Friday, September 28, 2007

Greek Paradise

It's been just days since I got back and already my holiday to Kefalonia is starting to seem like a distant memory...but what a memory! I had a superb time - it was perfect!

We stayed in the Lassi resort in a nice little apartment, which was clean but basic, though wholly adequate for us, especially when livened up by my ipod and the glamorous C's speakers! We were just minutes away from some beautiful beaches and not far (but far enough away) from the main road, which was lined with a variety of restaurants and pubs. As it was out of season, there were no families, mostly older couples. And us! :-)

Anyway, here goes - I'll try not to go on but I can't help this being such a long post....

18th Sept - Things didn't start off too well when our plane was unable to land in Kefalonia due to low-flying cloud over the airport, so we landed in Xante for a hour or so, not checking into our apartment til late in the evening. The only time we went to the hotel bar, incidentally.

19th Sept - A cloudy day, which ended up, gorgeously hot - yippee! Relaxed by the pool for a while (the only time we used it) but the sea was calling to us... Found Kalamia Beach, a small cove beach down a little dirt track - really unspoilt, it was gorgeous! Our frisbee throwing antics impressed a young man who asked to join in... Nice Greek food in the evening, washed down by wine. Decided to buy some snorkelling gear to check out the fish.

20th Sept - The glamorous C suggested that we go for a little walk before we went to the beach to check out some sights.... three hours and several miles later in the boiling sun, we could claim to have seen a cool little lighthouse, some quaint cypress groves, an old waterwheel, Italian war memorial (Captain Corelli's Mandolin was filmed on Kefalonia island) and I saw some natural rock phenomenon, which the glamorous C thought was some hole with a bit of water at the bottom.... By the time we got to the beach, the waves were choppy, the wind had picked up but we were determined to catch the rays and to try out some snorkelling. A nice variety of fish milling around the area, which people fed bread to - I had some fish swimming near my head! In the evening, we went to Oskars, where a Manchester couple was having their wedding reception.

21st Sept - We decided to do some exploring and went to Gradakia Beach - we were delighted to find our own private little cove, enclosed on 3 sides by rocks, opening out to the sea - utterly breathtaking and ace! Afterwards, chilled on the terrace reading and then in the evening, had a nice seafood platter. The wine went to my head tonight and we were chatted up by a weird Dutch bloke who told us that he got arrested in Portugal for trashing his hotel room - niiiice! We made a quick exit!

22nd Sept - Sore wine head in the morning, cured by our only fry up breakfast! A brilliant day on Kalamia beach sunbathing, reading and snorkelling - so engrossed was I at a shoal of fish that at one point, I didn't realise how far I'd gone out. I suddenly noticed that I was way out of my depth but I didn't panic and was able to make my way back without any mishap! Phew! In the evening, we went to the Trata restaurant, as the guy outside said he could make up a seafood platter for us ... Ate the biggest fresh calamari (stuffed with cheese and peppers) ever and then had a platter of snapper, swordfish, tiger prawns and this huge octopus tentacle! It was all so yummy but there was too much!

The glamorous C caught the eye of the owner of the restaurant - George was larger than life, big tash, bigger belly and he couldn't take his eyes off the glamorous C's cleavage (she was flaunting it that night the floozy but in a very nice dress!). She seemed oblivious to his attentions and I thought I did quite well not laffing at his poorly disguised sneaky peeks at her! He told us to return to the restaurant on Monday, when he would give us a lobster meal 'on the house' - lobster on the menu cost 50 euros per kilo...not cheap! We were given a huge free dessert - I was so full and only managed some melon and strawberries. A Scottish lady we met on the beach (whom the glamorous C didn't recognise with her clothes on...) laughed when she saw us tackling the dessert and said, "Trust you two!" What was that all about?

Anyway, after we had free Metaxos brandies, we made a quick exit but not before George hugged the glamorous C in a very squeezy kind of way... (Her quote afterwards was "What's a holiday without a lecherous old man?") Anyway, there was no way we could go to sleep on such full stomachs, so we ended up going for a midnight stroll to Kalamia Beach. The dirt track had no street lamps so our only light came from the half moon - when we'd stumbled down safely to the beach, we found it so quiet and peaceful but also very dark!

23rd Sept - Our last full day on the beach! The couple in the next-door apartment was leaving and handed us some of their unwanted stuff, including a bottle of Metaxos brandy! We were discussing if my denim shorts were too short when the guy popped his head round, claimed he was an ‘expert’, had a look and said my shorts were fine, haha!

We were then nearly pipped to our private cove on Gradakia Beach but the glamorous C bulldozed her way past two women who were hesitating before climbing down the rocks! Later, we were joined by two locals - one older lady with tattoos and a skinny lady with her dog - I noticed that neither used any sun cream and dog lady left cigarette butts all over the sand.

We then wandered over to check out the beach past the main Lassi strip but it wasn't as nice as our usual haunts. We went to look for the cave of St Gerasimos, the patron saint of Kefalonia - his church was built right on top of his cave. Stopped off at a bar and the glamorous C was kind enough to let me indulge in some football (Man U vs Chelsea on tv) - what a mate! On the way back to the apartment, we got fresh takeaway pizzas (this was no Dominos!) and we spent a pleasant evening in, tucking into anchovies and olives, washed down with brandy and orange!

24th Sept - Our coach trip! We were the only 'same sex' pair there, all others were mostly old couples, apart from the goth couple (do goths get tans?) and a really fit bloke and his gf. At 10am, we were wine tasting at Robola winery - good job we had a good breakfast! Bought a bottle of rose and then we were off to St Gerasimos' monastery. I ventured down to the cave where he lived as a hermit and found that I didn't have to struggle through the hole, haha - everyone else had to crawl through on the bellies!
We visited the Drogati Cave (over 20,000 years old, according to the size of the stalactites), and then went to Melissani Lake, exploring it in a little boat - wow, gorgeous blue colours in the water. The glamorous C was clicking away with her camera, including taking a picture of the boat rower's backside as he was rowing... Fit Bloke's gf made a jokey comment about it and the glamorous C quipped that she wasn't fussy, she'd already taken a photo of Fit Bloke! Fit Bloke smiled at us, suggesting that perhaps we should do lunch, whereas his gf got all possessive after that, hehe! Anyway, we did some magazine poses with OK and Glamour - we'll see if we can win anything with our pictures!
We then stopped off in Fiskardo on the north tip of the island, where the likes of Madonna has her own property there. It was a beautiful port, still relatively unspoilt but we were only able to enjoy a couple of very expensive milkshakes! Our final stop was overlooking Myrtos Beach (after I'd spotted a whale-like creature in the water) - Myrtos is among the top ten beaches of the world - it was beautiful but hey, I'd still say our little Kalamia beach was nicer!

Anyway, when our trip ended, we donned our bikinis to catch some rays and feed the fish. In the evening, we decided not to take George up on his offer of a free lobster meal - nothing is free and he would have surely wanted payment in kind and unfortunately for him, he just wasn't the glamorous C's type! We went back to the pizza place and ate in the restaurant - great atmosphere, good food and wine and laughed loads that night. A couple, upon leaving, stopped at our table and said they couldn't help overhearing our conversations and thanked us for helping them enjoy some reminiscing!

25th Sept - Despite it being our last day, we were pretty relaxed in the morning. Threw on our bikinis for the last time, dropped off our luggage and headed down to Kalamia Beach. Chatted to the Scottish couple about football and rugby of all things but the peace on the beach was shattered by a group of newly arrived noisy Americans...Before long, it was time to leave, but we'd managed to catch a few more hours of sunshine and squeezed some snorkelling in.

All good things come to an end - after a couple of hours wait at the airport, we were on our way home (watched 'Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer' on the plane) and then when we got back to a cold Manchester, there was a delay in getting our luggage - bummer. The glamorous C kindly drove me home and it was 11pm by the time she dropped me off. I was in bed for 1am after looking at my photos - wanted some nice dreams to help me get through work the next day!

So, my first holiday with my best mate, the glamorous C? Well, compatibility was always going to be tested, with us in each other's faces for a whole week, but I have to say that we both got on really well together and enjoyed each other's company, despite me nagging at her to put on higher factor sun cream (she did listen in the end!). She in turn was very organised, if it had been left to me, I know we would never have gotten round to doing that coach trip, which was well worth going on.

She also managed to always look radiant in the morning (bitch!), but hey, I didn't mind (much) as she was always up before me and had a nice cuppa ready for me! We had an excellent laugh as usual (must play the 'spot the celebrity' game more often!) - I think many people noticed us laughing and having a good time...ok, so they heard me laughing - I don't do ladylike giggling unfortunately! The great thing was that both of us wanted the same thing out of this holiday, which was mostly relaxation (I read two books, the glamorous C was close to finishing her third one) and sun and of course, living in our bikinis! She said she felt like she was 18 years old all over again (ok, there wasn't a pint of cider in sight but I knew what she meant!).

Here's to our next Girls On Tour holiday! :-)

4 comments:

  1. Welcome back! :)

    Just how far apart are your legs in that final pic? Ha ha ha

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  2. LOL - thanks! Sorry to spoil your thoughts but the foot on the right wasn't mine! ;-)

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  3. I've had 2 holidays in the last 10 years or so, and I've completely forgotten how good they are.

    That said, I'm anticipating having something booked (and that's *booked*, rather than just planned) this time tomorrow!

    Glad you enjoyed it!

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