July 8 - Ann, Davey, & Charlie need a vacation too! So, we rented a car and ferried to the mainland to get to another Ionian island, Lefkas or Lefkada – depending on what language you speak. We’re still not sure which is the English version. Anywho… Lefkas is so close to the mainland that it’s connected by a causeway. After stopping for lunch on the boardwalk in Preveza, we arrived in Nidri, on Lefkas and settled into our hotel rooms with a shared large balcony – which we spent lots of time on. Voula – the hotel lady – assured us that we would have access to the pool at her other hotel, Yannis, as if that was a special thing. Turns out, like almost all hotel pools in Greece, they’re open to everyone who’s buying a drink or some food. What else do you do around a pool? So, a dip in the pool, showers and we’re looking for dinner on the boardwalk of Nidri. Typical Greeks, they’re out in front of every taverna telling you how much better their taverna is than every other one on the street. Guess they all have some special butcher and farmer that they buy their goods from which the others don’t know about, eh? Ann & Davey have friends that lived in Nidri before so we already had a good recommendation for curry!! We ate dinner at the International Restaurant, after telling the tout (promoter) in front of the restaurant that we didn’t need the song-and-dance to convince us- his restaurant was highly recommended by Gary, one of the Beer Bucket’s bartenders. MMMMM…CURRY! It was so good that Jason decided quickly that his birthday meal the next day would be at the same spot! We then met up with Gail, A&D’s friend who helped with checking out hotels, and her boyfriend Swampy…Yes, Swampy…Yes, seriously…No, we don’t know where it came from. Swampy is a late 20-something who has done seemingly everything, from working on the Concord, to managing boats, to practically inventing a cure for cancer. A&D forgot to warn J3 of Swampy’s habit of “over-exaggerating” until the walk home. By then, J3 had listened intently to 45 minutes of his life story trying to keep a straight face, all the while thinking “do THEY really believe all this crap?” and more importantly, “does HE really believe all this crap?”. Turns out, Swampy makes up for a few slight misgivings (like accidentally sinking a boat last year on Corfu while maintaining it- presumably the reason he moved to Lefkas) by bending your ear till you’re in a daze.
After a few nightcaps at the strike of midnight to celebrate Jason’s moving closer to the top of the hill he will soon be over, off to the balcony for our first late night hangout session. Between the beautiful nighttime weather, the horrible local wine, and J3’s ipod, this balcony was our favorite place on earth at the moment.
July 9 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!! Charlie’s voice box lessons he’s been practicing in the highest pitch possible were sure to wake up any late sleepers but even that was no match for our “sleep-through-anything” abilities. So, we finally awoke in time for a drive around the island, first stopping at the waterfalls. There was sign at our hotel that said, “waterfalls 3 km” with an arrow pointing up the road, so we followed that arrow. At the end of the street there was another sign posted, “waterfalls 3 km” pointing to the right. Another sign down the road said “waterfalls 3 km” pointing to the left. Well, after the three longest kilometers in history, we arrived at the base of the stream & started our descent. After a medium difficulty hike with Charlie in tow, we arrived at a 10m/30foot waterfall spilling into a beautiful little pool. The three boys swam a bit in the chilly mountain spring, and off we went. After a 1-hour drive across the island through the mountains and tons of switchback roads, we arrived at our next stop, Porto Katsiki, one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen- really. This breathtaking beach is accessed by steps (75 of them) down to the white pebble beach with sheer white cliff walls all around. The water is pale turquoise blue with an almost iridescent white quality due to all the powder from the rocks & cliffs surrounding it. We had a great afternoon there relaxing in the calm waters and having a snack picnic.
After the long road home which put everyone to sleep except Jason (good thing he was driving!), we cleaned up & got ready for Curry-VS-Jason- The Rematch. It was even better the second time since we asked the waiter to turn up the spice meter to fit our taste buds. We ended the night just as the day before, a nightcap on the port boardwalk, and a nightcap/ipod music session on our balcony.
July 10- Off to our boat we rented for a day of cruising around the smaller islands. And wouldn’t you know it, the owner’s name is Charlie and so are all the boats he rents out! We cruised around islands such as Scorpios (owned by the Onassis family), Sparti, and Meganisi where we had a great tasting lunch which unfortunately was ruined by a family of wasps who just wouldn’t take “get lost” seriously. The owner of course blamed Charlie’s yogurt container on the problem, but we weren’t buying it. It was so unbearable that we all just couldn’t stay at the table. But the food was great and Meganisi’s port area was a nice place to visit. The rest of the afternoon was more of the same- stopping wherever we wanted, dropping anchor and jumping in to cool off. JJ and Jason even did a little diving/flipping for fun. And no, no injuries to report!
That night it was the girls’ choice of restaurants, and they chose a nice Greek taverna on the boardwalk after interrogating the tout in front. After dinner, we took a good long walk along the main street to check out the nightlife and burn some of the food off. Then, at midnight, we celebrated Dave’s birthday with a few cocktails. Off to our hotel for the same ritual of just enjoying our balcony.
July 11 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVEY!! We drove through the main town in Lefkas on our way back to Corfu and had lunch there. We sat down at a couple places that didn’t seem to notice us but the third times a charm! We made it back to the Beer Bucket by 7pm to have a birthday drink for Davey with some of their friends before his birthday dinner down the street at Takis – Ann and Davey’s favorite Greek Taverna with the best cheese saganaki ever! Charlie was exercising his vocal cords again so Ann had to bring him to the BB early, where the rest of us met up for more birthday fun before heading home for a good nights sleep.
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