A Holiday Tradition Fufilled

As you know, one of Darrell's most sacrosanct of holiday traditions, no matter what beach we are on, abroad or at home, is his quest to find a holey stone .......

....... or to be honest, let a holey stone find him, as a sign that we are being watched over by those loved ones who are no longer with us.

So, on a beach entirely made up of millions upon millions of stones Darrell thought this would be an absolute no brainer .......

....... however on an walking up and down the beach over several afternoons, eyes firmly fixed on the sand, he started to feel quite despondent, perhaps our loved ones had deserted us, displeased with this years holiday choice??!!

After a day or so I think he became almost resigned to not finding one. If he spotted anything that even vaguely resembled a hole, it was quickly discarded when he found that said hole didn't actually go all the way through. "The geology of the indigenous rock just isn't conducive to the formation of holes!"  he sighed.

Then, almost on the cusp of thinking he/we might have to return home, with a black cloud hanging over us, a little bit cursed, not having a stone to pop in our suitcase ........

...... there it was, a mere foot or two from the sunbed he'd been lying for most of our holiday.......

...... and what a beauty! Whether he found it or it found him was suddenly immaterial, this one was truly special, as it was probably one of the only holey stones on a beach almost bereft of holey stones ......

"A stone," he said "that looked almost like it was made to be worn!" 

A precious treasure, we are truly being watched over, even if, this year, we/they didn't get the hotel quite right!

A Trip To Argostoli

When there's an opportunity to explore the capital of Kefalonia, Argostoli with "Unexplored" .......

..... it would just look plain rude not to get ourselves booked in .......

..... particularly when given a 90% guarantee of seeing real life, turtles in their natural habitat. 

It was an absolute no brainer and pleasure to board one of Unexplored's very lovely, air conditioned mini buses ........

..... especially when within a few minutes of our arrival as we were rewarded with not one, but three said ninja turtles (that were probably more than teenagers, but definitely not mutant), if only fleetingly .......

..... as they swam off, once they'd had their fill of entrails, thrown into the water from the fishing boats, as their catch was prepared to be sold.

It was all very romantic and emotional!

From there, we moved to the main part of town where we visited it's two churches, which again, did not disappoint.

They were both very beautiful, one of which was the only Catholic church in the area, which was very interesting ........

......... and where we were able to light candles in memory of every one of our loved ones, who we are no longer able to send a postcard or take a fridge magnet back home for.

Fortunately, Darrell had had the foresight to put aside all our loose euro coins specifically for such a purpose, so no one was missed out.

Again, it was an emotional experience ........

....... as we really do, very much, love a Greek church and as such, visiting has always been an obligatory and traditional part of all our oddities. 

And then, just after we left and walked a little way, we stumbled upon something we'd have never ever dreamed of finding .......

We're not sure what it's actually called, (Mr D?), but it's a special shop that sells everything you could ever want for "decorating", if that's the right word, a loved ones grave .......

..... from icons, statues, artificial flowers, lamps, candles and vases, you name it.  It was like a religious Aladdin's cave, of which we were totally enthralled and in awe, but of a very respectful and contained type nature.

We don't really do this sort of thing back home, but perhaps our own affinity shows with such things is reflected, perhaps, in the lanterns we always light and leave out over Christmas.  

I suppose it goes without saying that we did make a purchase or two. Darrell bought himself a small, glow in the dark Virgin Mary (to go with his Mary collection) and a pomegranate shaped tea light holder and I bought a Mary charm to hang up somewhere at home, to be decided, but what an incredible discovery!

Then it was back into the glorious, bright sunshine to peruse some of the more traditional holiday souvenirs ......

.... although on this occasion, a cow bell didn't make the cut, even though it said Iris on the label!

 It was all very, beautiful ......

..... but soon it was time to get back into our bus to pay our respects at the Memorial Acqui Division, again more time for thought, which made us regret that we hadn't found time to visit the town's museum to find out more.

Memorial Acqui Division Kefalonia - Argostoli - TracesOfWar.com

Our final port of call was the Lefkada Lighthouse ........

....... where the setting was truly stunning.......

....... and afforded us a little time for companionable, silent reflection ......

...... before heading back to Skala.

It had been quite a day .......

...... with sooooooooooo many memories made ....... 

....... including a visit a traditional bakery, where our substantial purchases didn't last long enough for us to record them, so fabulously nomtastic were they. 

What are we like? If not always very appreciative of any sort of exotic baked item, happy days!

OMG, We Just Love An Exotic Supermarket In Foreign Climes!

It goes without saying that we absolutely love an exotic supermarket in foreign climes .......

....... and here in Kefalonia it's no different, if perhaps the establishments are a little smaller and more tightly packed than in past oddities! 

We're always inextricably drawn to the biscuit aisle first, not just because a lot of the different names make us titter ......  who doesn't love tucking into a "Krit" 

...... but they are also a wonderful treat to take home with us for our elevenses, especially when the summer draws to a close, (if they last that long), evoking memories of much warmer days, cloudless blue skies and bouzouki music filling the air! 

Greece is always the place to find a bounteous supply of tomato ketchup flavour Lays, our beach snack go to. However, we've learnt the hard way that they are not always the best thing to take home, as the bags tend to explode under the pressure of the hold in the plane!  Thank goodness for Darrell's bag sealer on our return to help retain their freshness for a little longer!  What are we like?

This year Darrell has found and duly purchased a packet mix to make loukoumades, our forever Greek dessert of choice. He was like a dog who had two tails and had found a large stick, a ball and a two bones, when he happened across said packet in an erstwhile unexplored corner of one shop.  He's promised that he'll experiment with them as best he can when we get home, but they might not be as good as the ones we've managed to chow through over the years in Greece.

And then, to top it all, where else would you find Marmite, our savoury spread of choice sat sitting, right next to the Loukoumia, Greek Turkish Delight?

Happy, happy, happy days with several considered purchases to check out, at the till, on every visit ...... not to mention a FREE carrier bag!!  

Kleptomaniac Pie

The opportunity to dine out every night while on holiday, a la Grecque, is just too glorious for words. It gives Darrell time out from the pots and pans, plus the opportunity to try out new dishes, that he occasionally researches to add to his already enormous repertoire at home!

...... and this year, we've got a definite winner, in what we've been affectionately calling Kleptomaniac Pie, to wit Kefalonian Meat Pie, which according to Darrell is to die for.

So much so that, so far, he's has ordered it four times already, each a little bit different to the restaurants he's had it in, but he says he just can't get enough.  He's promised me that he will spread his culinary net a little wider .........

........ but as it's a savoury, delicacy unique to the island, unless we make a concerted effort to return, when will he be able to indulge to his hearts content again?   

Let's just say he's making the most of it!  What is he like?

Kefalonian Meat Pie - Amazingkefalonia.com

A Mysterious Ringing In Our Lugholes!

For the last couple days Darrell has been saying that he's been woken up by a strange sort of ringing in his ears, wondering if he ought to try and get them syringed at the local pharmacy up the road, thinking that perhaps he's some sea water in them.  

But then, yesterday, I was also woken up by my own ears ringing and trust me, I never go in the sea above my waist, so I knew mine couldn't be down to any briney type activity.

We wondered if it was a windchime, but then, windchimes don't switch themselves on and off. It was all a bit of a mystery, but thankfully, my bearing witness to said ringing, did save Darrell from any sort of unfortunate invasive aural intervention!

Anyways up, when we got back from the beach this evening, we heard it again, as clear as day, both very definitely simultaneously, at the same time, in all four of our ears .......

........ and it seemed to be getting, spookily, closer and closer ...... and then, from our balcony, Darrell caught a glimpse, which quickly turned into a whole swarm of real life, Greek goats flooding down from the hillside, bells all swinging akimbo!

It was almost too impossibly, rurally romantic for words .........

..... and also goes to explain the occasional proliferation of droppings along the path up to and from El Hotel Paradiso ........

....... that Darrell had originally put down to some rather large or over fed wild rabbits!!!!

 

Sooooooooo, happy days once again, with a choice bar of Goat Milk soap now added to Darrell's holiday shopping list as a small memento of the occasion, what on earth is he like?