The final sunrise of the year was another extraordinary light show. I set my camera up to make a time-lapse film, but it must have fallen over just after it started so my film was only one second long! Ha ha! Never mind, I did get one nice photo out of it. What a bedroom balcony view! I still can't quite believe how lucky we've been staying here.
Once the sun was fully up in the sky, we walked down to the waters edge to find more dreamy conditions. Some ripples from a boat way out to sea eventually reached the shore as we were getting in. This time, I took a diving mask and we spent twenty minutes snorkelling around the bay looking at the fish and corals, before retreating back into the house for hot showers while shivering uncontrollably!
It was after lunch by the time we set out for some climbing in Katafyki Gorge. We are still yet to see another person, let alone another climber at any of the venues we've been to on this trip.
We chose some routes at the far end of the cliff, which each had some good climbing on them.
We did four routes in all, before the light started to fade. The final route gave us both a good buzz as there were some tricky moves to puzzle though and some neat ropework required to prevent any crippling rope drag on the 29m climb. Once all back on the deck, we packed up happy with our efforts and set off to find a beach.
The roads were the busiest we've seen them so far as we drove off through the olive groves.
We had toyed with the idea of a final swim of the year, but having already had one brilliant swim in the morning, and with the sun gone, we changed our minds and headed into the town of Ermioni for a drink instead.
We sat outside a cafe in the main part of the marina and watched the world go by. The local brass band also came past again!
This is traditional Greek coffee. The little pan was warmed up over a special stove and it's served with tonnes of sugar. I politely declined and stuck with what I know, with the recommendation of some of the locals.
It was late by the time we got home and we just had time for a shower and a small bite to eat before heading over to our neighbour, who owns the villa and has been staying for a few days to do some jobs. Tomorrow he leaves for Athens, but invited us over for a quick drink at 21:00.
Firstly, he was very keen that we try Greek Ouzo, which is, as far as I could tell, an aniseed tasting version of pure alcohol. After pouring us a very generous measure, water was added and the clear liquid, which suddenly becomes milky or cloudy, depending on how much you add. One glass was enough for me, but I was assured that through the summer, the Greeks drink it like water as a very refreshing drink! Our host, turned out to be married into a Greek family and was originally from Luxembourg. To this end, he then produced some fine bottles of Luxembourg's finest Champagne that he had stored in the fridge for such occasions! It was certainly more palatable that the ouzo! A spread of Greek food, known as mezze, was laid out and grazed as we were entertained with stories and more fine wines.
Having popped in for an hour, Clare had to pretty much carry me off to bed around 1am on New Years Day, after we'd seen off several bottles of the fine champagne while eating and laughing our way through the night. A fine way to finish of the year and typical of the random things that seem to happen to us! Happy New Year indeed!
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