Time flies when you’re having fun! That was the case with our remaining three weeks in Greece. As we’ve already mentioned in our previous post, we’ve met the Bolen family – Matěj, Madlen, Kryštof (8 years), Vojta (2,5 years), and their dog, Sněhura. They have been coming to Lefkada for the past seven summers so you can imagine all the tricks and tips they had up in their sleeves, like favorite sights, beaches, cafes, tavernas etc.
Eating late dinner (pita gyros or a plate loaded with lamb/pork, tzatziki, veggies and bread) at Vangelis’ (right across the main street from the church) quickly became a part of our daily routine – and so did our very late bed time. We kept our mornings for work but it was hard to stay focused. There was so much to see and do and the kids were anxious to play with Kryštof and Vojta. So every time the workload allowed we went on a trip. Here are our favorites:
Saving Sleeping Beauty
We’ve been planning to visit this ruin for a while so when our friends suggested it as a morning trip we were eager to go. The view was amazing but to get inside, we had to bushwhack through a field of thistles and goat droppings. It really felt like we were rescuing Sleeping Beauty from her tower.
To infinity and beyond
Since us girls were outnumbered by the boys, we had to visit one of the highest hilltops with an abandoned USAF radio relay station that used to boost radio signals from Turkey to Italy, and back. I was freaking out because it would only take one wrong step to fall off the cliff that surrounds the site, but the rest of the group did not seem to care; they thought the place was amazing and beyond cool. When Kája started climbing the ladder up the satellites I had to go back in the car as I couldn’t take it anymore. To make it up to us girls, we also visited a beautiful church on a the opposite hill where we found our second Greek geocache and got to ring the bell.
Walking up the Acheron River
We’ve already posted a short video from this cool adventure.
Caribbean experience
The Bolens promised we would like this place. Well, they were wrong – we LOVED it. It felt like somewhere in the Caribbean – crystal-clear water, gorgeous beach and only very little people (considering the fact the we were there on Sunday). We had a breakfast in a charming beach café run by a cool hippie couple that was patient enough to let all the kids observe the cooking process. It was a true paradise right above an amazing beach where you could lounge on pallet beds or in a hammock. Too bad it was not closer to our apartment. 🙂
The rest of our days were spent kitesurfing, snorkeling, building sand castles, swimming, having fun with our friends and eating (a lot of it!).
When it was time to leave and say goodbye, it was honestly one of the hardest ones we’ve said so far – especially for Alex. Thank goodness for e-mail that makes this hurting less intense.
Things that surprised us in Greece
- Amazing sea and beaches
- Quite fast and rather chaotic driving (and parking)
- Lack of seafood in stores
- If you live in a small town, you basically don’t need to go shopping for anything – there are trucks with everything from fruits and vegetables to live chickens that come each morning and wake you up with honking and loud music or announcements
- Greek seems to be an extremely hard language and we’ve only managed to learn to say good morning, good evening, good night and thank you. We admit, we did not try very hard
- Very friendly people
- Greek cuisine lacks variety – it seems that all Greeks eat is greasy meat, potatoes, and peppers
- Bowl of basic vegetables (tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and peppers) topped with Feta cheese (AKA “Greek salad”) costs 6€. For the same price you get three pita gyros
- Butterflies are everywhere!
- Traveling 10km from urban environment can take you back hundred years. You see people working on fields with basic tools or herding sheep and cows along the streets; huge differences like these are not common in Central and Western Europe
- When you visit a Greek restaurant, don’t expect to get your meals in any order. Sometimes your main dish comes before the starter and sometimes you get your food when everyone else is ready to pay their bill 🙂
- Breathtaking views and sights