Sunday, 3 June 2007
Sunday 3rd June
Feeling a little delicate this morning. The excitement of yesterday was too much to handle. We visited Megabyte, the internet café where David had messaged me from when he was here in April. Megabyte is at the far end of Tsilivi so I had a tour of the town from one end to the other. Irene made us a fabulous dinner and just as we were finishing John and Tani arrived, closely followed by Carl and Alex, with some curious large plastic bottles of white wine. We had arranged to catch Dave at his quiz in Basil’s Bar, and then to call into Deano’s Place, so we excused ourselves. When we got back in the early hours, the party had only just ended, there had been a broken glass and red wine spilt, and someone had left behind a jacket and a pair of trousers, neatly draped over one of the chairs although Irene assures us that when everyone left, they were all fully clothed!
Today, we borrowed Irene’s car and went for a tour of the south end of the island. We visited Kalamaki, Lagana, then turned inland and headed into the mountains via beautiful villages. By chance we saw a sign for a Mycenaean cemetery, so we even got to see some archaeology! It was a lovely day. This evening we are going to Deano’s Place where The Ride are playing (with Carl on bass, not David). In the interval, David will showcase his solo act which begins at Deano’s on Monday night.
Today, we borrowed Irene’s car and went for a tour of the south end of the island. We visited Kalamaki, Lagana, then turned inland and headed into the mountains via beautiful villages. By chance we saw a sign for a Mycenaean cemetery, so we even got to see some archaeology! It was a lovely day. This evening we are going to Deano’s Place where The Ride are playing (with Carl on bass, not David). In the interval, David will showcase his solo act which begins at Deano’s on Monday night.
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Final Destination
We have arrived!
Pulled up at Dave and Irene’s at 3.30pm. The journey had ended. David was warmly greeted by Tasha the German Shepherd, a 2-year old puppy in the body the size of a small horse. I think she likes me too because she threw herself on her back on the floor to have her tummy tickled when I got up for a drink at 3am. Irene and Dave are from London and retired to Zakynthos 3 years ago. They have been extremely helpful and we couldn’t hope for better hosts. They even have a couple of houses lined up for us to look at on Monday (not that they're trying to get rid of us or anything!).
Today we are taking it easy. For the first day in a week, we don’t have several hundred miles to drive. Instead we’re going to take a walk into the village, and David has some contacts to say hello to.
Pulled up at Dave and Irene’s at 3.30pm. The journey had ended. David was warmly greeted by Tasha the German Shepherd, a 2-year old puppy in the body the size of a small horse. I think she likes me too because she threw herself on her back on the floor to have her tummy tickled when I got up for a drink at 3am. Irene and Dave are from London and retired to Zakynthos 3 years ago. They have been extremely helpful and we couldn’t hope for better hosts. They even have a couple of houses lined up for us to look at on Monday (not that they're trying to get rid of us or anything!).
Today we are taking it easy. For the first day in a week, we don’t have several hundred miles to drive. Instead we’re going to take a walk into the village, and David has some contacts to say hello to.
Greece is the word!
This is us arriving in Patras.
1145, Friday 1st June, on the road from Patras to Kyllini
The sailing was very smooth, and we spent the evening chilling on the deck. Fabulous! We slept well, but were disorientated by an announcement at 2am that we had arrived in Corfu and passengers should disembark! Once the panic had subsided and we had established that this did NOT apply to us, we went back to sleep until the alarm went at 8am – a lie-in!
The ferry departed at 1900 and arrived in Patras at 1100. Not sure how long we were stopped at Corfu.
The sailing was very smooth, and we spent the evening chilling on the deck. Fabulous! We slept well, but were disorientated by an announcement at 2am that we had arrived in Corfu and passengers should disembark! Once the panic had subsided and we had established that this did NOT apply to us, we went back to sleep until the alarm went at 8am – a lie-in!
The ferry departed at 1900 and arrived in Patras at 1100. Not sure how long we were stopped at Corfu.
Thursday 31st May
The journey to Brindisi went without a hitch. We arrived with the intention of going straight to the harbour to book our transit on the ferry to Zakynthos (via Kefallonia) which was supposed to commence on 1 June but we were told it wasn’t running. We asked for the alternative which was to Patras on the mainland. It was 5pm and there was a vacancy on the ferry leaving at 7pm, so off we went and despite there being other cars, vans and lorries waiting, we were loaded immediately. We settled into our cabin and went exploring the boat. Found a bar, got ourselves a beer and a Bacardi and sat on deck watching the other poor souls being loaded. 90 minutes later and the camper van which had been ahead of us in the initial queue to board was still waiting on the quay in the searing heat and there were lots of raised voices!
1030, Thursday 31st May, heading south on the Adriatic coast road to Brindisi
Left Chiasso yesterday in glorious weather. It’s hot, hot, hot! 2km out of Chiasso we left Switzerland behind and entered Italy. The motorway around Milan was bedlam, and the exit from the toll booths was a free-for-all. You can imagine what it was like with numerous cars carrying impatient Italians! As we joined the motorway, the sat-nav told us to “continue for 604km.” If we’d wanted to, we didn’t need to leave the motorway until we were in Bari, just north of Brindisi. We travelled half of the 604 km then stopped for the night in a pretty little resort called Porto San Giorgio. Found a hotel near the marina called the David Palace but at €140 it was a bit over our budget. There was another hotel was just down there road, very comfortable and picturesque, and less than half the price of the David Palace.
Went out for food last night looking forward to more pizza. We had settled ourselves in a lovely restaurant with a table beside the beach, and had ordered drinks when we realised that fish was the only dish on the menu. What’s more, we couldn’t understand what type of fish we were asking for. David ordered spaghetti with some sort of fish and mushrooms, while I asked for calamari and “small fish.” We couldn’t wait to see what would arrive on our plates. Turns out David’s spaghetti came with cockles and mussels, no mushrooms. My “small fish” were deep-fried baby octopi. Mmmm, tasty.
This morning it is definitely t-shirt and shorts weather. 418km to Brindisi.
Went out for food last night looking forward to more pizza. We had settled ourselves in a lovely restaurant with a table beside the beach, and had ordered drinks when we realised that fish was the only dish on the menu. What’s more, we couldn’t understand what type of fish we were asking for. David ordered spaghetti with some sort of fish and mushrooms, while I asked for calamari and “small fish.” We couldn’t wait to see what would arrive on our plates. Turns out David’s spaghetti came with cockles and mussels, no mushrooms. My “small fish” were deep-fried baby octopi. Mmmm, tasty.
This morning it is definitely t-shirt and shorts weather. 418km to Brindisi.
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