Day 12: Time slip Tuesday
It reaches the point on beach-based holidays that the days seem to pass quickly and merge. I’m now at that point. The days are being defined by where we go for lunch and dinner more than anything else. That’s not a complaint, it’s good to reach the point where there’s nothing important to worry about. It’s a holiday after all. Day trips can be enjoyable but also stressful and in this heat – I’m guessing 32c today – it’s a better option just to flake out on the beach.
I finished reading the most excellent Mythos by Stephen Fry. It took all day and I read the last pages about Midas while Siggy was in the shower. I’d already read the appendix in the morning, so it was straight on to the companion book Heroes. See this post for more deets.
We went to La Mare for lunch and a couple more of their great milkshakes – a toastie for Siggy and a Greek Salad for me. I fought the urge to have a pitta gyros, but it’s likely my willpower won’t last much longer. I have a deep-seated craving for a mixed grill too. But I’m trying to be more health conscious these days. I worry about my blood pressure and cholesterol.
There are electric scooters available to rent on the promenade through a mobile app Lime S. First time I’ve seen them and I wonder how robust they are and how widespread they are in Greece. But it’s healthier to walk places right?
We went to Akrogiali some walk away down the road from our hotel. Garlic bread consisted as two slices for 2 Euros and was actually okay. My swordfish was quite dry – I’ve had much better in Loughborough which is a lot further away from the sea than any of the tavernas in Rethymno. Siggy had a tasty tagliatelle carbonara. The Italian influence is heavily in evidence in most taverna’s in the resort – lots of pizza and pasta. I had a Pils Hellas draught beer to drink – not as good as Alfa but better than Mythos imo. Bill-freebie was mandarin flavoured raki.
We revisited Cactus Beach and Siggy got yet another White Russian and I had a Long Island Ice Tea – both 8 Euros which seems pretty average in the resort. There was a nice cooling breeze, but it was smoky again even though we were sat at the front of the bar.
We opted to move to Kai. Siggy had a Hell Yeah and as a nod to Faith No More I got an Epic – tasted like a mojito with apple purée in it – very nice. But you pay for the privilege: 9 Euros each. On the flip side there’s the free water and light crinkle cut crisps, not much smoke and a laid back vibe with good mostly reggae-influenced music. We actually got a double helping of free crisps which isn’t going to help my waistline or circulation one bit.
‘Love is a Shield’ by Camouflage caught our attention as it sounded like early Depeche Mode / Human League / Flock of Seagulls. I asked Siri who it was and I made a note to look them up on Spotify. I’m listening to them now. I love discovering music like this.
Day 13: Sweltering Wednesday
Another day on the beach doing fuck all. It was about 34C today so anything but lying down in the shade of an umbrella would’ve been a challenge.
We had lunch at Irini. I had a plate of ‘little fish’ (probably labelled white bait on other islands) with salad and chips, Siggy had fruit salad and some of my chips. I only had a bowl of rice pudding with peach slices in it for breakfast so I was hungry. We had vanilla milkshakes priced at 4:50 Euros but not as good as at La Mare. It definitely wins the prize for best tasting plus best priced milkshakes in our resort.
We bought some new beach shoes last time we were in the old town and so we’ve been using the sea to cool down every now and again. The beach changes from sand to shingle to rocks very quickly. The rocks are a pain to try and walk on – real ankle twisting sizes. So in that sense it’s not as good as the beach at Tigaki Kos.
Like proper English folk, we had tea on the balcony and agreed that apart from the small one above us it was the best one in the hotel given that it gives you a direct view of the sea, the two pools, the Pearl hotels’ bars and our restaurant. That said it also means that we’re completely on show to anyone else bored enough to look.
Having been very impressed by Avri we decided to go to the old town for our evening meal and to the sister restaurant 1600 Raki Baraki which has a trendy mostly meze style to it’s dishes.
Siggy had grilled pork and I had the best grilled octopus I’ve eaten – very tender not at all chewy – steamed before it was grilled is my guess. Bill-freebies were thin circular slices of rocky road type cake and a bottle of raki containing about six shots (I had five).
The only draw back to the visit was that I was sweating my arse off sitting next to kitchen. Siggy has a different metabolism and seemed completely unfazed.
Then it was back to Cul De Sac for drinkies. This really does sound like the diary of an alcoholic! We had cocktails called Memories (in honour of our favourite cocktail bar in Kos) with edible silver balls and Cul De Sac with a piece of cinnamon on top in honour of where we were. Cocktail-freebies were nuts and juicy apple slices and of course a big ol’ bot of water that needed a strong wrist to lift – lucky I’m such a malaka.
Then we went to the more ‘Kosy’ Iro for a standard blue lagoon and a rainbow with sparklers.
Our celebrity lookalike game has really struggled to take off on this holiday. We’ve had quite a few debatable identifications such as Grey Worm from Game of Thrones and the 57-year old English comedian Hugh Dennis, but for one reason or another (Siggy doesn’t know who the fuck Grey Worm is and didn’t see Hugh Dennis because she had her back to him) there have been very few positive identifications.
couchmagpie 