Wed Sept 21- Our Last Hurrah!

We are in that "end of holiday" mode when you feel tense about all kinds of things like getting up in time to catch our plane, making our flight connections, and things that we have to do when we get home. We leave Kastraki early as we have a 5 hour drive to Athens. As it is close to lunch we decide to take a detour off the main road. We arrive at what we think should be a nice seaside town, instead it is a port with a huge, dirty refinery of some kind with smoking chimneys; not the kind of place for lunch so we head back to the main road and consider eating at a service center but as this is our last day we want something nicer so we turn off at the next town Thiva. We have to drive through the whole city to the downtown before we find restaurants that look ok. This must be a university town as the restaurants all seem to be bars. We finally find a nice spot and have a our last lunch. You can tell this is not a tourist area. The Peloponnese is not touristy either but it is a much nicer part of Greece.
I have booked Peri's Hotel from Trip Advisor comments that this is a nicer choice than the more expensive airport hotels. I know it is a small family hotel and that it is located in a residential part of a village. We wonder what we are in for when the GPS says turn right on unpaved road and we drive down a dusty lane then turn onto another but we see a nice looking building at the end of this country lane. Yes it's Peri's and the owner shakes our hands enthusiastically. The place is very small but spotless and our room has a queen bed which makes us happy even if it is super firm. Thrifty comes to get our rental car so we walk towards the town center where there are sea front restaurants. It's a long walk and when we spot a grocery store we buy some snacks and fruit and head back to our room. We're both tired of restaurants and dine on our balcony overlooking a field, some houses in various states of repair, and a distant view of the sea. We chat with our neighbours who are going back to New Zealand tomorrow. They were on the island of Crete on a walking tour. The wife is 69 and did 2 all-day hikes through gorges in the heat! She is good stuff! Interesting to hear how other travellers experience a country.
I go down to the desk to use the hotel computer to print my boarding passes and the clerk says "gotta run to the airport; you use my computer" so there I am at the front desk taking inquires from other guests who think I work there. You gotta love Greece!
We spend our last evening on our balcony with the planes flying over us knowing we'll be on one of them tomorrow winging our back to Canada! While it's great to be away it's even better to come home!!
Our Greek Adventure is coming to a close!

Tue Sept 20- A Most Awesome Place

<p>We awake to the sound of rain and it is much cooler. I wear my skirt and a top with sleeves so I don't have to wear the monastery skirts. You must have your legs and shoulders covered. All of Meteora including this village has been designated a sacred place in the eyes of the Orthodox church. The dress code only applies in the monasteries though. We visit the last 3 today. It is very foggy in the morning which adds a special effect to the experience, especially when we are crawling around the rocks at the Agia Trius and can't see below us. To get to this one we walked a long way down a stone path then started up a path that hugged the rock and tunnelled through part of it. It took us a long time to reach the top and we are out of breath. Worth it though as this one had a large rock area to explore. The ascent to Agios Nikolaos was also a challenge but we really likes this last monastery. It had several nice spots to take in the beauty surrounding us and we sat and absorbed it.
On our travels today we had a herd of goats cross the busy road and a local on a motorcycle tries to shoo them while other cars honk and try to pass. We just sit and enjoy hearing the music their bells make.
We decide to stop at a souvlaki place; the meal is so-so but they are filming for a TV show which makes lunch interesting. As we drive through the village the shopkeeper Christina smiles as we wave at her. The granddaughter is not there today. When we get back to our room we notice our mountains are now green from the rain. The second picture is our view.

Monday Sept 19- 2011 - On Top of the World

<p>We wanted to be at our first monastery early so we can climb it's 400 steps while it's cool and before it gets busy. The Grand Meteoron is the oldest and largest. The climb is fine as there are many spots to stop and take in the spectacular views. And who do we meet but Jim and Jean, again! <br>
There were no roads in the beginning so everything was hauled up with ropes and baskets including the monks! There are many buildings including a church with beautiful frescoes, monks quarters, and an Ossuary. Hey Grandkids-see if you can figure out what this room is used for and Grandpa will show you the picture when you get home! The grounds are beautiful and peaceful, all this perched on top of a rock 400 metres high!>
Well it was peaceful until the busloads arrive; there must have been 10. Bruce is very intrigued by their maneuvers in the parking lots and on the narrow roads.<br>
We climb a tree-lined path to the small but beautiful Roussanou Monastery, inhabited by an order of nuns. We get a couple from China to take our picture with the Baden Outlook, our local paper that travels with it's readers all over the world.
We lunch at the Panorama Restaurant - self explanatory and delicious. We go back to our room to relax on our balcony. I catch up on the blog- love having WiFi in our room. We take a drive and stop at the same store as we did yesterday. Today a little girl who reminds us of Ava is playing in the doorway. I ask her how old and she says 3. The old lady remembers us and says yes this is her granddaughter Christina. The old lady helps us pick out the best chips and I ask her name-she gives me a big smile and says Christina! I ask to take their picture and she tries to get little Christina to look at the camera but she is very shy of the camera. She looks up with a huge smile when we drive away.

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We drive to an outlook to get some photos while the sun is setting. Our dinner at Gardenia near our hotel is very good. We take a walk around the town square. There are still families with young kids in the park and it's almost 10pm. Everything seems to be later here from getting up in the morning to bedtime.

Sun Sept 18 - Tunnel Vision

We throw our salty clothes (from the ocean and from sweating so much) into our bags and we're off in our trusty Fiat Panda. (FIAT=Fix It Again Tony!) We head northeast toward Prevasa thru Arta to Ioanina. The roads are amazingly good and this time they built many tunnels through the mountains so we don't have to drive over the top like last week! We are on our way to Meteora, the Monastic City of Rocks. On the way we stop at a small roadside cafe; the only customers are 3 old Greeks playing backgammon but we are hungry. One of the men gets up to wait on us and we point to our choices as he doesn't speak English. He sets our table then goes away. We figure he is the cook too. Sure enough, he brings our food, tzatziki, saganaki (the best so far) and tomato salad. An old couple drives by slowly and we smile as we sip on our wine. They turn around, pull in and ask if the food is good. Yes we say enthusiastically. They are greek too but speak a bit of English. I take a picture and he salutes me with his glass so I show him on my camera. As I prepare to take another one with Bruce in it he jumps up, comes over and toasts Bruce with a big smile for the camera. We all have a good laugh as we check out the picture. I love these moments. And 14.50 euro ($19cdn) for this finest of dining!
We can see the rock spires towering in the distance as we approach Kastraki but when we get close to them, we just cannot believe it. The pictures do not do it justice and I am very happy we chose to stay here for 3 nights!
Well I did have a moment of doubt about our hotel choice. We saw a sign for the Pyrgos Adrachti so Bruce turned around and squeezed up a narrow lane behind the place with the sign. We both thought the place looked dumpy from the front; well you should have seen the back! Depressed, I walk around to the front to find the office, knowing that we will just have to lose our deposit as we are not staying here. I start laughing out loud when I notice that there are big arrows on the sign pointing us further down the road!! Thank God. We hop back in and follow many more signs through steep, narrow, one-lane streets up and up till we arrive. This hotel looks much better and when the lady opens our balcony doors I get tears in my eyes; our view is beautiful beyond words! We are surrounded by towering spikes of mountain and we see 2 guys climbing towards the peak of one.
We decide to check out the area; there were 24 monasteries built over the years and six remain open today. There is only one that does not require climbing stairs, St Stefanos, so we choose to visit this one. The views make you want to give up all things worldly and enter monkhood. More on the monasteries tomorrow.
As we are leaving, who do we run into but Jim & Jean from the boat! What a small world! We decide to meet for dinner. In the village we stop at a store for some olives and wine and sit on our balcony watching the mountain climbers through our binoculars. After a late dinner we tumble into our comfy bed.

Sat Sep 17-All Good Things Must End

Yes today is our last full day aboard the "Kristen". What a memorable holiday. I must talk about the food. Simone the first mate and trained chef prepares amazing meals with great presentation! All this done from a small galley and as you are often at sea, preplanning is important. Happily the feta cheese has not been "goaty" as we are not big fans of goat cheese. Simone tends to buy sheep or cow feta. The tomatoes taste like the tomatoes we grew up eating. I will now be using eggplant in my cooking. Her desserts are delicious too. Every day around 5 we have the captain's cocktail which has given me some good drink recipes. Our only exercise is swimming, although getting your swimsuit on and off when you are in a small space and sweating seems to be a work out too. We did walk this morning as we were in port, one of only 2 nights.<br>
We have really enjoyed this experience but weather and your cabin mates would have an effect. We lucked out in both; you need to be flexible and Ok in confined spaces as the cabins are small. Tis a small price to pay to be able to see these wonderful islands in the Ionian up close. Today we found another beauty, Papa Nicholas bay with it's own cave and mountainous underwater scenery. A great place to end our most wonderful adventure. We head into the harbour of Nidri where we will disembark tomorrow morning. For our last dinner together we walk to the  Catamaran restaurant and treat our hosts to a Greek/Italian meal. Then we stroll the busy streets- everyone is out and about, shopping, dining and kids playing on their bikes even though it is after 10pm. We have a nightcap on the boat and talk avoid the great time we've had. We will always treasure our memories!!>

Sofia and Fiskardo -Friday Sept 16

We wake up to another perfect day in another perfect bay. The beach has pink and white smooth stones which sparkle in the clear water when we snorkel. I must bring some home as souvenirs. Our morning sail takes us to Sofia bay and the goats greet us. Bruce loves Greece because there are goats (and boats) everywhere. After lunch we get a good wind and the guys hoist the sails as we tack toward Fiskardo (Kefalonia). We pass a small island Dhiskado that looks like a submarine; so much so that the Germans bombed it during the war! (see picture) We then sail into Fiskardo, a happening scenic harbor town where we will spend the night. We all head to cafes to use Wifi. We enjoy people watching while drinking frappes, then visit the local museum and shop a bit but it is too hot. That's OK as the stores are open til midnight. We shop after dinner and enjoy sitting on our deck watching and listening to the action on the seafront sidewalks. It's hard to believe that this place will shut down in another month. It's hard to believe it's our second last night!

"Monk"y Business-Wed Sept 14

First -Happy 95th Birthday Mom!!
I hope Mom doesn't mind that I'm away for her big day-she instigated my love of travel!
It is wonderful to wake up and watch the sun rising over the calm blue Ionian sea. This is the life! I rarely know what time it is or the day! After another wonderful breakfast we snorkel for an hour, then we sail to a small deserted beach on the island of Ithica where Oddyseus hung out. Tonight we will spend our first night in port in the town of Kioni on Ithaca. We take a taxi tour of the island. Our driver takes us through small villages and tells us that there used to be 500-600 residents, now maybe 5-35 in a lot of them during the winter. The young people leave as there is no work. We wonder what will happen to these beautiful Greek villages! We visit a monastery and similar to the other one, only one monk and a very old couple that are the caretakers. We wonder what will happen when they die off. There was a young woman helping the monk to move a table from the chapel. Caroline is curious about this relationship and we recruit Jean ( who is the most tactful of our group) to ask our driver "who's the chick?" We have some good laughs about this over supper at the lovely Itika restaurant in the mountains. We had some more laughs when Randy told us his story about the demented aunt using the toilet sitting in middle of the rec room during bathroom renovations. Jim has another funny "plumbing" story so you can see things go downhill from here. And literally as our taxi driver takes us back to the harbour "the back way!"
One thing I haven't mentioned in my ravings is the camaderie you develop with your ship mates. We are lucky to be sharing this adventure with super people. We have learned alot from our fellow travellers and our crew. Another fun day on the Kristen.
Oh yes the chick is married to the caretakers' son.
Picture is of Kioni.