To Greece
Having been working till late the night before, then packing, Lorraine and I sprang up at 4:15. Rather an appalling time. We dragged our cases, thunderously, down the roads to London Road station and got a train to Gatwick. Slightly delayed flight, but all good on the journey, apart from being charged an outrageous 8 euros on the plane for two cups of tea.
That familiar wall of heat as we stepped from the plane in Kavala airport. A transfer to a minibus, then to a ferry boat where we sat in the air-conditioned cabin and there I enjoyed a can of cold lager, followed by another can of cold lager. Off in Thassos Town back into the minibus and off to Skala Potamia. It had been many years since I'd been to Thassos, and apart from its greenness, I recognised little. Our hotel, was opposite the sea. Not a particularly warm welcome there, but it was clean and functional. A quick swim too to cool down made us feel much better. The sea feeling bathtub warm almost, and a beer in the bar then made us feel altogether cheerful.
Lorraine and I then walked, rather braindead and tired along the shore, lined with tavernas and having rather too much of a whiff of seaside resort about it for our liking. We found a bench at the end of the bay and sat there looking up at the forested mountain Ipsarion and the sea which rather dwarfed the strip of tavernas and felt somewhat reassured.
Lorraine suggested, brilliantly, that we tackle the tavernas alphabetically, so went to one called Athos, which turned out to be excellent. I had a pizza.
Back to the hotel early though. A quick drink in the bar with the owners. I made the mistake of being sympathetic with the Greeks about the current economic situation, and said this is one reason we returned to Greece. This misinterpreted as pity, which didn't go down particularly well.
To bed, exhausted. Good air-conditioning was a boon. Trying not to look a picture on the wall of flowers, one of which appeared increasingly like a screaming head with its tongue out when you looked at it.
That familiar wall of heat as we stepped from the plane in Kavala airport. A transfer to a minibus, then to a ferry boat where we sat in the air-conditioned cabin and there I enjoyed a can of cold lager, followed by another can of cold lager. Off in Thassos Town back into the minibus and off to Skala Potamia. It had been many years since I'd been to Thassos, and apart from its greenness, I recognised little. Our hotel, was opposite the sea. Not a particularly warm welcome there, but it was clean and functional. A quick swim too to cool down made us feel much better. The sea feeling bathtub warm almost, and a beer in the bar then made us feel altogether cheerful.
Lorraine and I then walked, rather braindead and tired along the shore, lined with tavernas and having rather too much of a whiff of seaside resort about it for our liking. We found a bench at the end of the bay and sat there looking up at the forested mountain Ipsarion and the sea which rather dwarfed the strip of tavernas and felt somewhat reassured.
Lorraine suggested, brilliantly, that we tackle the tavernas alphabetically, so went to one called Athos, which turned out to be excellent. I had a pizza.
Back to the hotel early though. A quick drink in the bar with the owners. I made the mistake of being sympathetic with the Greeks about the current economic situation, and said this is one reason we returned to Greece. This misinterpreted as pity, which didn't go down particularly well.
To bed, exhausted. Good air-conditioning was a boon. Trying not to look a picture on the wall of flowers, one of which appeared increasingly like a screaming head with its tongue out when you looked at it.
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