Yassus, Ionians!
On the other side of the Corinth Canal is the Gulf of Corinth, with its beautiful suspension bridge. The Chesapeake Bay of Greece? The similarities end there. It is the mouth to the Ionian Sea and its eponymous island group. Galaxidi, a town on the north coast of the gulf, was our first stop and came highly recommended. We loved it! It’s an old ship-building town and the remnants of grandeur are still evident in the noble houses lining calm shores. A rarely used road follows the shoreline and we always love a good walk with views. It was here we stumbled into an art gallery/restaurant, met the artist, explored all their family history through photos, and found an antique sextant to purchase, because what boat doesn’t need an antique sextant? You never know when you’ll need to use celestial navigation….
In the teensy, tiny grocery Rosie and I bought up all the homemade frozen Greek pies - kreatopita, spanakopita, kolokithopita…meat, spinach, and an amazing sweet pumpkin dessert. We wish we had more time and bigger freezers! The grocery owner was incredibly friendly, translating all the names for us and labeling them in English, then sending us off with a gift of her best homemade olives.
A few more Greek ports, including some impromptu windsurfing lessons on Lefkas (kudos to Russ, the only adult in our group that attempted it in spite of the endless teasing from his children) and we ended up on Corfu. It was our last stop and the most famous, bustling and touristy. Jordan probably loved it the most because every souvenir shop is like eating ice cream: the more the better. We celebrated Father’s Day with some water sports and a meal in town with Hannah and Osman. On our way to dinner we stumbled upon a lesson about sea urchins from a kindly Greek gentleman who was foraging for his evening meze. The following day we left Greece and the EU to stop our Schengen clock (the EU visa time restrictions).
While we were in Greece, we were assisted by our Greek friends in Annapolis, Manolis and Eleni, who tirelessly (and with a new baby at home) helped us try to find a much-needed prescription medication. We missed our chance to get it in Athens and they made many phone calls to doctors and pharmacies on the islands but we were unable to get an appointment. We are so grateful to them; finding and stocking up on meds is one of the challenges of nomadic life.
Luckily, our drug hunting did work out…in a former Communist country with a more “relaxed” healthcare policy. Up next we raise the red flag with the double-headed eagle for Albania!
