Greek Update #2

We are home! It was a trek, and we've been super busy since our arrival back in London - but I need to finish the Greek update posts, both to share with readers and so that we can remember the details of our trip. We had such an incredible time, and we can't wait for the next vacation which (luckily!) is happening in a month or so (Palm Springs here we come!). After that trip it might just be another five years before we escape again... We'll see! Here, Greek update #2:

Day 4 (Monday)
With very few days (and hours) in Patras during business hours, I knew I had to get up somewhat early - and early means 10:30 in this case, having gone to bed just before the sun came up (4:00? 5:00?) - to get some shopping in. I cruised the crowded pedestrian streets and made a few purchases (for the kids and for myself), and then met up with Steve; we made for Rio, a small beachy town just outside of Patras, for a swim and a coffee with a friend from the team Steve played on last year. After a refreshing dip in crystal clear waters, we met the Litwiniuks and Nik for an "early" dinner - which still turned out to be late, but it was all good; we went to a small town on the other side of Patras for yet another feast - the table was covered with plates and dished of food and drink, and though we left the table feeling pretty full, most of us saved room for dessert. Earlier in the day Steve and I stopped to buy sokolatopita (chocolate pie/chocolate cake), baklava, and portokalopita (orange cake/orange pie) to share with everyone. Back to the hotel we went where the adults (most of us) dove into dessert. We made it to bed by 3:00, which is one of the earliest nights of the entire trip; according to Steve, we were just trying to stave off jet lag. One thing I forgot to mention - the candles that we put in the car on Sunday night after the ceremony totally melted and warped in the car; it was too hot hot hot for them, and they left a few marks. Delivered after dinner to Constantina's mom's house, they were a sorry sight!

on the ferry over to Zakynthos

at Gerakas and Daphni beaches

Shipwreck beach and Blue Caves

Shipwreck, Agios Nikolaos, and Daphni Beach

Day 5 (Tuesday)
I found time on Tuesday morning to meet up with not one but two of my favourite friends from our time in Patras, and I wish we'd been able to see each other more in our 10 days there. I met Elly through our friends at the bakery across the street from where we lived last year, and it was so good to see her! We met towards the end of our time there but really connected - and it made me wish that somehow I'd met her sooner, maybe even the first time we lived in Greece! We went for coffee and she had her daughter Dimitra with her, and there were so many things to talk about! The hour flew by quickly and we both had to get going. I headed back to the hotel where I met up with Nantia, a friend I met at a yoga class at Body House Club, the gym I went to religiously (once upon a time I had time to work out). It's too bad there are so few blogs from our first year there - 2004-2005 was the first season I started blogging (from Patras!) which is a loooong time ago! Anyways, we picked up right where we left off, and we could have spent hours talking and laughing and joking, it was so so so so great. We hung out quite a bit last year, and the kids would have (I think) recognized her as well. Anyways, she didn't have a ton of time (work!), and Steve and I were on a schedule; we left by 1:00 to catch the 2:30 ferry from Killini to Zakynthos for a three day vacation at this ah-mazing hotel. The ferry ride was smooth but the loading and unloading process was total chaos; no lines, no safety gates, and no apparent order. But despite the fact that cars AND trucks either have to back on or turn around (on board) and squeeze themselves into small spaces prior to departure, there were no accidents and we were both very impressed by the fancy interiors (they put BC Ferries to shame). We felt like we were in a lounge, not a ferry. It cost us a total of 44 euros to get to the island (8 euros p/p and 28 euros for the car), and it was smooth sailing. With a bit of trouble we found our beautiful hotel and were blown away by the newly renovated rooms and premises. If you go to Zakynthos, stay here! The owner was such a nice guy (of course) and recommended his favourite beaches and restaurants. We didn't linger at the small hotel but made for Gerakas beach and then Daphni beach where we saw a baby loggerhead turtle crawl out of its nest and head for the sea. Many of the island's beaches are protected nesting areas of the turtles, and close at sunset. Areas are roped off so that nests and babes don't get inadvertently squished by tourists - and there were lots of people on-island with us: Greeks, Italians, French - but we didn't come across any other North Americans. It was a great day five!

baby loggerhead!

Day 6 (Wednesday)
This turned out to be the most touristy day of all - we took a boat tour to see the Blue Caves and the famous Shipwreck Beach, and we had to get an early start. We were up by 7:30 and on the road by 8:00, getting lost just a few times on our way north to Agios Nikolaos where we were to catch a boat. We had to wait a while before our departure, but finally got going on a wavy sea and joined a few other boatloads of people at what is apparently the most photographed beach in the world. It did seem like the most photographed beach in the world just while we were there; people were posing, selfie sticks were everywhere, and the people and cameras and posing was more of a spectacle than the beach - but it was really neat to see. Back at the Blue Caves we swam in some of the clearest ocean water I've ever seen. The whole trip took between two and three hours, and back at the port we planned to tour the north end of the island before cutting through the mountains on our way back to the hotel in Argassi. A highlight of the trip was a return to the Blue Caves from the shore; there are no pictures of this amazing stop (everything was bound to get wet, so we left all devices in the car), but it was one of our favourite places. There was a swimming platform and a diving plank at the bottom of LOTS of stairs, and we stayed for quite some time - swimming, getting too hot in the sun, and swimming again. Steve bought a snorkel and a mask and ventured into some caves, and we spotted fish and people fishing with spear things and of course there were boats and people coming and going. We toured the north end of the island, spying on the Shipwreck Beach from up above, and bought some village wine and oregano on the long way back to the hotel. After some snacks on the patio (hearties!), we decided on an Italian dinner and actually went to bed EARLY. It was early even for Canadian standards, before 10:00. 'Twas another memorable day!