay at the east end of the island looking out over a very narrow strait to Turkey. Posidonio is really attractive with a small number of houses and 2 tavernas strung around the quayside with small boats tied up. The larger taverna has a private jetty for boaties to tie up next to their table while dining. (Well, not quite, but nearly). I am sure they will serve the meals onto the boats if asked. The water is, as usual, beautifully clear with shoals of small fish swimming around the shallows. Our friend Steve pounted out the weever fish hiding among the rocks - apparently they hide in rocks and sand and have poisonous spines that inflict a very painful and possibly dangerous dose if trodden on. Swimming shoes to be worn around here!
The bay had a really nice atmosphere and we stopped and looked at a couple of the small holiday houses wondering what the cost of renting would be if we ever came this way again. One dowside would be the road which, while generally good, runs through a village and was obvious set out in the days when the only traffic was donkeys and even then there would have been only one way traffic when someone stopped to unload. Added to the width there are several blind right angle corners which provide an element of surprise.
2 days ago we visited an Engish couple we met at the hotel who have bought an apartment in Kalovassi, a town on the north coast of the island. David kindly offered to meet us in the town and guide us which turned out to be esential as the access to their place was via an extemely steep and narrow strip of rough concrete winding through pine trees fot a kilometre. When we arived it was surprising to find quite a number of houses and apartments sharing the access. The apartment is situated on the side of the hill above the town with a short path down to the town centre and a great view over the town and coast to the north and west. David and Angela have been coming to Samos for years and now spend a lot of time there both summer and winter. They recommended that we visite a restaurant not far from our hotel at Balos And we went there that evening.. What a find! Well, finding it was the first issue. Balos is not recognised by Google maps so we used our map which like most maps here is quirky, out of date and often downright wrong. Anyway we reached the end of the road at the top of the beach and couldnt see any sign of it. Fortunately Angela had given us a card from the restaurant and we recognised a sign withe the logo and an arrow pointing along the top of the beach. We soon came to a narow paved path leading between high walls away from the beach and followed it to find 6 tables nestled in a bamboo grove. We were warmly welcomed by the owner and chef in fluent english - he had spent some time in Brisbane but had never been to NZ. The blackboard menu just said "Ask the Chef". When we booked we had asked for fish fillets as most taverna serve fish whole and grilled which is not the easiest to dismantle and are often charred. Kygi (the chef)confirmed this and asked us what we would like - we looked at each other and said "You choose, but not too much quantity". He said no problem and proposed 3 starters and three mains, all manageable portions and at a rate we coiuld digest comfortably. Wow, he certainly got it right! Starting with griiled aubergine with tzaiki, finely sliced beetroot and grilled cheese stuffed with tomato we wentg on to buterflies sardines, shrimps (actually large prawns) and panfried sea bass fillets. Each dish was a delight and a change from the standard taverna fare while still retaining the essentials of greek cuisine and wonderful blends of herbs. The meal was accompanied by bread baked to the chef's mother's recipe whick had the texture of a cornmeal loaf, but lighter, and was apparently a mix af 5 different grain flours. It had been baked with a strand of olive oil through it and was served with a dip of local olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To end the meal dessert was water melon and a cold dish similar to icecream, but with a beautiful light crunchy texture. In all it was a wonderful experience until the breeze started blowing the cigarette smoke across from the next table causing Gillian's lungs to seize up and we had to make a hasty departure. We hope to return before we leave the island.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a couple of ceramics workshops and found them varied and not entirely focused on the basic toruist trade rubbish. One in particular had a range of quite avante garde work and unique finishes and glazes.
Enough for today.
We had another excursion around the island yesterday going to Posidonio a small bay at the east end of the island looking out over a very narrow strait to Turkey. Posidonio is really attractive with a small number of houses and 2 tavernas strung around the quayside with small boats tied up. The larger taverna has a private jetty for boaties to tie up next to their table while dining. (Well, not quite, but nearly). I am sure they will serve the meals onto the boats if asked. The water is, as usual, beautifully clear with shoals of small fish swimming around the shallows. Our friend Steve pounted out the weever fish hiding among the rocks - apparently they hide in rocks and sand and have poisonous spines that inflict a very painful and possibly dangerous dose if trodden on. Swimming shoes to be worn around here!
The bay had a really nice atmosphere and we stopped and looked at a couple of the small holiday houses wondering what the cost of renting would be if we ever came this way again. One dowside would be the road which, while generally good, runs through a village and was obvious set out in the days when the only traffic was donkeys and even then there would have been only one way traffic when someone stopped to unload. Added to the width there are several blind right angle corners which provide an element of surprise.
2 days ago we visited an Engish couple we met at the hotel who have bought an apartment in Kalovassi, a town on the north coast of the island. David kindly offered to meet us in the town and guide us which turned out to be esential as the access to their place was via an extemely steep and narrow strip of rough concrete winding through pine trees fot a kilometre. When we arived it was surprising to find quite a number of houses and apartments sharing the access. The apartment is situated on the side of the hill above the town with a short path down to the town centre and a great view over the town and coast to the north and west. David and Angela have been coming to Samos for years and now spend a lot of time there both summer and winter. They recommended that we visite a restaurant not far from our hotel at Balos And we went there that evening.. What a find! Well, finding it was the first issue. Balos is not recognised by Google maps so we used our map which like most maps here is quirky, out of date and often downright wrong. Anyway we reached the end of the road at the top of the beach and couldnt see any sign of it. Fortunately Angela had given us a card from the restaurant and we recognised a sign withe the logo and an arrow pointing along the top of the beach. We soon came to a narow paved path leading between high walls away from the beach and followed it to find 6 tables nestled in a bamboo grove. We were warmly welcomed by the owner and chef in fluent english - he had spent some time in Brisbane but had never been to NZ. The blackboard menu just said "Ask the Chef". When we booked we had asked for fish fillets as most taverna serve fish whole and grilled which is not the easiest to dismantle and are often charred. Kygi (the chef)confirmed this and asked us what we would like - we looked at each other and said "You choose, but not too much quantity". He said no problem and proposed 3 starters and three mains, all manageable portions and at a rate we coiuld digest comfortably. Wow, he certainly got it right! Starting with griiled aubergine with tzaiki, finely sliced beetroot and grilled cheese stuffed with tomato we wentg on to buterflies sardines, shrimps (actually large prawns) and panfried sea bass fillets. Each dish was a delight and a change from the standard taverna fare while still retaining the essentials of greek cuisine and wonderful blends of herbs. The meal was accompanied by bread baked to the chef's mother's recipe whick had the texture of a cornmeal loaf, but lighter, and was apparently a mix af 5 different grain flours. It had been baked with a strand of olive oil through it and was served with a dip of local olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To end the meal dessert was water melon and a cold dish similar to icecream, but with a beautiful light crunchy texture. In all it was a wonderful experience until the breeze started blowing the cigarette smoke across from the next table causing Gillian's lungs to seize up and we had to make a hasty departure. We hope to return before we leave the island.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a couple of ceramics workshops and found them varied and not entirely focused on the basic toruist trade rubbish. One in particular had a range of quite avante garde work and unique finishes and glazes.
Enough for today.
Saturday 16 July 2016
Samos
I'm sorry for the break in posting, but after my rant about our flight delays I've been lazy. I must also apologise for the spelling and grammatical mistakes as by the time Istop writing I don't feel like reviewing and just hit "Publish" so what you get is my stream of conciousness raw.
Anyway back to life on th eroad. We hired a car at Samos airport - both the airport and the car are small despite the 2 737s parked on the tarmac. We found however that here small is good and there are few cars larger than a Mazda 1. We had been told thaht Samos is considered the green island of the Aegean and as we drove we were passing through hills covered is olive groves, occasional vineyards and scrubby vegetation. It is still basically bare rock with the trees hanging on however. The entire island is steep with high hills rising directly from the coast. This means that the roads are up and down with continual corners and switchbacks. The surprise is that the roads are generally in good condition and mostly wide enough except through the villages. We ended up behind a petrol tanker and was happy to use him to clear the road ahead, particularly as there was nowhere we could have passed without Gillian having a panic attack.
Arriving at the hotel about an hour and a half later (average speed about 30 kph) we met up with our friends from the UK, Sue and Steve Baker. They had also invited another couple who had been to the hotel with them in the past and are from Staplehurst. We hadn't seen them for several years as we they were in the US the last time we were in the UK and it is good to catch up. The hotel is a family run affair including we gathe the initial construction. The life of the hotel revolved aroung the swimming pool with the breakfast area on one side and the bar and BBQ area on the other. Life is casual and the main occupation of the guests is to lie back on the lungers and be insulted and have ice thrown over them by the barman/manager/.... Vasili who makes everyone feel welcome and part of the family. Vasili speaks excellent English and has spent some time in the UK. It is difficult to describe him as he can be serous, joking, efficient and everyone's mate all at once whie matching the guests beer intake. A lovely guy. The rest of the family are nice and we have met 4 generations with the bay often parked in a pushchair ar the bar. We have a room with a balcony looking over the pool to the hill behind covered with low trees replanted after a major fire a while ago.
The town we are in is mainly a single road along the coast peppered with tavernas, car and bike hire centres and shops catering to the tourists. The beach itself is a mixture of sand and pebbles and sloes steeply underwater. As usual the sea has brilliant colours and while not tepid is at a good temperature for swimming.
For the first few days there was a constant wind which mdae the beach unpleasant so we stayed around the hotel. Then Gilian had a slightly uneasy gut. However we we went as a group to the town of Pythagorieo at the east end of the island. This was an important centre in ancient times, but little of that remains. There are many places on on th eisland named after the philosopher Pythagoras as he came from here around 570BC. Above the hotel is a cave where he reputed to have taken refuge and taught, but most of the information about him is slim and of dubious reliability. Of course on the island many things are attributed to him including a cup which, if overfilled, empties itself, supposedly to teach moideration.
The next day I wend out on a boat trip with the group, but Gillian didn't think she could face the schedule, so stayed on land. We went to a small island off the coast and climbed over a rough track to a small beach on the south side. While the beach was nice with fine sand and beautiful water there was little shade. After an hour there we headed back to be collected byh the boat for an onboard BBQ. On the way back we encountered a herd of goats that roam the island, the only inhabitants apart from a small monastry. After a good lunch of souvaki and salad and a swim off the boat in about 40 m of water we headed back, stopping for an hour off another beach to again swim from the boat.
The next day Gillian and I drove along the north coast to Samos towm to visit the archaeological museum. The north of the island is lusher than the south, but the beaches are all soney and oflen only reached by paths down the cliffs. The town is not large and in some ways resemble Wellington with a thin strip of level ground along the harbourside with the commercial area backed by steep hilside with the houses built up the face of the hill.
The museum contains the finds from Herion, an important religious centre from pre-history times which included the largest known greek temple. Most of the exhibits are votive offerings, many of them recovered from wells, including bronze, wood, jewellery and pottery. One of the most impressive gifts apparently had been a complete ship 30m long of which only the foundation stones remain. In Roman times the area was declared a permanent sanctuary and tax-free attracting numbers of refugees and tax evaders.
I have to say that the main attraction of the island is the slow pace of life as, while the tourist industry is it's lifeblood, ther beaches are almost deserted and nothing happens in a hurry. There is no sign of the Syrian refugees which seem to be keeping the crowds away.
Last night our host Vasili took us to the neighbouring town of Ormos where we ate dinner at a table perched on the side of the quay and listened to a 2 musicians playing a guitar and bouzouki, an instrument that has 6 strings arranged in 3 pairs and sounds a little like a mandolin.. The water was very calm and it was a wonderful atmosphere with small boats returning and tying up with the music drifting out over the harbour. The style of the music was traditional and quite different to the music that is dished up in tourist centres, with the music slightly discordant and syncopated and the songs sounding a little mournful. A good evening.
The weather has been hot and dry with temperatures reaching 36C - quite comfortable unless you are exercising as the humidity has been very low. Enough for today as I need to fall into the pool.
Anyway back to life on th eroad. We hired a car at Samos airport - both the airport and the car are small despite the 2 737s parked on the tarmac. We found however that here small is good and there are few cars larger than a Mazda 1. We had been told thaht Samos is considered the green island of the Aegean and as we drove we were passing through hills covered is olive groves, occasional vineyards and scrubby vegetation. It is still basically bare rock with the trees hanging on however. The entire island is steep with high hills rising directly from the coast. This means that the roads are up and down with continual corners and switchbacks. The surprise is that the roads are generally in good condition and mostly wide enough except through the villages. We ended up behind a petrol tanker and was happy to use him to clear the road ahead, particularly as there was nowhere we could have passed without Gillian having a panic attack.
Arriving at the hotel about an hour and a half later (average speed about 30 kph) we met up with our friends from the UK, Sue and Steve Baker. They had also invited another couple who had been to the hotel with them in the past and are from Staplehurst. We hadn't seen them for several years as we they were in the US the last time we were in the UK and it is good to catch up. The hotel is a family run affair including we gathe the initial construction. The life of the hotel revolved aroung the swimming pool with the breakfast area on one side and the bar and BBQ area on the other. Life is casual and the main occupation of the guests is to lie back on the lungers and be insulted and have ice thrown over them by the barman/manager/.... Vasili who makes everyone feel welcome and part of the family. Vasili speaks excellent English and has spent some time in the UK. It is difficult to describe him as he can be serous, joking, efficient and everyone's mate all at once whie matching the guests beer intake. A lovely guy. The rest of the family are nice and we have met 4 generations with the bay often parked in a pushchair ar the bar. We have a room with a balcony looking over the pool to the hill behind covered with low trees replanted after a major fire a while ago.
The town we are in is mainly a single road along the coast peppered with tavernas, car and bike hire centres and shops catering to the tourists. The beach itself is a mixture of sand and pebbles and sloes steeply underwater. As usual the sea has brilliant colours and while not tepid is at a good temperature for swimming.
For the first few days there was a constant wind which mdae the beach unpleasant so we stayed around the hotel. Then Gilian had a slightly uneasy gut. However we we went as a group to the town of Pythagorieo at the east end of the island. This was an important centre in ancient times, but little of that remains. There are many places on on th eisland named after the philosopher Pythagoras as he came from here around 570BC. Above the hotel is a cave where he reputed to have taken refuge and taught, but most of the information about him is slim and of dubious reliability. Of course on the island many things are attributed to him including a cup which, if overfilled, empties itself, supposedly to teach moideration.
The next day I wend out on a boat trip with the group, but Gillian didn't think she could face the schedule, so stayed on land. We went to a small island off the coast and climbed over a rough track to a small beach on the south side. While the beach was nice with fine sand and beautiful water there was little shade. After an hour there we headed back to be collected byh the boat for an onboard BBQ. On the way back we encountered a herd of goats that roam the island, the only inhabitants apart from a small monastry. After a good lunch of souvaki and salad and a swim off the boat in about 40 m of water we headed back, stopping for an hour off another beach to again swim from the boat.
The next day Gillian and I drove along the north coast to Samos towm to visit the archaeological museum. The north of the island is lusher than the south, but the beaches are all soney and oflen only reached by paths down the cliffs. The town is not large and in some ways resemble Wellington with a thin strip of level ground along the harbourside with the commercial area backed by steep hilside with the houses built up the face of the hill.
The museum contains the finds from Herion, an important religious centre from pre-history times which included the largest known greek temple. Most of the exhibits are votive offerings, many of them recovered from wells, including bronze, wood, jewellery and pottery. One of the most impressive gifts apparently had been a complete ship 30m long of which only the foundation stones remain. In Roman times the area was declared a permanent sanctuary and tax-free attracting numbers of refugees and tax evaders.
I have to say that the main attraction of the island is the slow pace of life as, while the tourist industry is it's lifeblood, ther beaches are almost deserted and nothing happens in a hurry. There is no sign of the Syrian refugees which seem to be keeping the crowds away.
Last night our host Vasili took us to the neighbouring town of Ormos where we ate dinner at a table perched on the side of the quay and listened to a 2 musicians playing a guitar and bouzouki, an instrument that has 6 strings arranged in 3 pairs and sounds a little like a mandolin.. The water was very calm and it was a wonderful atmosphere with small boats returning and tying up with the music drifting out over the harbour. The style of the music was traditional and quite different to the music that is dished up in tourist centres, with the music slightly discordant and syncopated and the songs sounding a little mournful. A good evening.
The weather has been hot and dry with temperatures reaching 36C - quite comfortable unless you are exercising as the humidity has been very low. Enough for today as I need to fall into the pool.
Tuesday 12 July 2016
Life In an airport
To meet our scheduled departure from Athens for the fligt to Samo we set the alarm for a time far too early and apart from missing exits and directional signs around Athens airport and abnandoning the rental car on an on-ramp to the motorway we had a smooth trip to the airport. Checking in was simp[le once we had found that although our e-ticket had Aegean Airlines in bold letters across the top, we were actually flying with Olympic Air. Through security and a couple of hiccups while they frisked me and dug through my daypack to find a small pair of pliers and the the wait began. Sitting at the gate we were informed that our flight was about to board and the bus to the aeroplane was positioned outside the gate door. Then nothing happened. Then the bus drove off - empty. The we were told something in. Greek. A while later an English translation was found and relayed to say that due to weather conditions at Samos our flight was delayed and that we would be told what was happening in half an hour. The another half hour, Then another half hour. Then another Greek announcement and a surge towards the counter - translation was proviided and we found that the flight was cancelled and we had to go back to the checkin counter to book another flight. Arriving at the checkin we were told a special flight had been arranged for 6:00 and we were given new boarding passes and a lunch voucher.
During our morning in the departure lounge we had made the acquaintance of a delightful woman travelling with 3 great kids. They had just arrived on a from Los Angeles and were going to a house they own in Samos town. As she spoke fluent Greek she was a great help in finding out what was going on and we hung very close to the family. She also gave us a lot of good information about Samos and the way of life there.
Anyway after spending 3 hours dawdling over lunch with the three kids draped over chairs in various states of awareness we headed back to go through security again and hang around until the gate number was displayed. Then we waited. And waited. And an announcement came that the flight was delayed due to weather. All other flights from the airport were rolling out, but we waited. Since flights are possible to Samos only during daylight hours we realised that it was unlikely that we would be leving the ground that night. By this stage temppers were wearing thin and objectionable people around us became more so.
Eventually the expected announcement was made and a mad dash ensued to baggage claim to retrieve our luggage and up stairs to try and get some accommodation and rebook for the next day. We were rebooked for 9:00 and waited in line to see where we would spend the night while the group behind us droned on that the weather forecast was no better for the next day. All we could hear from the head of the queue was that there was a shortage of accommodation and ..../ However when we meekly handed over our boarding passes we were given a meal voucher for diner and breakfast and the gir turned to the next in line. Gillian said "WHAT ABOUT OUR ACCOMMODATION" and the girl turned withoiut a word and disappeared into a back room. We waited, and waited, and waited, and suddenly she rushed out, thrust a bit of paper into our hands and said "get receipts for the taxi" and dismissed us. After oining a melee of people witing for a taxi we gave the driver the paper and asked "how far?". "Half an hour " was the reply - by this stage it was nearly 10:00pm and we were tired and uncertain whether the dining room at the hotel would still be open. After a scenic trip down the coast with a very pleasant taxi driver he stopped outside a very swanky hotel and gave the doorman our bags. We of course were dressed for a casual day on the beach on a Greek island and looked totally out of place. While signing in the woman next to us was told her room was NZ500+ a night - a little beyond our usual budget.
Anyway, after dumping our bags in the room, we headed for the restaurant and despite our appearance were given a table on a long balcony overlooking 2 fabulous swimming pool complexes and looked over the most expensive menu we had seen for a long time. Nothing daunted we ordered and enjoyed a supberb meal. On leaving I went to pay for the wine which was not covered by the voucher and in the end had to be taken to the other side of the hotel as I wanted to use a credit card to pay. We finally fell into bed after midnight with an alarm set for 6:00am when room service had been asked to provide breakfast as our tame taxi driver was picking us up at 7:00 and the dining room did not open till a later time.
We arrived back at the airport with no great hopes of flying to be greeted by many familiar faces. One group had ended up stuck in the airport overnight with only a voucher for a snack meal - we had been lucky. Anyway when we were all on the bus going out to the plane there was a very cheerful atmosphere and when we finally touched down in Samos, after an "interesting" landing (the approach to the runway is blocked by a mountain so a 90 degree turn is required then heavy braking on the short runway) there was spontaneous applause.
Of course our hotel transport was not available and we were told to take a taxi. Not us - we grabbed a rental car and headed west down the island. More on this later.
Eventually the expected announcement was made and a mad dash ensued to baggage claim to retrieve our luggage and up stairs to try and get some accommodation and rebook for the next day. We were rebooked for 9:00 and waited in line to see where we would spend the night while the group behind us droned on that the weather forecast was no better for the next day. All we could hear from the head of the queue was that there was a shortage of accommodation and ..../ However when we meekly handed over our boarding passes we were given a meal voucher for diner and breakfast and the gir turned to the next in line. Gillian said "WHAT ABOUT OUR ACCOMMODATION" and the girl turned withoiut a word and disappeared into a back room. We waited, and waited, and waited, and suddenly she rushed out, thrust a bit of paper into our hands and said "get receipts for the taxi" and dismissed us. After oining a melee of people witing for a taxi we gave the driver the paper and asked "how far?". "Half an hour " was the reply - by this stage it was nearly 10:00pm and we were tired and uncertain whether the dining room at the hotel would still be open. After a scenic trip down the coast with a very pleasant taxi driver he stopped outside a very swanky hotel and gave the doorman our bags. We of course were dressed for a casual day on the beach on a Greek island and looked totally out of place. While signing in the woman next to us was told her room was NZ500+ a night - a little beyond our usual budget.
Anyway, after dumping our bags in the room, we headed for the restaurant and despite our appearance were given a table on a long balcony overlooking 2 fabulous swimming pool complexes and looked over the most expensive menu we had seen for a long time. Nothing daunted we ordered and enjoyed a supberb meal. On leaving I went to pay for the wine which was not covered by the voucher and in the end had to be taken to the other side of the hotel as I wanted to use a credit card to pay. We finally fell into bed after midnight with an alarm set for 6:00am when room service had been asked to provide breakfast as our tame taxi driver was picking us up at 7:00 and the dining room did not open till a later time.
We arrived back at the airport with no great hopes of flying to be greeted by many familiar faces. One group had ended up stuck in the airport overnight with only a voucher for a snack meal - we had been lucky. Anyway when we were all on the bus going out to the plane there was a very cheerful atmosphere and when we finally touched down in Samos, after an "interesting" landing (the approach to the runway is blocked by a mountain so a 90 degree turn is required then heavy braking on the short runway) there was spontaneous applause.
Of course our hotel transport was not available and we were told to take a taxi. Not us - we grabbed a rental car and headed west down the island. More on this later.
Wednesday 6 July 2016
Farewell to the Peloponnese
Well as promised we tried the suckling pig at the local taverna which turned out to be a little disappointing - the dish was a HUGE heap of pieces of roast pork without gravy or any sauce. The meat was tender, but didn't have any "oh wow" flavour. Gillian had a mousaka which was nice but not exceptional. One of the problems of the tavernas is that the portions are too large - even an appetiser can be a full meal for 2 people and as we want to try all the local dishes we always end up with more than we can eat. We particularly like the tzaziki which is fresh and often very garlicy and comes on a side plate piled up with about 500ml of tzaziki topped with a sprinkle of something red (not paprika) and finely sliced capisicum.
Another dish we really appreciate is the fried zucchini which arrives at the table as a heap of crisply golden fried lengthwise slices that have a wonderful flavour. Again the serving is huge.
Anyway the next day, our last at Marko's cottage, we lazed around and spent a bit of time on the beach. We tried another taverna in the middle of the local village with the wooden tables and chairs with checked table clothes set out on a terrace under low spreading trees looking out over the coastal plains towards the mountains. The food was good and it was pleasant to wath the light on the hills change as the sun set.
We packed and set out the next morning to return to our accommodation at Lechaio Beach near Corinth for the last 2 days of our stay on the Greek mainland. Our first stop was the museum at Chora which contains much of the stuff excavated from the Palace of Nestor we had visited a couple of days before, but we found that the museum closed on Mondays so we headed back to the road north. In the village of Chora we found an excellent example of modern traffic struggling to run alongside traditional village layout with one main road up the the square needing first gear and being 2 way with a total width between the houses of about 3m. Stopping at a small village to top up the fuel I spent a good 5 minutes negotiating with the old woman who ran the petrol station as she was convinced that the car should take diesel and she had to get a man from a nearby shop to confirm that I wanted petrol before she was prepared to dispense it. I presume that she has had a bad experience with furriners before.
After surviving the road through the hills we joined the motorway and once again marvelled at the quality of motorway system given the state of the Greek economy and the standard of Greek roads in general. As the centre of the Peloponnese is high and mountainous the motorway runs through several tunnels and over major bridges maintaining an alignment easily suitable for 130kph travel. If only NZ could do the same!
The moutains either side of us were steep barren rock sparsely covered with occasional low growth with the ares between being flat and cultivated, but still very dry. On the coast near Kalamata we crossed 2 small rivers, both looking like a string of stagnant pools and after that we did not see another watercourse with water. While not as arid as Israel this is a dry unforgiving country to live in. Having said that we have not seen any water restrictions any where we have been, but I don't know whether the water is all from underground sources or like Israel they use large scale desalinisation plants.
Arriving at Lechaio Beach we were greeted like long lost friends and tole that we had been missed for the 6 days we had been away. I know its just "hospitality speak", but its nice to be recognised. In our feedback for the accommodation when we left I had noted the lack of a hot water jug in the unit, even though there was a filter coffee machine. Anyway soon after we settled in a staff member came over with a jug for us - they actually take note of what people say!
We have spent the next 2 days lazing around the beach and pool in very pleasant temperatures around 35C. Tomorrow we fly to Samos to spend 2 weeks with our English friends Sue and Steve Baker.
Another dish we really appreciate is the fried zucchini which arrives at the table as a heap of crisply golden fried lengthwise slices that have a wonderful flavour. Again the serving is huge.
Anyway the next day, our last at Marko's cottage, we lazed around and spent a bit of time on the beach. We tried another taverna in the middle of the local village with the wooden tables and chairs with checked table clothes set out on a terrace under low spreading trees looking out over the coastal plains towards the mountains. The food was good and it was pleasant to wath the light on the hills change as the sun set.
We packed and set out the next morning to return to our accommodation at Lechaio Beach near Corinth for the last 2 days of our stay on the Greek mainland. Our first stop was the museum at Chora which contains much of the stuff excavated from the Palace of Nestor we had visited a couple of days before, but we found that the museum closed on Mondays so we headed back to the road north. In the village of Chora we found an excellent example of modern traffic struggling to run alongside traditional village layout with one main road up the the square needing first gear and being 2 way with a total width between the houses of about 3m. Stopping at a small village to top up the fuel I spent a good 5 minutes negotiating with the old woman who ran the petrol station as she was convinced that the car should take diesel and she had to get a man from a nearby shop to confirm that I wanted petrol before she was prepared to dispense it. I presume that she has had a bad experience with furriners before.
After surviving the road through the hills we joined the motorway and once again marvelled at the quality of motorway system given the state of the Greek economy and the standard of Greek roads in general. As the centre of the Peloponnese is high and mountainous the motorway runs through several tunnels and over major bridges maintaining an alignment easily suitable for 130kph travel. If only NZ could do the same!
The moutains either side of us were steep barren rock sparsely covered with occasional low growth with the ares between being flat and cultivated, but still very dry. On the coast near Kalamata we crossed 2 small rivers, both looking like a string of stagnant pools and after that we did not see another watercourse with water. While not as arid as Israel this is a dry unforgiving country to live in. Having said that we have not seen any water restrictions any where we have been, but I don't know whether the water is all from underground sources or like Israel they use large scale desalinisation plants.
Arriving at Lechaio Beach we were greeted like long lost friends and tole that we had been missed for the 6 days we had been away. I know its just "hospitality speak", but its nice to be recognised. In our feedback for the accommodation when we left I had noted the lack of a hot water jug in the unit, even though there was a filter coffee machine. Anyway soon after we settled in a staff member came over with a jug for us - they actually take note of what people say!
We have spent the next 2 days lazing around the beach and pool in very pleasant temperatures around 35C. Tomorrow we fly to Samos to spend 2 weeks with our English friends Sue and Steve Baker.
Saturday 2 July 2016
More of the same
Since I last wrote we have mainly hung around our little cottage with a couple of excursions. On Thursday we drove down to Methoni to see if we could find any remnants of the wreck of the Sebastiano Veniero, also known as the Jansen or Jason, on which Gillian's father was on when it was torpedoed and run aground in 1941. We have seen a photo taken of the ship close inshore beside the Venetian castle at Methoni and had been told there were some rusted metal bits still visible, but we fialed to see them. However we now have an image of the site and can imagine what the scene was like back then trying to get the survivors to shore in atrocious weather conditions.
The castle itself is immense and still has very impressive defensive walls standing facing the town and along the top of the cliff where the ship was wrecked. In the middle of the old town area is a church which appears very old and we wondered if this was the "hall" where the prisoners were held after the wreck, but as we recall they were held in a "hall in the town" which wouldn't fit. Unfortunately the guys in the ticket office didn't seem to know what we were talking about which is the norm in Greece - nobody cares about WWII, except in Crete, as all the stories are about the Civil War which raged immediately after.
We returned to the cottage around the south coast of the peninsular, seing a couple of OK beaches, another Ventian castle at Koroni and as usual a lot of olive trees.
Friday we spent a good part of the day on the beach below the cottage. Most of the time we were the sole inhabitants, but there were people in the house above the beach who seemed to continuously talking just the other side of the fence. The beach is a good size, about 100m long, with coase golden sand and a lot of rocks just offshore. However when we went in for a swim we found the sand sloped quite quickly to over waist deep befor the rocks began, so it was pleasant even if the water was cooler than some other beaches we hve been to - still much warmer than Onemana ever gets.
Saturday we slept in late and while we were sitting on the front porch were hailed from the road by a couple who wanted information about renting the cottage. They are archeologists who come over every year to work on the site know as the Palace of Nestor - a Mycenaean palce destroyed by fire around 1200 BC. They told us about a find last year of a shaft grave from around 1500BC which included an amazing array of grave goods. See www.griffinburial.org. They also told us that since we were last here the whole site has been given a new roof and suspended walkways. So in the afternoon We headed up to see the changes. The last time we were here you walked around the passages and rooms, but now you look down on them which does give a better picture of the scale and layout of the palace. The couple also recommended a local taverna that serves spit roast suckling pig on Saturday nights, so guess where we're going for dinner.
The castle itself is immense and still has very impressive defensive walls standing facing the town and along the top of the cliff where the ship was wrecked. In the middle of the old town area is a church which appears very old and we wondered if this was the "hall" where the prisoners were held after the wreck, but as we recall they were held in a "hall in the town" which wouldn't fit. Unfortunately the guys in the ticket office didn't seem to know what we were talking about which is the norm in Greece - nobody cares about WWII, except in Crete, as all the stories are about the Civil War which raged immediately after.
We returned to the cottage around the south coast of the peninsular, seing a couple of OK beaches, another Ventian castle at Koroni and as usual a lot of olive trees.
Friday we spent a good part of the day on the beach below the cottage. Most of the time we were the sole inhabitants, but there were people in the house above the beach who seemed to continuously talking just the other side of the fence. The beach is a good size, about 100m long, with coase golden sand and a lot of rocks just offshore. However when we went in for a swim we found the sand sloped quite quickly to over waist deep befor the rocks began, so it was pleasant even if the water was cooler than some other beaches we hve been to - still much warmer than Onemana ever gets.
Saturday we slept in late and while we were sitting on the front porch were hailed from the road by a couple who wanted information about renting the cottage. They are archeologists who come over every year to work on the site know as the Palace of Nestor - a Mycenaean palce destroyed by fire around 1200 BC. They told us about a find last year of a shaft grave from around 1500BC which included an amazing array of grave goods. See www.griffinburial.org. They also told us that since we were last here the whole site has been given a new roof and suspended walkways. So in the afternoon We headed up to see the changes. The last time we were here you walked around the passages and rooms, but now you look down on them which does give a better picture of the scale and layout of the palace. The couple also recommended a local taverna that serves spit roast suckling pig on Saturday nights, so guess where we're going for dinner.
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