Aah, Galatas

The casserole dish kept smacking my shin as I pedalled.  The bike was shitty to start with and got worse when I slowed down. It needed speed for stability. They came with Le Boat and Deb and I had ventured into town to reconnoiter, find where we might have dinner tonight and maybe have a beer. The map showed a symbol at Ville de Pinte indicating they had a restaurant but didn't indicate it was closed on Sundays. The adjoining bar was open and amongst the patrons was a woman into her cups that made cassoulette, a dish so popular in this area that there was a cassoulette festival closing the streets in Castelnaudary when we slipped away. She sold us enough to feed four and accepted an 8E deposit on the dish. We'd stopped at a lock earlier that also sold their canned version of this delish dish so dinner was set. But I get ahead of myself, I was going to tell you about Galatas.

We took one of those hydrofoil thingys that flies over water from Athens to the island of Poros.  It's popular with moneyed locals and tourists alike but our destination was 94 seconds and 1E over the  channel to Galatas on the mainland. Fewer tourists, half-price prices but ample restaurants and our fabulous hotel. It's called 'Poros View' because it sits atop a hill with a captivating panorama from the pool deck. But it was on the top of a hill. Day one, as is common with me, was shitty as it takes time to acclimate. "We're on top of hill!", I said, "There's no restaurants up here!" I whined. "What are we going to eat?" Blah, blah, blah. The morning revealed a happier John and a new rhythm set in. It was a 10 minute walk into town and a 5E taxi home. Dinner 1 was on the beach, dinner 2...couldn't tell you, it was 2 weeks ago. We also discovered most places in town delivered - cheapgood food right to your door. I did tell you about our Lover's Bay excursion which emboldened us to try another. 

UK's Guardian proclaimed Kolloni as one of the best beach bars in Greece. Evidence would suggest their criteria were how bohemian can you get. Cool people, no services. I asked the guy at the abandoned trailer cum beach bar if he had any chips. He thought for a moment then walked away. He came back with a plastic beer cup with chips. Apparently he'd dipped into his personal supply and was willing to share. "Do you have a menu?" "No", he said. "Got anything to eat?", "Scrambled eggs, maybe some cheese pie". I had this vision of a magnificent gem of a beach, hidden away from the masses (it was on the mainland) with soft sand, a chaise longue and a bikini clad miss bringing me ice cold beer. It was a half disc of level land, 45 meters of waterfront with crystal blue water. We parked ourselves in the gravel at the last shaded spot and got a beer. It was a 20E cab ride at 11AM and we'd asked the driver to pick us up at 7. We called at 4.

Prices in Greece are less than Mexico and I'm not an economist but it's likely due to their recent economic collapse. They say they were misrepresented in the press with a lot of talk about how they were retiring younger than most, weren't paying taxes etc, with the intent of wrangling concessions from Greece to help the EU balance the books. Jobs are fewer, wages lower and the new retirement age is 67. And the beneficiaries are the tourists who can buy 1 1/2 litres of good wine for 3E, less if you fill your own bottle. Like the rest of Europe, many, many people smoke but here I see more people rolling their own than I saw in the downtown eastside.

The rhythm at Galatas was slower than what we'd put ourselves through the previous week but just what we needed. Travelling, not holidaying, means pack and move every other day and it's exhausting. But a week in one place meant excellent meals coupled with excellent pool time and a whole week of rest and relaxation. And then the travelling resumed. Next up a flight to Santorini to hook up with Sister Anita (and Luigi).

That flight actually took place 2 weeks ago and we're about to pull out of Carcassone, an ancient city (Romans started it in 333AD) and today I'm captain. Wish me luck!