Winding down

[benson]

Ok, so arrived last night and very quiet, I'd say 50 people in the whole o fthe village! Still gorgeous though. Eating inside at Nafsika, as always - great food.
This morning we sun bathed by the pool for an hour 30+ degrees, then the thunder and lightening came - good fun.
Hired a quad from Spiros and went to Akrotiri and the Arilas and current having great lunch at Gravia.
Talking to the businesses - Speros mat Nafsika and Nikos at Athens - the village will close on Friday 21st October.

[swedebasher]

Accuweather is forecasting a low of 4 degrees for Sunday night and only slightly higher for Monday night. Blankets anyone??

[Gillywoo]

Arrived just ahead of the thunderstorms yesterday and it hasnt stopped raining since, temperature has been falling steadily as well and is now only 14c at 1pm, its a lot warmer back in the UK!

However, we didnt come for the sun and its great to be back, Gill and I are one of only 3 couples staying at the Little Prince so no problem getting a sun bed. We ate in the Little Prince last night and it was surprisingly busy with 35 customers by 9pm so it had a good atmosphere, we finally staggered up to bed at 2am!

Food and wine was excellent as usual and many thanks to Jimbo and Gilly for the Carafe of wine you brought for us this went down very well with the Saganaki, Spring Roll and Meat Ball Meze we had.

As Benson said the Village is very quiet and some businesses are already closed, we drove through Sidari yesterday and that was 90% open with many people out and about despite the rain.

So its all inside at the Little Prince tonight with the heating full on, it will be a nice cosy atmosphere.

Yammas

Andy & Gill

[Jimbo]

Glad you got there. Weather was looking very uncertain yesterday (Friday) morning after some good thunder and lightning in the night, and raining a bit as we had a good breakfast at Little Prince waiting for the bus. The bus arrived early, which was great news as the lightning was flashing over the hills towards Kassiopi. Then we used the bonus time up waiting 25 minutes for some clowns at Arillas who decided not to emerge from their rooms until the last second. Bus was still only one-third full.

The bus was 25 minutes ahead of schedule as we stopped at the Golf Hotel in Kerkira. This is a real Thomson's stupidity. That place and Corkyra Beach etc are about 10 minutes away from the airport. Why not give them a quick bus on their own? People from Sidari had been on the bus for an hour and a half as we waited for loads of people to get on. Then, of course, we waited and waited because some low-life parties had decided to get a taxi and not told the rep or anybody else.

Short time at the airport. I was pleased to see that Andy and Gill's plane had landed, and soon after that, ours, because the storm was approaching from the north. In the departure lounge there was a wonderful free light-show over the mountains with bursts of forked lightning of up to five seconds' duration. Never seen a plane board so fast at the airport, because nobody wanted to be walking down the ramp to the bus or up the stairs to the plane in a monsoon. The storm held off long enough for us to take off (on time) and very unusually routed southwards then east before turning northwards and flew over the Albanian mainland and Serbia.

Arrived early to a beautiful warm sunny day in Doncaster. Amazing. Still sweet-peas in blossom and good helping of runner beans on the vine when we got home to Hull!

We had a really great late-season three weeks in Ag Stef. We could never have predicted that the weather would be so warm and dry. It's a gamble, but this year it really paid off. If you don't mind taking the gamble I'd really recommend the late September and early October visit. It's utterly different from the summer, but it has its own special survivor charm.

Looks like Andy and Gill are the ones to put the lights out on behalf of the forum gang. Hope Andy got my note about the WiFi and the pile of porn mags I left under the bed.

Just that little hurdle of winter to get over and then we'll all be back for a bit more love and souvlaki.

[Gillywoo]

Hi Jimbo,

Thanks for the note, the  Wi Fi is great but cant find the porn mags, I bet Dimitri nicked them the swine

Still raining and the temperature is down to a bone chilling 12c which is remarkably low for October, Dimitri had to lend me his coat because of course I hadnt brought one! Forecast tomorrow is broken cloud and 18c which will feel tropical in comparison.

Had a drive through the Village at lunchtime and it was like the Mary Celeste, I think the Little Prince and Thomas Bay were the only places with customers!

I agree that late September and early October is a good time to go but it is a gamble with the weather, in September 2008 it rained for almost 2 weeks, Gill and I missed it by a few days so always be prepared.

Looking out across San Stef. towards the sea 'Donkey Island' is invisible due to the heavy rain and I'am sure I just spotted a few flakes of snow............surely not

Andy

[CHRIS NO 2]

hi Andy
whish i was there had to miss san steph this year
if you are going past manthos o taverna stop for a drink
and tell the old man i will pay next year (not you don)
have a great time
chris no 2

[Gillywoo]

Just a quick final post.

Weather much better today and it was warm in the sun, village busier as well with people up and about.

The Little Prince is now staying open until Friday as they have guests upstairs and Beachcomber is open till October 28th as are several other tavernas.

About 35 people in the Little Prince last night and everyone was indoors as it was freezing, stayed there until 12.30am then went to the Athens Bar which was busy as Nickos was holding an end of season party although he will not close until next weekend (thats Greek logic!)

So its back to blighty tomorrow just in time for the first icy blast of winter, spring seems a long way off!

Andy

PS: Little Prince has just one room booked for half term week yet on the Thomson Website it says "Hurry only one room left"!

[Lesley]

Well despite a cold evening coming up this evening, I have to say it was a pretty lovely day today, blue skies and moderate temps round 18c not bad for Mid October.
Passed many non uk guests with their sticks climbing the hills and paths and asking them they were having a wonderful day and stay on our North West Coast.
So if you wish to venture theres still plenty going on .............PM for details  have a fab time we are........................

[swedebasher]

Did it go down to 4 Sunday night Lesley? Forecast 7 tonight!!

[Lesley]

I believe last night during the night was around 5c, sun was out again today and warm, but chilly again this evening. so its defo wrap up warm at night, and the blue skies today made for great photography.

[Gillywoo]

Snow was clearly visible from Corfu lying on the higher Mountains of Albania this morning, just shows how cold it has been, the clarity of the atmosphere in Corfu has been remarkable over the past two days.

Today was warm and sunny in Corfu after the cold start but Athens and eastern Greece had a terrible day with temperature below 14c and heavy rain, even Crete could only manage 15c while Thessaloniki didnt reach 10c. very poor for October.

Had a easy trip home, work tomorrow..........feeling grim

Andy

[Jimbo]

Andy - thanks for the reports. We'll have to leave it in Lesley's safe hands to let us know a few things about what it's like as winter comes and life becomes more as it was before the part-time invaders arrived.

My final autumn impression is that the more one goes back to the village the deeper the insight (but still too shallow) into the lives of the people who really give so much, possibly as actors, to make the summer dreams of those of us who come from Northern Europe or Scandinavia come true. We can get sun anywhere, but not the love and affection we've had from so many people, in such a lovely, zany place nestling in the hills, the steep olive groves, and the cyprus trees.

[Lesley]

A beautiful sunny and warm day , today,  with a lunch (meze) at Gravia Cafe and a frappe followed at Akrotiri Lounge, was great to see people out and about enjoying the pleasant temperatures, and their holiday,  ideal for walking. The beach was looking good again today although the beds and parasols have almost all been put away. It's chilly and damp now once the sun drops down into the sea so woollies are needed for that evening out stroll. 

[swedebasher]

4 last night again!

[don]

Been in Early to mid October but will have to try the end of the season .