A Patmos Postscript

Early evening at the Tsipouradiko Mas restaurant, which has the archetypal location for a Greek meal. This was taken at sundown, and that dish is the legendary Rocket and Parmesan salad that they do there. Accompanying that (not shown) was the truly superb Fava purée with octopus in caramelised sauce. The two dishes together are more than enough to fill you up (especially when you factor in their delicious wholemeal bread) and they comprise a truly legendary feast for the tastebuds.

Well, we came home on Saturday, after seventeen days on Patmos. It was our second visit in as many years and it looks like we've found our 'bolt-hole," as it were. I take nothing for granted though, since we both of us count ourselves truly blessed that we come home to a hillside on Rhodes, with a gorgeous view down the valley to the sea, and we don't have to go to an airport and fly back to colder climes.

Don't get me wrong, there are things about the country of our birth that we truly love, and even some things that we miss, but it has to be said that to live where we now have for nigh on 14 years is a privilege we don't ever fail to appreciate.

Patmos has it all for us. When I say that, what I'm referring to is those things that we always looked for in a Greek holiday, back in the days when a holiday in Greece meant going there for a couple of weeks or so, but then returning to the UK to get on with our 'normal' lives. Since moving out here our lives have borne very little resemblance to what had been the 'normal life' back in the UK, yet everyday life is still everyday life as it always was in many respects, so it's still nice to have a change of scenery now and then. I've often said that in more recent years my wanderlust has faded somewhat, since the kind of life we now live and the environment in which we live it is the stuff of many peoples' dreams, and that is not lost on us. But when I think back to my earliest holidays in Greece, which began in 1977, I always looked for a number of things to make the holiday complete.

You've probably got a list of your own, but here are a few things that make Patmos just right for us...

1. The perfect place to stay. A small apartment, set amongst residential properties, with a wonderful view. The place is run by a lovely, welcoming lady in the shape of Suzanna, who's kindness and helpfulness itself, without being in your face.
2. A bakery within five minutes walk from our front door. 
3. A waterside walk that allows us to both work up an appetite and to walk off the meal afterwards when we go out to eat in the evening.
4. Friendly local people.
5. Just enough life to give the place 'soul,' without it being overrun by tourists.
6. Excellent primarily traditional local restaurants and bars, with prices that are very acceptable.
7. The size of the island, plus the location of our accommodation mean that we don't need to hire a vehicle. walking is a truly beneficial pastime, not to mention extremely de-stressing and good for the health and wellbeing. Oh, and there is a modest local bus service anyway.

There are probably a few more parameters I could add to that list, but Patmos could almost have been designed for us when we muse over what we look for when going somewhere purely for some serious R&R. And we can get there on one boat all the way.

Thus, here we are, home again and already thinking about our next visit. Having the same apartment each time we go is almost the same (but a good deal cheaper!) as owning your own holiday 'gaff,' only without the responsibilities that go with it. Let's face it, a lot of people who own holiday homes or apartments don't spend more than a few weeks each year occupying them anyway, the rest of the time leaving them empty, or letting them to strangers. What's the difference then? We now have a wonderful, comfy, modest apartment that we can use whenever we like, and it's great!

Anyway, I decided to now post a bunch of photos from our last few days on Patmos this time around, most of which have short descriptions to accompany them. Hope you like them. They're not in any particular order, so some of the same scene may be separated by others. Here goes...

This is the beach where sits the Kyma restaurant/bar. That's it at the far end of the tiny bay. Sadly, looks like it's not opening this year. It's just along a lane from Meloi beach.

The puddy tat greeted us from his favourite chair each morning, hoping for a little something from us. It was all cupboard love, but he did enjoy a bit of petting too. His left eye, when we looked closely, had an iris that was fogged-over, so I guess you'd say - since he's a cat - that he has a 'humanaract.' That may be an indicator as to how old he is, although in all other respects he is in good shape and is well looked after.

The actual seaside terrace of the former Kyma restaurant/bar. Imagine, in the UK they'd have been closed down anyway until they fitted cast iron railings all along that quayside for 'health and safety.' The harbour area and Skala village are the other side of that hill in the background.

Street scene in the thick of the old village up behind the seafront, harbour and village square.

Who's that woman? She keep following me around.

More from the backstreets.

A female sparrow taking advantage of the leftovers from the table's previous occupants. "Hmm, I think I'll have that one..."

The tables on the beach at the Tsipouradiko Mas. This was taken from our table in the restaurant itself, just across the road.

Just minutes earlier than the one above it.

I'm being stalked...

The main square, from the Petrino Bar. Closing time for the shops as the people begin to thin out for the night.

The Kyma from behind, taken from a rather lovely block of holiday studios that do look as though they may be open for business later in the season. the gardener needs to get a move on, though.

The sadly neglected WC's at the Kyma. I rather like the rusty stains that make it look like the occupants of the two small plaques, demarcating which loo is which, have had unfortunate accidents.

Oh, and another backstreet in Skala.

As above!

The front right across the road from the legendary Ston Afro, where the chef is my old mate Manolis. I suppose one could call this the 'town beach.'

Harbour scene as glimpsed from a gap in the buildings when one wanders around in the upper area of Skala.

•

As you'll know if you've read any of my other recent posts, me and the better half have now given up working during the season. This will hopefully mean that we can get out and about a little more often this summer. That should result me me being able to post a few more photos of places here on Rhodes that I haven't previously shown here on RFR. Maybe I'll add some more tavernas and bars to the "Play, Eat, Visit" page too.

Ah well, holiday over, back to the grindstone. Mind you, my grindstone doesn't weigh much these days!