We had the olive trees in Merada pruned.
And one day we went to gather the wood left around the olive grove.
We had the olive trees in Merada pruned.
And one day we went to gather the wood left around the olive grove.
We can see the small island of Antikythera quite often from the West side of Crete, especially when going over to Falasarna.
Antikythira is famous for the Mechanism of Antikythera coming from an ancient Hellenistic rich shipwreck.
The island is also on one of the main migratory routes for birds between Africa and northern Europe, and it hosts an important bird observatory from the Hellenic Ornithological Society.
We soon discovered that the only ferry service from Kissamos to the Peloponnese stops in Antikythera.
After the heat of the summer was mostly over, we decided we could do a family day trip there on our bikes.
On Wednesday, the ferry leaves at 7:30am and returns to Kissamos for 11:30pm. Perfect for a full day on the island!
Giulia and Sofia’s class did a performance of “Fricandella” for their christmas show. The kids have been rehearsing every day for weeks (it seems!). In the end it was very cute and funny, and everyone remembered their lines! We were very impressed by Giugiu and Sofia who both had lines to say (in Greek) and were brilliant.
“Fricandella” is a story about a mean witch that doesn’t like the village children singing, so she turns them into various animals (sheep, cows, donkeys, ducks, etc.) but nothing works and they keep on singing. Eventually she steals their voices so they can’t speak anymore. They all go up to her castle to break the spell. They go past the hall of scary magic mirrors and sneak into her bedroom where she is sleeping, steal her wand and burst some balloons that are filled with sticky glue (? didn’t quite get that bit but they did like the balloons popping!). Lots of scenes about love and peace and everyone living together in harmony. Sofia was in the “love” family. In the end Fricandella changes her mind and they sing along all together!
Then in the end Santa (agios vasillis in Greek) came (of course) and handed out presents.
Here’s a link to a page (in Greek) about the story
Alghero:
& Around:
Friday was the introduction day for new arrivals to the scuola materna in Fertilia. We arrived, all excited, but oops! an hour early – the lady on the phone had told us 8.30 but in actual fact it was 9.30 for the first day. That at least explained the lack of other children!!
Other than that hiccup all was fine, no tears, no tantrums 🙂
In the afternoon we got an ice cream and played in the square above the Marina.
Posada: 6 Nights
Lot of midges! They drive us crazy with their feeding frenzies. Campsite is nice, basic but right next to beach and river. Beach is very long, we estimate at least 5km, a long white curve, but Manu’s not very impressed by the underwater life. La Caletta little port town, we get some camping supplies. Nice pine groves behind the beach at San Giorgo + Orville beach, perfect for picnics. We cycle up to Posada tower one afternoon, very steep but super views. The castle is closed as we’re late. Good restaurant (Marco+Caterina), although a little pricy, food is good. We had spaghetti with bottarga, malloreddus + pizza. We take the car to Porto san Paolo one day, then the boat to Tavolara island (marine park). Here there are lots of fish!
Villasimius: 3 nights
Bit of a shock when we arrive: big busy campsite. Worst part is the loud (bad) karaoke coming from the campsite bar! Set up camp again, then to the nearest beach. Big granite rocks in strange shapes adorn the beach. Notteri beach/Stagno is very cool: the beach divides the sea from a small protected lagoon where flamingoes live. But so busy that you can’t even really see the beach, obviously a place that’s be better off season. Bike to Cava something one afternoon, much better. The beach is not so picturesque but is down a dirt road, so much quieter. Big posidonia fields around, Manu’s happy too! Next day we take the kayak back here and spend the morning kayaking, we make it to Isola di cavoli but dark clouds and distant thunder mean we cut it short and head back. A quick cycle trip into Villasimius town shows us that it’s very touristy, not sure what it would be like living here. On leaving day we make a detour to 7 Fratelli mountain, super road following a river through a valley, very wild + dramatic.
Barisardo: 8 Nights
We breathe a sigh of relief as we get to our Barisardo campsite, it’s right at the end of the beach and although there’s plenty of people camping here it doesn’t feel so busy (+ loud!). Set up tent, supermarket run, manu and kids check out beach while Fi makes dinner. First day we chill out, morning at the beach just in front of us and afternoon at the other end by bike. Sand is coarse quartz grains here, and entrance to water very steep. Kids make us laugh by “jumping” in the water, Sofia still needs to get the hang of keeping hold of her float though, she sinks about 50% of the time!
Meet up with Manu (Sofia’s nursery teacher from bologna) a couple of times, go for dinner in Tortoli, mostly spend days at the various beaches around here, outside campsite, at Bari tower, towards Cea, Perd’a pera. Small train trip sounds cool but timetable isn’t great so we decide to drive to see Su Marmuri cave instead.
Torre di Porticcolo / Alghero
Bosa / S’Archittu
Day 108 – June 16th Lukovo Sugarje – Bologna (italy)
Pack the last things into car in morning and set off just after 10. We’re hoping to be in Trieste by lunchtime, but by 1pm we’re just outside Rijeka, so we stop for lunch at a gas station, then head off again. Once we get through Slovenian border and into Italy, onto the motorway and we make it to Bologna by about 7pm. Very hot day in car!
Day 109 – June 17th Bologna
Some groceries in the morning, kids are a little disproportionately excited by a trip to the “cop” as Sofia calls it. Afternoon we cycle to Parco Cavaioni, it’s not far but the road is somewhat vertical so we’re pretty hot by the time we get there! Auri joins us later and we go for dinner at moroccan tent in colli.
Day 110 – June 18th Bologna
It’s too hot! Manu down in centre to boil a bit in the morning, afternoon we hang around at home, paddling pool, hammock swinging etc.
Day 111 – June 19th Bologna
In the morning we go to the pool at Sasso all together, very nice. It’s not open but since we are there about midday it’s actually nice to be out of the sun. In the afternoon we head over to Anzola to see Dani + Giada, who Giulia has been asking to see since we talked about going back to Italy! Playing and then dinner with Steffi, Niccolo + the kids.
June 20th Bologna
We spend the day at seaside near Ravenna with Macca, Paola + their kids, nice bike ride in the pine forest in the morning, beach in the afternoon and a yummy fishy dinner at the windsurf/sailing club.
June 21st Bologna
We drive to Reggio after lunch, spend the afternoon with Manu’s aunts + some of the cousins in Puianello, sleep there.
June 22nd
Morning in Reggio then drive back to Bologna, a quick stop at Decathlon too.
June 23rd
Hot sunday at home, Giulia has a go at learning to ride her bike without stabiliser wheels.
June 24th
Morning at Sasso pool with kids, plus Misha + Usi. Picnic lunch outside Sasso Co-op! Afternoon Gabri + Kiko come for dinner, we make a tagine but doom! the tagine breaks 🙁 It’s very good though, first and last.
June 25th
Down in centre, Manu has to sort out some paperwork, we go to salaborsa then to bookshop to get some new books for kids as promised. Tomorrow to Sardinia….
Day 99 – June 7th – Mjlet, canoe
Drive with canoe to Pristaniste, a tiny village on the side of the “salty lakes”; the main attraction of Mjlet National Park. Canoe around the lake, then fight the wind a bit to get over to Svetje Maria (a tiny island in the middle of the lake with an abbey and a small restaurant) for lunch, then we set off again to canoe round the other (smaller) lake. The whole place is very nice, obviously popular as there are plenty of other people hiking, cycling, canoeing and swimming, but it is not crowded at all. We sail back to our launching point, a bit of a hairy moment as we have to pull the canoe through a narrow channel against an extremely strong current but we make it back. An ice cream reward, reload the canoe on the car and back to our little room in Polace.
Day 100 – June 8th – Mjlet, bikes
Cycle to Pomena, and keep going out of village to cape. We find a nice, shaded pine forest on the coast, no beach but accessible rocks to sea, so stay there for the morning. Water is cold but Manu (of course) goes for a swim, while the rest of us splash a bit then retreat to the shade for our picnic. We explore a bit and find an abandoned tunnel (presumably from the war) as it looks military. We don’t have lights and it’s cold and eerie so we don’t stay long! Back on the bikes we try to find a different way back, unfortunately all the “roads” are really hiking paths, and not really passable for bikes. We try for a few hundred metres, get rather scratched and turn back to take the road. A stop for ice cream to perk us all up, then we pass by the salty lakes again. Sofia is sleeping so we stop there in the shade so she can rest, soon Giulia falls asleep too. They look super cute when sleeping, so attract a lot of attention from a group of aged French tourists! Eventually they wake up and we continue back to Polace.
Day 101 – June 9th – Mjlet – Lukovo Sugarje
Long car day, slow morning on Mjlet as we pack up the car and load the bikes again, ferry at midday then we’re on the road for quite a few hours. Take the coast road almost until Split, then the motorway until just after Zadar and finally we arrive just in time for a quick explore of the surroundings before dark.
Day 102 – June 10th Lukovo Sugarje
First proper day at “Maja house”. Easy morning, Fi, kids, Emir + Sola go for a walk, up a rocky hill then to a beach. Afternoon Fi helps Maja + Emir clear the grass in front of the house + digging/clearing a new bed for the vege garden, while Manu + kids go to another small beach with frozen water.
Day 103 – June 11th – Lukovo Sugarje
Rain in the morning delays our start, some bed digging and clearing back the pine tree which is covering the soil. Then we tidy up a big pile of assorted rubbish, wood + metal, rescue Sola who ran away, make lunch. Manu, G+S check out the delights of Karlobag (not many). Afternoon we get our first glimpse of the Bora (extremely strong north wind), so decide to skip the beach for today.
Day 104 – June 12th – Lukovo Sugarje
More digging, this time removing some big stones from yesterdays bed. Takes most of the morning, and is pretty tiring! Afternoon we return to Karlobag area, visit the “Kubos” monument/viewpoint at 900m altitude, a great view but it’s crazy windy so we don’t hang around long! Evening in Karlobag: supermarket, internet, dinner at grill and icecream for the kids.
Day 105 – June 13th – Lukovo Sugarje
Maja in Zadar so spend morning doing various small jobs, watering, cleaning, bagging dry rosemary, harvesting spinach from the garden.
Afternoon we decide on a canoe trip, as it is the first non-windy day we’ve seen. However the current is still quite strong, we fight against it for a while and make it to the next village (distance?), where there is a nice bay, but the kids are getting cold and we paddle back quickly. Need to get them some waterproofs or similar for the kayak.
Day 106 – June 14th – Lukovo Sugarje
Fi painting wood stumps for garden path and various bits + pieces (chair, fence etc) in morning. Afternoon we go to help a neighbour clean their apartments, then to beach, Maja + Emir try out the canoe while we play on the beach. Spanakopita for dinner, made with spinach picked yesterday!
Day 107 – June 15th – Lukovo Sugarje
Day off, so we go to Paklenica national park boundary, also to collect some more drinking water. A short walk in the forest, a paddle in a nice river and a picnic lunch from Starigrad, then home for sleep. Afternoon we go down to the beach, first swim for G, S + Fiona! Water is frozen as usual, but today the air at least is much warmer than it’s been the last few days. We’re joined in our swim by some of the old people from the houses around! Evening we spend packing up once again, we’re getting pretty fast at it, ready to head back to Bologna tomorrow.
Day 108 – June 16th – Lukovo Sugarje to Bologna (italy)
Pack the last things into car in morning and set off just after 10. We’re hoping to be in Trieste by lunchtime, but by 1pm we’re just outside Rijeka, so we stop for lunch at a gas station, then head off again. Once we get through Slovenian border and into Italy, onto the motorway and we make it to Bologna by about 7pm. Very hot day in car!