On the beach

Wednesday 22nd June  Hora/Livadi  - Serifos

So another night on the sofa bed last night. The trouble is the upstairs gets baked by the sun all day, maybe I should try leaving the patio doors open to let the heat out during the day. I don’t know what the mosquito situation is here, but I don’t fancy leaving the doors  open at night, and the day light might wake me early in the morning. The rental house I looked at  is all on the one floor and if I remember it’s orientation correctly, the bedrooms should not get cooked by the sun. The main bedroom also has air conditioning, here the only unit is by the front door, I am not sure how effectively the cold air would reach the upstairs bedroom, hot air rising and all that. In any case I am off to Livadi at ten thirty am. As I can’t see a bus stop near the house, I will walk up to the bus stop in the upper Hora. 

That gentle breeze is here this morning, but the wind is not gusting like it was yesterday.  On the way I buy myself a spanakopita and pop in for a coffee at my usual place. This time there is a lady there with her little dog. She speaks a bit of English and she has a cold long coffee. I ask her what it is and it is a Freddo Cappuccino. I decide that’s what I need today. I ask if her dog is friendly, apparently it isn’t. She does not live in Hora and as she has her coffee in a take away carton she won’t be staying long. She shares a joke with the owner and I hear the word tourist, but she assures me the joke isn’t about me. It might be related to the UK as the tv news has just shown a video of unclaimed bags at Heathrow. Outside the horses have arrived again, this time they are carrying portable air conditioning units off somewhere. As there are no roads in either Hora this is probably the only way to move bulky items in and out of town. After she goes I find out the owners name is Marinos and I tell him mine is Paul. Soon after I catch my bus.

On the bus is the girl who works at the shop, I wonder why she is off to Livadi. ( I don’t ask) When I get there I pop into the Real Estate place that is handling the property. There are two young girls there and despite their young age they are clearly well practised in the Greek way of relaxed handling things! They got my email and we go over my questions. I leave with not many answers! 

After this I head for the beach. Before I say anything else, I should mention I can’t swim and my last foray in the sea was probably when you could count my age on the fingers of one hand. The first beach is a nice long sandy one, there are quite a few people on it as are a couple of bars with sunbeds, you know the drill. There are some handy trees offering shade too and most of these are taken. 

I walk along the length of the beach and head along a path that I know heads to another smaller one. This one has no bars and there are not many people on it. It’s sandy but at either end there are rocky ends enclosing it. I head to the far end and prop myself on the rocks. On my way I meet a little dog all alone. I ask a nearby couple and they point to a swimmer, unlike Ronnie he clearly does not fancy swimming!

At the far end, I take my sandals off and dangle my feet in the sea. Somehow and not by staring at my fellow sun worshipers, I come to realise that when I see them walk in and out of the sea they are naked! This is clearly a official or unofficial naturist beach. Oh. Some strange thing happens in my head and before you know it I have joined in. It’s not something I have done before I might add. It is quite hot and another brain event has me in the sea. It’s colder than I thought. I don’t go in deep and I sort of prop myself up with my arms on the sea bed, legs stretched out.

The tide is stronger than I thought and I do get gently swayed around and it’s very relaxing. I feel nice and cool and a sense of freedom is present. I sort of get why people go in the sea at last. I spend a lot of time there and then perch on a rock drying out. Of course I am not prepared for this, I have no beach towel! After drying off I spot a handy rock that I can lean on, while in  the sea which comes towards me and goes in to a depth of a shallow bath. The rock means I don’t get moved around. Eventually I decide to dry off as best I can and walk back, clothed to Livadi. As I do, the Sea Jet catamaran is coming into port and it’s wake creates bigger waves on the beach. 

I go into Livadi, buy myself a beach towel, and another of those coffees. Of course I should have checked the bus timetable, like a lot of things it comes to a halt at two thirty pm, to resume at five. Before I got to the town, I saw this little church and graveyard.


So it’s been a very interesting day, given how much enjoyment I have had here in Livadi you might wonder why I am not going to live there, but it does get busy especially when the ferries roll in and I really fancy trying to live up on that mountain! 

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