Last blog for a while ......

I think I'm going to make this my last blog for a while .... For a couple of reasons. Firstly it's called Sailblogs and I feel a bit of a fraud as we won't be sailing for a while, and secondly, I'm thinking of changing to another blogsite as I would like to insert photos within the text, rather than have them in a separate gallery. So if you know of a good blog site I might use, do let me know. I had a look at Blogger, but it wasn't very user friendly ....

We've had a great time in the Cyclades. We loved Kithnos, and Serifos. Now we are in Syros where we will be over the winter. Fandancer is tucked away the other side of the big shipyard, in between the fishing boats. Not a very attractive outlook, but at least we're safe from the raging Meltemi winds, which have now subsided. You will be pleased to hear that we had some rain the other day! Only the fifth time it has rained for us in the past year! And one night at 430am we had a massive thunder and lightning storm! Our apartment is only a stone's throw from the boat...., and within walking distance are two decent supermarkets, two butchers, at least two bakeries, cake shops, numerous fruit and veg shops, a bank, garage, chandlers, taverna, pet shop! All very Greek!
I must stop using so many exclamation marks!!!!

We've moved into the apartment full time now. After making numerous trips from boat with armfuls of stuff, the apartment is looking homely. Stacks of cushions! A hundred paperback books! I can't believe how much stuff we've had on the boat. We are waiting for the landlord to produce a new sofa, as the existing one was held together with uncomfortable planks of wood. We also asked for a tv, and and some curtains. There is a decent bed, dining table and chairs, washing machine, but apart from that, it's sparsely furnished. Luckily I have every kitchen utensil and gadget known to man, so no problems there. We have also picked up free wifi from a local hotel, so that's a bonus.

Today we went on an exploratory mission to investigate the local free, yes free, bus service. Yes, totally free! There are two routes - one going along north and south from the port, the other going up to the hill village. We took both buses and stayed on for the whole route, trying to work out what time they get to our local stops, as bizarrely, at each bus stop, the times given for the buses arriving are the same. In between routes we stopped off in town for lunch, an ouzo meze, which is the best thing ever - a huge glass of ouzo and ice, plus a good sized plate of nibbles such as a few chips, meatball, fried courgettes, tomato, fish nugget, cucumber, slice of bread with tzatziki, yum yum. Just enough for a small lunch, only 3 euro each for drink and meze.

Before I go, I wanted to tell you that I have had an article that I submitted to Sailing Today magazine accepted for the February issue! Woo! It is about our trip through the French canals, with lots of photos.

See you in April ......

P.S. I think everyone should come to Greece immediately, it is a wonderful country, don't believe everything you read in the papers!