Day 13 - free day and Saki's BBQ

This was a leisure day culminating in a farewell dinner. Some went into town, some hired a car and revisited their favourite spots and a large contingent chose a swim in a sheltered cove in Nisaki followed by a seafood lunch in the wonderfully located Mistos taverna with the sea on one side and the cove on the other. Large quantities of oysters, prawns, mussels, baby octopus, sardines and anchovies were consumed, mostly with a fairly acceptable rose on this occasion.

Nissaki Beach from Mitsos Taverna

For the finale our host Saki put on a barbecue spread which featured an extensive range of Greek entrees but introduced the evening with some traditional drinking of ouzo. This was basically a form of skolling with the small glasses held by the little finger on the bottom and the thumb on the top all to the tune of a ‘yaaamaaass’ each time we downed a glass. With daughter Sarah he then gave us an exhibition of barefoot Greek dancing on the lawn which soon had everyone joining in.

Saki and Sarah - barefoot Greek dancers extraordinaire!

During the course of the evening we had a limerick competition which had to feature the Greek surname of Papadopoulos. The prize of a “Rolex” watch was taken out with a recital by Anthony but the word is that it was actually penned by Frances. Frances took out the Greek quiz prize which was another watch so there can be no excuse for the Macdonnells running out of time.
Dick then announced a number of awards that covered every group member or couple. The awards were across a wide range of subjects involving either unsavoury incidents or bad habits that took place during the tour, examples being: The Avoirdupois Award, The Greek God Award, The Greg Lougainis Award, The Cheapest Drunk Award, The Accident waiting to happen Award, The Ouzo Drinking Award, The Ageing Playboy Award and The Repartee Award. During the course of this segment we were reminded of many things that caused a laugh such as the irreverent comment about one of the candidates for The Avoirdupois Award as he announced a dive off the bow of the boat on our beach barbecue day, “Greece is about to have its first ever tsunami.”

Several of the girls - Cinders, Glen, Marli and Margaret - put on a skit which showed off both their singing and composing skills which was greeted with much acclaim:

The Girls' Song
On my first day in Greece
My tour guide showed to me
A passage of Greek mythology

On my second day in Greece
My tour guide showed to me
2 divas diving
And a passage of Greek mythology

On my third day in Greece
My tour guide showed to me
3 great guides
2 divas diving
And a passage of Geek mythology

(carry on as above, adding the extra line, as follows:)

4 ancient ruins

5000 steps

6 Zorbas dancing

7 swimmers shivering

8 bellies bulging

9 buses weaving

10 tootsies teatering

11 elbows lifting

12 gods a-greeting

.....(and finish with).......And a passage of Greek mythology

Mr 'New York' and his long suffering wife of forty years!

The highlight of the evening was the cutting of a large cake we bought for Doug and Judy Corder who were celebrating their 40^th wedding anniversary. Gordon proposed the toast which was quite appropriate because he and Sue had had their honeymoon on Corfu ‘a couple of years before’. After that we had the “For they are jolly good fellows” bit and Doug’s response which we think featured a couple of “porkies”.

And it was delicious too!

With some having to get taxies to the airport at 4-30am the next morning it was goodnight and goodbye with the Grecian Yearn finally satisfied.

Some of the group leaving at a slightly more reasonable hour of the morning.

We are confident that it won’t be the last time that some of us will come to Greece and Corfu and that Saki will see some of us again at the very relaxing and wonderfully located Panorama Hideaway in Dassia.  Thank you Saki.

The abiding memory of Corfu is summed up in one of the limerick entries:

There was an Old Man of Corfu,
Who never knew what he should do;
He checked out the ouzo and got on the boozo

Which may well be an idea for you!  (thanks to Dick!)

The intrepid threesome working hard - as always!

In conclusion, Jane, Dick and Jan would like to say that we had a marvellous time and we hope that all members of our group did too and we would like to thank them one and all for making the tour such a great experience (for us at least!).  The agents we had in Athens (Kiki from Dolphin Ellas), Parga (Christos from Ephira Travel) and Corfu (Iota from Ilios Travel) were fantastically helpful, always there to lend a hand and ensure that we got to wherever we were supposed to go.  The guides we had – Alexandra in Athens, Penny in Delphi and Sophia in Corfu were also extremely personable and knowledgeable.  The drivers Sissis, Kosta (from Athens) and Kosta (in Corfu) were amazing – we were sure at times that their coaches had elastic sides because at times they had to breath in to get through alley ways, with cars, bikes etc parked in very inconvenient places – and they hardly ever swore!

So as the Greeks say – sto chrono (to next year) – we hope that members from this group and that new friends (or as Cinders said – new best friends) will join us again on another of our adventures next year or sometime in the future, so keep tuned to this blog which will advise what is planned.  Efharisto once again!

If you want to see what Jane, Jeanie and Jan got up to after Dick left and have a preview of some of the places that will be in our tour for 2012 - have a look at
www.carpediemgreece.blogspot.com


The 2013 tour is now in place, so have a look at the programme and a few pictures at www.agrecianyearn2013.blogspot.com .  Hope you can join us - as you can see we had a ball in 2011!

Day 12 - tour of the south of Corfu and Achilleion

The group walking up to the Achilleion

This was our chance to compare the south of Corfu with the north which we had seen by both coach and boat. Our base at Dassia was a little north of the main town so it was through there to Gastouri to visit the magnificent Achilleion Palace built by Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria late in the 19^th century. She was fascinated by Greek culture and mythology which explains the murals inside and the statues that dominate the immediate garden area, the main two being of Achilles the warrior and Achilles trying to pull the fatal arrow from his heel. (Alot of the women compared him most favourably to Brad Pitt and took quite a few photos of the rear view of the statue - for obvious reasons! :) )

The rear scape .... sigh

Front scape

We then took a short trip down the hill to Benitses with its relatively new marina for a refreshing waterside coffee. Most of Corfu is either waterside or mountainside. From there it was through a few villages before cutting across the narrower portion of the island at Messongi to the west coast village Angirades. The three hour stop was planned to allow for plenty of swimming and sunbathing but unfortunately the north wind had started to blow making the swimming option somewhat less desirable. The alternative of a stroll around the shops and a few pre lunch drinks in the scenically placed Panorama Restaurant was acceptable.
Then came the traditional Greek dish of baked lamb and eggplant, Mousaka. On our leisurely coach trip back Malcolm plugged his iPhone into the dashboard and gave us a selection of his eclectic musical tastes. We don’t know whether the sun had been getting to him but he had trouble identifying some of the artists. During the trip we made a nice collection for the driver Kostas and the guide Sophia who had been very obliging over our three days of touring.

As for the comparison, the south was equally as charming though much narrower and less mountainous.

Because of the wind in the evening we set up a long table in Saki’s bar which became the forum for some joke telling and an unusual version of Galway Bay delivered by Dick in a beautiful baritone voice that would have made Bing Crosby envious (at least that is what the ever modest Dick maintained!

Day 11 - cruise to Kassiopi

This was another highlight which didn’t start out with much promise. We walked down the hill to the beach in Dassia and sat on the boat for three quarters of an hour while the crew went shopping for the supplies that were required for the trip and lunch. Other options were being considered as we sweltered and were gassed by the exhaust from the boat’s engine, but finally we were under away and the cool breezes, the wonderful waters and the great views of the villages with their mountain backdrops quickly put aside our frustrations.

Jane taking in the sights

There had been other passengers coming aboard and we had the feeling that the Greek departure times work on numbers rather than the clock.

It wasn’t long before we anchored close to an aqua coloured patch of water and did a little cooling-off cave swimming. Hugging the coastline we then passed numerous coastal villages while the skipper pointed out various villas belonging to the rich and famous like the families of the Rothchilds and the Italian Fiat auto dynasty, Agnello – he has a fabulous villa on Paxos as well – greedy bugger!

We moseyed around a few more beaches before selecting a deserted one for a barbecue lunch. Some felt it was going to be difficult to fill in the two hours allocated for the stop, especially as there were no seats. After finding a suitable rock and utilising the boat’s bar the time started to slip by for them – the original scotch on the rocks if you like – or in this case, Mythos on the rocks! However, Margaret came up with a new name for the Mythos – a rissole!  She is not a beer drinker and thought she was being offered a rissole and said yes, and was surprised when she got a beer instead!  A swim or two and the odd dive from the vessel Asteras, and then it was a great grill of pork served with the usual hyper-fresh salad beside the portable wine bar brought ashore for the occasion.

Yaaamaaass!

Cynthia got a thrill when she was addressed by our very well preserved captain, Tellis (who claimed he remembered Jane and Jan from the dim dark past – we wondered what we had done that was so memorable!!) as ‘my darling’ – her thrill for the day.  However, during the course of that stop, she also discovered where the Zorba dance originated from – i.e. from trying to walk over the pebbly beach barefooted!

Lining up for the superb on beach BBQ

It was then up the ladder for our last leg north and as we came to the northern tip of Corfu we were but one nautical mile from Albania where a couple of rather large towns were clearly visible. In the Communist days it was not uncommon for Albanians to make asylum-seeking trips across on tractor tyres.  Close to that point we docked for an hour of afternoon drinks or ice-creams at Kassiopi.

Could not find clearer waters than this!!

After cruising by a couple of huge liners heading out of the Corfu town port we anchored for one more dip overboard before tying up at our home Dassia jetty. Most visited the local supermarket to buy some light snacks for a balcony meal and after a rather hot walk up to the Panorama Hideaway we were all ready for an early night – preceded of course by a pool swim and a few refreshing and relaxing drinks. Four or five stayed until about 10-30 listening to some of Saki’s Greek experiences.

All in all the trip was declared yet another winner.

Day 10 - Free day and BBQ put on by the MEN!

This was a free day with many of the group bussing it to town for shopping.  A couple of groups hired cars and went looking for leather shops or village tavernas. Geoff , Judy, Frances and Anthony claimed they had their best food and wine – all ingredients organic and locally grown - in Greece at one such place with traffic passing only feet from their table and at a cost of only 9 euros per head.

Kevin and Marli and their group also had a fabulous meal in town but theirs cost 35 euros per head. There were no prices on the menu (always a bad sign!) and they forgot to ask! L

Geoff cooking with Malcolm supervising

The boys - Malcolm, Kevin, Gordon and Doug went to the butcher and had a lamb chopped up for a poolside barbecue that night. It was going to be a case of either “too many cooks spoil the broth” or “many hands make light work” but the cooking was spot on with everyone enjoying the meal which generally speaking was washed down with copious quantities  of Greek red wine.  However, there was one slight hiccup – they had asked for ‘lamb chops’, but instead got ‘chopped lamb’!  As a consequence, some of the cuts of meat were difficult to identify – but it didn’t matter – the meat tasted wonderful and was complemented by a sensational Greek salad made by Sarah.

The feast - note the 'chopped lamb'!

Day 9 - Tour of Corfu town, Kanoni and Tripa restaurant in evening

In the morning our coach took us from our resort in neighbouring Dassia to the capital Corfu town. The familiarisation tour started with a stop (oxymorons are a sign of too much ouzo) at Kanoni which is a high point overlooking the historical Mouse (Pontikonissi) Island on the one side and the one-runway Corfu airstrip on the other where we witnessed a jet landing.

Pontikonissi Island

From there we had guided tour through the extensive botanical gardens of the old High Commissioner’s summer house called Mon Repos and which was built by the English Governor  Adam built for his Greek wife, i.e. it was the residence of the ‘Adams Family’! J  This is an elegant neo classical mansion which is where Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh was born some 90 years ago and now functions as a museum nowadays. It is located next to the site of one of the old Roman baths of which there were quite a few.

The group outside the Adams family residence - Mon Repos

A short trip took us to the old town area between the two massive forts and this is now the CBD for Corfu town’s 30,000 population. This inner city precinct had a range of architectural styles with the British built Palace of St George and the French built military barracks which are now shops on the ground floor and apartments above. These blend well with the Venetian buildings in the many winding and marble-paved lanes. The old barracks overlook a cricket field where the local team had a famous victory against an Australian team on its way to an Ashes series in England – obviously it was blamed on the ouzo or a glass or two of off retsina the night before!  We might be trying to forget this incident, but the Corfiots never will!!

The gang in the Liston, Corfu Town

Our last destination was the Basilica of Corfu’s protector saint St. Spirydon wherein lies his body embalmed in a silver casket made in Vence. After that, most either wandered through the shop-filled back streets or sat under cover outside the many restaurants or coffee shops, in some cases watching the horse-drawn carriages taking tourists on town tours. Jan and Jane went to their favourite jewellery stores to organise good discounts for those who will probably return to the town on tomorrow’s free day.

There was another little treat on the return coach trip when we made a photo stop portside to snap off a picture of the huge luxury liner Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen Elizabeth

Following the siesta we gathered at the poolside for evening cocktails when we saw the Queen Elizabeth sail across the bay in front.

At 8-00pm it was off to an old village and a famous restaurant called the Tripa Tavern. Apart from the food and wine we had entertainment in the form of music and a professional Greek dancing troupe. Most utilised the dance floor themselves to shed a bit of excess energy. It was our latest night but with a free day to come sleeping-in would be no problem.

Greek dancing at Tripa (I'll get a better one tomorrow!)

Day 8 - tour of western and northern Corfu

This was to be an excellent familiarisation guided coach tour of the western and northern half of the island with our hostess Sophia giving us a non stop description of the many villages, beaches and mountains as we passed by or through them, and of course not forgetting the amazing driving skills of our driver-extraordinaire - Kosta, whose skills were put to the test on a number of occasions!

The first stop was at a cumquat distillery where we firstly watched a video on the making of the cumquat liqueur, wines and ouzo of the Mavromatis family and then were invited to taste some of their products.  Most bought small bottles of liqueurs made from the rather bitter fruit. We are not sure whether it was the contents or the Corfu shaped bottles that prompted the purchases.

Checking out the kumquat wares.

Part of the intrepid crew

Our next experience was a flat tyre but we managed to somehow roll in to the fantastic seaside village of Paleokastritsa which is nestled among a series of capes and on a couple of bays with the wonderfully clear water of the Adriatic Sea. We shared a couple of small boats that took us into a number of sea caves some of whose caverns were lit with sunlight slanting through rooftop crevices and showing us the cave dwelling fish.  The boat driving skills of our skippers had to be seen to be believed, taking us into places we could not believe a boat could go without at least a scratch against the rocks!

One of the many amazing caves on our boat trip around Palaeokastritsa.

A short coach climb took us to the ethereal monastery overlooking Palaeokastritsa which is still the home of seven winemaking monks.  Dick tried to tell us they were also famous for their chips but they didn’t really look like chipmunks. It featured superlative gardens, a charming bell tower, a chapel full of wonderful icons and a historical little museum – which included the prehistoric bones of the whale ‘which spewed forth Jonas’ !!

Monastery at Palaeokastritsa

From there it was hair-raising drive up the overlooking mountain to the village of Lakones established centuries ago by pirate fleeing groups, accessible in those days by donkeys only. Some claimed the view of Paleokastritsa and a nearby castle ruin from the Golden Fox coffee/bar restaurant as the best they had ever seen.

View from Lakones overlooking Palaeokastritsa

Judy, Jane and Marli checking out the surf

We then toured the northern beaches, reputedly the best in Corfu and swam and lunched waterside at Aharavi where most thoroughly enjoyed the scrumptious Corfiot speciality of Sofrito.  A few of the women (only) thoroughly enjoyed a swim in the sea and rubbed it in to poor Jan, who was still nursing her sore paw.  The men (apart from Anthony) just sat and enjoyed the scenery whilst downing a further Mythos or two.  Then it was another scenic drive down the east coast to our haven in Dassia. This took us to within a stone’s throw of a clearly visible Albania – another day in Paradise with plenty of Southern delights still in store.

Day 7 - transfer from Parga to Corfu

It was onto the bus to the ferry terminal for Corfu which is in the town of Igoumenitsa just north of Parga. This was a pleasant two hour crossing assisted by a basic snack and bar service and the viewing of an interesting array of vehicular ferry traffic all the way. As we came close to the port of Corfu Town the old fort dominated the view in front where after rounding it, the more recent fort took over.

Along the east side there’s the ancient fortress on the sea, while on the west side there’s the new one. During the past the two fortresses of Corfu were linked by large walls, so that the inhabitants could live safely inside. We will learn more about them on a guided tour but in this part of the world it seemed that centuries ago everyone needed the protection of a fortress to retain their land and be protected from pirates.

We took a short bus trip to the Panorama Hideaway where the views, the cooling water of the pool and the charming host, Saki were all most welcoming. Saki is the original one man band who helped build the apartment clusters with his own hands and now is chief cook, translator, barman, gardener, maintenance man and bottle washer. Within minutes of arriving it was into the pool for most and as soon as Malcolm found that the glasses were unbreakable he and Judy set up a table in the pool at the shallow end and cooled off both externally and internally.

A couple of hours later we were given a formal welcome by Saki and his talented daughter Sarah whom Jane nannied during her working days on Corfu some 30 years ago. The simple function consisted of complimentary appetisers, ouzos and wine around the poolside bar which is the natural hub of the resort. These were as good as a meal and they took us through until after 11-00pm. It was a good settling in with the relaxing thought of no packing for quite a few days. We also met one of the few other guest couples here from Denmark who brought us up to date on the EU challenges – a delightful pair.  Who are in the process of building their own home in Corfu - now a neighbour to Saki - and more importantly are more than satisfied with the job 'our Mary' is doing as their queen in waiting!

Day 6 - Paxos cruise

At 10-00 am it was a three minute walk down to the port and onto the lovely cruise boat Vicky F II. We headed off around the fortress headland, did a sweep along the big beach and then set the radar for Anti Paxos and Paxos. In terms of geography the area can be described as follows:

Before setting off on the good ship Vicky F, in the port of Parga

The island group off the west coast of Greece, stretches south from the Albanian coast to the southern tip of the Peloponnese, and is often called Heptanissia ("Seven Islands"). The islands are Corfu, Kefallonia, Zakinthos, Lefkada, Ithaka, Kythera and Paxos. 

Paxos is about 20 Ks from Parga and is the smallest of the seven islands. It has about 3,000 people but according to some travel experts ranks among the top 20 islands in the world. The three main port/marina areas of Gaios, Lakka and Longgos were natural shelters and looked idyllic with the tavernas and typical Greek houses surrounding them.

The Kev and Dick swapping ole rugby lies... oops, I meant stories!

On our trip to Paxos we took a detour and anchored at Anti Paxos, a much smaller nearby island where most dived overboard for a refreshing bit of aquatic exercise in the most amazing turquoise sea before utilising the boat’s bar service.

When Dick pointed Anthony out in his budgie smugglers to Cynthia hesaid, “Looks like a Greek God!” She said, “More like a goddam Greek!”

Anne swimming off Ante-Paxos

On the short journey across to Paxos our boat went right up to the entrance of some seaside caves and soon afterwards attracted a playful school of dolphins (who had arrived on cue as we had ordered).

The beautiful water of Ante-Paxos

The beautiful little port of Lakka on Paxos

We were met at the port by Yianna who took us to our bus which took us on a very quick tour of the island taking in the other ports of Lakka and Longgos.  Then back to Gaios where we were able to partake of another cheap but healthy lunch (you can’t knock the Greek pizzas) we tried to leave the port but, would you believe, our anchor chain became entangled in that of a rogue yacht bearing an Australian boxing kangaroo – most embarrassing. Kevin who had assisted in helping a smaller boat untie was of no use in this much more complex nautical operation. 

The altercation with the Boxing Kangaroo flying yacht 

We had a quiet trip back discussing the deepwater ink-blue of the Mediterranean and the aqua beach waters while discussing which waterside restaurant we would choose tonight. Due to Margaret’s “accident” it was that of George’s daughter’s which is called Sodia.

And we can report that the quality, service, food, ambience were all fantastic – most of the group ended up there and we were served by a pommie waiter who returned our cheek with good humour.  They gave us a complimentary ouzo on arrival much to Jan’s delight as she scooped the pool, drinking the ouzo of those that didn’t want their’s!  We then wended our way back, some calling in for last minute shopping on the way back.

Another brilliant day in brilliant weather.

Day 4 - road trip to Parga

This was our longest travel day as we headed along the coast to destination of the port town of Parga on the Ionian Sea opposite the island of Paxos.  The day was broken with a coffee stop in Nafpaktos, where we noticed the interesting statue of Miguel de Cervantes on the waterfront. He was the Spanish author of Don Quixote and became a local hero after supporting the Greeks in their war against the Turks. There was also another statue commemorating a Greek Freedom Fighter against the occupation of the Turks situated on the mole of the very quaint Venetian port.  Interestingly enough the English poet Lord Byron enjoys a similar status.  

Miguel de Cervantes in Nafpaktos

After Nafpaktos we passed the spectacular suspension bridge linking Rion and Antirion, or the Peloponnese with the mainland.  Some members of the group wanted the bus to drive over and back on the bridge, but it was deemed  too expensive and would have taken too much time out of our busy schedule. 

The amazing suspension bridge from Rion to Antirion

Finally arriving in Parga at about 5.30 pm. Our hotel is in the centre of Parga and is but a short walk through the shops to the portside taverna area where most ate and sipped while looking at the beautiful port area, the fortress on the hill above Parga and listening to the background bouzouki music.  I think most will sleep well tonight.

Day 5 - Parga

This was a rest day starting with breakfast around the pool – bread very hard to beat. Cynthia beat everyone to the punch and had a dip before breakfast. Over breakfast there were some interesting exchanges about the rooms. The hotel is very centrally located and the couple who own it are very obliging, particularly with their late night bar service, and all the rooms are slightly different with their facilities and have very innovative plumbing systems of varied varieties. Margaret had the most trouble with getting a sheet caught in the fan and ending up in a “shower-curtain” straight jacket. Some of the showers have dashboards resembling aircraft control panels so it wasn’t surprising that Anthony (a Virgin pilot in the true sense) was the only one able to either shower efficiently or to not flood the bathroom. Dick settled for an ocean swim and a sponge and now wonders why people don’t want to sit next to him!

Port of Parga

Nearly everyone visited the little beach, some five minutes from our Hotel Paradise, and had their first swim in the Ionian Sea – beautiful clear and calm turquoise water. The only trick is the first 10 metres while walking over pebbles but when we get to Corfu we’ll be buying “swimming sandals” which overcomes the entry and egress problems.  

Gordon and Sue did the whole of Parga in one day, walking up to the fort and over to the longer beach and taking a mini train to the castle on the mountains behind – great tourists this couple; they suss everything out so quickly.  As do Geoff and and Judy – anyone with laundry problems only had to contact Geoff to find out where to go and when to expect the clothes back.

There was one unsavoury incident during the day when accident-prone Margaret knocked over a shelf of alcohol while reaching for a mini bottle of ouzo in a supermarket. One bottle nearly severed one of her toes but she squared off with the proprietor, George, by saying she’d go to his daughter’s taverna and bring a large group with her. She is not allowed out anymore without a minder.

The hard working Jane and Jan testing out the cocktails before the evening meal!

The highlight of the day was the evening meal at the Kastro taverna which was in the highest beachside building situated next to the base of the fortress. It was another alfresco experience looking down on the beautiful port which is guarded by a large rock on which sits an old white church. Photos were taken at 8-00pm in the daylight and even more spectacular ones at about 9-30 when the lights dominated the panorama. The walk up featured the usual Greek steps but by now we are conditioned and taking these in our stride, so to speak. In any case the walk was by no means boring as there were little shops and stalls and locals sitting outside their flats with their pets all the way up.

Parga by Night

Fantastic position, fantastic night

With the occasional ice-cream on the way it was back to the Paradise bar for a night cap and a sound night’s sleep before our first nautical experience the next day.