Ramblings from Greece

Wednesday   So I woke up this morning with the  sun shining through the  bedroom window, having forgotten to close my shutters, a quick look out of it, there was a orange streak across the horizon, the sun was on its way up. A visit to the bakery up the road to get lunch, I bought my usual spanakopita and two drinks, seven Euros! Now I am pretty sure the same thing costs just over three Euros in Andros, the bakery here is just a regular place. I then had a  walk to town to get a car. The process here was much more complicated and they took a deposit and payment for the days I will have the  car. On Andros, no money changed hands before I brought the car back. When they did the check over the car, they went over with a proverbial microscope! Finally I went and picked up my ferry ticket, thankfully no dramas there, for some reason this journey, online checkin was not available. I went into tourist information for a map of the island. Despite being open, they were ...

 Monday, Tuesday  So I said goodbye to my little house on Andros, I wasn’t sure about it to start with, I have never found Greek properties I have rented,  as comfortable as our UK house. Our house in the UK could not be described as opulent, but it’s nice and I miss our sofas, and our bed is a king size and I like our bedding. The bathrooms here are not as nice, but you get used up to things, and appreciate the environment here, which is significantly better in many ways to the UK. I even enjoy the ferries rides. I just have lots of downloads on BBC Sounds to keep me amused. I have just started on the Museums that made us, with Neil MacGregor which is very good. Also The Reunion with Kirsty Walk. ( the British Leyland one is very good!) I have noticed at the ferry port on Andros a Mute swan being overly interested in the ferries when they are docking. As my ferry docked the swan got really close to it, touching it, I have no idea why. I saw some scraps being thrown overb...

  Sunday  So last night I had a meal in a restaurant I have been to before. I started with a local soft cheese, they have gave me a mountain of it, I  then had  a burger, I know not very Greek! But it came in a black bread bun. I asked the waitress if it had a special name, it did not, their bread delivery from Hora had not turned up, so this is what they had left. Walking about, it seems these places are not busy, they are barely ticking over. Even here they are having problems finding staff. She was Albanian. She said they had snow here by the sea this winter. They had to close for several days until it cleared. There was a lovely tall ship in the harbour and it looked nice with the sunset.   While in the town this morning, after buying lunch, I heard Welsh accents. So I thought, I bet that’s the group who the lady from Mani was guiding and sure enough it was. They were heading home, they all lived on Anglesey which I know. The yacht above is no longer th...

  Saturday So I think Gavrio has a similar feel to Kamares on Sifnos. They are a similar size, but Gavrio is slightly smaller with less rooms and hotels to let. There is a similar mix of shops too, there are larger out of town supermarkets here also . Last night I had Kleftico in a restaurant away from the port, in a open paved area, with trees and tables. The lady owner told me the portions were large and they were. I would definitely go back. After the meal I went to the port area and had my usual ice cream. Yesterday while poking about on the internet I found this guys blog page  about travelling to Andros. In it he talks about the Meltimi wind. It can arrive even in the summer months and Andros and Tinos are the windiest two Cyclades islands. It’s a good site, I wish I had seen it before I came here. But I had found a  Andros tourism one, which is pretty good. He also mentions the walking, a lot of people do come here to do walks, they are very well signposted, each i...

  Friday So before setting out today, I popped into Gavrio and got some lunch and drinks, as I did not expect to find anything open on my way. North of Gavrio looks very different on the map,  there aren’t so many of those better roads, and to be honest there doesn’t seem to be many villages about. So the first place I saw seems to be called Fellos beach. It was completely deserted, but around it there was signs of a few buildings being erected.  These were all huge affairs, probably for some rich person who will only use it a few weeks a year. On the beach, there were these little slate boat shelters, so if you had a dingy fishing boat, you could stash it in one of these. The road they had built for these villas, well it was not surfaced but it would easily added two extra lanes to the M25, totally overkill. In the summer months, the builders aren’t allowed to do building work, makes you wonder what they do do! I walked forward a little way along the coast and found anot...

Thursday I discovered last night that the lady whose animal rescue home which featured on a program with Ben Fogle  that I watched, is in fact on Andros. She and the home are situated in Arni not a million miles from here. I may make contact and drop in. The web site she has had created about it is   here . Before I set off I used to mini sized washing machine in my room, it’s a very unusual device, I have seen nothing like it before, it looks even stranger as it’s painted red! The washing is now hanging on the washing lines that I am sure we have all seen around Greece. It’s a nice sunny day with gentle breezes. So on my way to Andros town I made two stops. The first was the ancient city of Hypsili. This is even older than the tower I saw the other day, and really all that is left are the foundation stones. But the guide they give you is very informative and one of the ladies who were in the booth came out and we had an interesting chat. The photo on the front of the guide, g...

  Tuesday evening - Wednesday So after my exertions during the day, I had built up a good appetite. Interestingly a lot of the tavernas did not seem open today, or at least they looked like that. I finally settled on one looking over the water, mountains the other side and the sun sinking. It was still windy and I sat outside the shelter of the plastic ‘tent’ most people opted to sit in. I think the owners thought I was mad, in my fleece and shorts. I ordered goat in lemon sauce, a first for me and my half kilo of red. While I waited, the sun seemed at a suitable place and I nipped over to the harbour to take a few photos. The meal arrived and it was excellent, very tender and tasty. Later on I walked home, buying an ice cream on the way. The next morning after picking up the car, I headed south in the direction that I walked yesterday morning. I first stopped off at Batsi, this has a lovely beach and harbour all in one, like Kamares on Sifnos.  It’s a bit touristy, I walked u...