So after Meteora we've continued to wind our way West towards the coast.

Firstly though, a word about the weather, particularly as it's been so bad in the UK. Now some people said it would be too hot in Greece in July and that anyone in their right mind would only go there earlier or later in the year (you all know who you are !). Unfortunately I have to report that the nay sayers were wrong. Although the sun has been shining and the tempertaure has regularly been around 46-48 C we've been finding it okay, particularly if we can stick to the routine of M having a cold shower and a swim every 15 minutes or so !!! And the sight of the sea planes landing on the sea every few minutes to get water for the forest fires is just part of the attractive view! Although the breeze is so hot you do feel like your stood in front of a fan heater.

Anyway back to the trip. After Meteora the plan was to have a couple of days in Ioannina and a day or so exploring the nearby Zagorian villages before moving onto Igomenitsa and the boat to Italy. The route took us through the Pindos mountains (a brief respite from the heat of the plains at a cool 35 C). It's strange to think that they get snow here in the winter and have snow poles along the side of the roads, and snow plough stations every so often and clearly quite an active skiing area when its this hot just now! Anyway Ioannina was a lovely town situated on a breezy lake (which was nice) and we were next to a weird restaurant / bar that was dead modern and trendy, a big hit with the locals. So we did ourselves up as young things in our best shorts and tee-shirts and had a nice meal while we were there. Also wandered the town and got a bit of the history visiting Ali Pashas pad at the top of the hill (inevitably !), he was an Albanian bandit M tells me who hung around in Greece until the Turks cut his head off (wow !).

Truth be told it was a bit hot in this neck of the woods and we couldn't swim because the lake wasn't that clean, so after a couple of days we left and headed off to see the Zagorian villages on our way to the coast. We picked the nearest one at the start of the Vykos Gorge. It was a good choice, as the gorge was spectacular and we wandered up to the monastery overlooking a good chunk of the gorge itself. Apparently it's in the Guinness Book of Records as the deepest and narrowest canyon in the world ! The most notable event here was watching some idiots following the path along the edge (way beyond it's natural conclusion) and scrambling along rabbit paths (with a sheer drop of hundereds of feet) to reach some caves further along. They had kids with them and we assumed we would be watching the next installment on one of those Michael Burke BBC rescue shows (but no somehow they made it back okay - some people always do !)

Having touched Zagoria, we headed back to the coast for some swimming and breeze and have spent the last few days near Igomenitsa in a place called Parga exploring this side of Greece. The reports from M are that it's not as nice as say the Pelion peninsula and the Feta cheese isn't as creamy - I'd agree. Still the beers cold and the sea refreshing so not all bad. There's also been a different mix of tourist on this side, lots of Italians (as you might expect as we're fairly close) and loads and loads of French people (the first we've really seen so far on the trip).

We've been getting to know some of them (the French that is ) better than we might of liked. Three escapades to report so far (and we ain't hardly trying) !

Firstly there was the couple I caught "a flagrante" in the gents toilets at one of the sites we stayed at (v embarassing for all those involved), then we had another couple who decided to pitch up right on our front step (we almost had to walk through their tent to get out of the van - and they had the whole site to choose from! )

Lastly but by no means least, there was our run in with poor old Monseiur Magou (I can only put it down to poor eyesight). Anyway there were we first thing in the morning, parked up in our spot, me just wakening up and M off to the loos...when this old soul decides to ram the back of our van with his 4 x 4 and attached caravan ! (He was preparing to leave and his pied slipped on the accellarator). I got out of bed having thought that an earthquake had struck, only to find his Mitsibushi stuck in our bike rack. Suffice to say confusion reigned, at least three languages were being spoken at one point and then to make matters worse, M then reappears from the loo and looking at me says "how the f**k did you manage to do that ? (I ask you). Anyway the good news was that the 4 x 4 looked like a right off but aside from the number plate light we got off pretty much damageless, so alls well that ends well.

Tomorrow we're off to Italy by boat (and we know how they drive !, so more scrapes to come I'm sure), which we're both looking forward to.