The beautiful bay of Paleokastritsa with its inviting crystal clear water was an ideal location for us to relax and unwind after our long trip. We enjoyed the warm weather, swimming, trips ashore for ice cream and we even managed our first BBQ of the summer!
A couple of days later saw us sailing/motor sailing to Kassiopi harbour to be greeted by Julian, Claire and Maximilian. This was our first Mediterranean style mooring so we were apprehensive about how it would go. It was very helpful having Julian there to take the ropes, whilst Paul manoeuvred the boat and I had my initial attempt using the windlass. All went well, except I became a little flustered at one point and started pulling the anchor up instead of down! Paul remained quite calm about this; I think he has become accustomed to living with a dizzy blonde.
Soon we had everyone on board excitedly showing Julian and his family the boat for the first time. We had not met up for over two years so it was a very special moment as we hugged and greeted each other. Maximilian loved exploring the boat and I was delighted to spend some precious time with my adorable nephew. We played hide and seek, watched the fish through the netting and played guess 'Guess what is in this cupboard?' amongst other games. Maximilian certainly looked the part as he took his place in the Captain's chair. (see photo)
The next day was spent seeing the sights of Kassiopi and doing some shopping. We had hoped to buy a dive cylinder for me but after enquiring around we had no joy so it looks as if that will have to wait. Kassiopi boasts many tavernas so we decided to eat out, choosing a family owned one that was recommended to us. The meal was superb and lots of it, so much in fact that we had lots of leftovers to feed the numerous skinny cats that had wandered around our ankles whilst we were eating. On our way back we popped into a busy bar and boogied the night away for a while. We enjoyed the dancing but the main attraction for us was the swallow sat on her pendant style nest that was attached to the ceiling of the bar. We gathered that this nest had been occupied year after year by swallows and they certainly did not seem to be bothered by the disco music at all. I remarked that they will probably continue nesting there for many more years to come, that is as long as the DJ continues to play their requests.