Greece 32 Prevetza / back again at another campsite whilst we wait for the boat/kalamiti beach/greek cigarette smoking receptionist

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We are well and truly stuck. Suzy is well and truly stuck. I am taken back to 1968 and the three day week when all businesses in Britain were forced to close their doors for 4 days a week. Electricity was rationed and homes were in darkness for hours on end. I worked at the electricity board at the time and worked until midnight most nights answering phone calls from customers who wanted to know when they would get their power supply back. We called that time the bad old days.

We had to park up somewhere so we moved a few miles down the road to the latest campside near to Prevetza and still within half an hour of the port. We had not thought last week that we would still be in Greece today. It feels strangely odd to sit and think that we should be at the docks and we should be on a ship heading back to Italy. On the way we passed a couple of lakes , one filled with the glossy leaves of water lilies. There was the promise of pretty flowers floating on the lake in a week or so. The next lake was brackish. There seemed no life in it but then there appeared a number of herons fishing for their tea.

Suzy is parked up at Camping Kalamiti Beach sunbathing. It is a hard life but someones got to do it. Why not us? The site was not easy to find. Our first attempt took us down an impossibly narrow road that narrowed at every turn. We did the enevitable three point turn and headed back up to the main road to try again. This time we found a much wider lane. Trees grew along its length , all painted white at their bases , None stopping our progress. There was only us and one Dutch van on site until the couple who parked next to us at Drapano Beach turned up. I fell into conversation with them and they told me that they were travelling for three months,. I thought how lucky the young are these days. They take gap years. They go for months on end to Europe . We never had that luxury. It was considered a sin not to work. The receptionist an older lady welcomed me. One hand filled in the necessary paperwork, the second hand held a greek cigarette. 17 euros ACSI price she said . That seems the average price for ACSI in Greece. There was a lovely swimming pool and bread delivered daily if we required it. The restuarant was closed but she offered to order fast food for us if we were desperate. A mixed menu combined McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC.

It was a wonderfully quiet site and very clean. A very big improvement from last nights offering. The showers left us feeling clean rather than dirty. All in all its not a bad place to be.

The night passed by quickly. We have to go on Friday to check if the strike is over. We slept well without thinking too much about going home. We are getting used to being stuck. I called into reception to pay. A very young lady was there with her dog. A big black fluffy thing that she told me demanded attention. He liked to swim in the sea and she was lucky enough to be able to bring him to work with her. He sat ourside wagging his tail and trying to catch her attention. She told me she worked five days a week at the complex. I asked about the strike and she told me that she was not happy as it gave Greece a bad name abroad. It affected the tourist trade. When I asked if it would continue she told me that that was unlikely . Maximum damage was all the seamen were aiming for and they achieve that in two back to back 48 hour strikes. I paid up and we moved on . Another day and another campsite . Change is as good as a rest or so they say.

Highlight of the day : The trip to Lidl to buy some groceries. As we drove along following Sally Sat Nags directions to the local LIdl we wondered why drivers were diverting off the main road behind us and driving on what looked like the pavement. We drove past and realised the pavement was the entrance to the shop. We had to backtrack and do the Greek thing of driving on the pavement . We are turning Greek slowly.

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