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Post by kevb on Aug 28, 2022 5:23:08 GMT
If you don't think the Kouk loos are up to much then avoid Mandraki Xerxes at all cost 😀
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 28, 2022 7:00:55 GMT
Another wonderfully free and easy day yesterday, the pressure taken off by the frequency of the new buses was replaced by the pressure being taken off by knowing we were staying local.
Beach until 6, VERY lazy return to the rooms. We’ve taken to buying wine for the balcony on the way home. Yesterday I bought some Kaiser Pilsener. Very nice, very full-bodied. Taste quite like Urquell.
Our second party (Julie’s mate Julie and daughter) we’re due to arrive on the island at about 8:20pm, so the girls waited at the hotel while the boys went to Agustera. They were on time, and we’d just finished a round, so straight off to Ottimo. Looking for something on the menu I fancied, but haven’t had, I noticed the chicken thighs and creamed potatoes. Gorgeous! Everyone else’s salads etc. looked great.
An early night, as our companions had had a long day travelling.
One thing I’ll comment on elsewhere - I got a couple of mosquito bites. It’s been a while…
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 28, 2022 8:54:35 GMT
Right, we’re at the beach, and it’s baking. In the direct sun it’s completely unbearable.
Forecast says very similar temperatures all week since the rain, maybe +/- 1°, but this feels like yesterday +5°.
Indeed, this feels as hot as the peak day we had in the U.K. recently, despite me being in ‘normal’ clothes then, and only in my swimming trunks now.
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Post by katet on Aug 28, 2022 9:15:24 GMT
I’d better pack my lightest clothes then … last September I was caught out by a chilly spell! Enjoy the beach 😎🥵
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 28, 2022 22:02:15 GMT
Back from town (more tomorrow).
But the 12 o’clock bus was rammed with standing room only.
It has to be said that the previous set up (with buses stopping at 11:30) was clearly (a) a bad idea for the buses, shunning a clear area to make money, (b) a bad idea for the tourists wanting to use them, and (c) bad for the business being robbed of the trade.
How did it ever go on for so long?
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 29, 2022 7:15:04 GMT
A very lazy beach day yesterday, it just seemed to slowly drift along.
Back to the rooms for the usual beer and wine, but not until later. Theo left at 5, me 6, the girls not until 7. We ended up being so slow that we didn’t eat until 10, and I think that spoiled the meal a bit, as I’d gone past hunger. Mesogia’s courgette fritters are still quite wonderful, though they serve them with a cottage cheese instead of tzatziki - I must ask them to replace next time. The lamb chops were a bit too big and chewy, but lovely taste.
Straight back to the rooms and bed, knackered (see bus report above).
Off for breakfast soon at Oly’s - that’s the name of the coffee bar in the supermarket at this end of the strip, next to Agustera. Great coffee (I’ve taught him how to make a caffè crema. Their pastries are great.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 29, 2022 8:24:01 GMT
I keep meaning to mention, and forgetting.
I said in my May/June report that the shortcut through the biosphere from Big Bad Wolf-ish to the Koukounaries bridge kiosk-ish had become overgrown. That has now been cleared.
This and several other things like the old bus timetable give me the impression that the locals think of the season as starting at the beginning of May, building to a peak in mid-August, then declining slowly and steadily to October, in a fairly uniform, even manner.
Which is obviously nonsense. There’s a clear peak at Spring Bank, and another in early September, after the kids have gone back to school.
It’s a very Greek mentality, I think.
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Post by dennisn on Aug 29, 2022 10:29:11 GMT
What's a biosphere? I'd swear there's a field thereabouts.
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Post by kevb on Aug 29, 2022 10:32:01 GMT
Biosphere is me catching my reflection side on in the apartment mirror yesterday. Definite diet on the cards when I get back to UK!
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Post by katet on Aug 29, 2022 16:29:00 GMT
Off for breakfast soon at Oly’s - that’s the name of the coffee bar in the supermarket at this end of the strip, next to Agustera. Great coffee (I’ve taught him how to make a caffè crema. Their pastries are great. Oly is short for Olympia, who is one of the ladies of the family who own the supermarket (and much of that part of Kouk, I believe). About the buses finishing early …until recently (Covid times) they always ran until 1am in peak season. They started slowly and built up, then tapering off in September. I should have an old pic of a timetable somewhere. This is why we never bothered about car hire for many years. The buses served us just fine.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 30, 2022 6:40:03 GMT
I do seem to remember them running later, but was unsure of my memory.
But they’ve certainly been stopping far earlier in recent years, even when the island was full.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the rest of the season, and potentially beyond. I’m hoping at the very least that the new buses keep running late, right up to October’s first week.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 30, 2022 11:04:33 GMT
Momentary drama at Elivi.
We couldn't really see what happened from Koukounaries, but a fairly large cloud of smoke started to emanate from ‘round the corner’.
It passed after two or three minutes, but was significant while it lasted.
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Post by kevb on Aug 30, 2022 11:55:35 GMT
Someone probably spontaneously combusted after receiving their drinks bill.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 31, 2022 5:41:15 GMT
A little earlier out last night, due to today being the last day.
Once again a packed bus, leaving me asking myself how we ever managed before.
Food at Scuna, very impressive. Best meal this holiday, and prices reasonable. The usual starter of Kolokithokeftedes and tzatziki, knocked out of the park, gorgeous. My swordfish steak was delicious. Everyone else cleaned their plates. House white…sold out, due to ‘winding down as we approach the end of the season’. We went for the Sav Blanc, at €22 a bottle not too bad (our favourite at Big Bad Wolf has gone up to €33 a bottle!).
Back for midnight, everything closed up, including Agustera, as far as I could tell.
Anyway, on to the packing.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Aug 31, 2022 9:24:02 GMT
Okay, packed, and the cases left in Lake’s office.
We had to check out by 11, with the transfer not due until ten to 6.
Unlike the scummy Princess, Lake have told us they’ll look after our cases, and allow us the use of a shower later on, we we get most of the day at the beach.
It really has been an excellent hotel for us. The only real drawback is the walk to the beach (and back), in the late morning sun, with no shade. Far better than its bargain basement price suggests.
As a result, I’m now sat on Koukounaries, enjoying a Mythos.
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