Paxos Travel Guide

Tag: Greece

  • Holidays in Lakka Paxos – what are they really like? Day 6 & 7

    Holidays in Lakka Paxos – what are they really like? Day 6 & 7

    Day 6 is on us before we know it. Nearly half way through our holiday.

    What are holidays in Lakka Paxos really like? Well in todays post I will describe days 6 and 7 of your holiday in Lakka Paxos. And these are two days dedicated to one thing – relaxing. I originally titled this post “the art of relaxing” – this is how we relax on holiday.

    But I changed the title as I want visitors to my website to be able to find out what it is really like holidaying on Paxos – not from a travel guide but from people who have actually been there – people like us.

    Day 6 – our wedding anniversary

    We are quiet people and have a lovely quiet day by the pool. Cards exchanged, tea drunk and off to lax by the pool. That was the plan. To work on the art of relaxing.

    We did not have breakfast – some mornings on holiday we skip breakfast and have an early(ish) lunch.

    So no breakfast – no it was straight up to the pool with our travel coffee mugs. We got there nice and early and adopted our usual position in the corner.

    The art of relaxing – getting comfortable

    We are definitely creatures of habit, and always go for the same corner of the pool. If you get one of the corners you get more space and are less close to other people.

    Now this might sound a bit anti-social but as I said we are quiet people and we just want to be left alone to relax.

    Together that is.

    A question of personal space!

    Corner secured, the next job is the slight rearranging of the furniture to maximise our space whilst subtly moving other people further away.

    Does anyone else do this?

    Or is it just us?

    Some people don’t seem bothered by being shoe-horned next to strangers – no not us.

    Now we are settled it is time for the usual relaxing activities, which this morning are

    • Dozing
    • Kindle reading
    • Dozing

    Repeat as necessary

    And that is it.

    And before we know it time for lunch!

    Blimey – such a busy morning. And now it is time to walk the length of the pool for lunch. And time for a nice cold one from the bar.

    We are not that hungry so we share a cheeseburger and chips, which was very very nice indeed.

    Food and drink done it is time to get back to the hard graft of relaxing.

    The afternoon by the pool was lovely and quiet.

    The importance of celebrating

    We stayed at the pool till quite late, and celebrated our anniversary with a lovely bottle of Lanson. Milestones like this should be celebrated – we face lots of challenges in our life together which face head on and jointly.

    Off down to Lakka

    We walked down to the waterside in Lakka, and reserved a table at Arriva, a lovely restaurant right by the water.

    This is one of those things that I love about Lakka. It is so small you just walk down to the front and browse the restaurants. We rarely have trouble getting a table – possibly as the Italians tend to eat later than us and with them being in the majority we are fine with our preferred dining time.

    Having booked a lovely table by the water we headed back to Harbour Lights for an anniversary cocktail.

    Enjoying dinner at the restaurant by the water called Arriva in Lakka

    After our cocktails we were sat down at 8pm (as usual). We had a lovely table right next to the water with lovely views across the harbor of Lakka as the sun faded away leaving all those lovely bobbing boats and the activities of a small harbor.

    A lovely carafe of red wine was brought o our table, which we drank slowly while we perused the menu.

    We shared a lovely starter of giant beans accompanied by fresh bread which was excellent.

    For our mains I decided to have stifado (for a change), with Nickie choosing the ravioli.

    All the food was lovely, the service was great, attentive and not rushed.

    A lovely way to finish our lovely wedding anniversary day on the island of Paxos.

    Day 7 – Thursday – its raining!!

    Halfway through the holiday and guess what – its raining in Paoxs?

    We were woken up by thunderstorms this morning. Yes thunderstorms in Paxos. Not just rain.

    It has clearly been raining in the early morning, as the table on the balcony is covered with water

    And this is the balcony.

    I decide to do the decent thing and get rid of the water on the table so we can use it.

    I slowly and carefully move the table to the planters on the front of the balcony to tip the water gently into the planter. I get this disastrously wrong and pour all the water all over my legs. Not good.

    I hate having damp feet – thankfully even in rubbish weather like this it is quite warm and I dry out quickly enough.

    Morning tea storm watching

    It is time for a cuppa and to watch the storms – good old fashioned thunder and lightning with bouts of light/ heavy rain. I have never seen such weather certainly not in Paxos – here if there is a cloud in the sky this is considered a disappointment!

    Check out the video “Rain in Paxos Greece” of this from my YouTube channel!

    The weather forecast is showing the storm will continue until 11am/ 12pm/ 4pm depending on which weather app we try. I tend to try all the weather apps and go with the one that gives me the news I want to see!

    I know – my choice of weather app will not influence the actual weather but it makes me feel better. And I really cannot accept rain till 4pm!

    Breakfast

    Breakfast is the stuff we bought from the bakery last night on our way back after our lovely meal – biscuits with cream and a thing that was a rustic version of a cherry bakewell. All rather nice with a coffee.

    We were planning on eating these snacks last night but couldn’t manage all of them so they were welcome breakfast snacks.

    What to do when it is raining on Paxos?

    Well there is no point rushing to the pool, even though I am sure that this weather will clear up in no time.

    It stopped raining at 11am so we ventured out into a rather soggy Lakka full of people milling about all looking rather confused. Nickie went shopping. I went for a beer. And here it is!

    Ok here it was!

    Well it was a slow day so why not!

    We reunited at the hotel and made our way up to the pool for another busy day of reading, eating and dozing.

    Lunchtime already

    Lunch/ brunch today consisted of a club sandwich and sausage on toast, both with chips which we ate at the bar at the pool – the tables and chairs had already completely dried out.

    People gradually drifted in over the course of the afternoon leaving it full when we left at 5.30 for drinks on the now completely dry balcony.

    A word about doing nothing

    We both need time to recharge our batteries. This is one of the reasons we are in Paxos. To relax and take it easy.

    This is very easy to do in Paxos, and especially stopping in Lakka. Everywhere is easily accessible on foot, and there is plenty of choice of places to eat and drink.

    Basically Paxos is a lovely place to relax and unwind.

    And with this it is time for dinner

    Another busy day, the only thing left to sort is where to eat tonight. We deliberate on this weighty decision, perusing the menu at Mandis Bar, which is off to the right of the bay in Lakka, giving great sunset views, and is also quieter that other locations with less people walking by.

    Weather update

    Oh yes, the weather. The sun came out, the temperature increased like an oven being slowly turned up and when we left at 5.30 it was hot but the clouds had come in to seal in that heat nicely for the evening.

    But no more rain.

    Back to downtown Lakka. When I say downtown that is a tad of an overstatement.

    It is overcast, which means there might not be a sunset tonight. We head over to Romantica for more drinks, and manage to get a seat upstairs. Not only do we get a seat upstairs, there is no one else up here so it is just us and the lovely relaxing scene in front of us.

    Cocktails at Romantica on the Greek Island of Paxos

    And this is when I realise for the first time that you can actually see the mainland of Corfu from the first floor of this bar. I must check to see if I can see the mainland from ground/ sea level – I don’t remember being able to, which is quite unusual for me.

    Being a photographer I am always looking out for views and always need to know what I can/ cannot see.

    We have a Mohito each and sit there looking at Mandis Bar, all sad in the cloud and the shade. We have a change of mind and decide to go to one of the restaurants in the square – we might as well take advantage of the cooler weather and light breeze. And Mandis Bar is the prime spot for sunset, so we might as well go there when there is an actual sunset to see.

    Dining out at Stasinos Gardens

    We walk round Lakka checking out the restaurants, and end up in the restaurant called Stanisos Gardens, where we are seated to a nice quiet table by a very friendly and enthusiastic waiter. A carafe of red delivered (a large one it has to be said) we ordered our food.

    We have eaten here before last year and it was very nice.

    We went for a Meze starter as we haven’t had one for a while. Nickie went for Moussaka again, and I went for the P beef dish similar to but not Stifado.

    Honest it is not Stifado. We also had a lesson from our waiter in how to pronounce not only my main course but also stifado – turns out we have been saying it wrong up till now.

    I cant remember the name of the meal that I had – lets stick with the P beef dish.

    I am delighted to report that everything about the meal was lovely – the food, the service, the timing, the atmosphere – all good.

    How much does dinner cost in Lakka?

    Starters, mains and drinks all for €48. That is excellent value for lots of lovely food, drinks and really friendly and efficient service.

    Definitely somewhere to return to.

    Tipping on Paxos

    A quick word on tipping here. I tend to tip 10% if I have experienced good service and good quality food. If I am not happy I expect every cent of change. If I am really unhappy I try to get a reduction on the bill.

    I of course round up my tips, so for this meal rounded up to $55, which we were still more than happy with.

    And now for dessert

    On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the bakery and got some sweet snacks to have with our Metaxa and also some cereal bars for breakfast.

    No, we are not ones for staying out late drinking – we are far too old and boring for that. It was an early night for Nickie, whilst I stayed up on the balcony for a while trying to fathom out my other website photosofsantorini, which will be all sorted by the time you are reading this.

    I had it in my mind that I needed to do stuff, and was really not tired, so a late night working for me.

    And that is what Paxos does

    I have switched off in 7 days on Paxos. I have managed to relax and refresh my head and my body. So much so that now my mind is beginning to start working again.

    Going to Paxos is like rebooting a computer – I have been reset and am thinking clearly again.

    Blimey, I did not expect that!

    And with that it is off to sleep with the holiday just about turning the corner of half done, which is a disappointing fact what feels like being too soon after arriving.

    What else have we go to look forward to then?

    Now that there has been some serious relaxing it is time for me to get out and do some stuff. Nickie will join me for some of it but some of it I will do on my won.

    Photographing the sunrise on Paxos

    I am going to get up early three or four mornings and go and photography the sunrise. I have a pretty good idea of my locations of choice.

    Sunrise is my favourite time of day, when I am all alone out and about watching the dawning of a new day.

    This is a special time for us photographers – a rare time alone to concentrate on taking one photo. Sure, I take more than 1 photo, but that is all I am after.

    You can read more about this on the post How To Get Sunrise Photos Of Paxos Greece.

    What else is planned for the rest of the holiday?

    We have got a hire car booked for two days, and most excitingly a rental boat which we can use to go all around the island of Paxos and also head off down to the lovely tiny island of Antipaxos.

    This will be such a great day out, and the perfect antidote to the days of doing not a great deal.

    Relaxing vs doing stuff

    We can’t travel all the way to Paxos from the UK and just lie by the pool for a fortnight. And neither can we spend two weeks going out and about doing stuff.

    To be fair on Paxos that would be a challenge in itself.

    No – there is a balance to be sought, which we have perfected that works for us both together and individually.

    The art of relaxing on Paxos

    Paxos makes it easy to relax – it is the natural consequence of being here. And we both take our rest and relaxation seriously.

    Tomorrow it is time to get back to being a travel photographer – I am going to head off on foot with my trusty Canon 6D and find stuff to photograph – join me on this post which will contain photos taken in and around Lakka.

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Day 5 on Paxos – Gaios or Lakka? Difficult Decisions…

    OK – today is the day for the first trip out of Lakka since we arrived. If we can be bothered that is.

    Gaios or Lakka – which is it going to be? Gaios it turned out was the venue of choice for day 5 on Paxos. We were both looking forward to returning to the capital of Paxos and having lunch and mooching round the shops.

    Gaios is a lovely place to visit.

    And as we are on day 5 and have not left Lakka yes I guess it was time.

    The dilemma of being on holiday

    There is dilemma when on holiday of doing nothing or not. Do absolutely nothing and you might as well stay at home – weather being the notable exception to this of course, especially in the UK. And of course the break from day to day life.

    One day of doing stuff followed by one day of doing nothing other than relaxing works for us.

    So today is our trip to the big city of Gaios. OK – hardly a big city, but Gaios is the capital of the island.

    We decided to get the bus to Gaios from Lakka.

    After our usual morning tea we got ourselves sorted and shuffled out of the hotel – it was already baking hot out there.

    Missing the bus

    The plan was to get the first bus which leaves Lakka at 8.50am. Not surprisingly we did not make it, mainly down to me and my morning lethargy. Well I am on my hols, apart from the work I am doing on this website of course.

    We didn’t make the 8.50 bus so decided to take it easy and get the second bus at 11am. 

    Giving us time spare in lovely Lakka. 

    Missing the first bus gave us time to have a morning mooch around Lakka and grab breakfast at the lovely café called, well I’m not sure!

    Breakfast consisted of a nice coffee and a cheese and ham toastie sat watching the world go by.

    It is at times like this that I realise how seldom we take the time to sit down and have a coffee when we are at home – not often enough. Such a simple but enjoyable thing to do but something we do not do anywhere near often enough.

    Having had a very nice relaxing breakfast we decide to book a table for dinner at a place we have walked past hundreds of times but never been in called Taverna Nionios in the square in Lakka.

    After all that exertion it was back to the bus stop.

    The bus was late!!

    Yes – the bus was late – not a big shock but not a problem either. We had the luxury of not having any deadlines other than dinner that evening, so time just did not matter.

    Well apart from having our first drink in Gaios that is! Should be beer’o’clock when we get there.

    How much does the bus from Lakka to Gaios cost?

    12 euros return for two – that’s not too bad at all is it? You get on the bus and the lady comes and takes your money and gives you the tickets. The bus is old but perfectly fine and clean.

    What is the bus journey from Lakka to Gaios like?

    The local bus from Lakka to Loggos and then onto Gaios is an experience. There is one particular favourite thing of mine after departing the bus station at Loggos. Ok bus stop.

    Loggos is a small town with shops and bars along the waterfront. And the road is just wide enough for cars to pass.

    But not wide enough for a car and a bus to pass. It is barely wide enough for a bus to be honest.

    The bus dominates the road and the entire scene, passing worryingly close to not only the harbours edge but also the tables and chairs on the other side of the road.

    I did not take a video of this spectacle which is a regret – I was hoping to get the bus again just so I could film this incredible scene but did not get around to that. So I will have to go back!

    We sat on the front seats on the bus, behind the driver and next to the lady who collects the money and issues the tickets, with the best view out of the enormous windscreen of the upcoming scenery.

    And there was a local chap sat down at the front whose job appeared to be talking and smoking – not sure how he fitted in!

    We have arrived at Gaios

    The bus journey from Lakka to Gaios takes about 45 minutes. In Gaios you get off at the top of one of the main shopping streets, also by the main town supermarket, which is the biggest shop in the island as far as I am aware.

    It was strangely cloudy in Gaios, and very humid making for hot and sweaty mooching.

    Beer’o’clock in Gaios

    We walked down the main shopping street straight down to the waterside frontage. Well we did not get that far before stopping for a beer at the bar we went to last year.

    Such creatures of habit!

    And what a lovely beer it was. The bar is called Cafe Kalimera and is in an excellent central location.

    Shopping in Gaios

    We continued our walk down to the waterfront, turned left then took the first street back into the centre of the town. Having just written that I realised that this is detail that you really do not need to know!

    We bought some nice things in the shops, lovely t-shirts, a couple of pieces of Babylonian jewellery and some stuff for the house. All lovely stuff I have to say.

    And fairly typical of our holiday shop. The important thing is that we buy stuff that reminds us of our travels and is also stuff that we can’t get at home.

    Walking along the waterfront of Gaios

    When you get down to the waterfront from the bus, if you turn left and follow the path by the sea you will eventually end up at the port of Gaios, a rather low key but perfectly adequate facility. Can’t believe I used the word facility!!

    We walked all the way to the other end of the water frontage, stopping at Mediterraneo, an intriguing fish restaurant with tables dotted amongst the rocks, which must be lovely in the evening, not that we have been to Gaios in the evening!

    Mediterraneo On The Rocks

    On the walk there are lots and lots of boats to look at, both moored up and passing through the channel. There are also lots of shops, bars and interesting buildings. It really is a very nice walk. And when you get back to the church at the foot of the main shopping street keep going past lots more bars and restaurants and you get to this statue called Anemogiannis Monument.

    Picture of the Anemogiannis Monument with a burst of sun in Gaios on the Greek Island of Paxos

    I will write a separate post all about the things to do in Gaios, along with a selection of my photos of Gaios.

    And also about my taking photographs on Paxos (ok this was taken on another day).

    Lunch in Gaios

    We had the lunch in the main square at Piazza Massa, right next to the Church Analipsi, watching the world go by.

    Lunch consisted of chicken gyros (with fries and salad) and a pizza washed down with a cold beer sat amongst the constantly growing crowds.

    This might be basic fare, but this is seriously good local food. The best meal we had in Santorini was chicken gyros!

    And then in came the boat from other islands, bringing masses of visitors. Our empty restaurant filled in minutes – a complete transformation.

    The church is a tiny church that receives hundreds if not thousands of visitors every day – it is one of the first things day trippers see as they get off the day boats and hit the land.

    Getting busy in Gaios

    Gaios is fairly quiet in the morning until the boats start arriving from Lakka, Loggos and more significantly from Corfu and mainland Greece.

    I have been in Gaios just after sunset when it was ever so quiet and lovely (see the photo above). Just be aware that if you go to Gaios at lunchtime you are probably hitting it at the busiest time.

    And it stays pretty busy until the day trippers get back on their boats and leave from whence they came.

    We have not been to Gaios in the evening – something for another time.

    The streets were much busier, full of tourists shopping wearing swimwear which I always find rather odd!

    Time to get out of this big bad city

    By 3pm we had had enough and decided to get a taxi back rather than wait for the bus back, which was not until 5pm.

    Getting back to Lakka from Gaios

    We wanted to get back for the pool and some late afternoon sun. The taxi from Gaios to Lakka cost 10 euros which was absolutely fine. Taxis drop off and pick up at the bus stop by the supermarket in Gaios – the same place we got off the bus.

    And it was nice being driven back to Gaios in a nice Mercedes.

    Back at the pool at Hotel Bastas

    By 3.30pm we were back at the pool, which was unusually quiet for that time of day. 

    After a nice cool down by the pool it was time to have a lie down and a read, before completing a very pleasant day with a late sunshine beer.

    I have to say that it was very nice going back to Gaios – the first time we visited was on a day trip from Corfu where we returned on the ferry laden with shopping and a bottle of prosecco. This was our third time in Gaios and each time we have had a very nice time indeed.

    Back to the room to write this, and then time to get showered (with a bit of shower curtain gymnastics!) and walk back down into Lakka.

    Lakka – where we spent every evening on holiday

    We spent every evening of our holiday in Lakka. We did debate having dinner in Gaios, or even somewhere inland.

    But we didn’t. Lakka is so lovely, and we were so chilled that a big part of both of us just could not be bothered venturing into the unknown somewhere new. There is plenty of choice of places to eat in Lakka – having spent a total of three weeks in Lakka there are still lots of places to eat and drink that we have not tried yet.

    There is nothing worse than going somewhere new and finding it rubbish – no we just stuck to the lovely small town where we were staying. If the food was rubbish somewhere we always knew of other places we could go to.

    And with it being such a short walk down to the waterfront why would we go anywhere else of an evening?

    A typical evening out in Lakka

    We tended to leave the Hotel Bastas at around 7.30pm. It is funny that even with all the freedom of being on holiday and having no time restrictions it turns out we went out at virtually the same time every evening.

    I guess we are just creatures of habit.

    Drinks at Romantica in Lakka

    Talking of creatures of habit, it was back to Romantica for your cocktails of choice, namely a mojito for Nickie and a Bloody Mary for me.

    This is the view from our table. Remember the boat on the right!

    The view from Romantica in Lakka Paxos

    Now I have to say I have not had a Bloody Mary in years, but the ones they serve at Romantica are lovely.

    We sat in the upper balcony and watched the sun disappear over the hill. Drinks finished, snacks eaten it is time for dinner.

    Dinner at the Taverna Nionios

    We ordered a carafe of house red wine which was chilled and not nice. We asked if we could change the order for a bottle of red which they graciously did.

    Taverna Nionios in Lakka

    Time to eat something different

    I had stifado. Rabbit stifado no less. An interesting choice, and I am glad that I tried it.

    But not for me.

    Nickie had a lovely authentic (well it would be!) Moussaka. Very nice food and very good service all round – a place we will come back to time permitting.

    A word on us and desserts

    You might have noticed by now that we don’t have many desserts. We struggle between us to eat a starter and a main each to be honest, so dessert is rather unlikely. We often end up sharing a main course having had a starter each.

    This is met by restaurants with a variety of reactions – we try to do this as nicely as possible.

    And then there is the bakers in Lakka open late at night

    Yes, we buy the odd sweet thing from the bakers in Lakka of an evening.

    Which tonight was a macaroon and a very sweet but nice local cake.

    We took our snacks back to our room and ate them sitting on the balcony enjoying a Metaxa night-cap.

    Blimey – what a long and busy day – there is only one way to get over this – another day doing nothing.

    What has five days on Paxos done for us?

    I have switched off from reality pretty well now. There is of course the daily writing and my photography, but these are both things that I enjoy. If my job was doing this all the time it would hardly feel like work.

    So, 5 days in Paxos has helped us to unwind and relax and be ourselves again. This happened last time, even though we were only here for a week, which is just not long enough.

    5 days down and 10 days to go.

    And having published our planned schedule of activities yesterday there is one thing that I have not mentioned yet which I have to plan into the remaining days.

    My photography

    I have not taken my camera out of the safe yet with the exception of that post lunch walk to Arcoudarki Beach.

    And I have some sunrises to capture.

    In Gaios today I was reminded of this, and also of the fact that I have yet to work out where to takes photos of the sunrise in Gaios.

    I have worked out Loggos – that was dead simple. And for Lakka I know where I need to go – well there are a couple of possibilities to be fair.

    But Gaios is the one that I am not sure about – will this be down by the waterfront, or somewhere else? I have some work to do here before I return to Gaios. And I only have the car for two days, and one of them is for Loggos, so I have one shot at this!

    A job for tomorrow then is to research sunrise photography locations in Gaios.

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Lakka Paxos Holidays – Days 3 and 4 – The Art of Relaxing

    Lakka Paxos Holidays – Days 3 and 4 – The Art of Relaxing

    Day 3 – Sunday. Having spent a day getting to Paxos, and a day doing virtually nothing, it is time to plan to move!

    What are Lakka Paxos Holidays really like? Today I will continue the theme of resting and recovering on the Greek Island of Paxos. And I will drift into day four where I start to plan the rest of the holiday and get out of the hotel grounds for a bit doing some exploring.

    I said time to plan to move – well it is Sunday. We can’t rush these things now can we.

    A late start to day 3 for me

    I woke up at about 9.30. Nickie was up and long gone to the pool. I was clearly going to have a tired day today – I could sense it. Maybe it was the lack of food the day before – I do need my sustenance. If I don’t eat properly I can be quite pathetic.

    I woke up at 9.30 but couldn’t summon up the energy to get up till about 10 and got myself up to the pool at about 10.30 starving and tired.

    When I say up to the pool and not down to the pool remember that the pool at Hotel Bastas is unusually above the hotel at the back.

    Time for a lie down

    Next job was to lie down on a sun lounger for a bit and catch up on the amazing cricket action from the day before in England.

    Lying down was a tremendous success that I did an excellent job of. I might have forgotten to say that there are toilets below the pool which are a great place to apply sun cream in the shade. More stairs to negotiate.

    I have to tell you it is not easy being tired!!

    Lunch at the pool at Hotel Bastas

    Lunch was a delight – I had sausage on toast, which was hot dog sausages fried which I split in half and put on buttered toast with lots of ketchup. Nickie had the club sandwich, which was very nice too. Food accompanied by a large beer.

    I know – I had a beer before any food – well I am on my hols after all!

    And when I am on my hols my lunchtime beer has an inevitable effect – more sleeping!

    Time to lie down again

    After all that exertion it was time to lie down again and have a rest. I caught some more of the cricket, luxuriating in the experience of the Apple Air Pods Nickie got me for my birthday. 

    These things are truly excellent, if expensive. They work with just one ear-piece in, meaning that headphone use does not have to be completely anti-social.

    That and you can double tap the pod to stop what you are listening to, and double tap again to start listening again.

    Minimal effort which is good, especially on a day like this.

    I can wear one of these guilt-free knowing that I can converse when needed, when I am awake that is!

    My achievements today

    Today during the day, I achieved the following

    • Sleep – 12 hours
    • Sleep by the pool – 1 hour
    • Dozing – 2 hours
    • Eating – ½ hour
    • Drinking – 1 hour
    • Reading – ½ hour
    • Listening to the cricket – 4 hours (combined with the above)

    So, the cricket won today

    And this is what Paxos does to you. It makes you unwind. It makes you relax.

    It is such a lovely, laid back place that I find it impossible to do anything other than turn into a useless unproductive but ultimately relaxed sloth.

    And that is one of the things I love about Paxos, and the pool at Hotel Bastas.

    Time to move

    We left the pool early today, with a plan to get up a bit earlier in the morning. Leaving the pool early is 5pm for me. I can stay there till the sun goes down.

    There is a limit to my slothness, but I am nowhere near hitting that point yet.

    Back to the room

    Back to the room and time for a quick bit of writing on the balcony in that blistering evening heat. This is not the most productive time of the day to write, as I can barely see my iPad screen, and have to have sunglasses on as it so bright.

    So, what I do is type away pretty much blindly and accept that I will have more correcting to do than usual.

    Another problem is that when I concentrate on writing I tend to get in a zone, one where I forget that there is a can of Mythos warming up nicely on the table top that you could fry an egg on.

    Shower time.

    Have I mentioned the showers at Hotel Bastas? There is an art to not flooding the bathroom floor, and also to not having the shower curtain clinging to you. I managed to master this on day 2, much quicker than last year, or maybe the showers have improved over the course of the last year. Or maybe our room was better than last year?

    Air con is on for getting ready to head out for the evening.

    Back down to lovely Lakka

    We head off down to the water again, and this time get to the waterfront and turn right, walking the lovely waterfront to a bar called Mandi’s. They don’t do cocktails unfortunately, which was a shame, so we try the house red which was actually nice and cost a princely 5 euros.

    The setting is wonderful, sat on a table looking over the harbour of Lakka full of boats and lovely warm flat water.

    But I’m hungry

    Starving having had a sausage sandwich/ club sandwich and some crisps we walked back and took a lovely waterside table at the restaurant called Arriva. As we were so early we caught sunset at the restaurant while we were having a drink waiting for our food. I was convinced that it was going to be a stunning sunset, but it turned out to be quite a non-event. Oh well. I have mentioned this before though, so I won’t go on here.

    What did we eat?

    A basket of bread to start with. Basket means 4 slices by the way in case you were thinking of like a large basket! No photos yet of the food – I have not got into full flow yet, but they will come don’t worry!

    No starters tonight, just the bread then into the main courses.

    I will let you into a secret here. We seem to struggle with a starter and a main course each. We cannot manage to eat both, so end up either skipping starters or sharing a main.

    • Is this unusual?
    • Is this an age thing?

    We often look at the sizes of portions of food that people eat with amazement. And sometimes when we are sharing a main course we cannot even manage that.

    What did we eat – finally!

    Tonight, I had the traditional Greek dish, stifado, and Nickie had pasta with prawns in a cream sauce. All rather nice.

    An amusing thing about Paxos and the waterside tables is that there are fixing points for boats all along the waterfront, so when you are sat there one of the small RIBs from one of the big boats could appear and tie up at your table.

    This happened to us.

    An Italian couple appeared, but they moored up at the next table, got out of the boat, did a bit of shopping, came back, put the shopping in the boat then sat down to eat.

    How cool is that? Maybe next year…

    We were shattered so went back to the hotel and fell asleep with the air con on. Nickie woke up at 3am again and turned the air con off and opened the doors – I obviously did not feel the cold as I was fast asleep.

    Day 4 – Monday – time to do stuff

    Today is the day for planning stuff to do. I said planning to do stuff, not doing stuff. I need to get on with this holiday in Lakka – we have travelled a long way and there is lots to do.

    I set the alarm for 7am, got up, put the kettle on and then went back to bed and fell asleep. I got up again a little while later and we had two rather strange fruity Yorkshire teas and took coffees up to the pool, where I started writing this bit about yesterday.

    Remember the travel cups from going to the airport? This is where they were (not being dramatic here) a virtual lifesaver!

    Relaxing by the pool

    I had to plug my headphones in to block out a naughty child’s name being repeatedly shouted out by one of the parents in an otherwise completely silent pool area.

    9 am at the pool you can sit in sun or shade – it is entirely up to you. I sit in the shade to write – apart from that I am in the sun. Why travel all this way to sit in the shade?

    And now it is time to plan the rest of our holiday in Lakka

    The plans for our remaining time here are as follows

    • Today (Monday) – book stuff to do. I know that involves effort!
    • Tuesday – get the bus to Gaios in the morning
    • Wednesday – nothing
    • Thursday – Car
    • Friday – Car
    • Saturday – rest
    • Sunday – rest
    • Monday – Go to Antipaxos
    • Tuesday – whatever we want to do again
    • Wednesday – who knows
    • Thursday – nothing – last full day
    • Friday – get the early ferry back to Corfu

    Breakfast at the pool at Hotel Bastas

    We shared an excellent full English breakfast with coffee, toast and fresh orange juice – 14 euros.

    We finalised our plans and then went and did our bookings. We got the hire car from Babis at the hotel, and the boat from Sam the Olympic Holidays rep.

    The timings didn’t work out quite as planned, we got the car for the Tuesday and the Wednesday, and the boat for the Sunday.

    This is what we are going to do then

    • Day 4 – Today (Monday) – book stuff to do. I know that involves effort!
    • Day 5 – Tuesday – get the bus to Gaios in the morning
    • Day 6 – Wednesday – nothing
    • Day 7 – Thursday – no car – to be decided!
    • Day 8 – Friday – to be decided!
    • Day 9 – Saturday – rest
    • Day 10 – Sunday – Go to Antipaxos
    • Day 11 – Monday – rest
    • Day 12 – Tuesday – Car
    • Day 13 – Wednesday – Car
    • Day 14 – Thursday – nothing – last full day
    • Day 15 – Friday – get the early ferry back to Corfu

    Of course, when you are on holiday whilst it is nice to have a plan it should be too rigid other than actual bookings!

    This all worked out fine though and gives us the variety we need.

    And that essential last day of doing nothing.

    Work done it was time for the pool

    I forgot to say – the path from the pool

    Whilst ordering breakfast we found out about a path that went around the back of the bar that it turns out took you to the beach.

    After an hour of reading I went off for an explore, armed with nothing more than my phone, a 20 euro note and my t-shirt.

    I eventually made it to Arcoudaki beach (insert photo of the sign), having mistakenly wandered onto a private estate and being shouted at by a local lady, to who I apologized profusely.

    This beach was shall we say small and rocky. I went in the water up to my knees then regretted doing that as it is impossible to walk with wet flip flops, so I sat on a rock for a bit and waited for everything to dry.

    Which took about a minute.

    The beach was not deserted

    Accompanying me on the beach were too men and a woman with a golden retriever. There was nothing there at all, no bar, shops.

    No sand.

    Off I then went to the next beach, navigating using my instinct and Google Maps on my phone. I could barely see the screen in that ever so bright sunshine, but I made it there after getting lost a couple of times.

    This was a walk inland, not along toe coast in case you were wondering.

    So, this is Orkos Beach

    An interesting beach, with an eclectic mix of Italians and English upper classes – it was like something from a Hugh Grant film! And there was a house on the beach that apparently belongs to the former footballer Bruno, who used to play for some famous football teams somewhere.

    I am sure I saw him.

    There is a sign at the entrance to the house saying private house, but the number of people in there made it look more like a bar than a house – very strange and confusing.

    The beach was pebbly with no facilities but a lovely place with crystal clear waters and lovely views.

    Getting back to Hotel Bastas

    I walked back in the searing heat regretting not bringing any water. I got lost three times but made it back to the hotel in 21 minutes, not bad considering. And I didn’t offend any of the locals on the way back which was good.

    A quick dip and then a salad for lunch with Nickie, accompanied by a most welcome beer, then it was time to cool off in the pool before settling down to crack on with The Russia House, which I am reading on my Kindle. I started reading this book over Christmas and am determined to finish this in the first week so I can start a new book I have.

    And I checked my emails – it is a Monday after all

    I checked my emails, nothing urgent that needed dealing with, and then the iPad was off again until the next day. Well until I got back to the room to write this.

    Back on the balcony

    Now I am having a beer on the balcony completing this section of my daily journal, before we head off down to Lakka for cocktails and dinner. An altogether lovely way to spend a day in lovely Paxos.

    Monday night in Lakka

    We went to the bar on the waterfront for cocktails, but they didn’t have any mint, so Mojitos were off the menu. They wouldn’t have any for a week apparently – small island life! We tried their alternative, which was too sweet.

    Back to Romanticos we went, where they had the full recipe for mojitos Thankfully so all good again!

    Then it was down the road to the number 1 rated restaurant in Paxos, Paxomadi. Service was at island pace, but the starter of baked feta cheese was excellent and very filling. The house red by the carafe was nice too.

    They were clearly very busy, and possibly understaffed, so the service was hit and miss. Mains were ok – prawn saganaki and roast chicken and fries. We had the same problem with being full of starters and bread, unable to eat our main courses completely. We had a drop more wine before heading back for a night’s rest.

    I think that this eating thing is not helping with our restaurant experience!

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Paxos Greece Holidays – Part 2 Day 1 – Corfu to Paxos

    Paxos Greece Holidays – Part 2 Day 1 – Corfu to Paxos

    In the last post I described getting to Corfu from the UK.

    And now we are onto the interesting bit – Paxos Greece Holidays – Part 2 Day 1 – Corfu to Paxos. This is the bit about getting from the New Port in Corfu to Paxos, and on to the hotel. And I might get into some day 1 holidaying if I have space.

    First thing is getting on the ferry, Ilida 2

    Getting on the ferry is interesting. All the luggage is loaded on first and then stacked about 8 cases high. I am sure this is what happens at the airport, the difference is that here you can see it!

    Of course everyone is very keen to be first on the ferry to get the best seats, so everyone gets in the way of this process making it take longer.

    Once all the luggage is on people jostle for position to get on first, You show your tickets and then on you go.

    Unfortunately the Iliad 2 is a closed ferry apart from what is best described as a corridor between the enclosed parts. This is the only fresh air you can get onboard. I say fresh air as it is the only place that people can smoke!

    Inside the Ilida 2

    We had an eclectic mix of fellow passengers, a woman with a cat in a basket crying all the way (the cat not the woman), an Italian man face timing someone with volume turned up to 11 to compete with the noise of the engines. There was a woman with a dog, and a local who knew all the boat crew it seemed.

    As I said you have to sit inside on this boat, but I spent most of my time standing at the open rear door while Nickie tried to get some rest, which was virtually impossible in that blistering heat.

    The view from the back of the Ilida 2

    The back of the boat is gasper alley for the crew, and also a place for them to take a well earned break!

    You get lovely views of the island of Corfu as well as mainland Greece as the ferry speeds its way south.

    And then we arrive at Gaios

    One hour later we are in Gaios, where we are met by Babbis from the hotel, with whom we had pre-booked a pick up from the ferry. A very pleasant 15 minutes drive later, with lots of house-keeping things being sorted on the drive, and we arrive Hotel Bastos.

    Cold water is provided en route which is a very thoughtful touch.

    Back at Hotel Bastas

    Check-in takes minutes, and then we go to room 26, on the second floor at the middle of the front of the hotel. It has a lovely balcony, great for evening sun. Having stayed at Hotel Bastas the previous year we knew which room we wanted when made the booking, which was direct with the hotel this year.

    And this room was bigger than the one that we had last year, which was the corner one closest to the sea but on a corner making the room much smaller.

    Our room this year had a much larger balcony with a table and chairs.

    OK – are back at Hotel Bastas, and it feels very good to be back.

    About our room

    The rooms are not luxurious. Lets get this out of the way. The rooms are basic and a tad rustic, but are absolutely fine for a two week stay.

    There is a bathroom with a sink, loo and shower. The bathroom is compact, and there is a knack to showering without the shower curtain clinging to you!

    There is a tiny kitchenette arrangement, consisting of a fridge, sink, kettle, toaster and basic cutlery and crockery.

    Most important thing here is the fridge of course, for water and beer.

    And there is a corkscrew.

    The bedroom has a small TV – no idea what the picture is like or what channels you can get as we never turned it on. There is a nice bed, plenty of storage space and an air conditioning unit above the doors to the balcony.

    So that is the room. As we had just arrived we unpacked quickly and then headed down to Lakka to get supplies in.

    Unpacking

    We unpacked straight away, then headed down to the shops for essentials.

    The walk to Lakka sea front

    It takes a couple of minutes. Barely worth a heading. There are three shops in Lakka (that I am aware of), and we tend to drift from one to the other. The initial supplies are the essentials

    • (More) Wine
    • Beer
    • Metaxa
    • Washing up liquid
    • Crisps
    • Chocolate
    • Water
    • Milk

    These provisions are not cheap, but when you are on holiday and spending with Euros it tends not to register. The reality of the cost of living abroad hits me the first time I find that I have to go to the cash machine. And moreso the second time! When you know that you took out £250 in Euros two days ago and it has all gone is a bit of a reality check!

    Shopping done – just got to carry it back!

    Having done the initial shop it is time to get back to the room. As we always buy bottled water in packs of 6 I end up having to walk in flip flops up two floors of the hotel with 9/ 18 kgs water to weigh me down nicely.

    Not easy especially when the sun is still kicking out later afternoon rays of glorious sunshine!

    Which is why I often do a water run in the morning before the sun has risen over the hills to he east of the hotel.

    Then it is back to the room all jobs done and now it is really time to kick into holiday mode.

    We start with a quick drink on the balcony adjusting to the sweltering heat, have quick showers and the walk down to the waterfront of Lakka.

    About the waterfront at Lakka

    It is absolutely lovely. There are bars, restaurants and shops along the waterfront, and the is littered with lots and lots of lovely boats which all have lights on the top of their masts – I will come back to that at another time when I share one of my favourite photos of Lakka.

    We stopped at the Harbour Lights bar which does 2 for 1 cocktails. We each had a lovely refreshing mohito and sat there chilling out and enjoying just being together and back in Paxos.

    And now its off for dinner

    The problem we often find is where to eat? Well for our first night we chose the fish restaurant called Akis. And it was not the best meal. I think that this may have been down to your meal choice to be fair to the restaurant.

    We are not fish lovers, so why did we go to a fish restaurant? Because it looks lovely and is located in one of the best spots on the waterfront in Lakka.

    I am sure if you are a fish lover that you will have a fantastic time.

    And with that our rather long day was over. Having woken up in Bournemouth we went to sleep on Paxos.

    Day one over and time for sleep.

    The only decision to be made here was balcony doors open or closed with the air conditioning on. We went with the air-conditioning on to give us a chance the next day to get acclimated.

    And at 3am it was freezing.

    Time for plan B – doors open and air con off. 

    That worked just fine, as being on the second floor we benefitted from a gentle cooling breeze which took the edge off the heat just enough to be comfortable.

    Day 2 – Saturday – the art of doing nothing.

    10.10 we woke up naturally – no alarms required on the first full day on Paxos. 

    We had a meeting planned for 10.30 to book all the things that we wanted to do -we didn’t make that of course.

    Instead we drank tea and came round slowly. Talking of tea, the Yorkshire Tea we brought from home had a funny taste to it. It was called Breaktime tea – not Breafast tea. It turns out this tea has flavors of orange and lemon, not that great but better than nothing. Why would you do that to a decent tea?

    We got up so late we didn’t bother with breakfast –we just got ourselves sorted and shuffled off to the pool.

    The pool at Hotel Bastas

    Hotel Bastas has a great pool. It is located above the hotel to the back nestled nicely in the side of the hill. You are serenaded all day by the sound of crickets, which helps to mask the noisy people.

    I have even written a post all about hotels with pools on Paxos so inspired was I.

    Armed with sun cream, water and Kindles we clamboured up the steps and over the bridge to the pool which was nice and quiet.

    Brunch consisted of a Greek pizza and a tuna salad, washed down with a couple of beers.

    The rest of the day was devoted to day one holiday essentials

    • Lying down
    • Cooling down in the pool
    • Reading
    • Listening to the cricket
    • Dozing
    • Recovering
    • Slow beer drinking late afternoon

    And now it is time to rejoin the human race!

    After showers it was back down for some cocktails. This time we went to the bar called Romantica, where I had a Bloody Mary and Nickie had a Mohito. Our bar of choice – Romantica.

    This bar is right on the waterfront, well there is the path in front of it but you are looking directly at the sea. And even better this bar has an upstairs balcony, which is great for catching the sunset which takes place over to the left behind the hills.

    There are three hire boats moored directly opposite the bar – more on those later on in another post.

    And the staff are really friendly and helpful so all in all our favourite place for drinks, which are always served with a bowl of crisps.

    Are the sunsets any good in Lakka?

    No not really is the brutally honest answer. Well that is me speaking as a professional photographer here.

    It is all to do with the topography. Lakka is obviously down at sea level and surrounded by hills on three sides. This tends to take the edge off sunrise and sunset – you don’t get that bit where the sun and the horizon meet, which is where the magic happens.

    I will be writing plenty more about photographing the sunrises on Paxos in other posts, as well as sharing some of my sunrise photos taken oat other locations on the island.

    I am more of a sunrise photographer than a sunset one – sunset impinges on a more sociable time.

    But sitting on the balcony at Romantica sipping a mojito with my gorgeous wife is an absolute joy – such a lovely time.

    Time for snacks

    So nice we had another round of cocktails before getting some food from the bakery and eating on the balcony drinking Metaxa and taking it easy.

    There is a lovely bakery in Lakka right down in the centre of the town. I say town – it is more like a village than a town.

    The lady who served us barely spoke to us the first night, but don’t worry we broke her and she ended up being lovely to us on return visits!

    We always try the local food in local bakers – there are some lovely local foods that you can get such as spinach pies and cheese pies.

    I am not a sweets person but I did enjoy some of the takeaway sweet stuff that we had.

    Supper on the balcony

    The evening temperature was still pretty hot but sat there and enjoyed our snacks and Metaxa before turning in for the night. What did we have planned for tomorrow?

    Nothing.

    The same as today. Only more of it!

    This is how we roll!!

    A word about the climate in Paxos.

    I wanted to mention here the climate in Paxos in August, and also the environment in and around Hotel Bastas. I hace actually written a separate post titled When Is The Best Time To Visit Paxos? which tells you more about this.

    Our room was on the front of the hotel. In the morning it is in the shade, and a lovely place to sit and have morning coffee. As long as the neighbors aren’t chugging away on gaspers that is. Next door had three cigarettes in half an hour which was pleasant for us.

    So, the mornings are lovely and cool in our room in the morning. At some unknown time the sun works it way round to the front of the hotel. I say unknown time as who in their right mind would be n their room on a Greek Island around noon?

    When we get back to the room there is one decision to be made – in with the air -on or out on the balcony in the blistering evening sun. I go for out in the blistering sun every time.

    And that is one of the two places where I wrote this diary of our holiday. Everday I would sit down for half an hour and write about what we had done that day using my iPad. 

    My writing table in the morning

    I did this with a beer of course – the only problems I had were

    • Sweat running in my eyes
    • My fingers getting sticky with sweat
    • The sun being so bright I could not actually see anything on my iPad
    • My beer getting warm much too quickly

    Problems, problems I know.

    Why was I writing when I was on holiday?

    I knew I was going to be creating this website, and wanted to capture everything that we did on a day-to-day basis. This would save me time later and also mean that I did not forget anything. 

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Paxos Holidays – Part 1 Day 1 – Getting To Paxos From The UK

    Paxos Holidays – Part 1 Day 1 – Getting To Paxos From The UK

    What’s is really like getting to Paxos? Well last time we went to Paxos I wrote a daily diary.

    Paxos Holidays – Part 1 Day 1 – Getting To Corfu From The UK. This is the beginning of journey. In this post I will tell you all about getting to Corfu from the UK, which is the first leg of the journey. In the next post I take you from Corfu to Paxos.

    How we are getting to Paxos?

    We were flying from Bournemouth Airport to Corfu, and then had to get across to the port to catch the ferry from Corfu to Paxos. You can read all about how to get to Paxos in a separate post.

    Getting up in the morning – early in the morning that is

    The alarm was set for 3.30am. That was a bit of a shock. It’s funny how things work out. A relaxing two weeks in the sunshine on the wonderful Greek Island of Paxos starts with getting up at 3.30am on a Friday morning!

    Yes it’s a Friday morning! But whilst it might be an early start it is for the best of reasons!

    All we had time for was to grunt good morning to each other, drink a cup of tea (how very English I know), get up, finish packing and make coffees for the drive to the airport. Oh yes and get dressed.

    Always a tricky one that – what to wear flying from the UK to a much warmer place? I went for shorts and t-shirt – dress how I intend to arrive. Flip flops are a bit too much for me though, especially sat in the back of a taxi at 4.30am.

    Side point here (there will be lots of these) – the travel cups will turn out to be a genius addition to our packing.

    Getting to the Bournemouth Airport

    Our taxi was booked for 4.30am. At that time of day it is a 20-minute drive from home to the airport, which is to be perfectly honest luxury!

    The driver was wide awake happy and chatty but realised quite quickly into our journey that we were not in chatting mood so left us to it which was nice of him. We use Airport Cars who are very good.

    It was the first time I had gone from home in Poole to Bournemouth Airport via Wimborne, but we still got there in less than 20 minutes which is great. And a shortcut for me to remember the next time I have the misfortune to be queueing on the A31!

    Bournemouth Airport

    Bournemouth Airport is tiny, which is great. I love how they call it Bournemouth International Airport, as though we would not get the International bit, it being an airport and all that! They may have dropped the international bit from the name thinking about it.

    Checking in at Bournemouth Airport

    We did not have seats booked this time but managed to get two seats together at what appeared to be the back of the plane. This could be a good or a bad thing. And there is the unknown in all of this – what will the people around us be like??

    I put the bags on the scales, and not an eye was raised when both our bags weighed 23.1kgs which was good. Very good. At other airports this has been a problem causing the usual farce of re-packing heavy stuff from the main hold luggage into the hand luggage.

    I have never understood the point of this – this stuff is all going on the same plane after all! In the past I have even resorted to putting a lens in my coat pocket, and of also hanging my camera around my neck to “reduce the weight”!

    The joys of Airport security

    Check in queues are much less than at Gatwick, and once checked in the walk to security is, basically, a walk to the other side to the other side of the room! Next is the hand luggage through the X-Ray machine, which for the first time in a long time I was not stopped at.

    I normally get stopped at security. It might be my face.

    Or the fact that I have a Canon 6D with lenses and batteries, possibly a dive computer and also my iPad and iPhone. I think that this heady combination of electrical stuff sends the scanning machine into overdrive!

    We were stood waiting for our plastic trays with our stuff in – there was no sign of them which is always a slight concern!. We saw them on the opposite side of where we were stood and thought that they had been selected for invasive investigation – turns out there are two X-ray machines and out stuff went through the other one for some reason.

    Panic over, and no need to empty and repack my hand luggage, which by the way is my Peak Design Everyday Backpack. You will come across this again in future posts.

    And so, the holiday begins!

    Some say that their holiday begins when they put the luggage on the conveyor belt and watch it magically disappear to be miraculously reunited with you in another country.

    For me personally the holiday begins once I have got through security.

    Duty Free at Bournemouth Airport

    I find myself virtually getting dressed again as we walk through the duty-free shop, with my phone, wallet, watch and small change shoved in an alien pocket for the X-Ray machine whilst I struggle to get my belt on.

    Ok once my belt is on now I can begin my holiday.

    And then we are in Duty Free. Well sort of Duty Free. It has never been the same since we joined the EU – Brexit should fix this. There I have found the one positive in Brexit – we will be able to buy duty free cigarettes for our break in the sunshine. Not that any of us smoke any more that is…

    Does anyone remember smoking seats on planes? Seems absolutely ridiculous that not that long ago you could smoke on a flight.

    Another recent change at airports is the duty-free shop. Have you noticed how at airports these days once you get through security you are straight into the longest meandering shops on the planet which you have to walk through to get to the bar for that traditionally inappropriate early morning pint.

    And on to the restaurant

    Having made it through the extended hike that is the shop we went to the restaurant – yes there is only one – and found a seat in a quiet corner – perfect. That is the quiet corner where the family with loud kids appear and sit either side of us.

    Not that I have anything else against families and small children – I was small once and also a child. It is just that they are rather loud at that time in the morning. Perhaps there should be a child free area, or even an over 50s area, or even better an area where passengers are invited to be quiet.

    In the lounge we go to at Gatwick there is a room called the Library – and guess what? I had to ask to American gentlemen to be quiet as they were talking at full volume in there.

    For you youngsters reading this take note – this is what you have to look forward to!

    And now it is time to eat

    It is 5.15 am – time for a drink and breakfast.

    Filter coffee x 2 and one full English breakfast – £14. Not too bad to be fair. And no, I did not have a pint – I am getting a bit old for that!

    On to the food. The first offering consisted of one overdone egg, one underdone egg and bacon that looked like it had been poached.

    So that unfortunately went back, and the second attempt arrived some time later which was ok. And then we tried scrambled eggs on toast, which was not great.

    The important stuff – drinks!

    The next job is buying drinks for arrival – wine and a bottle of champagne for our wedding anniversary which we celebrated on holiday.

    And then the inevitable final mandatory call in the airport shopping experience – WH Smith. Such a great shop, and the only time I ever buy a newspaper, which I inevitably don’t get around to reading, along with the free bottle of water and the last-minute panic buys. You know the stuff you can’t get at your destination like mints and crisps. And of course, the contingency sandwich.

    And at this point all that careful planning of the contents of the carry-on luggage are compromised by a plastic bag from WH Smith.

    Finally, it is time to get on the plane

    After all that it is time to check in – this is one of those funny things about Bournemouth airport – the same lady who checked us and our luggage in and issued our boarding cards has now been redeployed to gate check-in duties. After that no doubt she will refuel the building, fix the roof and check the ticket machines in the car parks before nipping off to Asda to get more supplies in for breakfast.

    Which reminds me of something that has bothered me for some time – why Bournemouth Airport do you charge £2.50 just for people to enter the car park?

    Sorry back to check-in

    The lady who checked us in was miserable and grumpy, but very efficient with no irreverent back chat – enjoy your holiday etc – I like that.

    I wish more service staff were honestly as grumpy as they felt, which is much better than showing false interest in where you are going etc.

    The lady who checked us in did not wish us a wonderful flight – I have no doubt she did not give a stuff if we had a nice time or not, so no pretence from her – just efficient misery. And good on her.

    Maybe this is because I am a grumpy git, or just that I hate fake niceness.

    And finally, it is time to get on the plane.

    I love this bit. Yes, I have done this many, many times but I still love getting on a plane.

    And the plane is a lovely shiny new Boeing 737-800. And yes, we are sat right at the back of the place. The chap sat next to us doesn’t look like he has any intention of communicating with us in any way at all – not even a grunt of acknowledgement.

    But this of course is fine!

    Overhead lockers

    Why are the overhead lockers packed with flight stuff? Surely the overhead lockers are for us, not for stuff for the plane?

    Not for the first time all the overhead lockers were full, so I had to give my bag of drinks to the cabin crew who put is somewhere to give me a challenge on arrival to find.

    Take-off time

    Sitting at the back of the plane is very noisy as it turns out. You feel everything.

    Not the best place to sit, but we took off and enjoyed the views of Poole Harbour, Brownsea Island and Sandbanks. And then we were in cloud.

    Beer’o’clock?

    We took off at 7am, which if I switched my watch to Greek time made it 9am – is this too early for a beer?

    Why do we think it is acceptable to have a beer at 7/ 9am when we are going on our holidays? It is a strange phenomenon. If I had a day off and started cruising for Heineken at 9am I would be most concerned.

    But stick us in an airport and the rules change.

    For the record I managed to hold on till 9am UK time, which is 11m Greek time which is just fine!

    Shopping on the plane

    On the flight we bought some inevitable product, and I treated myself to a new watch. It is a Citizen watch which is pretty cool and there was 20% off the already discounted in flight price. So they say.

    Last year I bought a pair of Superdry sunglasses, probably just because they were on offer. They were hideous to be honest, and the day they snapped in half across the nose-bridge was a good day!

    I spent the entire flight with my Peak Design Everyday Backpack between my knees and the lady sat in front of me decided to recline her seat leaving us virtually no room. But thankfully it is a short flight.

    We don’t eat on the plane, as we know that we have a wait at the port for our ferry so our next meal will be probably be chicken gyros on Corfu!

    The rest of the flight passes peacefully, and then we land. It is only a three-hour flight from Bournemouth to Corfu. Landing is a bit bumpy at the back of the plane, but we are down safely.

    And now I have to find my hand luggage. The bag with the drinks in, not my camera bag. My camera stays with me at all times.

    Arriving at Corfu Airport

    We get off the plane and get hit by that wonderful heat. And the smell of the air in a foreign country. There is no feeling like this, and such a wonderful thing to experience.

    And that bright Greek sunshine of course!

    We have arrived at our first destination, Corfu. And it is so good to be back.

    Corfu International Airport

    Some airports can be a nightmare. Corfu thankfully is not one of them. Certainly not arrivals which is very slick and hassle free.

    We glide through passport control nice and quick and then wait for our luggage. The bags are out pretty much straight away. I have to be honest here though – I was stood at the wrong carousel to start with but don’t tell anyone. I think my wife might be aware of this though…..

    The trouble with being English

    I did a very English thing and followed other people from our flight to the wrong carousel. Strangely a member of airport staff came and told me that I was at the wrong carousel -– how did she know that?

    And we are away.

    Getting to the New Port from Corfu Airport

    Out of departures and straight across from the exit to the left is the taxi rank. We got a taxi straight away to the New Port, which costs us €15. We made the mistake of not asking how much beforehand which was disappointingly naïve.

    But it turns out it is a fixed fare anyway so not a problem this time. 20 minutes later and we are the New Port.

    We picked up the tickets from the agent across the road from the port, and at 1pm local time sat down at the bar with a nice two hour wait for our ferry at 3pm.

    This is why we did not eat on the plane!

    TIme to eat and drink at Corfu New Port

    It does seem bizarre after all that activity suddenly stopping, having time to sit down and relax in the Greek sunshine. Not that long ago we were in Bournemouth, and not that much longer ago we were at home.

    Chicken gyros at Sette Venti – very nice!

    A few beers and an excellent chicken gyros gave us sustenance before we got on the boat for Paxos called the Iliad 2. I went to check if our boat was in, reported back to Nickie that it wasn’t. And then she went and had a look and the boat that I had said wasn’t ours actually was.

    I would have noticed at some point…

    And with that I will sign off for now – in the next post I will describe the second part of the journey, from Corfu to Paxos.

    Check out the video that accompanies this post

    I have recorded a video titled “Paxos Holidays – Part 1 Day 1 – Getting To Paxos From The UK” which you can find on my Paxos Travel Guide You Tube channel which accompanies this post.

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Paxos Car Rental – Everything You Need To Know

    Paxos Car Rental – Everything You Need To Know

    Renting a car on Paxos is relatively easy and is a great way to independently explore this wonderful Greek Island.

    Paxos car rental – everything you need to know – that is what this post is about and nothing else. In this post I will tell how to rent a car, where from, how much it will cost, what kind of car you might get and what you need to bring with you when you are renting a car. Also, what it is like driving a car on Paxos. And lots of other helpful good stuff all based on my actual experiences driving in Paxos.

    What is it like driving on Paxos?

    I did this on my last trip to Paxos and had a great time driving round the island getting to those less than obvious places all by myself. Driving around Driving on Paxos is just fine – nothing to worry about. The roads are fine and driving is generally a pleasant experience.

    Just make sure that you are fully aware of things around you – Paxos is such a relaxing place you do need to make sure you are aware enough to drive!

    How big is the island of Paxos?

    Not big. You can get from Lakka at the top of the island to Mongonissi at the foot of the island in less than half an hour. Time depends entirely on other traffic, stopping along the way and getting lost.

    Yes, on an island so small it is still possible to get lost. I managed to more than once. Look at the road map and you might wonder how this is possible!

    And I did not make a single trip without stopping somewhere along the way to look at something of interest.

    A word on Sat Navs

    If you have a Sat Nav it would not be a bad idea to take it with you. If you are relying on the Sat Nav on your mobile phone you will run into problems on the edges of the island, where the signal just disappears.

    This is part of the reason I got lost, trying to find places. Well it can’t be my fault can it?

    And yes I know the island is small but it really will help you.

    Which side of the road will I drive on?

    The right. Which is alien to me used to driving on the left. But you soon get used to it.

    I had to give myself the odd reminder though!

    What is the speed limit on Paxos?

    I believe that the speed limit is 50kmh all over Paxos, although I really do not remember seeing a speed limit sign anywhere. This is the national speed limit in Greece for built up and urban areas.

    And no there are no motorways!

    What are the roads like?

    Not bad at all. They could do with a little bit of work, but the condition in general terms is pretty good. They are no worse than minor roads in England. To be fair there are bits of the A27 that are in much worse condition!

    One word of warning – be careful when going down the steep hills to the coast. I drove down to Erimitis Bay Beach and struggled to get back up the hill – when I say struggled I really struggled, nearly burning out the clutch. The problem was that my Peugeot 108 could not deliver enough power to the wheels to get up the steep hill!!

    Where can I hire a car on Paxos?

    Lots of places. Every town has car hire companies, and many of the hotels hire cars as well. I hired my car from Hotel Bastas for two days, which cost me around €50.

    Here are the main hire car companies on Paxos

    Lakka

    Routsis Rent A Car – https://www.routsis-holidays.com/web/index.php/art/129/0/677/Car-Hire.html

    Loggos

    Loggos Car Rentals – https://www.facebook.com/Loggos-Car-Rentals-380727272410459/

    Gaios

    Ionian Rent a Car / Scooter / Quad bike Spiros Grammatikos –https://www.paxosrentacars.com

    Green Motion Paxos Gaios Downtown – https://greenmotion.com/car-hire/greece/paxos-gaios-downtown

    Alfa Car Hire Paxos – https://www.alfacarhirepaxos.com

    Cars can be hired from many other places around the island, including from hotels and tour operators, and can be booked online in advance.

    Make sure that there is a car available when you want it

    A quick tip here – make sure that you book your car in advance – whilst demand is pretty low supply of hire cars is equally low so don’t get to the end of your holiday and decide you want to hire a car only to find you can’t get one. I suggest you book a car early on in your stay so you know it is sorted.

    The same applies to boats!

    What documents do I need to hire a car?

    All I needed to produce was my full UK driving license and a credit card for just in case. As I hired the car from the hotel they had already seen my passport.

    You need to have your driving license, passport and proof of insurance/ hire agreement with you when driving at all times though.

    And this is what the RAC say about driving licenses

    National driving licences conforming with the model in Annex 9 of the 1949 Convention or in Annex 6 of the 1968 Convention or with the European Communities’ model are accepted.

    Obviously this applies at the time of writing this post in January 2019!

    How old do I need to be to hire a car?

    You need to be a minimum age of 18 to hire a car on Paxos. There may be restrictions for younger drivers which did not apply to me of course being quite old.

    Is there anything else I need to have with me when driving on Paxos?

    ou should have a warning triangle and fire extinguisher when driving a car anywhere in Greece – see then end of this post for a piece of invaluable information about the police presence on Paxos!

    How much does car rental cost?

    The cheapest car rental I found online was €12 per day. This was with Auto Europe https://www.autoeurope.co.uk/car-hire-paros/

    What kind of cars are available?

    Small hatchback cars are the norm on Paxos. I drove a Peugeot 108 which was fine (most of the time).

    Here is a photo of it. With my shadow.

    How much does fuel cost?

    The cost of fuel in Greece has reduced quite a lot on general terms. The current price is circa €1.50 per litre, but you can expect to pay more than that on Paxos.

    Where are the petrol stations?

    Obviously being a small island there are not that many petrol stations.

    Two actually!

    is The Shell petrol station on the road to Lakka from Gaios – it is just south of the junction where the two roads out of Gaios meet on the way to Lakka.

    The other petrol station, the BP one is located on the road going south from Gaios down to the bottom of the island – not the coast road but the other one.

    Here is a map which will explain things more clearly.

    Location of petrol stations on Paxos
    Location of petrol stations on Paxos

    At the Shell station you don’t fill up yourself – it is done for you, which is always nice. And I can’t vouch for the BP station as I only fuelled up once. Well I would for three days on such a small island!

    Do I have to pay for parking?

    The only car park I found where I had to pay for parking was at the car park at the supermarket in Gaios – Paxos Market – this it turns out is the “public” car park in Gaios. At most places the parking is rather informal, and I never once saw any form of parking enforcement.

    What are other drivers like?

    This is the interesting bit. Let me put this diplomatically. You can tell the local drivers from the tourist drivers. And I was clearly a tourist driver.

    And it can get a bit interesting when there is a bus or large wagon coming the other way!

    Any places to avoid?

    Be careful with the steep roads down to the beach as I said before. And the other interesting thing is driving along the seafront in Loggos – if the bus is coming the other way best wait for it to go past as it is a bit tight! You really need to see this to believe it.

    I seriously regret not taking a video of this spectacle!

    A quick word about the police presence on Paxos.

    There are two policemen on the island – I know I have seen them both together!

    Check out the video that accompanies this post

    I have recorded a video titled “Paxos Car Rental – Everything You Need To Know” which you can find on my Paxos Travel Guide You Tube channel which accompanies this post.

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy

  • Should I drive a hire boat to Antipaxos from Paxos?

    Should I drive a hire boat to Antipaxos from Paxos?

    OK. You have made it all the way to Paxos, or maybe mainland Greece. That was enough travelling wasn’t it? No, there is more. Antipaxos. But how to get there?

    Should I drive a hire boat to Antipaxos from Paxos? Sure, why not. And in this post I will tell you why. Antipaxos is a very small Greek Island with lovely sandy beaches and crystal-clear aquamarine water which you would expect to see in much more exotic locations. And why not drive the boat there yourself? We did. Read on!

    Map of Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos from Lightroom Mobile
    This is a picture of lovely Vrika Beach on the stunning island of Antipaxos in Greece. Paxos Travel Guide by Rick McEvoy

    Where can you get to Antipaxos from?

    You can get a taxi boat to Antipaxos from the three main towns in Paxos which are Gaios, Loggos and Lakka.

    You can also join trips organised by tour operators that take in Parga as well from mainland Corfu.

    But most people take a boat in the morning from Gaios, the capital of Paxos, and return late afternoon.

    How did we get to Antipaxos?

    Our first taste of Antipaxos was on an organised trip with Olympic Holidays. And it was a day trip that first took us to Paxos, from a holiday in Corfu at a TUI hotel.

    This is why I don’t turn my nose up at tour operator excursions – they can be a great way to experience a place for the first time without any hassle – all the organising is done for you.

    And once you have enjoyed your organised trip you can always sort your own trip out the next time you want to go somewhere.

    Ok – we have done the organised day trip – what next?

    When we booked to return to Paxos the number one thing on my list was to hire a boat and drive it to Paxos. Do you drive a boat? Or sail it?

    And that is what we did

    Where can you hire a boat from?

    We were staying in Lakka, so that is where we hired our boat from. I didn’t want to have to get to Loggos of Gaios to pick up a boat, I wanted to be able to wander down to the harbour in Lakka in the morning, get a boat and head off.

    I am sure there are endless other places where you can hire a boat from in Loggos and Gaios – just pop on the internet or walk around the harbours and you will see the boats for hire.

    We hired a boat through our very nice and helpful Olympic Holidays rep Sam. One of Sam’s offices was the pool bar at Hotel Bastas where we were staying.

    You can hire boats from

    Nikos Lakka boat hire –  tel 0030 6976326165 (this is who we got our boat from).

    Christos Boat hire Lakka

    What are the boats like?

    This is our boat. It was moored in front of our favourite cocktail bar Romantica. L. Diana 765. I kid you not.

    Small but functional.

    How much does it cost to take a boat from Lakka to Antipaxos?

    The price varied massively depending on who you asked. We were asked what size engine we wanted, 2 stroke or 4 stroke? It has an impact on how much fuel you use apparently.

    I just wanted a boat to be honest. I didn’t really care – I just wanted a boat that would get us round the island, to Antipaxos and back.

    So, we got out boat through Sam for the excellent price of 60 euros. When you return with the boat (assuming that you do of course!) you pay for the actual fuel used, which is fair enough,

    We used 45 euros of fuel on our epic boat trip. So, 105 euros for the most excellent of days.

    I have to be honest the engine sounded like it had seen better days, but it got us there all fine. After a very brief induction on how the boat works (engine on and engine off) we were left to our own devices.

    Is it safe taking a hire boat from Paxos to Antipaxos?

    If you are not comfortable taking a boat out of the harbour and around the island, then don’t. If you are happy then carry on.

    Take advice from the boat hirer about the weather conditions. Obviously, the weather in Paxos is pretty settled but there are stormy days. Strong winds can make the trip very uncomfortable, especially the crossing from Paxos to Antipaxos.

    Take advice from those who know and follow it – this is very very important.

    How long does it take?

    It depends how many times you stop on the way, but I reckon you can get to Antipaxos from Lakka in 1 – 1 ½ hours. I don’t really know to be honest. It didn’t matter. We just knew we had to be back in Lakka at 5.30pm. Ish.

    What was the crossing like between the islands?

    A bit bumpy but fine. You just have to be sensible and be aware of the height and direction of the waves. The basic principle I follow is to get the ride as smooth as possible by varying my direction and speed until the boat is in harmony with the sea.

    Where did we go on Antipaxos?

    The first beach you come across is Vrika Beach. If you have never been to Antipaxos just go there. It has everything you will need for an afternoon.

    The next beach is called Mesovikra Beach. This is a pebbly beach with nowhere for boats to anchor and nothing to do! It is a lovely site that you go past on your way to the next beach.

    And the next beach, the third beach, is called Voutoumi Beach. This is the other beach where you can do stuff and get something to eat.

    On a day trip you won’t get much further than these beaches to be honest. Next time I am going to get a bigger boat and get around Antipaxos.

    How did we get to shore?

    Ok. This was an interesting bit. I will be writing a full post about our day on the boat, but this is what I ended up doing.

    I dropped Nickie off where the ferry drops off and picks up day trippers. It was an immaculate manoeuvre. And then I went and anchored the boat, swam back to the island and went straight for a beer.

    Living the dream eh?

    Well that is not quite the full story, but I will leave it there for now….

    What is there to do on Antipaxos?

    Eat, drink, swim, sunbathe. Relax. Chill. Take it easy. That is all I have ever done on Antipaxos.

    Oh yes, and fret about the boat!!!

    Can you stay on Antipaxos?

    Apparently, you can, but this is all about getting a boat there and back in the day.

    Can I fly to Antipaxos?

    Erm no. You can’t fly yo Paxos, let alone Antipaxos.

    Do famous people visit Antipaxos?

    Yes. This is the list of celebrities that have been spotted visiting Antipaxos

    Well OK there are rumours…

    Is there anywhere to eat on Antipaxos?

    Yep – on Vrika Beach you can eat lovely food at Taverna Spiros. That’s what we did. Talking of which.

    I left my t-shirt at the restaurant and got it back – a true story!

    I had faffed around with the boat, swam to shore, got to the bar to meet Nickie who had a cold beer waiting for me. I downed the beer and having stared at the boat for the length of time it took me to have my drink I managed to convince myself that that the anchor was not secure.

    I decided to go back and check it. I left the bags with Nickie, checked the boat (which was absolutely fine by the way), and long story short when we got off the boat at Mongonissi I asked if Nicke had my t-shirt. Turns out I had left it at Taverna Spiros.

    But I was reunited with it the next day in Gaios. Check out the full account of this top day at at the full length post Paxos Boat Hire – Do Your Own Trip From Paxos To Antipaxos.

    Check out the video that accompanies this post

    I have recorded a video “Should I drive a hire boat from Paxos to Antipaxos? Paxos Travel Guide Video 5” which you can find on my Paxos Travel Guide You Tube channel which accompanies this post.

    Summary

    If you are on Paxos, go to Antipaxos if you like a day trip out on a boat and a few hours somewhere different with a lovely lovey beach and those famous crystal-clear aquamarine waters.

    I have been there twice and loved it more the second time than the first.

    And if you are up to the challenge get a boat and get over there under your own steam (ok two stroke engine).

    Want to know more about Paxos?

    I hope that you have found this post helpful, informative and even a little bit entertaining! To find out more about my favourite, wonderful Greek island all you need to do is click here and I will take you straight back to the start of my Paxos blog. Nice and easy!

    Oh yes, I hope that you enjoy the next post.

    Rick McEvoy