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Let’s go baklava
  • Pavlos Simpsonopoulos
  • Jessica Simpson
  • Ruby Simpson
  • Fallen Comrade
Tem – Ağu 2025

Let’s go baklava

Pavlos Simpsonopoulos, Jessica, Ruby Simpson & Fallen tarafından 29 günlük bir macera Okumaya devam et
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  • Gezinin başlangıcı
    9 Temmuz 2025
    Let’s go baklava
    111

    One year later…

    10 Temmuz, Fransa ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Early this morning I received a notification from our good AI friends at Find Penguins to let me know that it was one year ago today that saw the launch of a classic in the travel blog genre with ‘Its all Greek to me’ and its first instalment of ‘If you can’t be good be Corfu’. I can’t promise that this year’s edition will live up to the lofty standards of its predecessor, I have already been told on several occasions today that my jokes are not up to their usual rib tickling standard. And if this year’s title is anything to go by…
    So what is the plan for this year, apart from a collection of puns on a downward spiral of humour, starting from a fairly low plateau? Well, since we enjoyed our Greek trip so much last year we thought that we should pretty much try and do the same thing again, although on a different collection of islands as there are so many to choose from. And with an added bonus this year, our fallen comrade is risen! Yes, Lily was overcome with jealousy that we were spending more of her inheritance on her sisters than on her so she has decided to join us for the full trip. But a little wrinkle has also been added. Jess and I obviously upset the universe in a past life and as punishment we were burdened with a K-Pop fan in the form of Olivia, who is otherwise quite an agreeable child. And one of her favourite bands, Stray Kids, is embarking on their European tour tomorrow night. There was much begging, pleading and tears when the tickets went on sale but eventually Jess and I had to get over it and stop that selfish behaviour and agree that she could go to the first concert, which is in Amsterdam. So our itinerary is: home to Paris for one night, Paris to Amsterdam for two nights, back to Paris for another night, then finally off to Greece after that.
    Now that the explanation is out of the way, what has today entailed. Well a ridiculously early start for one thing in order to get the final packing and house organising done. And once Jess had taken care of that I was free to get up for a leisurely breakfast and coffee before it was time for us all to get on the road, only running 5 minutes late. I wasn’t too worried but Jess was a little concerned, and when a tractor pulled in front of us and very slowly drove literally all the way through town she got even more so. But all was good and we were on the platform with a couple of minutes to spare. The train ride was fairly uneventful, Jess and I just worked most of the way and it passed quickly enough. We got to Lily’s flat and had some tasty Paris flatbreads for lunch then had to make a quick trip to some shops to pick up a couple of things. We got back to the flat and everybody started to go downhill with tiredness kicking in. Luckily I didn’t suffer in this way and I got the challenge of whipping up a tasty Monday Night Pasta on a Thursday night. I wasn’t too happy working with a limited range of ingredients in an unfamiliar kitchen so the tasty element was slightly lacking but it certainly filled a hole. A beer washed it all down so right now all feels right with the world. A distinct lack of puns today I realise but I am already thinking of how to incorporate organs and tulips into tomorrow’s edition.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    Eurostar1My name is Paul1The blind leading the blind

    Bikes, dijks and likes

    11 Temmuz, Hollanda ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    There was not such an early start this morning which was nice, although we are not quite yet at the stage of our holiday where we have time to relax. So we did still have to get out of bed and get moving which I could have done without. We packed a couple of small bags for our trip to Amsterdam, I don’t think we will have much call for snorkels or water shoes while we are here. The girls managed to get all their clothes into one small wheely suitcase and Jess and I were forced to distance ourselves from them as we are the sort of travellers who think that backpacks are the only way to go. In fact you could say it’s like someone ground some salt and pepper over us, we are seasoned travellers. We were out the door in reasonable time for the first leg today, a bus trip to the train station, with Lily (check one) almost leading us on to the wrong bus but eventually working it out and getting us safely to the station. We like to play a little game where i pretend that we are running a little late and Jess gets all stressed and says I should have organised things better and then I laugh, I amuse myself greatly. We needed to get tickets for the train to the airport but out of 7 or 8 ticket booths, 7 or 8 were shut so we stood around working out the app and downloading tickets, the curse of the modern traveller, bad luck if you have a question you need to ask. This was all navigated though without too much trouble and we were on the way to the airport and Jess was reading Ruby’s (check two) blog and laughing out loud, a reaction I don’t get very often (melancholy sigh).
    We arrived at the airport with time to spare, just as well because those of us with backpacks were able to zoom up the stairs while those with a wheely suitcase had to join the throngs taking the escalator which caused us to have to wait for them, condescending head shakes greeting them when they caught up. Although we were at the airport we were not flying, it was actually where our train station was so we just had to wait around for our train which gave us time to pick up some lunch. Everything was going very smoothly and before long we were on board Eurostar and zooming through the French countryside while Jess and I got stuck into some work and then we were zooming through the Belgian countryside getting stuck into work and finally zooming through the Dutch countryside getting stuck into work. We stopped at Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam and didn’t see much countryside apart from some obligatory canals and windmills before reaching our destination station at Amsterdam airport, very confusing taking a train between two international airports.
    We managed to deal with getting tickets to get to our hotel with no problem, all the travel today has worked like a dream, I can obviously say that now as it is too late to jinx anything although the hotel slightly messed up our reservation so we had to deal with that on our arrival. We got to our room and it was nice to have a bit of time to relax and shower off the big city grime to feel refreshed while the girls busied themselves with getting ready for the big concert tonight with the excitement level building, especially for Olivia (check three). I feel that by this point of the day that Allegra (check four) should have either said or done something to justify being mentioned in today’s edition but unfortunately this was not the case so I guess this is just a token mention to make sure everyone was included.
    So the it was time for the grand depart, with the obligatory photos and ‘fit checks, as usual I was rocking a jean shorts and polo shirt look, and all the women in my life were looking amazing. I was a lucky man walking down the street with all of them. Another straightforward train journey and then we descended into K-Pop hell, Johan Cruyff would have been Cruyff turning in his grave at the thought. We walked the girls to the entrance and Lily and Ruby, despite being explicitly told in no uncertain terms that Tate was not to have a light stick (plastic overpriced merchandise tat) paid absolutely no attention to us and bought her one anyway. If she wasn’t already attending a concert tonight it would have made her ding dong day, she was almost in tears. Then they left us, without so much as a backward glance, as we were standing there waving them goodbye like a couple of sad empty nesters.
    We had a reservation for dinner and managed to get over it after about half a beer. The restaurant was a bit strange but after about a beer and a half we managed to get over this as well and we also managed to have a very tasty vegan meal so that was nice. After we had eaten a DJ started playing some absolutely bopping tunes so we just chilled out and played a bit of ‘what’s their story’ about everyone else in the restaurant and did a bit of seat dancing, we would have got up but no one else was and we were at least a couple of beers short of that. Eventually the concert was finished and the girls came to meet us, Tate was on an absolute high and had loved every minute, the best night of her life (it was fire?) and the others had enjoyed themselves as well. The DJ had given up on the bopping tunes and was trying to attract a K-Pop crowd but we decided to have dance anyway and got through a few tunes busting our moves on the dance floor. Then it was time to head home, and also for the jinx to kick in. A very helpful steward who knew nothing sent us to the wrong platform and by the time we made it to the right one our train was just pulling out. So it was a 25 minute wait until the next one, which at least gave me time to finish off today’s blog. If there is no post tomorrow it means we did not make it home, so please send out a search party.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    1
    2The hotel where we got engagedAs seen in Ted LassoFor all Tim's recipe needs

    The unDutchables

    12 Temmuz, Hollanda ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After our very late night last night, it was past midnight before we got back to our room, there was nothing much planned today, and certainly not for this morning. It was a very lazy morning, drifting in and out of sleep but never feeling like I had had quite enough. Eventually though we need to rouse ourselves, Lily was starting to feel hungry. One thing that Jess always likes to do when she is in a big city is have eggs benedict as we can’t get it in Brive and it is her favourite, when we found a place called Eggs Benaddicted in Amsterdam there was literally no doubt that that is where we were going to go. So we got ready and headed out, catching a train to Amsterdam Centraal. When we got there Lily realised that there was a 30 minute walk to the restaurant, she was not happy, in fact she was a little hangry and set off at a great pace. She was not happy when I called her back as there was one place we wanted to show all the girls. It was the hotel where Jess and I got engaged, and it hadn’t changed much in almost 25 years. They were mildly impressed but did point out that it was not as if any of them were conceived there so it was no huge deal. They allowed us to take a few photos though before setting off again for the restaurant. Lily and Ruby got there first and nabbed a table then we all rocked up and joined them. Food was ordered and to be honest it was nice enough but given the name of the restaurant maybe not as good as we hoped, probably not worth a 30 minute walk.
    After that we strolled around a little, picked up some tulip bulbs for some gifts and checked out a couple of English bookshops. It was a bit strange walking about, in one way it is a very unique city but in another it was the same as any other, the same store brands selling the same stuff or tatty tourist shops selling tatty tourist stuff. So we weren’t feeling it to be honest, we were all a bit tired and so we decided to get off that tourist track and walked a little next to some canals which was nicer, although this then turned into the red light district with coffee shops every second store and loads of people already a bit the worse for wear at 4 in the afternoon. We got through there eventually and headed for the main library, mostly so we could take advantage of the facilities. After that it was time for us to head back to base, as I said we weren’t really feeling it, not up to big city exploration in the way we normally are. We got the train station and got on a train very quickly, got seats and everything. Three times the train tried to take off and three times it got a few metres then stopped suddenly. We sat there for a while with not so much as an announcement but then some Chinese whispers made their way along the carriages and it seems the train was cancelled. So we had to get off, switch platforms and wait for another train. We managed to get seats again which was lucky as I was feeling very tired.
    We got back to our hotel but needed to work out dinner. The hotel buffet at €30 a head with hardly anything meatless was quickly ruled out even though there were not much in the way of other options. It was a bus ride away to where anything was possible and after wandering and checking the choices we managed to settle on some falafel and halloumi burgers, picked up some desserts from a supermarket and then jumped back on the bus to get back to the hotel and eat. We now have a small amount of time to relax before bed, we have ridiculously early start tomorrow.
    So to sum up Amsterdam, it was a bit of a mixed bag really. Obviously the concert was a highlight for Tate and Jess and I had a nice meal and some fun dancing, but I think it was all very rushed and we are all way too tired to deal with the crowds of tourists which is not really our thing at the best of times. I think we are all looking forward to chilling and some island time.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava

    A jinx, a journey and Jurassic world

    13 Temmuz, Fransa ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Why did I book such an early train I thought to myself as the alarm sounded at 5.30 this morning. But I lay there a minute and realised I didn’t actually feel too tired despite not much sleep so I bounced out of bed, as did everyone else to be fair, even Tate. We had done most of the packing last night so didn’t need to do much this morning, just get dressed and go really. So that was what we did.
    Now avid readers will recall that on day two of our trip i mentioned how our travel had been so smooth and that it was safe to say that because it was too late to jinx anything. Of course anyone who has any idea how jinxes work will know that it is never too late and they will always come back and bite you in the bum. This what happened this morning. We were so organised that we were well in advance of the time we needed to be at the station so even seeing one train pull away was not a problem. Then we saw that our train was a little delayed but not a problem, there was a train on the next platform we could get, it just meant going downstairs, out one set of ticket gates, in through another, then running upstairs only to see the doors shut and that train pull away too. No problem, there was another along soon and we still had loads of time up our sleeve. Back downstairs, out and in the gates and up to the platform and soon enough our train arrived and we were on the way to the airport to catch our train. No problem. Until of course we got to the airport and saw that our train back to Paris was cancelled. A quick check at the tickets desk and they explained that some engineering works/tunnel problems between Amsterdam and Rotterdam meant we had to catch another train to Utrecht and wait for our train there. We would have 10 minutes to spare if everything went well but by this stage I was not going to put my faith in that. But the universe had obviously decided it had messed with us enough and that is exactly what happened. Apart from the train being a bit full and a couple of Australians being in our seats everything from there went smoothly until we got back to Paris and had some slight problems with some ticket machines, nothing that couldn’t be resolved with a little double shuffling through the gates together.
    We managed to get back to Lily’s flat and have some lunch and my gradual descent into tiredness due to the early start accelerated rapidly and I went for a bit of a lie down and a nanna nap. I managed to sleep for a bit while Jess cleaned the flat. I couldn’t sleep forever, as much as I would have liked to, as we had one more rendezvous today, as much as I could probably have done without it. The girls wanted to go and see Jurassic World and so that’s what we were off to do. Lily told us when we had to be ready and she was definitely not as understanding as I normally am when dealing with a similar situation so we (especially me because I was still a bit sleepy and not moving at my fastest) were told in no uncertain terms how useless we were. To be fair we were running a little late by this stage but it actually worked in our favour, we got our snacks, got our seats and the film started, with no ads or previews to sit through. The film itself was as expected, a few scares, a few extras eaten by dinosaurs and a large number of plot holes. It was fairly mindless but the girls all enjoyed it. After that it was back to the flat where another Monday night pasta was whipped up and greatly appreciated by all, I definitely felt the love. So it was a long and eventful day and I am glad it is coming to an end because I am excited as tomorrow we are off to Greece.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava

    Keeny to be seeny in Santorini

    14 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    I awoke this morning worrying unnecessarily about the day ahead. Would it be easy to collect our hire car in Santorini and get from the airport to our accommodation and what would we have for dinner. Jess put my mind at ease by saying we would just deal with whatever came our way. So that helped and I could get on with what we needed to get done before heading off on our travels. This basically consisted of eating the food that would go off if left in the flat and doing a final tidy while getting the final packing done. We were ahead of schedule but we were ready so we just decided to go. We set off to the airport and we made our connections very smoothly and so we got there in much better time than expected, so we were very Orly.
    There was not much problem getting through security except for Jess of course who managed to get her usual full body frisk from some old woman at the gates, I think she actually looks forward to it and hides some metal in her pocket before going through. We had time to spare so sat down and had a bit of lunch, but soon enough it was time to board. When everyone was on the plane the pilot announced we were going to be delayed as there had been s bit of an aerial display over Paris due to Bastille Day. He then said that if any children wanted to come and see the cockpit they could and Olivia was very keen and so she went up and was very impressed. Eventually we were able to get on our way and the flight that was about 3 hours passed fairly uneventfully.
    It was quite windy on our approach to land but the skipper managed to get us down, although it was a hard landing. It merited a round of applause and most of the passengers obliged. Then we picked up our hire car and drove to our apartment, although we decided not to go the quick way as it is always much more enjoyable to take a few wrong turns on the way. We parked in the village car park then walked the final stretch through a village that could not be more Greek if it had an ouzo fountain and olive trees in the town square. It is a very beautiful setting and we quickly dumped all our bags and headed out for some food. Our first choice was full but our second choice had space and the food and beer was just what the doctor ordered. Jess decided to show off her Greek skills with the waiters who were only too happy to oblige and the girls found it very amusing and teased her about flirting with them. One of the waiters, who was probably about 60-ish or more brought us over a couple of bottles of beer which he said were on him, so I wasn’t going to complain. After dinner we had a bit of a stroll around the village and then came back and sat on the roof of our apartment and looked at the stars and the moon rising over a hill in the distance. It’s fair to say we are all feeling very happy to be back.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    A fun car that Ruby would love
    1Ruby's two favourite parents1A plane, as seen by Ruby on the beach

    Biscuits and beer

    15 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    We were up quite late last night and it had been a long day so a lie in was in order all round. We started stirring at around 10 and quickly realised that we had nothing for breakfast as getting supplies had not been high on our agenda last night. So Jess and I needed to get organised quickly before the girls got too hungry and also before my need for coffee kicked in. It was a hot start to the day with the sun blazing down and we tried to find our way through the maze-like alleyways, peering over the occasional wall to have a bit of a nosey at some of the properties. If i didn’t have such an amazing sense of direction it would be very easy to get lost, of course Google maps helps a bit as well. We found our way to a mini-market and a bakery and between the two of them they had just about enough to get us through breakfast and lunch.
    We didn’t want to rush out this morning so made the girls laze around while Jess and I did a bit of work. It’s something we always have to factor in when we are away, it’s annoying because we would just rather be completely relaxing but of course on the plus side, it does mean we can have these nice long getaways. So we did a couple of hours before lunch and that was that for the day. We had picked up a selection of Greek pastries for our lunch and as tasty as they were, we were all in agreement that they weren’t a patch on the spsnakopita that Jess whips up at home. She must have been Greek in another life.
    Our plan for the day, such as it was, was to go to a beach so that we could get into the water, even though Santorini is not known for its beaches. So we set off and drove to a random one chosen from the aforementioned Google maps without bothering to do any further research. It was a little disappointing, even given our low expectations. The sand was black and stoney and it was quite a windy day so the sea was quite choppy. We had to walk a fair way to get past all the beach loungers but eventually found a spot under some shade and set up. While sitting there we realised we were quite close to the airport and underneath the flight path. What gave it away was the planes coming in to land with engines screaming just over our heads. They were all wobbling in the wind as well, we were just happy the pilots were all on their games. The girls all went in the water while Jess and I sat and chilled, although I got hot after a while and needed to go and cool off myself. The girls were having a lot of fun wee-ing in the waves, this involved jumping with every wave and shouting weeeeee. I joined in a little bit I find it much easier to wee in calm waters. We had a bit more chilling time, with the girls making the most of the sunshine and catching some rays.
    We had to head home via a supermarket to pick up further essentials for dinner and tomorrow. Once that was taken care of it was back to our apartment to shower off and relax a bit. I may have jumped the gun earlier when I said work was done for the day, poor Jess had an evening class she had to deliver. So she got on with that and I got a lovely pasta salad whipped up for our dinner. We enjoyed it greatly and waited around for Jess to finish, she managed to wrap it up early which was nice. It was nice because we had been waiting patiently and with great restraint for our late night treats A tradition we started last year was to finish the day with biscuits under the stars, they have a very wide range of creams that we greatly enjoy, today we had strawberry, banana, lemon and chocolate and managed to just about polish them all off. We also added to the experience by adding beer, for the adults. So biscuits and beer has been born, long may the tradition continue.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    1What a view
    35 lovely ladies and Oia1Just Oia1Also Oia1Ruby contemplates the caldera2Lily bought a few ice creams11Lily walks on water2Ruby flew too3Tate went first2Bros in front of some church2Safely where we had left it

    Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oia Oia Oia

    16 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    This morning was a little bit of a rinse, wash, repeat from yesterday with Jess and I getting a bit of work done before the girls were properly awake. They gradually woke up, and poor Olivia was not too well as the sore throat and sniffles she has been travelling with are not improving much. But she did manage to get back to sleep while everyone else was getting on with things. I put some of our dirty clothes into the washing machine and then Lily, Allegra and I went for a little stroll up to the bakery to pick up some lunchables. On our return I realised that I was mistaken as I hung up the washing, I had actually just put it in a machine, as it did not seem very washed. But at least we had some tasty food which we promptly devoured. Then because I was so on the ball I got everything organised for going out today, towels and water shoes in one bag, water, suncream and other stuff in another. I was hugely impressed with myself.
    Then we all got suncreamed up and it was time to head off. We were heading to a town called Oia as Lily had found us a place to go where we could swim. It was a bit of a drive but at least we were in air conditioning so that was nice. We got to Oia, parked up and then got one bag out of the car while wondering what exactly had happened to the second bag, which definitely had not made the trip. I think most of us were slightly confused as to exactly who was to blame for this turn of events but very helpfully Jess cleared this up by announcing ‘we all know exactly who is to blame for this, it’s dad’. I was very happy to have that mystery solved. I feel that initially Jess may have been a little upset about this as it meant we had no water and no suncream so we popped into a supermarket to pick some up but when she asked me if we needed a wooden penis bottle opener like the ones that were on sale I realised she was not too bothered.
    We then wandered through the town and down towards where we hoped to swim, it was quite a descent and in the heat we were all very aware that at some point we would need to walk back up. There were several photo opportunities on the way down, this is basically the reason for the existence of this town. We got to the bottom and could see that the path to the swimming spot had had a fence constructed to block access due to risk of landslides and also that there was a guard there stopping people from getting past, which greatly disturbed Lily who announced several times that she really wanted to go swimming in that spot. We decided that as we were going to have to walk back up the hill a smoothie was required to replenish energy levels and as we sat there Lily noticed that the guard was no longer at his post. She continued to provide updates as to this status every thirty seconds or so, and in between continued to mention how she really wanted to swim at that spot . While sitting there Jess asked what I had done with the empty water bottle, of the two we had bought earlier. Upon telling her that I had thrown it away she said that this was literally the stupidest thing I could have done as we didn’t have much water. I was forced to remind her of that time I had left the bag containing our water bottles in our accommodation and she was forced to agree with me. Once smoothies were consumed we realised that we had no choice so set off for the path. At the last taverna before the gate, it was about 20 metres away, we saw the guard having a drink and a smoke. He had been so dedicated to his task while standing at the gate but now he was 20 metres away he couldn’t care less apparently and there was a procession of people taking their lives in their hands.
    We got to the spot where Lily really wanted to swim and there was also a place where you could jump from a great height into the water, there was some dispute about the exact height, estimates range from 2 to 6 metres, depending on who we are are trying to impress with the story. The girls all went into water for a bit if a swim while Jess and I posted a game of ‘I’ll go in if you go in’, resulting in a tie where neither of us went into. Lily, Ruby and Tate scaled the stairs/rocks to get to the platform where they proceeded to jump in, in reverse order. It was quite frightening to watch, it must have also been quite frightening to do because I reckon it was at least 6 metres high, very impressive they are. Allegra very impressively resisted any temptation to be peer pressured into doing something she didn’t want to do and just chilled in the water. After the jump they all got out and it was time to walk back up the hill. Luckily we still had one bottle of water to help us maintain hydration on this trek.
    It was hard work but we eventually made it back to our car and drove home via a supermarket for tonight’s requirements. When we got back it was time for a little rest before another delicious pasta salad was conjured up virtually out of thin air and of course a serving of beer and biscuits as we sit in about a 1m square circle on a very uncomfortable terrace under a starlit Greek night sky.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    The girls on the boat
    Wake up up before you gogo1Ready to go1Our dinner setting2A cold evening in Hell

    Our genial hosts

    17 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    It was moving day today, that’s right, time to say goodbye to Santorini and make our way to Naxos. This meant that the packing that didn’t get done last night needed to be taken care of this morning, which meant that the rockstars that are our daughters needed to tidy their room which was quite a state. We were so organised though that we were ready to go ahead of time so were just waiting until our checkout time before setting off. We made a quick petrol stop for the hire car before heading for the port and we were there well ahead of time as well so just sat and had a drink while waiting for our ferry.
    When the time came we got in the queue and the muscle memory from last year kicked in and Lily raced to the front and was first aboard, although it was all in vain as there were assigned seats. It did enable us to get to the front of the queue for donuts though, so it was not all a waste of time. The ferry trip itself was not much to write home about, so I won’t bother.
    Soon enough we arrived in Naxos which immediately had a different feel than Santorini, rougher around the edges sums it up. We saw the sign saying ‘Simpson Paul’ and met up with the dude who was delivering our car. Once that was taken care of it was off to our villa which we were very excited about because it has a pool and we were keen for a refreshing swim. We got there mostly without too much trouble although a shouting match did break out at the point when Google maps was giving us some iffy directions at the same time as Lily was practicing her parenting skills on Ruby. We were at the villa soon enough though where we met Sophia and Panagiotis, our hosts. Before moving on I need to explain that all communication previously had been with ‘The team from Aegean Hideaways’ and so I had the impression it was some form of management company. They started showing us around, telling us we could help ourselves to tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the veggie patch or eggs from the chickens and generally being incredibly hospitable. It is often the way that people will rent out their houses in the summer and go and stay with family elsewhere, I am not sure when it dawned on me that this was not the case, I think that it was possibly around the time their children were nosying about as we were shown around. It turned out later on that I was possibly the last person to wake up to this fact. So we have the upstairs level and they are downstairs, but very definitely on the premises which means a little less privacy than we hoped for.
    Lily was still not quite recovered from the shouting match in the car and she took this news very badly, saying it was a scam, checking out the Airbnb listing to see exactly what it said and generally to imply that she considered us to be failures as parents for falling for such an obvious swindle. She then proceeded to tell us she had resigned herself to not enjoying Naxos at all and that essentially it would be a cold day in hell before we would see her anywhere near the pool as it was creepy that they might be watching us. Jess and I and the twins weren’t too bothered by this and had a lovely dip to cool down, Ruby stayed with Lily to show solidarity and sisterhood.
    After a bit we decided we needed to get some supplies so a little drive to the coast was in order where we found firstly a bakery and then a little supermarket and got what we needed. Then it was back to our villa, with poor Lily, who had almost recovered her usual joie de vivre, losing the plot completely when Jess skipped an Ed Sheeran song on the playlist. To be fair to Jess though, it was a crap song. There was a bit of time for us to do some work before dinner and then headed off to one of the two restaurants in the village.
    It was an awesome setting, on the hillside with tables outside on actual grass and a view across the islands in the distance as the sun was slowly setting, changing from golden to orange to red before disappearing behind the horizon. We ordered some food, probably way too much, and chilled with our drinks while waiting. Then our food started arriving and it was clear that we had indeed overdone it but it was so bloody delicious we made a very determined effort to eat as much as we possibly could. While yakking away, on two separate occasions Allegra made me chuckle uncontrollably, I can’t remember exactly why, if you want that level of detail then you need to check out Ruby’s blog, but she is certainly a funny child. We couldn’t quite finish our Naxian potatoes or pita bread so Jess fashioned a doggy bag out of the paper plates we were served on so we could bring it home. We paid the bill, the cost was less than half that of the restaurant in Santorini, which further added to our appreciation. A walk home followed but with no room for beer and biscuits tonight. Then the cold day in hell arrived and the girls all went for a quick evening cool down in the pool. Things are looking up.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    Girls doing their exercise
    Alyko Beach1The worlds tiniest kitchen2Dinner3The amazing tree and the rainbow sky

    A cacophony of cocks

    18 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    No, that is not the collective noun for a group of roosters but rather the noise I was hearing at about 5am this morning. Please allow me to explain. At around 4-ish I was awoken by Jess doing something with the aircon due to the room being overly hot and uncomfortable. This disturbed me and the heat made it hard to get back to sleep, less so for Jess, and so I decided I would just get up and do something rather than lying there doing not much. I sat outside in the darkness where it was cooler and it seems like just about every property in the village has its own rooster and this was the morning cacophony, at a variety of volumes, for an hour or more, well before the sun was coming up. I was not alone in my early morning revelry as Lily was also awake early, in her case something to do with waking up and remembering some horror movie she had seen recently and being disturbed by this. So we sat and had some coffee to keep us perky.
    I got loads done and eventually everyone else started waking up as well. I was feeling a bit beardy as it has been a while since my last shave so that was on my agenda for today. I didn’t bring my razor as it has a removable blade so the only razor we have is the girls lady shaver, I was not sure it would be up to the task of my rugged manly beard. I also didn’t have my usual shaving soap so needed to use whatever was available here. The lady shaver did a surprisingly good job, gliding over the contours of my chin like it was a pair of lady,s calves. And I have spent the rest of the day smelling like midnight orchid.
    The girls did their morning exercise and Jess and I did some morning yoga, disturbing Ruby greatly with our downward dog. Then I had a bit of a swim, knocking off 20 laps so that all my exercise was taken care of for the day. Our genial hosts provided us with supplies from their garden, a dozen eggs, a bag of potatoes and a variety of tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and white eggplant, enough for several days worth. So I combined some of the eggs with leftovers we had brought back last night and had a very tasty lunch.
    We had decided a beach was on the cards for today because we all liko a beach, Alyko beach it was. Today we even managed to take all the bags we had packed with us, so we had pretty much everything we needed. According to our good friends at google, next to the beach there was also a cedar forest and I was quite looking forward to that, although when we got there I couldn’t see it for a bunch of trees, so that was a little disappointing. The beach looked good, sandy and empty, and disturbingly for the girls, clothing optional in some places. We decided to opt for yes to the clothes. But there was not much shade so Jess and I just popped to a shop to pick up a couple of beach umbrellas. Job done and we got back to the beach, I was pretty keen on getting into the water which was clear, cool and inviting. It was lovely, We swam a bit, snorkelled a bit and sunbathed a bit, it was extremely chill and more like what we expect from a Greek beach. We headed for home with the obligatory stop for supplies, once we got back there was time for another quick swim in the pool before we needed to worry about dinner.
    We had had the idea to make a bit of a Spanish omelette since we had potatoes and eggs and Jess was going to make an accompaniment so we’re set. Although the kitchen in this villa is about 3 feet wide and gas two gas burners so we’re set we’re working with fairly limited equipment. It took quite a while and involved a lot of ducking and weaving but we got there in the end. I am sure it will come as a surprise to no one to hear it was absolutely delicious.
    Now it is the restful part of the evening where blogs are written, music is listened to (an Ed free zine tonight) and biscuits are munched. So that is enough of the factsos about today in Naxos.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    1The girls in white
    1The Temple of Apollo1And again1The girls in the old town3Naxos in the background1Tate wasn't interested in another photo1Greek beer is good1Obligatory sunset shot2Ruby and Jess slaving away on our dinner1113

    Relaxos in Naxos

    19 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    A much better sleep was had last night and I woke up fresh as a daisy to start the day. A tasty biscuit, fruit and Greek yoghurt breakfast washed down with lashings of coffee and I was ready to get stuck into a bit of work. I couldn’t get much done as I had to head off to the shop so there was also breakfast for the girls. Lily and Ruby came along for the ride, we got some tasty goodness from the bakery as well and then some petrol for the car before heading home. Tate had her regular Korean lesson and we got our regular morning food delivery from Sophia, today we had some boiled potatoes prepared with olive oil and salt and a dish full of olives straight from tree, also prepared with salt and olive oil. I think that must be a Greek staple. We also got a load more tomatoes and cucumbers, even though I tried to tell her that we still had loads left from yesterday. After Tate had finished her lesson we eventually got around to having lunch, which mostly consisted of food from our hosts, so there are some benefits.
    We had to weigh up our options for what we would get up to today, choosing between temple and town or different temple and beach. I will not apollogise for our decision which was to go to the Temple of Apollo and town. We got ready to go and despite plenty of warning we still ended up waiting around for Lily to finish her eye makeup before we could leave. It wasn’t too much of a drive to town and a walk to the temple which to be honest was a little bit of a disappointment. They started work on it in 530 BC and they haven’t finished it yet, Greek tradies are apparently not the most reliable. The location is quite impressive but all that is there are a couple of pylons with a huge marble lintel across the top, we were there for about 5 minutes and that included photo time. Then it was a stroll around Naxos town which was much more impressive, especially the old part. It consists of a labyrinth of narrow alleys that you would not even know were there, they are well hidden off the main streets. We picked up some little touristy things, fridge magnet, postcards, gifts etc and eventually came to a less interesting part of town. Lily had by this point decided that all she wanted was to sit down and have a rest in one of the many bars advertising happy hour to have a rest and a cocktail. We walked past a load of places until we arrived at just about the first one we had seen when we arrived at the town, we had completed a full lap. Some enjoyable beer, cocktails and milkshakes were had before it was time to head back to the car via a supermarket and head for some so we could enjoy a cool off in the pool.
    Dinner for tonight was a Greek salad made from all the goodies given by our hosts with the old favourite from our trip last year of toasted sandwiches, it was also very tasty. Some biscuits to round things off while the girls and Jess played cards and I wrote this uninspiring recollection of the days events, we were all pretty knackered, it is hard work living this life in the sunshine it would seem.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    The Temple of Demeter
    1Why was Ruby shocked by the temple?1Lunch under a fig treeJess starting a new hat trend2Tate devouring2111112

    What’s demeter with that temple

    20 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    An extremely loud clanging noise way too early for a Sunday morning told us it was time to be up, also a broadcast from the local church was blaring across the village, obviously it is not a day for lie ins. Our day was at least partially planned from when we had made our decision a couple of days ago and we gave the girls plenty of advance notice so that we weren’t in a situation where we were waiting around for them. I took care of all the holiday admin, checking in to ferries, confirming hire car details and messaging our next Airbnb host as tomorrow is moving day.
    Everyone managed to follow instructions and we were all ready to go ahead of our self-imposed deadline. We were off to visit the Temple of Demeter. For those of you as ignorant of Greek mythology as I am, Demeter was the goddess of harvest and agriculture and the mother of Persephone who got with Hades (Ruby Simpson, 2025). There was slightly more to this temple than the one we visited yesterday, it even had an admission fee. We had a bit of a wander around the ruins and then a look in the museum, it is very impressive some of the construction work, especially since it was all in marble.
    After that we headed into the hills looking for a bit of food, there are a couple of villages on the tourist trail to check out. The first one was a bit rubbish and then by the time we got to the second the girls were getting a bit hungry and grumpy and decided that they wanted to sit down somewhere to eat. We happened to find a lovely table underneath a fig tree, it was part of a restaurant, so we sat there. We ordered some food and while waiting we were serenaded by a very loud cicada and managed to locate it, on a branch over Olivia’s head. This freaked her out quite a bit so eventually I stood up and brushed it away with my hand, which freaked everyone out. The food eventually arrived and was quite tasty, although we had our usual issue with portion control, meaning I had to finish off the last of the bread and tzatziki, because I have no control.
    It was getting on in the day by this time and we had planned on going to the beach again so that is what we did. We went back (baklava?) to the same beach we had been at the other day but it was completely different as the wind was up. The other day it was gently lapping water and naturists, today it was crazy waves and windsurfers. The girls wanted to cool off so they went in the water but not for long, and we didn’t stay for long either as it was not the most relaxing. It was time to head for home and a quick dip in the pool for most of us, 30 lengths for me and 80 for Jess.
    We have an early start in the morning with two ferries to catch so we needed to get our packing done which Jess took care of because she is the packing master and then it was time for a gourmet dinner of toasted sandwiches with whatever limited fillings we had left in the fridge. Tomorrow we will be making tracksos from Naxos, it has been fun.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    1My only photo of the day

    The land that time forgot

    21 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    An early start this morning, 6.30 so that we could drop the car off and catch our ferries. Somehow though we have got way too efficient at getting ready and were ahead of schedule right from the start. We also had one last gift from our genial hosts, some cake freshly prepared by Sophia for us to take with us. As I said, we were ahead of schedule and so dropped the car off early then had a bit of a wait for our first ferry so I took advantage of this and went grab a coffee.
    The first boat was taking us to Mykonos and was only 90 minutes. Our seats were right in front of the air conditioning units so we were all very chilled. We enjoyed our cake on this leg, anyone who knows us knows that it was never going to last very long and equally, anyone who knows us would know that Ruby would probably not like it. We arrived in Mykonos and had about an hour and a half to kill so we decided to check out the sights from the comfort of the cantina at the port where we managed to snag a table. We were going to need some food to keep us going and they had plenty to choose from, although we almost had an embarrassing situation where we ended up with 4 cheese pies when what we actually wanted was one 4-cheese pie. Luckily we managed to avoid this situation or I would probably have ended up having to eat them all.
    Then it was time for our next boat and this time we had no pre-assigned seats so we primed Lily to be ready to lead the pack and get us a good spot. She was up for the challenge although it turns out that this boat did not have lounge type seats, just airplane type seats so it wasn’t overly important but she did manage to get us a good group of seats. Just as the boats set off there always seems to be an announcement where they call for several passengers to report to the reception desk, and I have always wondered what this was all about. Today as they were going through the names we were all a little shocked to hear them call Ruby Simpson, so we were about to find out. We sheepishly walked her up to the desk, ready to hand her over to the authorities for whatever her transgression was. It turns out it was no big deal, just that they hadn’t scanned her ticket on boarding so once they took care of that she was free to go. This second boat was going to be a two hour trip to our next island destination of Icaria. It looked different again from both Santorini and Naxos, I always like the first impression of somewhere new. One drawback of having to transport all our clothes and electronics everywhere on our travels is that Icaria rucksack everywhere I go which is sometimes tough in the heat, but at least today it wasn’t for too long because the place where we are hiring Icaria was just a 5 minute walk from the boat. It was the most organised car rental office and we were done and on our way in no time.
    We made the drive to Karavostamo, the village where we are staying and found our apartment without too much trouble. I was very pleasantly surprised with the little touches such as local jams and snacks and a couple of mini bottles of Tsipouro (a Greek spirit) being left for us, I can feel a five star review coming up. There was a washing machine here as well and since there wasn’t at our last place we had a bit of that to take care of, and everyone just needed to rest as well as the early morning had caught up with us all. So we relaxed for a while and Tate and Ruby even had little naps, I think her brush with the law had taken it out of poor Ruby, and Tate, well she just likes a nap. The rest of us went for a little stroll to the village for the essentials, not much was going on because it is a sleepy little village on what seems like a sleepy little island, but there are a few tavernas and a couple of mini markets so we got what we needed. Lily whipped us up a lovely pasta dinner and then we had some yoghurt and biscuits, although it was not the normal Greek yoghurt but a ‘Strained’ version which we discussed for what seemed like way too long and Jess even dropped a couple of puns into the conversation, although I can’t actually remember them now. The tiredness was still being felt by us all so an early-ish night is on the cards.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    1A private ses
    2It's warm right hereRuby under a shade1Chillin' on the rocks4Four beautiful young women3It's clear where they get their looks from1Twins having a laugh1Obligatory sunset1All the sauce in the world and all we have is now1

    Lazy daze

    22 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We were all very happy we didn’t have to bounce out of bed for any particular reason this morning so we just took our time. Jess and I still got on with some work, Ruby and Allegra were sleeping in the front room so I couldn’t even go and get myself a coffee because I didn’t want to wake them. We heard some stirring after a while and as my caffeine withdrawals were kicking in by then, at that point I could wait no longer and did bounce out of bed. I got some breakfast sorted out for Jess and then turned my attention to the coffee machine. In my opinion, since these will often be being operated by people suffering from the aforementioned withdrawals, they should be as easy to operate as possible. This one wasn’t. I couldn’t get the water section out to start with and then I couldn’t work out how to get the section where the capsule goes open. Eventually I did get these two issues resolved but it took a while. There is one button on the machine and I pressed it from all different angles and I wasn’t getting any response, by this stage I was still staying calm but it was getting more difficult, then I came up with the genius idea to see if plugging it in would help at all. It did and it didn’t. On the one hand, some lights came on, on the other, pushing that one button wasn’t having any effect. Somehow I was still maintaining my equilibrium. I then scanned the QR code on the machine to see if that would help, only if I wanted to buy a new model apparently. Google is my friend, I thought to myself, but no apparently not, it had way too many solutions, none of which were actually relevant to me. I think by this point I may have been huffing in frustration because Jess got out of bed, came and looked at the machine, pushed the button and glorious black liquid gold came trickling into my mug. My heroine.
    A bit more work was on the cards after that, which I was fine with because I had had some coffee. Then it was time to get some lunch, so we popped up to the bakery and picked up some variations of cheese pie and also a custard pie. We had our lunch and then Jess had to bang her head against wall for a while trying to deal with French bureaucracy, in this case it was trying to sort out Lily and Ruby’s bourse (uni grant) for next year. All the girls decided to go to the beach and Lily did her helpful parenting impression, making sure they all put suncream on and took their hats. Jess and I followed about 20 minutes later and found them easily enough, there was literally no one else there. This is crazy when you consider the setting, in most other European countries a beach like this would be absolutely mobbed. It is very nice to be in a place that is not swarming with (other) tourists. We had a bit of swim, the water was cool in spots and warm in others which was very nice.
    We headed home for a while and then were out for a dinner to one of the tavernas in the village, it was right on the ocean with a view of the setting sun. Lily had a plate of chips as part of her meal and asked for some tomato sauce. The owner dude came back quickly with a bottle and proceeded to shake it for all he was worth and managed to get enough sauce for about two chips out. It seems like that was the last sauce in the establishment as he gave an apologetic shrug. The food was very tasty, although it was no lemon pesto pasta.
    We came home to watch the semifinal of the Women’s Euro 25, go England. As I sat here watching and composing this blog a biscuit literally landed in my lap, like some sort of gift from above. It did not last long.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    1
    4Bunch of terrapins on the beach21111121

    Armenistis Day

    23 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    In an unprecedented development I didn’t wake up until 10 o’clock feeling very refreshed. I bounced out of bed and made my way to the coffee machine, I decided to switch to the filter today to keep things nice and simple. A little bit of work was done while the girls watched F1. We gave them fair warning about a departure time but our efficiency is slightly lacking when we don’t have a hard, set deadline. But we managed to get on the road, our plan was to head for a beach, surprise, surprise.
    Driving on this island is not a hugely enjoyable experience for a few reasons. The roads are very windy, quite narrow and not in the best condition and when going through a village the parked cars and buildings make it even narrower. The car we have is quite wide, the bonnet is quite high and when the aircon is on full as required the power level is low. So at almost no time does it even get up to 50kms and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
    So today it took us a long time to get to Nas beach, which we viewed from high up the hill and it truly looked like a very cool place to swim and chill for a bit. We had however made a rookie mistake and arrived at our destination at lunchtime without any lunch and as much as we all wanted a swim there was no way we were walking down a hill and back up without food and so an executive decision was made to go and get food first and then go to a beach. So it was back to the car and a bit of a backtrack on our journey to a pie/pastry shop where we stocked up and then got back in the car and drove to one of the beaches we had seen in our way, Armenistis beach. It was hot and when we got to a spot on the sand all I wanted to do was jump in the water but before I could we needed to get our beach umbrellas set up for shade. This mostly something Jess takes care of but it would have been rude if I had just run off into the sea and left her to it. There was a little bit of wind and the umbrellas are pretty crap so there were a couple of elements not in our favour, but in not much time at all she had fabricated a little shady spot that somehow managed to survive the whole time we were there. Finally we could get in the water and cool off although not for long at first because there were a couple of tasty pastries with my name on them. But after they were polished off there was time to cool off properly, Jess set off for a bit of a swim and I went to do a bit of snorkelling. There were not many fish to see and not much variety either so it was not so much fun. After a while of being at the beach someone declared it to be an ice cream day so we packed up and found a place to get one, very tasty it was. Then a supermarket for essentials and head for home.
    Once again Lily volunteered to make our dinner and once again she whipped us up a treat. I don’t want her to get a big head, but it can be quite difficult to whip up something tasty for six fussy buggers with very little to work with but the flavour she conjured up with half a lemon and some oregano was extremely tasty and really hit the spot.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    1
    1Relaxing on the beach1This was hanging over our heads1My beautiful family waiting for drinks1Tate got my phone1It speaks for itself

    Seychelles sea shells by the sea shore

    24 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    The goal of the day was simple, get out early and explore the island. Of course I made the mistake of giving the girls a window and said we would leave between 11-11.30. They of course took this to mean they should aim for 11.29 while Jess understood me completely and was ready by 11. So a bit of time was spent with us trying to hurry them up while they were very affronted to be hurried when they felt like they were already doing as they were told.
    Within the allocated time we were all ready to go. A quick pit stop at the local bakery to make sure we didn’t repeat our mistake of yesterday and we bought a selection of cheese slices for our lunch. Then it was into the car to navigate far windier roads than we had to deal with yesterday. We were heading for the south side of the island which meant crossing the large hills in the middle, seemingly climbing forever. We were almost at the other side before the descent started, and it was a twisting, turning road most of the way back down, often on the edge of a cliff. We reached the car park of our destination, Seychelles beach. It then required a bit of further descent on foot, mostly on a rough path but at the end clambering over rocks with a stop into the sea if we fell. The beach itself was very nice, especially for the Instagram generation, with clear water and a stunning setting. The beach had been formed by a landslide at some point and where we were sitting you could look up and there was an overhang of some fairly unstable looking rocks. They managed to remain in place for the time we were there, so that was positive. Ruby’s opinion of the beach was shared by most of us, it was worth the walk down but not worth the walk back up. But unfortunately whether it was worth it or not that was what we needed to do and we did manage to get back to our car with a minimum of fuss.
    We all got in to the car ready to move on, with Ruby putting her handbag into the side of the car door. Then just before we took off Ruby noticed a wasp in the car and got Tate to open the door to let it out, problem solved and off we went. A hundred metres or so up the road Ruby asked if her bag was there because she needed her phone, but it was not, it had fallen out when the door was opened. We stopped and Jess got out and ran back down to get it, impressive considering the heat, and that she was wearing a swimsuit and a sarong. I didn’t want her to have to run back up the hill so I reversed back down to pick her up, my first but by no means my most impressive reversing feat if the day. Bag was rescued, with phone, kindle and portable battery all inside, what a relief. Until the dirty tyre mark was noticed and Ruby looked a little closer, her phone had not survived. It seems that I had reversed over her bag when leaving the car park. Everything else was still in working order though, but she was most upset about her phone.
    We set back off in the car for our next stop and the drive along the coast was even more hair raising than the first leg as there was some very sheer drops in places but luckily, as with yesterday, it is just not possible to drive very fast so it felt mostly safe. Our next stop was a village called Therma and as we were driving through and looking for a parking spot, the road formed a figure 8 coming back underneath itself. I followed the narrow road between parked cars only to see that there was not much headroom going back under the road and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it as the car we have has a large roof rack on it for some reason. I asked someone to jump out and see if I had room and helpful Tate volunteered. When I asked if I would make it under she replied either a ‘maybe’, exactly the sort of resounding confidence I was looking for. Jess got out and determined that no, I would not get through. There was no way to turn and luckily nothing behind me so the only option was to reverse back down the narrow street between all the parked cars. With Jess guiding me from behind (oo er) and using all three mirrors plus the natural reversing skills bequeathed to me upon being born a man, I navigated this challenge without a problem. When I got out of the car to take a bow, the round of applause from the crowd that had gathered brought tears to my eyes.
    Therma is named for its hot springs so this why we were here. There is a spot next to the port where a hot spring enters the sea and you can just sit and enjoy the mix of the hot and cold waters. It was very unlike any other springs we have encountered, completely free for a start and also fairly minimally touristy. So we had a little chill and then needed to find somewhere to have a drink, a local cafe doing the trick. Some refreshing drinks and some shared cakes rounded the day off nicely, we had done Ikaria proud today.
    All that was left was a last crazy drive home but there was virtually no traffic so it was not too stressful. A dinner was whipped up by me while Jess got stuck into the packing, it’s our last day here so moving on again tomorrow. At the moment though most of our clothes are hanging up drying so it seems like there will be last minute morning packing to be done.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    2Lily was a little grumpy
    1Goodbye Ikaria111111

    A short tripsi to Lipsi

    25 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings, the six o'clock alarm would never ring. Cheer up sleepy Tate, oh what can it mean, for a forlorn sleepy bugger woken up from a sweet dream.
    Unfortunately it did ring and we had to get up as we had a boat to catch. Once again our organisational abilities know no limits and we were ready in plenty of time. We said goodbye to Karavostamo, we had enjoyed our time there, and got on the road for a last drive across the island as the boat was leaving from close to where we were yesterday. We parked the car and went to get a fridge magnet and a drink before the boat arrived. The trip was fairly short although the sea was a little bit choppy so the boat bounced around a little making Lily feel a bit queasy. But as I said it was fairly short and we arrived on our next island, Lipsi, quite early. Our place wasn’t ready yet but we could drop our bags off until the cleaning lady was finished with her work. We went and did a quick check of the island, it is very small so we have seen most of the town already. We found a place to sit and have a coffee/smoothie/juice. Then we were finally able to get in, the aircon was on so it was nice and cool. We were all a bit knackered after the early start so it was time to chill out for a bit. A quick nap for Jess before she got on with some work and the girls lay about watching a bit of rubbish on the TV.
    We didn’t do much for the rest of the day, a bit of a trip to the supermarket and a check out of the town to get some options for the next few days. Ruby and Allegra whipped up a lovely pasta salad for our dinner tonight, it’s always nice when I don’t have to do it. So all in all, a day with not too much going on.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    2Dancing (not) in the moonlight
    1V for victoryLily was a little grumpyRuby catching some rays1Looking good, feeling good.Why do I look so confusedImpromptu dancing

    Tipsi in Lipsi

    26 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    Nothing much to report from the morning, just that Olivia had a Korean lesson so while she was doing that I did a bit of work and everyone else watched some Hamilton, much to Ruby’s delight. I had to pop out to the shop to get a few things for lunch, I managed to find some pastries we hadn’t tried before so that was a success. We had some lunch and then Lily watched a bit of F1 and then we were ready to start discussing the day and getting ready to go out.
    As I mentioned yesterday, this is a very small island so the options of what to are either visit a church, which would take about 5 minutes, or go to a beach we hitch will take at least a couple of hours. The beach it was. Of course when going to a beach it is most important to get your blush and eye makeup just right, so everyone very patiently waited while I got this sorted out. The beach is a little walk from our accommodation, 30 minutes or so, which given it was a hot day we weren’t looking forward to, but we loaded up with water and set off. There was a bit of a breeze and even though it was a warm wind it definitely made it a bit easier as the sun was very hot.
    We got to the beach, which was fairly large and also reasonably empty so we walked around a bit and found a spot with a little cave to provide some shade and we proceeded to cool off in the water, spending a little time searching for some urchins like we were living in London in the time of Charles Dickens. Ever since Tate was attacked last year she has been a little concerned that it may happen again. It was just a nice chill time, apart from when Lily and Jess had a bit of an argument about something, I can’t remember what. I did a bit of snorkelling and then spent some time skimming stones. This is very relaxing, it is all in the wrists. It turns out that there is only one thing I enjoy more than skimming stones and that is having people be impressed by my impressive ability to skim stones, and Tate was more than happy to oblige.
    After a while we had had enough and so we packed up and headed for home. We dropped off our stuff and then we headed back out as a bit of liquid hydration was required. We walked around and checked out all the local establishments, while passing one the owner tried to entice us in by offering me a job, I said I would work for beer. It wasn’t the right place though as it was a restaurant and we were just after a drink. We found somewhere we could have a nice cold beer and/or a smoothie and it was very refreshing. While sitting there we discussed dinner plans for the evening. We didn’t really have much idea, and the beer was tasting good so we decided that instead of going home we would just head straight out for some food. We obviously went back to the place the owner had tried to entice us into, it was so early we were the only people there. The owner promised me a free beer or ouzo and I was only too happy with this arrangement. We ordered food, too much as always, but I took one for the team and made sure to polish it all off. The beers continued tasting good. When we asked for the bill the owner made good on his promise and brought out an ouzo which I very graciously accepted and polished off. When he gave me his card though I felt that was a step too far.
    After all that food it was all I could do to fit in two or three biscuits as I wrote today’s edition and watched the girls doing a random dance in the living room.    Okumaya devam et

    Çeviriyi gör
  • Let’s go baklava
    Suncream to start the day
    Waiting for the boat to leaveStill waitingMe and Jess in the waterThe girls watching the wavesSome wine on the boatIconicPoser's gunna posePoser's gunna pose, pose, poseRelax timeWaiting for foodTwins synchronised diving1Beautiful girls on the boat1Lily walks on water againTake the leapJess swims to the caveRuby and Tate having funToo cool for schoolOITwins synchronised diving1A nice spot for a snack

    A bit of malarkey near Arki

    27 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Something a little different was on the cards for today, a 5 island boat trip. This meant a 9am alarm to get us all up, except for Lily and Allegra who had already finished doing their exercise by that time. Such dedication, they certainly put Jess and I to shame, we had started with such high hopes for our daily holiday routine but did not have the dedication to last. Anyway, we all had our breakfast and got our suncream on and were ready to go. We walked the long 3 minute walk to the port and boarded the boat, then we had around 30 minutes to wait for our departure time.
    While sitting around we were just chatting and I can’t remember why but Ruby declared the the word for fear of palindromes is aibohphobia (this was news to me and turns out to be a made up word). I think it was just because she likes to show off her vast knowledge of useless facts. This led into a general discussion on palindromes where we named a few and then I asked if anyone knew what is the longest (real) palindrome, mostly because I like to show off my vast knowledge of useless facts. Everyone paused for a moment to give some thought to this poser, not Jess though who quick as a flash blurted the answer; ‘minute’. I am not sure she understood the game we were playing but it did give us all a good laugh The actual answer for those who have not lost interest already is ‘redivider’. After all that excitement it was time for us to leave.
    The first stop was after about 30 minutes and we all had fun jumping off the boat although we were stopped in deep water and I don’t feel that confident in my swimming to go too far, but Jess, Ruby and Allegra swam off through a cave/tunnel and reported back that it was very impressive. Then it was back on the boat to head for our second stop which was completely different, a very stony beach where we could just chill for a bit. While walking along the beach we passed a bit of rubbish, not a ridiculous amount but some. Then there was a plastic bag with some empty cans so Jess picked this up and managed to fill it while we walked the beach, as well as finding a 5 litre plastic carton and so we gathered it all and then swam it back to the boat so it could be put in the bin. Not a huge thing, but every little helps and it’s a shame when there is any rubbish in such a beautiful place.
    Back on the boat again and we got a bit of lunch, a sandwich which was tasty, washed down by what we agreed was probably watered down wine. But it was early in the day so that was fine. Another very amazing spot followed for stop three, I think you are probably getting the idea by now. Another swim was enjoyed by Jess and I although the girls stayed on the boat for this one.
    The next stop was a small village port with a few tavernas which was nice although we were surprised to find out we would be there for over 2 hours. So we sat in one of the tavernas to have a bit of a snack and a drink which was all very enjoyable. Lily did not want to stray too far at this point because she wanted to watch the F1 race that was about to start and didn’t want to leave the wifi. So Ruby sat with her while rest of us went and had a 2026 swim in a little beach not too far from the port. It was getting close to time to leave so we headed back, but saw some signs for a mini-market, Jess and I went in search of this while the twins went to meet their sisters. The mini-market was closer to a cupboard than a shop but since on our entrance the old lady shopkeeper had got out of her seat outside to come and serve us, we felt obliged to buy something. We found a pack of biscuits and a carton of juice and thought this would do. The price was €3.30 which she showed us on the calculator, she obviously didn’t speak English. I indicated that I would like to pay by card. Now she may not have spoken English but she was an excellent communicator in the international language of the eye roll and she flashed a very disdainful look at us. I searched my wallet for a solution but had nothing apart from a €50 note and on getting this out we were the recipient of a second disdainful eye roll, this one was accompanied by a little snort I think. By this stage we could have just given up, we didn’t need either of the purchases, but the shopkeeper was not going to give up on satisfying her customers so she made a phone call and had a conversation with someone, I think I picked up the Greek words for ‘card’, ‘idiots’ and ‘fu**** tourists’, but in the end we we were able to use cash and we got our change.
    It was back on the boat for one last stop which was good fun, plenty of jumping off the boat and messing around and I managed to conquer my fear of diving from the front of the boat which was a bit higher than the side. After that it was time to head back to port with some Zorba the Greek blaring on the speakers.
    A lazy dinner, a birthday song for Steve (the old man) and some football to watch, with England winning the Euro 2025 final rounded off what had been a very fun day.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    The first cloud of our holiday
    On the walk to the beachTwins in the waterRuby readingLily sudoku-ingJess collecting rubbish1W is for wictory

    Once more unto the beach

    28 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    I have literally been waiting for the appropriate day to use that title since the beginning of our trip but I wanted it to be at the right time. And since today was quite the battle to get to said beach, I feel that today was that day. After the 5 island exertions of yesterday, and since apart from different beaches we have seen most of this island, we were in no hurry to get moving today. So a leisurely morning was had by the girls while Jess and I did a bit of Monday admin, aka work. Soon enough it was time for lunch so we sent Lily and Olivia off to the bakery to pick up a few things, Ruby had done an exemplary of cleaning up the mess in the kitchen from last night, while Allegra read her book and managed to avoid helping at all.
    We ate lunch and it was time to get ready to go out. Everybody knew that our plan was to head to a beach, since activity options are very limited on this island, but it was only at this point that they started to take exception to this plan. Lily started to complain that Greece was boring, doing the same thing all the time, and we should have booked a multi-country holiday for variety. Ruby started complaining that she doesn’t like beaches, information that would have carried more weight if she had told us this when she was voting that we come to Greece this summer. Jess and I were getting frustrated with them and the twins were trying to remain calm, listening to music on their headphones, which also managed to upset Lily. I like to alternate at these times, from being a calm voice of reason, to being a wind up merchant poking whichever bear is at the point of most irritation. This probably does not help the situation, neither does the fact that this accommodation is on the small side and there is nowhere really that anyone can go to calm doctor have a bit of time to themselves. Anyway, after much animated discussion we were just about ready to leave for our beach day.
    Jess wanted to go back to the one we were at on the first day, I said we should go to a different one, just for variety, the twins were not bothered at all, and Lily and Ruby still would have been happy if we had changed our mind and just stayed in. The end decision was that we would go to a different beach, although as it turns out we should have listened to Jess. The interesting thing is that no matter his much it seems like everyone is arguing before we leave, and no matter how much no one really wants to do a 30 minute walk in this heat, as soon as we start walking everyone’s mood changes completely and we start having a good time. Today was no exception and we had a fairly enjoyable walk to the beach. On the way we had quite the treat. We think that for the first time on this trip we saw a cloud in the sky. We stopped to take a photograph to commemorate the occasion. When we got there we had the whole beach to ourselves, although as I implied, it was not the greatest beach. I say this as a beach snob, the water was warm and clear and we were the only ones there. A few people did arrive as we lazed about, Jess walked the beach collecting rubbish, the twins were hanging in the water, Lily did sudoku, Ruby read a book and I loitered between the water and the beach. As it was nothing too special we decided it was time to head off, although at this suggestion Ruby told us how she was extremely content just where she was, it’s hard to keep up sometimes.
    After walking home we went out for a nice cold mug of beer and an ice cream, both were extremely tasty. While sitting there I had to let everyone know that I couldn’t care less about any pointless arguments we all might have, I wouldn’t change a single thing about our time together because I just love it all. It may have been the ice cream talking but I don’t care, I stand by every word. A bit of light tourist shopping and another delicious dinner whipped up by Lily (I am getting quite used to these nights off) and that was pretty much it for the day.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    Let the battle commence
    Check them out

    At a loss in Kalymnos

    29 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    It was moving day again, we were on the road from Lipsi to Kalymnos. I was slightly concerned because I couldn’t come up with any humourous rhymes to go with Kalymnos and I clearly spend far too much time thinking about these things through the day. But Lily helped me out by saying that I was at a loss about Kalymnos and my first problem of the day was solved.
    We have had plenty of practice by now at getting organised for a moving day and Jess had made us get up earlier than we needed to do we were ready in plenty of time. We got out of our Lipsi accommodation at 11 and had a few hours to kill before our ferry, so there was only one thing for it, a game of giant chess down near the port. The teams were established, Lily and Ruby against Allegra and Olivia in a battle for their parents love. They all know the basics but none of them are experts and so they are pretty well matched. Tate was not hugely interested so it was Allegra against the other two and she was making all the running. Lily and Ruby were very clearly not keen on losing to their younger sister and were taking ages over each move, it was very hot in the sun so we all just wanted them to hurry up. If not for a couple of small mistakes Allegra would have won but in the end a draw was probably a fair result.
    We still had time to kill and it was lunchtime so we sat in one of the small cafes and had a very tasty lunch. It was actually a very generic western brunch, nothing at all was Greek about it, but it was tasty nonetheless. We took our sweet time but eventually thought we should head over to the port and wait for our boat. In all the time we have been catching ferries in Greece, it has been quite impressive how punctual they have been, not today though as our boat was late. So we had to find a spot with a bit of shade and breeze to wait in. Eventually (and it is funny how often I use that word, everything happens eventually it seems) our ferry appeared, actually quite suddenly just from around the corner and pulled up, we hopped on and we were off. It was trying to make up time I think. It was just a short trip today, just over an hour and we were on Kalymnos.
    We may actually have travelled from chalk to cheese as I dont think that Kalymnos and Lipsi could be more different if they had set out with this goal in mind. From an island with 800 inhabitants to a sprawling metropolis of over 10000 in the main town itself, it was quite the culture shock. We got our car and drove to our accommodation, the setting looked lovely, a stones throw from the beach with trees and a couple of tavernas. We met our host who showed us around our latest villa, which is conservatively 3 or 4 times the size of our last place, with 4 bedrooms, huge living room, an upstairs and downstairs balcony, two bathrooms, the list goes on. In fact it is so big I have only seen the girls a couple of times since we arrived, I think they got lost at one point. I think they will get an extremely low rating on Airbnb though because despite being the most incredibly equipped place there is NO COFFEE MACHINE. I’m sorry, I went full R u b y there for a moment.
    As is often the way, we needed to get some supplies and luckily there is a mini-market that is even closer than the beach. A little less luckily, it leans more to the mini side than the market side. So, if we want vegan mayo we are sorted (!?!?!) but if we want a vegetable, Greek yoghurt or feta, then less so. These things are staples people! The good thing about travelling with our personal chef is that an absolute gourmet pasta with tinned mushrooms, sweetcorn, giant beans, tomato purée and scrambled egg, it was devoured so quickly I couldn’t even get seconds. Thank you Lily.
    Tiredness had well and truly set in so it was time for bed, but not before a small battle with the aircon to try and get it to blow cold air in the general vicinity of the bed. I think we just about succeeded.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    The view from our balcony
    A lonely pineA balcony kind of evening

    Not much goss in Kalymnos

    30 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    After a day of travel yesterday we were all still feeling tired so there were no big plans made for today. So some work was done in the morning while Lily and Allegra got back on their exercise wagon, Ruby judged them harshly and Olivia was not seen as she was sleeping, trying to catch up on days where she had been interrupted due to having to sleep with her sisters. When she did finally make it up the stairs she was so happy, fully refreshed. We didn’t have much food but Jess managed to whip me up a very tasty toasted sandwich with bean paste and tzatziki with a fried egg on top, yummers.
    It was off to a supermarket for our big adventure for the day. The town here is very much on the side of a hill so the roads are very windy and also very narrow with many parked cars. Jess was directing me and all was good until we got to a spot where there were two taxis coming in the opposite direction, at a point where there was barely room to get through as it was. It was time for my reversing skills to be on show once more, and although it was slow going I managed to get back to a spot where they could get past. The second driver clearly had something to say so I wound my window down. He was just shaking his head and said, ‘who would tell you to drive down this way?’’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was Google maps. It’s not as if I was the only car going that way and it wasn’t my fault the roads are so narrow, I think he just wanted to express his disapproval.
    We eventually made it through the narrow maze of streets and found the supermarket and got our supplies, it was surprisingly well stocked. A quick walk along the winding road to a bakery had us taking our lives in our hands, footpaths are obviously not a thing here and most drivers take racing line through the corners, judging by the scrapes and scratches on most vehicles they are not afraid to take them tightly. We were fully stocked up for lunch so we headed home and ate on the balcony.
    By the time all this was done it was 4 o’clock and Jess’s hopes of catching up on work were mostly dashed, though that didn’t stop her trying. I couldn’t get much done, I had a bit of a headache so had a bit of a lie down, only to be woken twice by noisy children and air conditioners. Twice! Then I almost had a tumble on my way to the toilet, the bathmat slid under my feet and i skidded across the floor and then my momentum took me another couple of steps and I had to stop myself with my hands otherwise it would have been with my face. It was the sort of thing that would have been hilarious slapstick if it had been filmed.
    The girls had gone across to the beach although Ruby and Tate didn’t last long, I went over as well just to have a quick dip and a cool down. Tonight it was Ruby who volunteered to make dinner, I could definitely get used to this lifestyle of relaxing evenings, it had the benefit of fresh vegetables and was also most delicious. The rest of the evening has been spent sitting on the balcony with the only competition to Taylor Swift’s soothing tones being the gentle lapping of the Aegean Sea on the beach below. Very calming.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    3Sunrise
    2Sea kayaking1Setting outAllegra on a swing1Don't look up1Kickin' back1Tate was rockin'1Lazing in the sea1Action shots1Had enough of hard work1A solar vortex1Three kayaks on the beach1This is the life1This was the best selfie we got1Admiring the view1Vegetarian lunch...with meat1Lily under the bougainvillea1Dinner of championsFireworks1Fireworks 21Swinging Tate3Jumping Jess

    The mythical Kalymnian cow

    31 Temmuz, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    First up this morning were the girls who had decided they wanted to see the sunrise so at 5.45 they dragged themselves out of bed (even Tate) and down to the beach to see it come up over the hills here. I am happy to report that it rose as normal. I did not get up at this time but was still up early enough, as Jess had asked us all if we wanted to seek a yak. I was pleasantly surprised that all the girls were keen on this, I was too, I have not seen enough bovine creatures on our trips in Greece. We got ready and were out the door by 9, we were all so excited. On the way Jess started talking about being in the water and I was getting a little confused. It turns out that we had had some crossed wires, where I had thought we were going to seek a yak, what Jess had actually organised was a sea kayak.
    This was possibly even more exciting. We got to the town and found the hire place, it was nice and early in the day so there was not any other people around and the water was calm. The town was at the end of a fjord, it was an amazing setting. We set off on the water, we took to it like ducks take to something, although I can’t quite remember what. Our first stop was at a large, fairly open cave. It had a jumping off point above and a swing hanging down, so we loitered for a while. Jess set off for the jumping off point and leapt, it was about 7m high. Then her and Ruby went up, but Ruby had a little moment, the fear froze her and she couldn’t jump, and she couldn’t bring herself to come back down either. Jess jumped again, from a higher spot and Tate also jumped but Ruby was not for moving. Jess was up there with her, offering gentle encouragement in the way only a mother can and eventually (that word again) Ruby found it within herself and jumped, a very impressive feat to overcome whatever fear was stopping her.
    We were back in the kayaks and heading further round the coast, we saw a beach but it was too soon so we kept going in search of another but had no luck so we turned back for the beach, pulled our kayaks up and chilled. Another fjord like setting, with cliffs on either side and deep water. I jumped off some rocks that must have been all of 1.5m high and I felt Ruby’s struggles as for me, that is high enough. It was a good spot for a snorkel as well, there were quite a lot of fish, with shoals of tiny little fish swimming in balls, it kept me most amused. But we had come out without food, very poor planning on our part today. We kayaked back and gave all the gear back, then it was time to find some lunch.
    The town we were in was called Vathis and it was a complete opposite to where we are staying, it’s funny how you get a feel for a place, mostly based on nothing more than first impressions. Vathis had a good feel and it made us wish we had found accommodation there as it was so much nicer than the crowded beach where we are, it is less built up, there are more traditional looking tavernas, and I have mentioned the setting before. So we decided to have lunch, found a nice taverns and got chatting with the owner, who was from Melbourne, although had been here nearly 40 years. We asked him about vegetarian options and he told us there were as few, including vegetarian moussaka. This sounded good to Ruby so when the waitress came to take our order she double checked, ‘is the moussaka vegetarian’ she asked, with the waitress replying yes. What she should have actually said was yes, except for the lamb that is in it. Like wise with our tomatoes stuffed with rice… and beef. So vegetarian adjacent may have been a better description. Luckily the beer was ice cold so this took the edge off my care factor, plus the food was very tasty and we were all just feeling generally relaxed after our adventures.
    Back home to unwind, although with a little work to be done. Tonight the twins volunteered to cook, seriously I am going to need to use Google maps to find my way to the kitchen next time I have to cook. We didn’t need much though after our big lunch, they just whipped us up a lovely salad which was very tasty. As we sat on the balcony there were some fireworks from the beach across from us so that was a very entertaining end to our day. The girls were all very tired after their early morning start, they won’t be getting up to see the sun tomorrow, I just hope it comes up without them there to witness it.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    Charlie's Angels poses
    Black widow posesGetting ready to ScubaScuba support crewLeggy contemplatingAlmost time for ScubaAny minute nowWhenever you're readyWho farted?After the diveTwins sleep blogEnd of the dayThe tide was quite high todayAnd the car park was quite full

    Are you for Scuba?

    1 Ağustos, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    Today we had a new adventure lined up, although not for all of us. Scuba diving was on the cards today as it is something we really wanted the girls to try and they do it right here, off the beach where we are staying. It’s like it was meant to be. But Lily was very adamant that she was not going to do it and I don’t feel any great need to do it again, having done it a few times pre-children. So it was just to be Jess and the other three girls, at least two of whom were not massively keen.
    We headed over for our 11 o’clock rendezvous and met the guy who was going to be taking them out. It took nearly an hour to get the four of them into all their gear and fully briefed on the safety rules for scuba but soon enough they were off and we were just following them through the little safety buoy in the water. Lily and I figured that since we couldn’t actually see them there was no point sitting there on the beach the whole time so we went and had a coffee while waiting. We could still see the buoy from our seat, they weren’t travelling too far. They were about 45 minutes in the water and from what they said afterwards the highlights were holding a starfish, Ruby seeing a squid, the guy slaughtering a sea urchin for some reason and just the general experience of doing something new. The lowlights were issues of buoyancy for Jess, Tate’s mask getting a bit of water in and Ruby getting a flipper in the face. But overall they came out of the water with smiles on their faces and having enjoyed themselves. So that was good, and hopefully they will be inspired to try it somewhere with a bit more variety and colour.
    After we had done that it was time for some lunch at our villa, nothing too exciting, just polishing off some of whatever is in the fridge. After lunch we had to go and get some cash from the ATM to pay for the scuba diving and also get a few things from the shop. Once that was taken care of we were off in search of the petrified princess of Telendos. This is a local myth and you can apparently see a princess in a rock formation but you need to be in a specific place. Unfortunately this particular place does not exist on Google maps so we were searching a little bit blindly. Unsurprisingly we could not find it and so all we did was drive across the island and back.
    We got back to where we were staying and saw that the local sea life museum was open, Jess had been keen to visit so we went in. Now the museum itself could have been in a museum museum, it looks like it was created about 40 years ago and has been left untouched since then. But it did have an amazing collection of sea stuff, sponges mostly, which this island is famous for, including the gear that was used back in the day, but also shells, and other crustaceans, a shipwreck and pottery found in the ocean from ancient times and a pictorial history of the island. Probably more stuff that I have forgotten as well. It definitely exceeded my expectations.
    We had been promised beer and ice creams when we got back and I had waited long enough and feel I had been very patient walking around the museum but I could wait no longer. We ordered and our ice cream arrived very swiftly but once again our drinks did not so we managed to polish off all our ice cream before they even arrived. Once back in our villa it was nanna nap time for Jess and the twins and just a general relax for everyone, it’s hard work having this much fun. After a while I had to get directions from Google maps to find my way to the kitchen but once I was there it was a pasta salad for dinner, which I could just about whip up with my eyes closed. You can always tell when everyone is tired as the arguments flare up a little easier but they mostly passed without anyone holding onto them and now we are all lying around on sofas or the nice cool tiled floor discussing music generally, gay K-pop artists more specifically. But it will be bedtime shortly, it’s moving day (our last one) again tomorrow.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    Lunch
    1Tate, about to be devouring1Our amazing daughtersThe tide was high todayOur spot for dinnerWaiting for our food1Hello Mr Cat1

    Rhodes to nowhere

    2 Ağustos, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Although today was moving day we didn’t have to rush too much as we had a late checkout. So we could wake up in a leisurely fashion and take our time with breakfast before needing to get on with packing and tidying everything up. So I took my time over breakfast while Jess got on with packing and tidying everything up. We were all organised and ready to in plenty of time and headed off to return our car, although we were slightly delayed by a traffic jam on the one track running through town. We got to the car place eventually and since we had time to kill they let us leave our bags in the shop so we didn’t have to lug them around town.
    We weren’t sure what to do for a couple of hours but we did need to find a fridge magnet. This was quite easily accomplished, all the tourist shop sales people tried to entice us with deals but we decided to get one from a shop where the dude had almost no interest in customers at all. There really is not much worth doing in Kalymnos town and on our short search we had passed a mini oasis, very out of place on this island, and so we decided it would be a nice place to have a drink. We sat down and looked at the menu, eggs benedict was on offer as well as some vegan options so we decided it would be a nice place to have lunch. It was one of the best meals we have had on our travels in a lovely setting, it was most unexpected. We had time for a little bit of a stroll but before long we needed to grab our bags and go to our ferry.
    After commenting the other day about ferries and their general punctuality, we were forced to wait for our boat which was again running late, by about 20 minutes or so. We stood around on the pier which didn’t have much in the way of shade, so were very happy when we saw the boat appear. We got some seats and settled in for our 3 hour trip. On the journey there were two stops at other islands, I don’t know why, just Kos. Well not just Kos, also Symi. The girls had downloaded some stuff to watch and Jess and I did a bit of reading as the boat zipped down the Turkish coastline, I never actually realised just how close it was.
    Eventually we arrived in Rhodes, which is to be the final island on our trip, and on first impressions it couldn’t be more different from any of the other islands we have visited. For a start it was incredibly busy around the old town Rhodes, and also there was just a seemingly endless drive around the coast with a never ending strip of shops, restaurants and various other tourist ‘attractions’, none of which appealed to me in any way. We had almost an hour drive to our accommodation so we did finally emerge from that into what seemed more like the surroundings we like, and after a bit of back and forth after wrong turns we did make it to our villa. It seems like it will be a cool last stop, it even has a swimming pool that us at least twice as large as an average size bath.
    It was getting on a bit so we wandered up to the village to find somewhere to eat and found a very nice spot in the square under some large trees. Over our dinner we talked about the history of the island and Jess made some references to the Colossus of Rhodes. I took a little offence as although I have been eating a lot and may have chunked up a bit on our trip I think to call me a colossus was a bit much. The dinner was extremely nice although we think we may have been slightly overcharged, hard to be sure though as the handwritten bill was all in Greek.
    Back at our accommodation there was just time for some of us to have a little cool down in the pool and for us to see a shooting star before we were off to bed, all worn out from a day on the move.    Okumaya devam et

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  • Let’s go baklava
    A chill morning by the pool
    1My wife swims for hoursTomorrow's plans are clearAncient KamirosAncient Kamiros 0.5Sorry Roo, I can't bring myself to do itMe and Ruby beyond the ropeDinnerTree hugger

    The Rhodes less travelled

    3 Ağustos, Yunanistan ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    It’s nice to have a place with a pool, even a small one, as it makes it easy to cool off at any time and it is just easy to relax around. So a lazy Sunday morning involved not too much, a couple of cooling dips for me, Jess prefers to swim and used the filter current like a swim machine and got her exercise that way.
    We didn’t have huge plans for today, we were under strict instructions from Lily that she would be watching the Grand Prix today so we had to be home for that. That suited everyone as we didn’t have the energy to do too much more. There is an archaeological site called ancient Kamiros that is not too far from here, and Ruby has been very keen to see some old ruins and so we decided that would be our outing for the day.
    First things first though and we had to get some stuff for lunch, we thought that pastries had never let us down so far so all we needed to do was find a bakery. We found a little town with three, but it seems like today was not our lucky day as our regular choices were not available, stocks were low as it was too close to closing time. We managed to get a handful of cheese puffs and a bread roll with raisins, it was not going to be a gourmet lunch.
    Then we drove to ancient Kamiros and had a wander around the ruins. Ruby was very interested but the other three weren’t so much, they just hurried around from shady seat to shady seat. We strolled around, it really is quite amazing to try and imagine the ingenuity with which little difficulties were dealt with. It was certainly in a lovely location, with a view of Symi island in the distance and the mountains in the background. There were also some very impressive trees, and although these would not have been around way back when, I gave one a hug anyway.
    We then had to find a supermarket to get some supplies, the girls were very happy to find Weetabix. Once that was all taken care of we got home in time to have a cooling swim before the F1 race started then Lily, Ruby and I watched that while Jess did a bit of work and the twins lay in the sun. After the race Jess tried to swim some more but got very sad when the timer of the filter turned off and she had to resort to swimming laps in a very short pool.
    A couple of rounds of UNO were played, it should be quite a simple game but there was a bit of a disagreement over the rules. We didn’t know whether we should play by Welsh, English, Australian or French rules, or the rules Lily plays with her friends which is a bit like a local dialect. I am not sure if we ever resolved that and we just played some hybrid version, I won one game so I was reasonably happy.
    Dinner was conjured up, a team effort tonight by me and Jess which meant we both got the blame for whatever part of it the girls didn’t like, onions for Ruby, courgettes for Allegra, the fact we’ve had too much pasta salad for Lily. No problems for Tate though, she had seconds, so obviously she was the favourite tonight. Despite having a fairly relaxing day we are all quite weary so it will be early to bed tonight.    Okumaya devam et

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