Blog

There was a distinct feeling of deja vu in the air on Friday 4th September when we woke just before our alarm went off at 3 am ( how does that happen?)   This is a journey we’ve already travelled together so I will fast forward …….Woke at 2.55 am, waved goodbye to the apartment, threw milk down the drain and freshly washed bedding in the bin, headed to the train station (raining again!), train on time, arrived at terminal 2.

The cheery Easy-Jet lady this time was not there to greet us which was probably not a bad thing.  It occurred to me that she may be in hospital having the permanent smile surgically removed from her face.   Instead, a large burly bloke with no smile to share was checking all was in order.   As you can imagine the existence of our QR code had been checked and double-checked on numerous occasions this morning so I held out my phone with confidence.  He glanced at it, then glanced at me, then glanced at Karyo. I wondered if he was teasing and felt myself start to go clammy.   Then he paused for just a tiny bit longer than a split second, smiled ( yes, I was surprised too! ), thanked us and waved us through – Phew! I could hardly believe it – we were on our way.

The plane was full with not a single seat available.  This really surprised me as I had expected a half-full flight.  Yes, I really am that half-full kind of guy.  I was pleased to see everyone observing the Covid-19 rules. There was far less walking around than usual and all masks were worn for the duration of the flight. A reduction of in-flight sales announced but, to be honest, a lack of three quid coffee so hot that it has a tendency to take the skin off the roof of your mouth I consider to be a positive rather than a negative and let’s face it the twenty quid a litre vodka stopped sounding like such a good deal when Aldi started selling their own brand at £9.99!

Three hours later we were on terra firma at Thessaloniki airport, we flashed our all-important QR code to the bright ginger, pale as a bottle of sterilised milk Greek security guard ( who knew such a thing existed ?)  and we headed to the bus stop.

We had decided whilst travelling to use public transport as much as possible to keep the costs down so we caught the 50-minute bus ride from Thessaloniki airport to Thessaloniki bus station ( €2 each ) then after a short wait caught The Kavala bus which stopped en-route at our final destination, Nea Peramos. This journey took around two and a half hours, cost €13 each and luckily for us, dropped us off at a bus stop right outside our accommodation for the month.

Kavala –

This was always going to be a great first month for us and it certainly delivered.  We chose Nea Peramos mainly for its location, A small seaside town 20 kilometres to Kavala and 100 kilometres to Serres, the home town of Karyo.  We had not seen his family for two years so was the perfect opportunity for us to see his mum, brother, brothers wife and our two nephews once again.

The first two weeks we spent alone, we were a little concerned about visiting his mum straight from the plane due to the Covid-19 situation so thought it would be sensible to leave the family visit until two weeks after we arrive in Greece. This gave us plenty of time to settle into our accommodation and start to get acquainted with the town.  We soon settled into a routine of going to the beach for a couple of hours in the morning then getting home for 11 am (9 am UK) so that Karyo could log on for work.  I did worry that he may find it more difficult working in this environment than his normal office workplace but, with the help of his past few months working from home, he took to it like a duck to water.  He says he loves sitting in the sunshine and fresh air in shorts and a t-shirt on the veranda, it is quite a change from his city-centre office.  However, he is not particularly liking the having to work until 7 pm (5 pm UK) but understands this is the compromise he has to make and the time difference of each place we stay will have to be considered before booking.  I am really liking having his company all day and am easily whiling away the hours generally pottering around, picking fruit from the trees in the garden and am reading more than ever,  I can see myself having an issue keeping up with a supply of cheap reading material. I tend to buy my books from charity shops which don’t seem to exist here.

The third-week Karyo planned it so that he was on annual leave from work so we hired a car and went to visit his family for a few days.  The hire car rental is great value here, we went to Hertz and hired a Fiat Panda for €17 per day.  Visiting Karyo’s family is always filled with amazing Greek hospitality.  Food plays a big part in this and his mum is never happier than when feeding her family, and, as we visit so irregularly her sole mission when she does see us is to fill us up as much as possible to make sure we have enough fat reserves until she sees us again.  Greek mothers have the feeling that the more they feed you, the healthier you become and resistance, frankly, is futile.  She turned 74 during our visit, she is really independent, has her own sizable vegetable patch and happily gives away much of her wide variety of home-grown produce to friends and neighbours.  I also discovered on this visit that she is an experienced forager and took us out foraging for hazelnuts and walnuts in the forest then had us scrumping apples, figs and grapes from farmer’s fields on the way home.  I was instructed to wait with the engine running in a sort of getaway driver style whilst mother and son, Bonnie and Clyde style, filled their bags with ill-gotten gains.  She reliability informed me that she was not worried as farmers don’t shoot old ladies although she didn’t seem too worried that the guarantee did not extend to son or son-in-law!

For our final week, we brought his mum back to stay with us in Nea Peramos for a week. She went from feeding us in her house to feeding us in ours, I dread to think how much weight we have piled on this last week or so but I do know that I’m not likely to see my toes again for a while.   A birthday visit for his mum to Kavala was a nice day out.  Kavala is a beautiful City, Famous for its Port and old town that hangs from the side of the hills. For lunch we ate in the restaurant ‘Nemesis’, on the main street, highly recommended if you ever find yourselves in this lovely city but beware, the inexpensive prices lull you into the false belief that portions may be small, they are not!  each appetiser is equivalent to what I would call the main meal and you can easily find yourself hidden behind a mountain of delicious food.  It’s a bit like visiting a more than you can ever eat buffet.  I always love the times Karyos mum spends quality time with us and it always becomes so clear to me how much she misses him, he left Greece to go to University in Lincoln when he was 18 and never went back.  He speaks to his mum twice a week without fail but obviously, that can never take the place of having him around in person. It is always really sad when we have to say goodbye but hopefully, it will not be too long before we get to see her again.  On this visit, we taught her the magic of video calling and she loves it so we are expecting the frequency of calls to increase from now on.

We have really enjoyed this month, September 2020 has been a gentle easing into our new lifestyle.  The weather has been great, we have been in the sea most days, seen the family and experienced our first new Airbnb place to live. Karyo has had a taste of working form a different home, in a different environment and it has really gone well but now it is time to pack our two suitcases and a rucksack once more and see what October has in store for us.

Our Accommodation –

This accommodation was a bit of a treat for us as its bigger than we usually would book but as we knew that we would have Karyo’s mum come to visit for a few days we thought the extra space would come in handy.  Tania, our host has been fantastic,  She was always quick to respond to any questions we had and even popped in with her husband one afternoon to say hello.  The living space is all on the first-floor level, a huge living/dining area, shower room and two bedrooms.  There is also a really spacious veranda which is where we spent most of our time,  the veranda proved to be really multi-functional, Karyo’s office by day, plus great dining and general chilling out space when we were home. The whole place was spotlessly clean and equipped with anything and everything you may want during your stay. The house is situated in a small, quiet residential road that consists of only four houses in total and the road leads onto a dirt track so hardly any passing traffic which made it really quiet, such a change for us having lived in the centre of a large city for so many years.

The garden was a real unexpected treat.  A lovely patio table and chairs shaded by a huge umbrella and surrounded by lemon, pomegranate, nerantzi, fig and olive trees.  Tania said we were welcome to pick from the trees so you can imagine the hammering the fig tree had – and a slice of lemon from a fruit that was hanging from a tree just moments before is the best accompaniment ever to your evening G&T!

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/25900037

Nea Peramos –

Nea Peramos is a small seaside town about 20 kilometres from the port city of Kavala. It seems to be most popular with Greeks, Bulgarians and Russians.  Halkidiki, at just one hour drive from Thessaloniki airport, seems to have become the popular destination for the British in this area, which is a shame as this little gem is getting overlooked for the sake of an extra hours drive.  The area itself is a mix of residential plus lots of tourist accommodation along the seafront and surrounding areas  There is the usual array of tavernas, restaurants and shops lining the main road.  It’s a family-friendly place with parks for children and no car zones throughout the holiday season.  We like to run and really enjoyed running along the sea-front early morning before the sun got too hot.

The beach is a long narrow stretch of sand,  the sea is shallow for quite a distance in and calm due to it being enclosed by land either side so feels really safe.  There are the ruins of an old castle standing on a hill to the south of the beach and a walk to there gives you a great panoramic view of the town.  Overall, great to use if you do not have a car and we had quite a few mornings swimming there taking advantage of Karyo’s two hour delayed working hours due to the UK/Greek time difference.  From our accommodation, it was only a 15-minute walk to the local beach.  The only downside here in my opinion is the amount of litter on the beach and, at times,  also in the sea was really disappointing.  Twice,  I took a black bag to do a litter pick but did feel the local business people should be making more of an effort as it gives such a bad impression to a really nice area.

If you do however have transportation there is a much better beach choice.  Just ten minutes drive takes you to one of the best beaches I have ever been on.   Ammolofoi beach is a stretch of miles of golden sands leading to crystal clear blue flag sea.  When we were there it was very quiet both because the holiday season was drawing to a close plus Covid-19 has reduced tourist numbers generally this year.  As the month was progressing you could see the town and its beaches getting quieter and quieter, in fact, on our last day there was only me and Karyo there – we had the whole beach to ourselves!  The only downfall I can think of with this beach is that I imagine in normal circumstances it would be really busy which may not suit everybody.