Wednesday 13 June

The anchor dropping from a large cruise ship mooring just outside the harbour wakes me around 7 am. We thought we were pretty much the only people staying in this outwardly smart hotel, but the little (indoor) breakfast room is surprisingly busy.

We head off to Selenitsa beach. There are two favourable points about access to this beach: it's flat and short. As I look up from my reading I see a turtle swimming towards the shore. There are nests for the loggerhead turtle (caretta caretta) just next to us where the sand meets the shore. The turtle washes around in the surf and seems to be waiting to make its landward ascent at night to one of these nests, and we can see some tracks leading up to them.

In the early evening we walk to the little island beyond the harbour, which, according to Homer, was where Helen of Sparta (latterly of Troy) and Paris spent their first night together. She ran away with Paris from her husband King Menelaus of Sparta. The ensuing story gave Homer plenty of material for his Illiad and Odyssey. We are cycling to Sparta tomorrow.

Retsina on our balcony with some pistachios and salty peanuts rounds off a strenuous day. Now, where shall we go for supper....