Day 2 - Tuesday 09-06-25: It’s hot…..very hot!

Oh, it’s such a shame. Poor Maice was woken up at 4am this morning by the Levante ferry coming into port. Apparently it was very loud, what with the dropping of the anchor and all those heavy articulated lorries rumbling off and rumbling on! Well you see that’s what happens when you have the bedroom with the double bed, that has a sea view and that overlooks the port whereas I am in the bedroom at the back with the two twin beds and no view and I have to say, I didn’t hear a thing! I didn’t even hear her text me at 6.52am to ask me if I was awake. When I did awaken at 7.30am and wandered into the bedroom with the sea view and onto the balcony,  the sun was shining and it was very hot, even at that time in the morning, oh and it was also very quiet!

As we sat on the balcony taking in the most beautiful early morning vista and conducted a post-mortem of the events of Day 1.  We were so tired yesterday that we both seemed to be having trouble communicating with each other and were so not in sync with each other. We garbled our words, we misheard what the other was saying, it was most strange. We’re hoping today is going to be a better day for us now that we’ve got our bearings, had a fairly good nights sleep (well I have anyway) and feel totally in the holiday zone.

Across the road from us there is cafe bar called Remetzo with a small seating area right next to the sea which we thought we would further explore today and have our first Frappe of the holiday. Well, when we got there it just kept giving. It was so not what we expected because from our balcony it looks so unassuming. So there we were sat outside overlooking the sea drinking the most wonderful Frappes, it was all just so wonderful however when we went in to pay there was a whole new world beyond, all cut into the rock face. There were two more areas of seating and a bar that was cut into the rock and when you walked through it came out overlooking ‘Rock’ and the most beautiful view over the sea. So tomorrow we are going to walk into the abyss and enjoy our frappes from a different view point……It’s just so exciting!

Today we’re off to spend the whole day on the beach sunbathing, swimming and chilling. However before we walked the 4,000 steps to the beach which was on the far side of the village to where we’re staying we stopped off at the bakery to buy doughnuts, a potato pie and a cheese pie for lunch. When we finally arrived at the beach we chose two sun-beds right on the end. There were 100 sun-beds on this part of the beach and we couldn’t quite believe it but we were the only two on them, it was so very quiet. Sunbeds cost €10 per day with umbrella and a small table which was a bargain as the beds had a thick mattress with head rest and looked super comfortable. Of course we do have the option of using the Oceanis View swimming pool anytime we want to but neither of us like sitting around or swimming in a pool, preferring the beach and the sea any time, which is why we’re prepared to pay for our sun-beds which we factor in when considering how much holiday money to bring. So we’d made ourselves at home in our little sun-bed area of the beach, positioned our sun-beds so that we were facing the sun and before we got down to the business of sunbathing the first thing we did was go for a dip in the sea. OMG the sea looked so inviting, it was flat like a mill pond, it was a beautiful ethereal colour and it was calling for us to go in, mind you that was easier said than done. It was a shingle beach so in order to get to the water edge you really needed to wear your flip-flops. However the next stage of this simple task of going for a swim was to get oneself into the water, by walking over the very stony and slippery stone in the water. As you all know, you can’t really wear flip-flops in the water as they slip and slide all over the place so on this occasion we had to go in bare foot and their lies the tale of making a spectacle of oneself at the waters edge. Having floundered into the water to get in, one then spent the time in the water deciding the best way to get out! With delicate feet like ours it was going to be difficult. So, how does one walk out of the sea like Ursula Andress in Dr No? The answer is you don’t. Honestly we looked like we were walking on hot coals and eventually ended up sitting down and coming out backwards!  Most definitely will be adding water shoes to shopping list. I would like to say that we were lucky that we were the only two on the beach so as not to provide too much entertainment for onlookers but of course since being in the water we were joined on the sun-beds by an elderly couple. And out of all the 98 free sun-beds on the beach they choose to sit on the two next to ours!

Today was an extremely hot day. It was just over 30degrees but as there was absolutely no wind or breeze it felt like 40degrees. Honestly it was just way too hot for us and we had to be super careful as it was our first day sunbathing so we needed to be sensible, yes we can be sensible when we need to!

To accompany our lunch we ordered a large bottle of water and a large can of coke which arrived in an ice bucket which cost 6 euros.  I had 6.5 in cash but as we’d been served on our sun-bed and had an ice bucket I gave him 2 euros, only because when he gave me change of a 10 euro note he gave me two 2 euro coins and not four 1 euro coins. I have now been reprimanded by Maice for over tipping!!

We cannot believe how very hot it was on the beach and despite going in for regular swims and sitting in the shade it all became too much for us and we called it a day, which was not the best to call it a day as they say it’s usually the hottest time of the day….2.30pm!  I would like to say that we walked to the mini-market, but we in fact trudged to the mini-market in order to buy all the things we’d forgotten. The problem is there is absolutely no shade around here so with both of us not feeling too good we finally made it to the apartment put on the A/C and had a well earned siesta.

An hour later we were on the balcony drinking wine and playing rummy and I am pleased to say I actually won a few rounds. Tonight we’ve decided to stay in this quarter of the village. We’ve split the village up into quarters. The first quarter is the port which has the mini-market we go to, Remetzo Bar/Cafe for our frappes, and a few tavernas. Then you walk to the left, up the hill to the square, more of a rectangle which has quite a lot of tavernas. Then you walk further on from there to the next quarter with its cocktail bars and finally the final quarter is the beach with all the sun-beds. So tonight were going for supper at a taverna which is next to our mini-market which been there since 1958 and is in the quarter 1. We arrived but it was full however we were just standing there minding own business when this English woman in green started talking to us, said how great the taverna was, the chef was French and put a french twist to the Greek food and we must definitely come back. So on good recommendation, we’ll be back. Not to be deterred, we went to the taverna across the road and enjoyed a super meal of Kleftiko for me, grilled calamari for Maice, Greek salad and a small carafe of wine. It was just what we needed, it was delicious.

We were so stuffed we strolled along the harbour to let our food disgust and  met a very friendly well fed cat who was rather lovely. Then back to the apartments where we just sat on the balcony and chilled.

It’s been a great day….however, tomorrow we are going to get up early and go out early in order to beat the heat…..!

Καληνύχτα…..Μ&Α χχ