Day At The Beach, Again

Hi there, have I told you how much I love my peace and quiet? I have one neighbour and nothing but ocean views. The doves are a little noisy in the morning, the sea crashing the shore but nothing I can’t handle.

The nice man next, mid 60's?, is from Belgium. He is a native Greek who moved to Belgium in the mid 70's. Anyway, we have be chit chatting off and on since I got here. Well today he made me breakfast! He had these little pastries filled with feta cheese and the glass of 'milk' is actually a cross between milk and a sour cream. Thick and a little sour tasting. (Not to my liking) A nice way to start my day! I have included a picture as today's food shot. (Yes, that is a tablet with keyboard, a camera and battery pack!)

Anyone who knows me will have a good laugh at this one. I’m a planner, the kind that will take months to research and plan and double check everything. I also have this tendency to plan tours or walking trips to fill up the holiday. My little excel spreadsheet is full of stuff. (Okay, stop laughing!) Well your going to have a good laugh at this one. I was checking my next ferry and place to stay. Seeing if I would need to rent a car again (Yep, I do). When something didn’t look right. I have a ferry ticket to Mykonos and a apartment rental in Tinos. Now in my defense, in Greece they have a habit of calling their islands and towns by 3 different names. However, I did mess up. Tinos is the quieter island just 30 minutes ferry ride past Mykonos! Well, that would have been awkward! So, I spent the next hour changing 2 ferry rides, renting a car and checking and rechecking the plan. Man, did I feel stupid!

Now that I know where I’m going in two days, let’s have some fun today. There is a beach called St. Georges beach. It is not far from here and I haven’t been in the water for a few days. I know! Crazy eh! (That was my Canadian coming out) So, I pack up by little backpack (Osprey backpack, it folds into nothing and holds a decent amount of stuff), put on the bathing suit, sunscreen and off I go. On the way there, I stop to take a coupe of people wind surfing in a little bay. The winds are pretty strong and they must have some really good upper body strength and core muscles to match When I get to the beach, they have parking right by the beach and I snag one in the front row. No need to get a picture of local business as a landmark this time. It is in the afternoon when I get here and there are still plenty of chairs and umbrellas available. I find one that and plop down.

I don’t know if I have explained this before, so be patient if I have. In Greece (and I’m sure elsewhere) when you go to an ‘organized’ beach they have beach chairs (some with pads, some without) and umbrellas set up for your convenience. Nice! However, you have to pay for them. Some places (where we stayed in Crete) they will forgo the charge for the chairs if you buy food or drinks from their restaurant. This one didn’t. So you pay for the chair and the food. The cost of the chair with a pad and umbrella is 7.50 Euros for the day (regardless of when you get there). This is just an expense that I have prepared for so not a big deal. I read this online prior to coming. So I pay my fare and have a seat.

The beach is a nice one, very long for Greece and reasonably wide. The water is a little rough but still doable. The winds have picked up here. I was talking to Chris (my neighbour) and he said that this is early for the winds. Normally they don’t pick up until mid-June. I head off into the water for a dip. The water here is shallow, you can go out 30 meters before you hit chest level (I’m 5’7”). The water is cool but the bottom is sandy. I see the little minnows swimming around and should have thought to bring a banana. I have a very pleasant swim and float around a bit. I’m very aware of the sun beating down on me, so I don’t stay out very long. I think I have a base tan by now but let’s not chance heat stroke again.

After my swim I order a fruit, yogurt and honey bowl with a peach ice tea. This is a large bowl filled with stuff (oops, sorry, no picture). I enjoy from the safety of my shady chair. I reapply the sunscreen just in case my little toes stick out in the sun. I read my book for a while so I can dry off. I also like to people watch. This is a great place to do that. You have mostly couples. I’d say and even split between older and younger. Nice to see young families out as well. Nothing too crazy to report. People are generally well behaved. I do hear one couple (mid 50’s) complain to the server though. Apparently, he has told them that they can’t eat or drink anything from outside of their restaurant while using their chairs. I can see both sides of this. The company is trying to make a profit by selling their food and drinks and the couple are trying to save by bringing their own. They did pay for the chairs with no issue. You decide which side of the argument your on.

After a pleasant afternoon, I head home to shower and grab something to eat. Tomorrow is another day in paradise.Read more