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Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Lefkada September 24th 2023

And so it starts! The real adventure part of the holiday. It was another scorcher of a day with bright blue sky and sea. We arrived at the meeting point first, having checked out of Pirofani, and say hello to Alexis, the chief man at Trekking Hellas who are running the trip, Sakis, our main guide, and Spyros, his trusty sidekick. The kayaks were lined up on the water’s edge being loaded with our camping gear and other essentials like water. Boy, were we going to need the water! Gradually the other happy campers arrived, and once we were all present we sat down for a yummy lunch and started getting to know each other over some yummy Mediterranean style nibbles. We were quite a diverse group. Sian and I were the oldest, followed closely by ... read more
On the water.
Sian!
Barbeque on Red Rock Beach.

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Lefkada September 20th 2023

Our second afternoon in Lefkada Town was pretty relaxed. After the siesta we had a wander round the town, retracing some of our steps as well as discovering new streets and squares. On our walk yesterday we had walked past a couple of stone heads and busts of men with names carved in Greek letters; we passed more today, including a couple of heads of men who because of the dates of their death were likely to have been Greek resistance fighters in WWII - more info on Wiki. The churches in Lefkada are many, and most appear slightly dilapidated and scruffy. In fact some don’t appear very church-like! We thought one of them was the Town Hall, but were put straight by a woman with probably a New Zealand or Australian accent who walked past ... read more
Our shared starter.
Greek church.
Mezze!

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Lefkada September 18th 2023

Lefkada Town. It was an early start. The taxi arrived spot on time at 03:45 and I was through security at Bristol Airport and seeking a coffee by just after 04:30. Thank goodness for the Fast Track option is all I can say. The airport was absolutely heaving, and the £7 cost of skipping the massive queues was well worth it! Sian was on an earlier flight than me and by the time I’d got my coffee, found a table to sit at and messaged her she was about to go to the gate to board. I was a little peeved that I hadn’t measured my rucksack very accurately; it didn’t quite fit in the luggage measuring thing, so had to go in the hold. To be honest though, we landed at Aktion about 15 minutes ... read more
Sian contemplating the marina.
Funky clock tower.
Wine and anchovies.

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Preveza August 3rd 2023

June 19 – Monday – Left the marina in Zakynthos at 5:40 as had to wait for the 5:30 AM ferry to leave the harbor. Started off with no wind, but put up our mainsail anyway hoping that later in the day the wind would show up. Fortunately, it did and we had a nice sail for a while today. We are definitely getting into an area of Greece that is full of charters. The bays are full of charter boats at anchor and the areas between the numerous islands were full of sailboats. We were concerned that we might have a hard time finding space in the anchorage we were aiming for, but fortunately just as we arrived, a sailboat left so took its spot. By the end of the evening there are only about ... read more
After Waiting for Weather, Now We Have Calm!
Anchored  in Ormos Rouda Bay on Levkos Island
Ormos Rouda Bay Provides Lots of Protection

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos July 22nd 2023

We left Kalamata Marina after an enjoyable few days and now will be heading through a few of the Greek islands on our way toward Italy and beyond. Our normal early morning departure allowed us to enjoy another wonderful sunrise from the water which always seems to add to the beauty for us. We were enjoying the sail when all of a sudden, we heard calls on the VHF calling for boats to divert to a ship with numerous people onboard that needed rescuing. This is something that you never want to hear, but you also appreciate the maritime rules that say that if a boat is in distress, you must divert to help. Unfortunately, today it was not just one ship being diverted to the scene, but many during the whole day. We lost count ... read more
I Never Tire Of Gazing At the Clouds
Impressive Rock Formations & Numerous Caves
Always Trying to Show Our "Tilt"

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos July 9th 2023

Better weather today, so off on a 6hr cruise around the island! I followed the find a field, park in field approach and everyone seemed to be parking near the port in between and around all these big boats... so I followed suit lol. (I came back to a very dusty car that people drew all over, but hey, that's fine.) Since I'm staying in the middle of nowhere I wasn't eligible for pickup from MyTours, which is fine bc it means I got there before most of the other passengers. Score. I got a seat on the shady side of the boat, which is perfect bc it's the side that's closest to the island anyway during the tour. The music onboard made me laugh - it was an old school English mix, like Can’t Touch ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos July 8th 2023

I was supposed to go on a cruise around the island today, but it got postponed due to weather in the northwest, so instead I switched my plans and did my driving tour first. (At the end of this post I will list off my observations after a few days lol.) I headed straight up to the lookout over Navagio beach - it is THE photo spot on the island and it's on a very mountainous / one car wide road... so I wanted to beat the traffic / rush. Also, a giant cruise ship is here today so I absolutely wanted to get there and out before the coach busses started showing up...!! It's famous bc it's a beach with a giant shipwrecked boat on it, and the beach is surrounded by cliffside so only ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos July 7th 2023

Day 1 + Day 2 Yesterday was straight up exhausting. 5hr layover in Montreal only to then leave 40min late, after sitting on the tarmac full and ready to go for +30 min (they were doing a systems upgrade? Really?) Not much of an effective upgrade, about 20 tvs didn’t work at all, mine included LOL. Really glad I had downloaded The Witcher and a few other short funny things - a +9hr flight with no entertainment would have been disastrous lol. As usual I didn't really manage to sleep... idk why I'm fine to sleep on trains and busses, but the planes never cooperate. Athens airport is pretty lowkey, if you like. I grabbed some bagel sandwich thing for lunch (was good!) and went to pick up my rental car. I'm using Avance this whole ... read more
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Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos October 3rd 2022

3 EKİM 2022 PAZAR Bugün yine Sveta ya sürpriz yapma günüm… Program olarak ünlü Shipwreck'i ziyaret edeceğiz bir başka deyişle Navajo koyuna gideceğiz. Otelimizden oraya bir saatten fazla yol var … Otelin kahvaltısı fena sayılmaz .. Kahvaltıdan sonra ağır ağır yola çıktık.. Çok güzel manzaralı yerleri aştıktan sonra, nihayet yerimize ulaştık.. Kalabalık kıyamet.. Zar zor bir park yeri bulduk .. Heyecanla ve hala sürprizi saklayarak ilerledik .. O da nesi? binlerce kişi bir kuyrukta bekliyor .. En önde bir teras yapmışlar .. Herkes bu teras için sıra bekliyor. Ellerindeki bir milyon aletle fotolar çekiliyor ve daha sonra bu teras, arkadaki sabırsızlıkla bekleyen kişilere terk ediliyor .. Tam bir hayal kırıklığı .. Zira yeri öyle düz... read more
ORİJİNALİ BU
MARSTAN SALDIRANLAR
BÖYLESİ DE VAR

Europe » Greece » Ionian Islands » Zakynthos October 2nd 2022

2 EKİM 2022 CUMARTESİ Levante Ferries tam zamanında kalkarak bir saat yolculuktan sonra adaya vardı.. Gemi oldukça lüks rahat rahat koltuklara serildik… Adaya varınca ,kısa bir yolculuktan sonra limana yakın Mirabel otelimizi bulduk .. Pek te güler yüzlü olmayan otel çalışanı odamızı gösterdi .. Kısmetimize denize bakan ve şahane bir balkonu olan oda düştü.. Hemen yerleştik ve yakında yer alan Kalamaki plajına yöneldik… Burası rüzgar alan bir yer olmasına rağmen plajın ayakçısı bize daha korunaklı bir yer sundu .. Buranın denizi de git git bitmez türünde ama olsun keyfimiz yerinde .. Plajın arkasında devasa bir tesis var tuvalete gitmek için bir km yürümen gerek fakat etrafta manzaralar güzel .. İnsanlar havalı ve günün keyfine varmaya çalışıyorlar … Bu plaj GPS te yanlış bi... read more
HER YERDE HAZIR VE NAZIR
ZAKINTOS LİMANI
BALKONUMUZ




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