The trip to Lefkada from Kalavrita, where we had lunch, was pretty straightforward and simple. Liane is perfectly happy with the Greek-style driving by now and demonstrated this repeatedly on the motorway as she whizzed past traffic by crossing over to the wrong side of the road regardless of line markings. She really doesn't need the "stay to the right" calls anymore as it seems second nature to her but we keep it up anyway just in case. Though the trip was relatively short it was obviously WAY longer than the quick trip up the road we had initially planned when we intended to overnight at Kalavrita, so it was oh so lovely to arrive in Lefkada. This was especially so knowing we were staying here for three nights, so for the first time since Broadway we could really unpack, unwind and relax........as Gwendoline succinctly put it, a holiday within our holiday! I must admit to being happy too as it just happened to work out that I hadn't had the "room of one's own" treat yet and so I was to get the three night stay at
Lefkada. As it happened the girls room was at the back of the building so they couldn't pick up the internet signal so Liane and I have spent most of the time we've been home at the hotel here together on the balcony of my room anyway but still it is nice to have lots of room to
spread out and of course also to sleep (or more correctly not sleep), without worrying about disturbing one's room-mate.....And it's lovely to sit here, two sisters together, individually writing but also stopping to chat....oh yes and share a bottle of red of course!.....So as I write this we are sitting on the balcony of a pretty swish hotel complex in Nidri, a seaside resort village here on Lefkada island. This hotel seems to cater to groups of English tourists so in some ways it isn't like being in Greece at all but rather some sort of expat enclave...... It has it's own pool with the whole sunbed and pool bar scenario going on (GJ has been taking advantage of that and enjoying lying out by the pool) and it also has it's own restaurant but we have still been going down to the waterfront esplanade area to eat. Even in that regard though the village of Nidri is not really like being in Greece either.... all the tavernas and cafes do have Greek food but they also have pizzas and burgers, crepes and waffles so really you could be anywhere. Every single cafe down there has free wifi as well so it's obvious that the whole place is completely geared towards the tourist trade....And I think most of them are foreigners, mainly English sun lovers desperate to get a bit of Vitamin D! In general I don't think it is really the sort of place we would normally be drawn too but again it really is like a holiday within a holiday and we actually have all enjoyed our time here chilling out and catching up on writing ....and resting! Before I finish I have just a couple of little general things I want to mention as they are things that stand out as being oh so different to life at home in Australia.....one is that, as I mentioned in Nafplio I think, everywhere you go there are hundreds of street cats. They are all over the place here in Nidri as well and are obviously well fed. The restaurant workers feed them the scraps and since there are almost as many eateries here as there are cats, they are doing just fine...... but what blows our minds is that are allowed to quite freely wander in and out of shops and wend their way under and between the tables whilst you are sitting eating.....and not just where people are on the strip outside eating but actually inside as well.....it just looks rather odd to our health and safety conscious eyes to see a table of diners in a restaurant surrounded by cats!.....and while on the subject of general OH&S, the guys tiling the roofs don't wear harnesses at all.....oh and everyone smokes absolutely EVERYWHERE.....like inside shops as well.....so you walk into a clothes shop even but you can't stay inside it long as it pongs of smoke.....oh how quickly we've become used to non-smoking everywhere as it just seems so peculiar! And the other odd thing, to our modern plumbing loving selves, as I think Liane has mentioned previously, is the not putting toilet paper in the toilet but instead putting it straight in the bin....Mmmm yes well it definitely seems strange and perhaps even unhygienic to us but then again I guess their systems just couldn't handle it.....I can't help but wonder though how many of the countless tourists who visit Greece each year actually follow the rules in this regard?! We had a lovely last full day here in Nidri today, we enjoyed a drive around to a couple of nearby seaside villages, one Sovota a fishing village and the other Vassiliki which has crystal water lapping a long white pebble beach....absolutely gorgeous but surely not that comfortable.....I actually found it quite difficult to even walk on......though yes I am the official Miss Clumsy and Gwendol quite rightly says I'm a rare person who can fall over whilst standing still!... Off to the mountains again tomorrow and though I have certainly enjoyed our coastal idyll I must say I am looking forward to heading inland again......

(L)Finally getting into the pace of life here in Greece... 10am and just finishing breakfast and getting ready to start the day. Deb and I had (a not very nice)breakfast at the hotel, GJ had a nice sleep in and managed to avoid the spread. This is a very strange place, very greek in the pace- shops open at 11ish but also cos it's so touristy it somehow feels like we're not in Greece. Having a really lazy day, we all headed down into town and went our own ways for a wander along the waterfront, shopping, catching up on emails etc at a cafe then back to the hotel for a freshen up and down to the promenade for lunch at Cafe Stua. Took half an hour to get our wine then one by one she made our meals and delivered so GJ was almost finished by the time I got my Greek Salad... then she told Deb she couldn't make her order cos "end of season, don't have all the ingredients" which was also the same with Gwendols banana milkshake, we think she said she had no banana icecream cos Gwendols yoghurt with fruit came with banana!! Total bill EU22 (no tip). Soooo 2 hours later we finished our lunch.. ah well, we're almost Greek!! Gwendoline went off for a bit of shopping and then to laze by the pool so Deb and I wandered around looking at menus for the nights dinner. We have a new system where each of us has a day to be making the final decisions as it was getting rather a long process when each and every choice became a major drawn out effort with all 3 of us putting forth our opinion... today is Debs day and she's very pleased to not have the accommodation choice on her day.... not fair!!! Anyway we short listed some places for dinner and went on to look through all the little shops. Deb found a gorgeous skirt and a top to match and I got 2 lovely little dresses (none of us came prepared for the lovely sunny days of Lefkada). The lady in the shop was Elena and she gave us both a "gift" of a Lefkada tea towel with our purchase.. that seems to be the way of things here, many a time after dinner we have been given a plate of apple slices covered in honey or some other little gift, it's lovely. During our wander we saw a couple taking photos of each other so asked if we could take one for them, they were an English couple ( of course there seems to be nothing but English tourists here ), they told us they had driven down the coast to a seaside fishing village called Sivota so that will be on the list tomorrow, also a friend of Gwendolines, Emily, is Greek and had told GJ to go to Vasiliki, which happens to be just past Sivota so perfect for a day out. After a few hours sitting on the balcony blogging etc we all headed back to the waterfront for a pre dinner cocktail.. cos that's what you do on holiday.... 3 cocktails ( not the best ) and a bowl of fried potatoes (chips) EU20 on to dinner at El Greco which was absolutely divine.. more Italian than Greek but I think we needed a break from all the tzatziki (with bread) and Greek Salads (Horiatiki). It also helped here that we had a very nice (read cute) Romanian waiter... we just called him Hall Pass!!! Another hotel breakfast, but if you stick to the boiled egg and cup of tea not too bad.. but not too good or filling either and after a bit of sitting in the sun by the pool with my computer we headed off at around 10am for a drive down the coast. Sivota is our first stop and only took about 15 mins from Nidri.. we were all starving so stopped for breakfast at a lovely little cafe then continued on our way to Vasiliki. We didn't really drive into the town itself but as you come into town there is a left turn to town and a right turn to the beach.... we were firmly fixed on walking on the beach so right turn it was. Can't say it's too easy to walk on a Greek beach ( or this one anyway ) as there are white pebbles instead of sand but still it's the beach! Gwendoline wanted to be able to say she had actually been swimming in the Greek Islands so very bravely stripped off down to her swimmers and took the plunge... well her head didn't go under but hey, she got wet which is more than I can say for Deb and myself!! We spent probably half an hour here taking photos and sitting just enjoying being here. GJ and I both got our sandals wet as when we bought them we were told if we wore them in the ocean they would change colour to a darker shade... it was a bit of a ceremony wetting our sandals in the Ionian Sea! Time to head back to Nidri and a quick drive saw us back at the Hotel by 1.15pm. Of course now it's time for lunch "I could eat" we all chimed as we walked down to get Gyros, we ate at Gyros and Grill in the main street (as opposed to on the waterfront where all our other meals were eaten) and it was divine, 2 gyros, 1 gyros plate, 1 sprite and a 1/2 litre red wine came to just under EU20.. bargain!! After lunch we had a bit of a laze about, GJ went for a nap so Deb and I headed down to the waterfront for a cocktail before dinner, I ordered an espresso martini which tasted like black coffee with some ice and Deb ordered Danish Dynamite which tasted just like grapefruit juice, we reckon neither of them actually had any alcohol in them cos we didn't have the slightest buzz after downing them in quick time!! Back to the Hotel to pick up GJ for dinner. Our last dinner in Nidri was at an Italian restaurant next door to El Greco so we were on the look out for Hallpass all night!! I had a yummy pizza, Deb had Pasta with tomato, garlic, olives and capers ( although there weren't actually any capers in it so we reckon it was once again the end of season thing ), GJ had pasta with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce and of course wine, total bill EU 35. We had arrived at dinner at 7pm and were home by 9 so not as leisurely as some meals but we had to get packed up and a fairly early night so we can get going to Monodendri as early as possible tomorrow.