D8 cycling, surfing and swimming

Another lovely sunny day. After breakfast we went for coffee by the harbour and a bit of shopping. 

Then I set off for a bike ride through the flat plain of olive groves and small holdings behind Vassiliki. The road was empty and started to climb the hillside to the village above. It grew hotter and hotter. I took pictures of weird plants and then turned back at a shrine after 5km. 

I met everyone on the beach and had a nice cooling swim. Then we had lunch at Aerik's.

In the afternoon Gabika and Emily from the CS group came to visit our campsite and have a coffee. Then we went to have a swim, go surfing and wash some clothes at their appartment. I had a nice talk with Laco's sister.  

We had supper at Aerik's as well. The evening was cooler and it was nice to watch the people. We went back to the camp to play Dixit. 

D7 Another trip to Ioannina

Katka and Maros set off early again in the hire car to pick up the oil cap from the service there and a canopy from Ikea next door. They stopped on River Lauros for a delicious lunch beneath the trees and swam in the river.

I gave Oliver breakfast when he woke up and off he went to the CS children's gang. I relaxed beneath the trees in the camp.

When Katka and Maros returned K, O and I went to a pancake place for lunch. Then in the afternoon there was swimming and windsurfing and setting up the canopy.

In the evening we had dinner with the CS group on a long table. I went and sat with the owner and watched the first half of the England Den- mark game on the restaurant TV.

Then we moved to hotel Cosmos for the second half and then I watched the extra time at the camp. It seemed like everyone else there was supporting Denmark so I celebrated the penalty goal with quiet dignity.

2-1 to England and a place in the final - a great end to a lovely day!

D6 A view of Ithaca

Another clear, sunny day. We went for a coffee by the harbour and cycled to look out over the new habour walls that are being built. We watched three luxurious Ukrainian catamarans set off to sea in a line. Vasiliki is developing and changing. 

Oliver went off to play with his CS friends. Katka went paddle boarding and I met her when I went swimming and we swam out in the warm sea. There was another huge yacht with a helipad anchored some way off the beach. Rumour was that it was Christiano Ronaldo's. Maybe Madonna will drop by tomorrow. 

Katka prepared a great lunch and afterwards we snoozed and read in the heat of the afternoon. Then we cooled off with another swim. The surfers were all waiting in the water with their boards for the wind to start but it never came. There was just one guy on a moterised surfboard jetting back and forth across the water.

In the early evening Katka and I set off on our bikes to see the lighthouse. We climbed the steep asphalt road out of the village that climbs the mountain. We stopped to admire the views - Ithaca and Keffalonia floated below us. An American family asked us to convey messages to their mother's as they passed us. 

At the top of the climb there was a farm with goats in the stony landscape and we went on till we could see the lighthouse out on the edge of the island. We stopped to smell the wild mountain thyme, the sage and admire a huge soldier thistle.

We whizzed back down and ate the delicious Greek bread for supper. Then we played two games of Dixit. Then Maros and I went to catch the end of the Italy-Spain match in the now crowded camp bar. 

A great day!

D5 Oh, Happy Day

The day started at 5am for Katka and Maros when they got up and set off to drive to Ioannina to the car service with the campervan and the hire car over 200km away over the mountains. 

The car mechanics eventually found that the problem with the engine was caused by a rag that had been left inside the oil tank during the last sevice in Trnava! Great news in that Katka and Maros could return with Mrnous and the problem was solved. 

While they were away I went on my bike to a small lookout point above the village. Then I went for a coffee and managed to buy a sundress. Meanwhile Oliver was out on a motorboat trip with the CS group.

When Katka and Maros returned we went for lunch and celebrated the news. Maros went windsurfing and Katka and I had a swim. Oliver returned and then went to play football with the CS kids. Katka and Maros had a bikeride up the mountainside. Then we all went to town to enjoy pancakes and the buzz and bustle of evening life in Vasiliki.

Later we sat beside dear Mrnous and drank retsina with water and felt the good life was in reach.

D4 swimming, surfing and preparing

Another lovely sunny day. We had breakfast under the trees and cycled into the harbour for a coffee and a visit to the bakery. It was lovely to sit under the huge tree and look out over the sea and fishing boats and drink coffee and share a warm cinnamon roll.

Katka and Oliver went paddle boarding and I had a swim in the warm sea. We had a nice lunch and another swim in the afternoon while Oliver went windsurfing. We met up with CS group who had been out cycling.

Oliver went to stay the night with the CS group and his friend there. We had a quiet evening in the campsite getting ready for the visit to the service tomorrow. 

D3 Sea, sun and football

In the morning we had breakfast and finished setting up camp - the Swedish carpet was unrolled and the bikes were unpacked. Katka took Oliver to spend time a group of Czech and Slovak parents and children that they know where he had a lot of fun playing football and swimming. 

Katka and Maros went to hire a car and brought back the owner to look at the engine as his vehicles are also Fiat. He rang the Fiat service on the mainland about 200km away and Katka and Maros plan to drive the caravan there on Monday. 

Katka and I had a swim in the sea close to our camp. The water was warm and refreshing, the sky clear blue. There are plenty of people but it is quieter than usual as the Brits are not here. 

We had a nice lunch and after a rest and read Maros took his windsurfing gear to the beach though in the end the afternoon wind did not appear as expected. Meanwhile Katka and I took the bikes and cykled along the sea front, checked on Oliver and then had another lovely swim. 

After delicious gyros we went along to join the CS group at Hotel Cosmos and watch the football. They were a nice group of people and everyone was in a good mood even if the Czech team lost in the end. There was good food and plenty of beer and wine and Maros and I watched the first half of the England Ukraine match as well and talked about his national service. Then we all returned to the camp at half time where I went and watched the second half in the camp cafe. Great match! Great day! 

D2 Serbia to Vasiliki

We woke and had a nice breakfast in the posh hotel next to our car park. The bread was wonderful and the toilets where we cleaned our teeth were palatial. 

Then we were back on the Chinese funded motorway to the Macedonian border. It took us an hour and 15minutes to get over the border. Katka drove and Maros rested in the back. We had a rest in an imposing Macedonian petrol station and enjoyed the mixture of people. At the Greek border we showed our vaccination and test papers but we were missing the mysterious LPF paper. Katka who once beat US border security into submission was stumped for a moment by Byzantine rules. It was sorted in the end by allowing a random guy to photocopy our passports in a hot dusty office at the edge of the border crossing. 

As we entered Greece we admired the oleander growing alongside the motorway and the little churches and lavender fields. We saw signs to watch out for bears as we passed Mt Olympus. 

Unfortunately the motorhome engine started to develop some strange behaviour. Maros managed to drive all the way to Vasiliki but there were a few stops on the way. A Russian working at a petrol station was helpful, and Maros got us over the final steep winding mountain roads, and at midnight we arrived at the camp. 

We could finally have showers and a beer, but everyone was a little down in the dumps. However, on the plus side we are safely at our destination and we all slept like babies that night.