It rained all night although we didn’t hear or see any thunder or lightning so can only deduce that a) it didn’t thunder and there wasn’t any lighting or b) we were just so tired we slept through it all! We flung open the balcony doors and welcomed in another grey cloudy morning. The sun was nowhere to be seen but there was no wind so that was a bonus.
The plan today was breakfast, frappe, mini-market shopping to replenish the fridge, find a bicycle hire shop (yes you read that correctly), peruse the tourist shops to see if anything takes our fancy then end up back at the hotel where we’re going to spend the rest of the day on the sunbeds. We’ve decided that as it’s so windy and cool down on the beach we’re not getting our money’s worth from the 12 euros it costs us to hire the sun-beds and although we’re not really ‘pool’ people we’re going to make use of the free sun-beds around the pool and use the 12 euros for our afternoon Aperol Spritz. Makes perfect sense to
Our frappe was just what we needed to kick start the day after which we set off down the Main Street and came across a bicycle hire rental shop. Knowing that it wasn’t going to be sunbathing weather over the next few days we deliberated what we should do. We could either a) find a cafe/bar and sit there all day playing cards b) book a coach trip around the island c) go on a wine-tasting tour or d) hire a bicycle and cycle along the salt lake to the next resort of Marmari. And no, we didn’t choose the wine tasting tour which I’m sure many of you would no doubt have assumed would have been our first choice! No, we felt we needed to be adventurous and take ourselves out of our comfort zone, get on a bicycle and go have an adventure. Cycling seems to be the ‘in thing’ mode of transport in Kos at the moment as everyone seems to be hiring a bicycle rather than a moped and of course its good for the environment in that its eco friendly, its healthy and okay we may get a sore bum but we’re really looking forward to it. Admittedly it’s not Maice’s favourite mode of transport as she hasn’t ridden a bike for over twenty years but like I said to her, don’t worry, it’s just like riding a bike!!! And another thing, can you believe that it only costs 10 euros a day to hire two bicycles. 10 euros! Now that’s a bargain!
The shop next door sold some very unique hand made ornaments which were lovely but expensive and as we were the only two in the shop the owner proceeded to assert an aggressive sales pitch on us for some items we took an interest in. I think we said all the right things, made all the right gestures and then slowly backed our way out of the shop. Gosh, we could easily have been persuaded to part with some money but we stood firm and should we go back again we’ll check to see that there’s more people in the shop.
The previous day we’d been into the craft shop across the road from our hotel where I’d seen a man playing the bouzouki hanging on the wall. I was very excited as I’ve been looking for this man for years, ever since I purchased his mate, the Dancing Zorba in Skopelos. Okay, he didn’t come cheap but hey, when you’ve waited this long for a bouzouki man one is willing to pay the price! There was so much lovely stuff in the shop we spent at least 45 minutes browsing being tempted by all sorts of things. In the end Maice bought a necklace and I bought a leather bracelet with a magnetic clasp which I’m still trying to get the hang of
We passed by the hotel reception desk and asked Maria if she’d let our cleaner know to ‘beware’ of our room bin. ‘Beware of your bin’ she said, rather amusedly. ‘Yes’, we said ‘she needs to beware of our bin which is now out on the balcony and is full of broken glass’. We explained what had happened the previous day and that we didn’t want the cleaner to cut herself when emptying said bin and were told that we were very considerate to even think of advising them about the contents of said bin. You see, model guests, that’s what we are 🤣.
Glad we’d done our good deed for the day we headed off to find a sun-bed. The beds we’ve been using on our return from the beach have been slightly uncomfortable so we swopped them around for the newer and more comfortable ones that were on the front row, much to the amusement of this chap who was headed for the ones we just happened to move. Fortunately he was quite happy with the blue uncomfortable beds due to him being a Chelsea supporter! By the time we laid ourselves out on our sun-beds the sun had burnt through the clouds and it was hot, very hot because not only was the sun out but the breeze had completely disappeared. We were huffing and puffing under the heat of the sun hoping a cloud would come along so we’d have a bit of respite, but no, we had to lie there and endure the intensity of the sun. Honestly where’s the breeze when you need it? Thankfully we had a bit of respite when we went for lunch. Terry, the chef rustled us up a lovely Greek salad, the best so far and we enjoyed our usual Mythos beer. By the time we returned to our sun-beds the breeze had returned and we spent a lovely two hours sunbathing in perfect conditions.
It was soon Aperol Spritz o’clock and by now the clouds were back covering the mountains beyond so we took ourselves off to Ipanema and spent the next hour people watching. Needing to get our steps in we headed off up the road to check out the tavernas at that end of the resort and we also wanted to go to the ‘big’ supermarket to purchase some cotton wool and a flannel. Unfortunately I got more than I bargained for in the supermarket for when I bent down to look at something on a low shelf I hit my head on the metal corner of the shelf. To say I literally saw stars was an understatement , it was very painful, I went dizzy and had to go outside to get some air…..what with my sore eyes from getting sun lotion in them I wasn’t in a good way! We wandered slowly back to the hotel and checked out Oneiro, the Greek/Italian restaurant opposite which had swordfish on the menu which both of us fancied so that’s our restaurant choice for this evening sorted.
Back in the room we soothed our eyes with Maice’s eye lotion and soothed the dent in my head with a wet cloth, showered and headed across the street for our supper at Oneiro, me in my Dr Marten sandals and Maice in her ‘slippers’ as she’d once again forgotten to change her footwear! We were very impressed with the restaurant as both the service and the food were excellent, Maice reporting that her swordfish was absolutely delicious and my lamb kleftiko just fell off the bone. We’d definitely come here again. Needing to get our steps in we went for a stroll towards the beach, The ‘assertive’ lady in the craft shop wasn’t there so we went in to check out the things we liked again and got chatting to her husband. Apparently his wife lived in Canada when she was young and loves it out there so if we meet her again at least we have a ‘bargaining tool’ in the form of Maice! We both did well for shopping…..I bought a three tier necklace and Maice a pair of sandals. And why not, we are on holiday after all!
We ended our evening at Ipanema for cocktails, welcomed in like long lost friends and who should be sat behind us but the couple who we keep bumping into everywhere we go. We’ve not spoken to them so don’t know if they’ve clicked that we seem to be following each other around! It’s probably just us who find it amusing……..!
On that note, it’s καληνύχτα from me and it’s λοιπόν from Maice……more about that tomorrow!!
M&A xx
Love the banjo man. How’s the head today?? 💜🥰