Saturday 2 June: Kardamyli

LWe eat our breakfast on the sea facing terrace watching the swooping house martins over the turquoise Ionian Sea. Greek yoghurt with granola and fresh cherries and nectarines. We wander through the quaint streets down to the marina and the old olive oil factory once owned by Palmolive. Impatient for the beach we cycle only 2km to Ritsa Beach and hire sunbeds for only 6 euros. Quite a lot of rest, reading and relaxation follows in relative peace although there are still a few children ("Lllord!"). Actually they are a rather charming English family with 3 lively young boys called Raif, Lucas and Oscar who are having a lot of fun with an inflatable turtle. It reminds me of the giant crocodile that the girls used to have that Simon would have to inflate before almost passing out. Luckily they have to leave to get the return flight from Kalamata at the end of half term and it is tranquil once more. Lunch again at Elies: tsatziki and fava bean dip with a Greek salad. And a Mythos of course. We are both reading about Greece: Simon Homeric language theory as recommended by Ted and me finishing Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop before moving onto Circe by Madeleine Miller: a retelling of Greek mythology. A swim in our pool before Retsina on our mountain facing balcony. We seem to be a 2 balcony family now!