12 ALL ABOUT GREECE
This week began on the island of Lefkada in northern Greece, though we soon waved the island goodbye and headed to the city of Patras (around 2h30m south). Patras is Greece’ third largest city and other than that fact, I’m not really sure what else it’s known for. As per usual, our research prior to arriving was limited and therefore after parking, we quickly discovered that it wasn’t the most tourist-attraction-dense city. For some reason, we ended up at the archaeological museum which was quite interesting (and had aircon) but given that our interest in ancient Greek ceramic pots is pretty nonchalant, it didn’t make the 2h30m drive seem very rewarding. To make matters worse, visiting the city centre only confirmed that the drive was certainly not worth the journey, therefore, after grabbing some ice creams because it was around 37 degrees, we didn’t hesitate and left Patras.
We eventually drove back north towards Lefkada to find a camp spot. On the journey, we made a new reptile friend! Cam spotted a tortoise on the side of the road. Naturally, I slammed my foot on the break and reversed like I was doing a some kind of James Bond stunt to take a look - I’d never seen a tortoise in the wild before. It seemed to be a little stuck because both sides of the road had concrete walls trapping it in. So, Cam got out and made a brave rescue by carrying it 200m up the road to some fields where it wasn’t going to get violently struck by a car. Sadly, it appeared that the tortoise did indeed have suicidal tendencies because when we passed the same spot an hour later, it had retreated back to the road. God loves a trier.
We winded up returning to the camp spot we were introduced to by firefighters a couple of nights prior. So, the following day we spent relaxing, reading our books and snorkelling on the beach opposite. By the late afternoon, we decided that we fancied doing exactly the same thing, but on a new beach - it’s a hard life. We left Kanali and headed to a camp spot overlooking the beachfront of the small village of Paralia. It was perfect and had incredible marine life for snorkelling - I saw loads of new breeds I’d never seen before including garfish. In the evening, we made toasties and paid the lovely local taverna a visit for some drinks. Tough day.
We had booked to rent a boat in Syvota the following day. Syvota is a village on mainland Greece with three islands surrounding it. I’d read that these tiny islands were worth visiting by boat and after discovering that it was a viable option budget-wise, we didn’t hesitate to book. The boat was only a dinky thing but we managed to anchor-up and see all three of the islands. Whilst there were areas crowded with tourists, we were able to find areas completely alone, including one where we discovered an enormous swimmable tunnel-cave snorkelling. There was so much marine life in the cave with huge shoals of fish following us around. It was a really beautiful day full of sun, sea and a hint of seasickness (for Cam). After about four hours, we returned the boat and headed back to Ioannina to Cam’s uncle, Dale.
The next few days were spent soaking up the northern Greek culture. We visited Cam’s auntie, Alecca, in the mountainous village of Dilafo. Each summer, Alecca and her 96 year-old mother, PhoPho, leave the valley and head up to the tiny village where there’s strong but small seasonal community. The village itself isn’t accessible by car, but there is a carpark on the outskirts where we parked Bert. Alecca greeted us and introduced us to some of the locals - drinking neat Tsipouro (an strong spirit), smoking all day and chatting in the square (usually about collapsing walls) seemed to be the way of life here in the quiet hamlet in the hills and I loved it - so unspoilt by modern life. Even the houses seemed unaltered; the charming interior of PhoPho’s house resembled a museum and I really do mean that in the best way. We hiked to the nearby Kokkorou ancient stone bridge dating back to the 17th century and in the evening, we went to the only restaurant in the village which served some incredible food with an amazing view. At this point a little merry, we sat in the square with the locals until way after dark and petted a few very cute stray dogs. It was a lovely evening!
Not far from Dilafo is the Vikos Gorge - the world’s deepest gorge! I’d argue it was equivalent to the Grand Canyon in terms of strikingness - really quite amazing and free from tourists! Following various conversations about the worst way to fall into the canyon, we returned to Dale’s house in Lapsista outside Ioannina. He had prepared his special Greek meatballs which, accompanied by tzatziki, I could’ve eaten about 20 of them.
Continuing our Greek culture tour that evening, we went on a night out in Ioannina with Cam’s cousin Van and his fiancé Sotiria. Ioannina is a treasure of a city with what we soon found out to have a bustling nightlife. Now, we further learned that a night out in the UK has a drastically different structure to a night in Ioannina. The UK involves eating before getting ready at around 8/9pm-ish, followed by getting as drunk as possible in the pub until around midnight so that when you do arrive at the club you don’t realise how bad it is, then you dance for a bit before losing everyone and grabbing a Maccies on the way home at around 3/4am.
In Ioannina, firstly, we didn’t start drinking until we arrived in town at around 11pm. Once we reached their local taverna, we met Sotiria’s twin sister and her fiancé and ordered food which didn’t come until around 11:30pm-midnight. By this point, I’d complete lost my appetite as a result of the small plates accompanying each drink, as well as the 500ml wine cup I was given. However, I powered through the enormous dish and we eventually finished eating at 12:30am. We chatted for another couple of hours, comparing differences of UK - Greek life, and finally moved to a club/bar at 2am which reminded me more of the smoking area of a UK nightclub. This club/bar did in fact have a DJ with decks, which you may be thinking: Holly, that’s complete normal, but the only music this particular DJ played was from a local and very successful post stoner and psychedelic rock band called Vic (Villagers of Ioannina City). Now, don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely loving it, but the fact the DJ had decks, headphones, the whole shebang, just to play a couple viking-esque songs meant that I couldn’t stop laughing.
Anyway, we finished the night with some whiskey and baileys, and returned to Van and Sotiria’s flat at around 4am - an “early Friday night” for them apparently. Regardless, it was a super fun night and we felt extremely welcome by everyone in Ioannina.
To end our Greek culture week, Dale had prepared an enormous BBQ which consisted of various seasoned meats, an incredible salad with produce from his impressive vegetable patch and flatbread. I can easily say it was the best BBQ I’ve had and I doubt a 3 Michelin star chef could beat it. Unfortunately, the weather reminded me more of a UK BBQ - the first rain we’d had in over a month abroad so we couldn’t complain.
Sunday came around so quickly this week and it also marked our departure from Greece. Sunday evening, we had booked our ferry across from Igoumenitsa to Bari, Italy. Regrettably, we said our goodbyes to Dale and Alecca, thanked them for being so generous and welcoming and drove to the port in Igoumenitsa. We boarded the ferry which was, initially, very comfortable because we’d found some airplane-esque seats (but comfier) on the top deck. Annoyingly, we weren’t told that these seats were actually booked and so when we stopped in Corfu to pick up more passengers, we were kicked out and by this point, the rest of the ferry’s seats were taken. So, we went on a hunt for spare chairs. This involved a serious argument with an Italian man who proceeded to push me and try to grab the seats out of my hands. I refused and walked off because I could see that him and his friends all brought lilos to sleep on. I couldn’t actually believe the things I was seeing on that boat; people had brought fully pegged four-man tents and set up camp including airbeds on the outside decks. Some people had brought sunloungers and sleeping bags. Others were just sleeping on their beach towels or simply on the floor. Us however, we found probably the only corridor on the ferry not crowded with people sleeping on the floor. We threw down a blanket and attempted to sleep for the next 8 hours. To be fair, I think I slept around 4 hours whilst Cam even less. All I’ll say, it was a rough night but nonetheless, very memorable.
SUMMARY
We were absolutely gutted to leave Greece. I think it’s the one destination of the trip we left feeling like we had only scratched the surface. The camping in Greece was second-to-none, along some of the most beautiful beaches of the trip. Dale and Alecca were so incredibly lovely and generous and we are so grateful to them for allowing us to stay and cooking us some incredible food. Our night-out with Van and Sotiria was brilliant and we will no doubt be returning to Greece as soon as possible!
