We had a wonderful holiday. As usual, Doncaster airport was effortless, and if it closes it will be grossly unfair. Our taxi driver to the airport was on time, helpful, cheerful, in a shiny clean car. Check-in five minutes, security five minutes, thirty yard walk to the gate – boarded on time, and then delayed on tarmac for fifty minutes because of storms at Corfu.
Dimitris, Pippina and Mixalis at Little Prince were lovely beyond words. They gave us the Honeymoon room on the third floor, which had two big balconies and a sea view. Of course, the lift is brilliant. All was kindliness. Dimitris was constantly promoting my book and pointing me out to people, introducing us as though Shakespeare had turned up in the village. Everywhere I went people kept stopping me and saying they’d read it or were reading it or were going to read it. This was a totally new experience for me – people aren’t interested in screenwriters. I signed books at the official signing, on the beach, at LP, Fantasea and Mistral.
The first week was very cool and windy, so we were able to walk up the headland to Akrotiri and Gravia and have a beer at Erriana’s. The second two weeks were hot. The beach is wide this year and the sea warm and a joy to splash about in. We only crossed the stream once for a stroll from our base-camp at Mistral. It was crowded. We prefer the old village side. There’s a nice little community at Mistral, Waves and Manthos. There was a nice fringe of seaweed which deters a lot of people from venturing to that region. It’s not seaweed like kelp and so on around northern coasts – it’s sea grass: Posidonia oceanica, and it’s protected. It’s a vital habitat for marine life and dies in polluted waters. There were some scrapings of it by a digger, but the local authority is discouraging it because it removes a lot of sand: better to keep the weed and the sand!
There’s been a lot of wibble on Facebook about Agios Stefanos turning into Sidari. Our impression was the reverse – Agios Stefanos is becoming more sophisticated. Tribute bands are an exception – personally I regard tribute bands as an abomination – but they shut down around midnight. Food standards were excellent, although portions far too big as always. The new kid on the block, Cicala, is great – beautiful building and appetising menu. People go on about the lack of traditional tavernas, but Agios Stefanos is not an old village. Avliotes is where you find the traditionally Greek.
Gillie wept when we were leaving. We weren’t just leaving the sun - we were leaving the warmth of the people. A minibus took only four parties from Little Prince straight to the airport in exactly the same time it would have taken a taxi. The airport was busy but efficient. Two-hour delay because of a technical problem with the plane and a flight back across a cloudy Europe.
Back in Doncaster, the duty Customs official was friendly and chatty and pleased we were all lobbying as much as possible to keep the airport open. Never known that before.
We hardly argued or bickered at all. We’ve had a great holiday – one of the best – thanks to a beautiful place and its beautiful people.
Topic: Holiday report (Read 22871 times)