HE SAID
Elies Hotel, Kardamyli
Tuesday Aug 28
Up about 8:30 again to all the sounds of rural Greece by the sea (surf, dove, roosters, chickens), then off for our breakfast. Still among the first.
Rain’s predicted today so we headed down for an early swim. Except for the surf, water was fairly calm and crystal clear. Swimming way out, we came across hundreds of small colorful fish, feeding in rock outcroppings, 15-20 feet below.
Light rain started about 11. Just beautiful looking back at the mountains, watching the mist & rain coming down toward us from them. Our umbrella kept us dry & shaded from the full sun as it moved in & out of the clouds. Soothing sounds of the surf and water in the rocks let us drift off very easily.
Dinner at 3 (our big meal – order for 1, eat for 2) – 2 starters: fava with capers & onions, grilled eggplant; roast pork w/Rosemary & potatoes, Mythos, & cold white grapes to finish. Tastes and flavors, hard to beat!
Late afternoon beach again…sun is back for good! A sunset stroll to Kardamyli and supper on return!
SHE SAID
Elies Hotel http://www.elieshotel.gr
Sun-Thu Aug 26 – 30
Been longing for this experience – a perfect storm that lets you stop in your tracks with nothing required of you except bathe in its perfection.
OK, someone has to walk down and get the breakfast tray, make the French press coffee so that you can enjoy breakfast on your balcony. And wash the dishes after. Elies can be self-catering and many families take advantage of it. But that’s about it.
After breakfast, down to the beach. The water is a stunning clear aqua and drops off quickly. Out by a shelf tiny brightly covered fish dart about and as you reach for them, you suddenly realize how deep it is. For me, the price of the swim is getting up the rocky incline to get out. I fear it is a scene reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth’s Christina! Maybe not a beautiful sight.
Relaxing some more, intending to master the Greek alphabet or learn some new words, but dozing, lulled by the gentle breezes and waves breaking on the rocks.
The chore of choosing a table in the dappled sunlit olive grove for lunch – our main meal. Or dinner as we called it in the South, growing up. A menu packed with Greek specialties – all perfectly prepared – and absolutely all the time in the world to linger over every morsel. Sated and relaxed, off for a siesta, escaping the heat of the day. Out and about around 4 – another swim, time on the beach or a walk to the village along the beach road. A spell on the beach or porch, watching the evening light on the mountains, before heading back to the olive grove for dinner, a lighter meal for us. Shared sea bass over greens- whatever they put on them was divine – shared salad, house white and that yummy cake sends us blissfully back to our room around 1130. La dolce du far’ niènte. Or à Spanish proverb “How sweet it is to relax and do nothing afterwards.”
Bill accidentally facetimed my Swiss sister from the beach. A new expression – “Sorry, a Butt-Face! 😂