In light of the recent UK heatwave – rarer on a bank holiday than unicorn droppings, let alone hen’s teeth – I thought I’d revisit some of our awesome holiday destinations. Any excuse to look through the holiday pix.
As it happens, I’m currently having great fun remembering some of the fabulous experiences on Greek islands, many of which my characters get to share. Well they do say write about what you know about! Some of them feature in Helen’s Hazard, and yet more are in Janet’s Jeopardy, the 5th in the Calamity Chicks series, the one I’m writing right now. At least I will be as soon as I finish this post.
The first holiday with my wonderful hubby was in
September 1985 on the fabulous island of
Rodos (Rhodes), when we stayed in a wonderful, traffic-free village,
Lindos. This made a huge impression on me, in particular the establishment, “Lindos by Night,” a fabulous bar set on four floor with phenomenal views over the village and especially the acropolis. With it being our first foreign holiday, we hadn’t hired a car, and Bri hadn’t taken his driver’s licence, so the most we could hire on my provisional licence was a motorbike. Thankfully, he was an experienced rider, and we explored a few nearby villages, to add to the couple of coach tours we’d taken. The most memorable being the valley of the butterflies (Petaloudes), where we walked along the serene paths, surrounded by waterfalls, streams, and the gentle murmur of water.
May 1986 Plakias, Kriti (Crete)
We definitely upped our game this time, hiring a car to tour the largest of the greek islands. Being us, we liked to explore well off the beaten track and one of my strongest memories was of going indigenous in a tiny restaurant up in the hills. Although the sign said it was a taverna, but we felt like we'd stepped into someone's dining room. The hostess didn't speak a word of English, so she took us into the back kitchen and showed us a couple of pans bubbling on the sove - what looked like a beef stew and rice. Except the rice turned out to be soggy, oily pasta. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of complimenting the food in my limited Greek, and she was so pleased she brought out a tin of what looked like bakewell tartlets. Unfortunate because the one I chose had several parches of blue green mould. But I couldn't exactly refuse it after her generosity. And like the specks of mould on bread, it did me no harm. The best takeaway was the off-the-cuff proposal, and for some crazy reason we set the date for 27th September - a mere six months hence.
The first day we arrived, there had been a thunderstorm which knocked out all the power and water in the accommodation. Which turned out to be a long stone building split into rooms by flimsy partitions which didn't reach all the way to the floor. Not exactly the level of privacy you'd want for a honeymoon. Thankfully, the pservices were back on by the second day and the people next to us left the day after that.
The top couple of pix show the famous "Canal D'Amour" in Sidari (the tiny northern village we stayed in. Legend had it that if a maiden swam through there, she would find the man of her dreams. Nowadays, they say if a couple swim through it together, they will find true love. Either way, it worked its magic!
Unfortunately, modern-day Sidari is way more Benidorm - or "Blackpool with sun."
Sept 1987 Rethymnon, Kriti (Crete) This time, we stayed in a village due north of the previous lodgings, although we did get down to Plakias, spending the day revisiting old haunts, and a memorably evening on the beach.
We also returned to complete the full walk through the Samaria Gorge (left) via a coach trip. Nothing tasted so good as that first sip of beer after walking 13 km through a picturesque rift.
The following year saw our first addition to the family, a beautiful, bouncing son whose arrival on July 23rd meant he would have been created during this holiday. It's no coincidence we gave him a Greek name - Christopher, meaning bearer of Christ.
September 2020, Kerkira (Corfu)
Driving a hire car in amongst those crazy Greek accidents-waiting-to-happen wasn't the most conducive to peace and serenity, but it did allow us to revisit some old haunts. On the east, we visited the Durrell's "White House," but no sign of Keeley Hawes. A flying drive through Kassiopi where there was nowhere obvious to park for the Byzantine Castle, then a disappointment on the western Logas where the magnificent view of the sunset from the glass balcony was denied us - closed due to COVID. We had undivided attention and a marvellous gyro (donner kebab) at a Pitta place, and parked at the bottom of the magnificent Angelocastro. The double/triple hairpin bend on the way out reminded us why we wouldn't make it to that one either.
But the following day, Paleocastritsa felt like coming home - we remembered swimming all the way out to where those rocks meet the horizon on the 4th piccie. We walked up to the monastery, then had a well-earned beer overlooking the picturesque beach. Awesome stuff. Here's a wee flavour of Corfu 2020.
