Wonderful Holiday (part two)

Welcome to part two of my photo and word fest about our awesome and amazing and wonderful and epic holiday to Thassos. I hope you enjoy and if you missed the first part just go to the previous entry in this blog. Cheers

Walking to my swim as the sun rises

Stone piles on the beach

Looking out to sea

A swell to greet me

I woke later on Sunday and the sun was already up above the cliffs by the time I made my way round to the little bay for my swim. Someone or group of people had been there the night before and made a hole load of stone sculptures all over the beach and into the little cave at the back - it was awesome and I spent quite some time climbing around looking at them before I went into the water. The swim was again a lovely way to wake up.

Angela and Rosie head up the hill

Playing in the park

Rosie looking out to sea

Watching a classic

Out for our dinner again

Sat in the waves with Rosie

We had a relaxed day planned with no driving or big trip and had heard a rumour of a park just up the hill from our accommodation. It was a lovely walk through pine forests along a quiet road until we reached the top and went through the grounds of a Greek Orthodox church. It was Santa Maria day so there was an outside service going on and just below the church we found the park. Rosie was very pleased and had a lot of fun climbing and swinging and sliding and rocking. After the time spent there we walked a different way back down the hill, pausing at a stunning viewpoint first so Angela could help a family get a group photograph and then so Rosie could watch boats leaving the harbour. After that it was down to the apartment again and I read while Rosie watched some Tom & Jerry on the tablet before naptime. After naptime we went to the beach and Angela read and relaxed on a lounger while I went for a lovely long walk with Rosie, sitting in the waves, burying my feet and generally just having a chilled out time. After this we went out for our dinner to a place on the sea front - we were again attacked by swarms of wasps who this time didn't care about the burning coffee. The only way we could get them to leave us alone was for Angela to put her muscle shells onto another table. It was incredble watching them all swarm around her plate! After this we went back home and had another early night. Holidays are great!

Pre dawn this morning as I was up earlier

Another fancy sculpt

Here is my effort

Such a beautiful peaceful view

Our beach for the morning

Playing with the ball

Rosie exploring

I was up earlier on Monday and was over to my bay before the sun rose. A few more people must have been in again the night before as there were more stone sculptures so this morning I decided to make my own offering and balanced up some stones. It was fun but mine wasn't as impressive as the others but still I feel I left the place slightly improved which is a nice feeling. It was a lovely quiet peaceful morning and I really enjoyed my swim as well. Monday we headed over to Skala Marion to the beach there. This is the place we went to two years ago for Rosie's first ever visit to Thassos. It was a short drive from our current location and we were able to park right on the front (actually where we had parked Betty while we were staying there) and get a spot on the beach really easily. It was lovely being back, with so much more life in the water here than in the more polluted and fished areas around Limenaria. Rosie had a brilliant time in the water as well as we had picked up a ring that she played with for a bit, then got put on my head, and she went with Angela to buy a ball which we had loads of fun playing with. It was particularly awesome to get all three of us in the water together playing and having fun. Lunch was at the little cafe next to where we'd stayed before and was very tasty indeed and then we were back and home for our after naps. All of us. 

Fresh produce from a neighbour

At the cocktail and mocktail bar

Rosie with her mocktail

The waiter from next door comes to say hi!

After our nap we were up and having cups of tea and relaxing on the terrace in front of our accommodation when a lady walked past with two big bags, one full of blackberries and the other grapes. She stopped and gave a handful of each to Rosie to have with her snack. How generous! We then headed out for one of the other activities that Rosie had been most looking forward to - Mocktails! There was a bar that did cocktails and mocktails, next to a place we'd eaten earlier in the week, and so we settled ourselves down for some nice drinks and relax. Unfortunately (for me) they didn't have any milkshakes however the mocktails were lovely and Rosie really enjoyed hers and I did mine, while Angela had a real cocktail and also found it to be very good indeed. Rosie had been making friends all week and one of the waiters from next door recognised her and came over to say hi, which was lovely. After that we decided to go and have lazy food so went to a pizza place. I had calzone which was very nice and Rosie tried some. It was good to have comfort food as well as trying different things. All in all it was a lovely day indeed.

The virtual hut that had been made on the beach

A really peaceful quiet sea this morning

Another small stone pile

Colourful stones

Sat with Rosie on the swinging bench

Getting to the beach

Quiet and glorious

Rosie reading on the beach

Helpful Rosie shakes off the mat

Very happy with her burger

This curry tasted even better than it looks

Wasps and smoke

Another dawn and I was up before the sunrise again. There were more new things on the beach at the cove as a virtual hut had been created, including a fake fire with a tripod and a little bucket holding some stones hanging over it. What a lovely thing. I was inspired to add another little rock pile, this time after my swim with stones I'd found while swimming. I felt so lucky every time I was able to enjoy this quiet and peaceful place. When I got back it was breakfast and a cuppa time and we I got to sit with Rosie on the swinging wooden bench in our yard. I have this picture printed and on the wall in my office already. I love it! We headed back round the coast the couple of minutes to the next bay again, where we had been on Saturday, and again were first to arrive though people did come soon after. Once again we all got into the water a lot, I did quite a long snorkel along the beach which was lovely but Angela and Rosie were able to go in lots. Rosie had brought her books and read for a bit in the shade as it was very strong sunshine indeed. While Angela had a final swim we packed up for heading home for lunch and nap time and Rosie helped by shaking off the beach mat. That evening we returned to the Thassos Symposium for another meal and it was just as good as the first visit - I really cannot recommend this place highly enough. The staff are so friendly, helpful and welcoming and the food was astounding.

The darkness of pre-dawn

Three of the four bags of litter I collected

They even left plastic chairs!

A cat asleep on a chair in the sun

Fish taking flies

Lots of life in this part of the harbour

Way too soon and it was the last morning of the holiday. I got up very early to go swimming but had my first unpleasant surprise of the holiday; the night before someone had been there and unlike every other night they had not created they had destroyed. I spent about ten minutes picking up four plastic bags full of litter (they had left the bags along with plastic plates, cups, beer bottles and various other litter gah what animals!) before I could even think about swimming. They had also knocked down a few of the stone towers and set a real fire in the virtual fireplace (flinging the tripod to one side and destroying other things as well). Everywhere you go you find arseholes it seems. Anyway, it was a lovely swim, though slightly tainted by that, and I was pleased to be able to leave and carry those bags away and return the place to a tidy and litter free environment. We spent the morning packing the car and clearing up and then while Angela had a shower I took Rosie for a final walk by the harbour. We watched the fish swimming around for ages, it was lovely and a fitting way to end the holiday.

Back and queuing for the ferry

Me and Rosie sat on the ferry

In the car going home

Rosie back on her swing at home

The journey home was just as easy as our journey out. The only challenge was having to reverse onto the ferry as it only had one working ramp! That was tough with an exciteable and not very communicative greek waving wildly in contradictory patterns how he wanted me to turn the wheel. Anyway we got on and crossed the water (this time Angela and Rosie saw the jelly fish by the harbour entrance) and were off and scooting back towards home in no time. It was a smooth crossing into Bulgaria and up the road and after much squeaking and barking from Thelma and Louise, and a lovely catchup with our awesome house sitters, we settled in hom. Of course it was good to be home but after a wonderful holiday like that it was also somewhat sad to not be able to stay there a few more days.

So there you are. The holiday. Thank you so much for reading! I'll be back when the workmen return which could be in a week or two.

Wonderful Holiday (Part One)

 Well. We are back from holiday (actually we've been back several days as I start to type this update which will, just to warn you, be epic and long and with many pictures and videos) and what an amazing awesome and wonderful holiday it was indeed. I can highly recommend the place we stayed and you can go book yourself in by clicking here if you want to. Let's get stuck in to catching up.

Rosie watering her flowers

About to slide at the park

Chips and pork ribs for lunch

An awesome spider

Really effective pool skimmer

Rosie watching the lizard - can you spot it?

There it is

Louise a little unsettled

First of all a few pictures from before the holiday as we got steadily more and more excited about going (Rosie in particular "I want to go on holiday!" and "I want to go to the beach!"). She has been helping out with watering the garden with Angela quite a lot, which is good, and on Daddy Saturday I got to take her to the park and have some lunch out with her which was lovely indeed. Angela found an awesome, and quite large, spider in the garden while watering one of the days which Rosie was also very impressed by. We also received our new skimmer attachment for the pool which made a huge difference immediately - definitely highly recommended. There was lots of time for playing on the balcony with Rosie and while we were playing Catch and Catch You one day we spotted a lizard hiding in one of the drain holes. Rosie again was very interested and sat watching it for ages. Indeed yesterday, when we were out there, she kept saying "where is the lizard?". Her memory really is astounding. Finally, however, it was the last day of work for me and our house sitters had arrived. We were all packed and Louise was really unsettled knowing things were about to happen. It was time for our holiday!!!!

Here we go, sunglasses on!

The ferry pulls out of the harbour

Sandwich time on the boat

We are in our guest house

A beautiful calm harbour

Rosie pointing out the moon (I think) or maybe a boat

I finished work, we piled into the car, and started driving. It did not take long to get to the border and it was very quick to cross (though I had to have a test which was quite uncomfortable being shoved up my nose). The drive to the ferry was easy as well, I took over about half way and drove the remainder all the way to the accommodation. Rosie was particularly impressed with the tunnels we drove through on the Greek side of the border going down from the mountains. The ferry was waiting for us and we drove straight on, had some sandwiches (and saw some jelly fish as we were pulling out of the harbour) and then suddenly we were back in the car driving around the island towards our destination. We arrived and found the place really easily, the hostess was superb and welcoming, and the location was perfect. It was right by the old harbour with lots of free parking with seconds walk of the front door but was also tucked on a little courtyard just back off the main road. Perfect. A safe place for Rosie to go outside, not much foot traffic, and quiet. After arriving and having a little snack we even had time to go for a paddle in the sea before bed. Perfect.

First morning morning swim

Beautiful sunrise

Angela and Rosie having fun in the sea

Rosie and her Chocolate Croissant

Relaxing on the beach

Lovely lunch

The next morning I was up bright and early and before everyone else and took myself down to the beach for a swim. I went to the same beach we'd paddled in and was a bit disappointed as there wasn't much to see in terms of fish, and the water was cloudy and dull. I still enjoyed it but it wasn't the fish tank experience of our last trip to Thassos. After breakfast I took a quick walk to see if there was somewhere better but on this time up that headland I did not see the rocky path leading to the beach I'd swim off for the rest of the break. It was beautiful, though, as the sun rose behind the crags. Our routine for the holiday established itself on the first day, with some differences as this first day we took a walk along the beach, had a quick paddle (for those on mobile there is a video or two scattered throughout this update which you can find by visiting my channel here) and then went and had breakfast at a little beach bar. It was very nice with chocolate croissant for Rosie and sausage roll and cheese slab for Angela and I but we didn't bother going out again for breakfast as it was also very heavy for the entire day! We spent the rest of the morning on the beach, in and out of the sea and waves, and went to a lovely restaurant with superb service for our lunch. Looking back at these pictures I'm surprised we didn't end up back there after.

The little cove round the corner

Rosie having great fun with mummy

Swimming in the protected water

A parachute glider thing being towed by a boat

Rosie laughing and splashing

Beautiful view from where I was sat

I have this picture printed out on my wall already

Rosie and her dinner (she didn't manage it all)

Coffee being burned to chase off the wasps

At Angela's insistence I did another recce of the next bay after this and was very pleased to find the rocky path mentioned above and I was able to make my way round to a little bay with clean waters and a rocky beach. Perfect for my morning swim. After our afternoon nap, which was hugely needed for all of us, we went back down to the little beach near the harbour and Angela and Rosie went for a swim. I'd caught the sun somewhat sitting on the beach in the morning and so sat in the shade with the big camera and snapped a bunch of photographs while they had great fun watching fish swimming in the shallows and floating and swimming. Rosie is so confident with the water it really was awesome that she had no fear of it. The pool helped so much in this regard. Afterwards we got ourselves dried off and headed out for dinner. Rosie had apple juice and a Greek burger (burger without bread) and it was a lovely meal if plagued by wasps. It was our first experience of seeing coffee being burned to chase them away and it did seem to work. Then back home and it was another early night for all of us; everyone was asleep for 9!

The cove, before my swim

Such a beautiful spot

Rosie reading her books

First to the beach

Rosie playing with her bucket and spade

Burying Daddy's feet

And so suddenly it was Saturday morning and I was up early, packed my bag, and clambered round to the hidden cove and had a lovely swim in clearer waters with more to look at (but still not that much, to be honest) and quite a swell coming in breaking on the pebbels. It was lovely and I was very happy Angela had helped me find a place to swim. After breakfast, and some reading, we packed the car up and drove the couple of minutes up and round to the bay that was only a couple along from my swimming spot, but which has a road to it and a small bar and some recliners. We were first on the beach and even though it did fill up a bit it stayed beautiful until we left to head home for lunch and our nap.

Octopus tentacles drying in the sun before dinner

Walking out with Rosie

Floating as deep as we went

By the harbour wall having fun

Building sandcastles

And burying Daddy's feet

Lunch was sandwiches and then nap was for all of us and after that it was my turn to take a swim with Rosie in the little sandy beach directly opposite where we were staying while Angela stayed out of the sun. It was lovely, magical indeed, to float with her and watch the fish and just relax so much. After swimming we got out and played with the bucket and spade again, first of all making some sand castles and then Rosie got to burying my feet again. It was very hot in the sun and I had to cover up with the towel when I was out of the water.

Ladies ready for dinner

Frosted glass of beer

The placemat at the restaurant

Toasted Cheese and Sesame Seeds with Pine Honey

Spicy Chorizo

Rosie and her Spaghetti Bolognaise

The rack of ribs

Dessert to top it off

Playing a quick solo game

After this lovely swim we headed back and got ourselves dressed up for dinner. We were going to a place we had seen walking along the front that looked amazing and it turned out to be the best place to eat that we went to all holiday; we would go back again on the last night. This was my first beer of the holiday as well, and it washed down the amazing food perfectly. Rosie had some spaghetti bolognaise and then helped me polish off the dessert but between that I had my favourite Greek starter, the baked cheese in sesame seeds with pine honey (amazing) and then we shared some spicy sausage (astounding) and a rack of ribs (superb). It really was incredible and great food. I highly recommend visiting The Symposium in Limenaria if you are ever in the area. After dinner we headed back and I got a little bit of solo gaming done before we were all to bed again, very early.

Right, this update has got long enough. I'm going to wrap it up here and publish and continue the holiday in the next post. Thank you for reading!