Basilicata ramblings.

I think that TV companies must block book attractions to keep tourist out while they film. I have seen a documentary/travel programme about the churches cut into the Sassi caves in Matera and it looked lovely and peaceful. Now, bear in mind the season has not started yet but by 0930 the place was swamped by guided tours of clicking pink cattle blinding people with flash photography, I lasted about ten minutes then headed for the most interestingly named town on my map. Montescaglioso was lovely, it is a hilltop town and the old town is a maze where I got lost until I stumbled on a film crew shooting scenes for a film set in the fifties I would imagine by the old cars the had on set it was a pleasant cabaret to go with my lunch. The Alesidano club where I am staying is very Italian and the activities run all day until 11:30 pm. I saw what was happening when I checked in and asked to change my apartment which overlooked the entertainment amphitheater but I was assured that it would be quiet by 9 pm. Lies, lies and dammed lies the imbecillic racket went on for hours, I thought Italians were sophisticated but the cheered and clapped at what was really bad karaoke. I was quickly given an apartment well away from the action yesterday. The remainder of this week is going to be at slow pace, a little walking, panic tanning and shopping for wine and pasta before the journey home starts on Saturday.

More ferries.

Corfu, a nice place but you have to get away from the mass tourism that swamps a lot of the coast and Corfu Town is always full because there are two cruise ships in dock, as one leaves another arrives. i was lucky to find Villi and Linda's place it was lovely and quiet and spacious with the advantage of a patio and the amount of produce that they gave me was embarrassing, I left with lemons, home made wine and home made Rakki so look out I may need victims to taste it for me. I enjoyed getting up in the hills and meeting the real people but if you come to the coast the part I liked most was in the southwest between Messongi and including Petriti, which is mostly villa accommodation. I went back to Benitses for my last meal and was entertained by two of his caged birds, Elvis and Pavarotti. Yesterday I had a lazy day until I went for the ferry from Corfu to Igoumenitsa, the temperature had climbed to 30C so I became a shade seeker. In Igoumenitsa I went to a local taverna where I passed a pleasant couple of hours with a Canadian educated Greek historian Nicholas then it was time to check in, eventually the ferry left at 1am but fortunately armed with sleeping bag and pillow I found a vacant couch which I immediately bagsied. I think I managed five hours sleep but it was hot and sleeping in my clothes made it even hotter thank god I took wet wipes and toothbrush with me! I am going for a quick pizza tonight then bed.

Black bees and walnut cake.

The visit to the morning market in Corfu town was a failure, the traffic on Sunday had lulled me into thinking I could park the car just outside the centre, not a chance it was the Whacky Races with cars jammed in every parking space by half past nine. I investigated Gouvia marina where Odyseus Yachting also have a base, it is huge. I will be checking out possible mooring locations on the island with a view to sailing from here in the future. The coast north of there is heavily touristified so it was nice to get up in the hills to the supposedly restored Venitian village of Perithea, the only parts that have been restored are a couple of houses that are obviously holiday homes, a really lovely building that is now holiday lets and of course the four tavernas. Having said that it was good to wander around the village looking at the buildings and also visiting the 'bee man', he had over fifty hives in his garden and the bees were black, a first for me. I went fo a walk along a track that contoured the hills and when I saw the top of Mount Pantokrator above me I was tempted to climb but I don't think fitflops are the ideal footwear for such a task so I retired to the quietest taverna for walnut cake and coffee. I was listening to Jan's iPod on the way back Played through the car's sound system and il Divo's version of Amazing Grace with full bagpipes was on as I was threading my way through the traffic in town I certainly got some funny looks. Breakfast yesterday was Lena's eggs scrambled, I have never seen such deep yellow yolks even when I kept hens myself, she has also given me home made goats cheese and promises me goats milk tomorrow morning. The lump of cheese she gave me was huge, it is very mild and a bit like mozzarella it was good with my sausage Bolognaise. Last night I went out for dinner for the first time here, I couldn't face Corfu town and my local taverna was closed so I ended up in Benitses and went to the taverna of the same name which is in a line of four restaurants facing the sea. The owner Dimitris came and sat with me, his only customer. When I asked him why one of the restaurants was busy while the other three were empty he told me about the Pigeon Syndrome, the first table that gets settled attracts other pigeons which thinking about it is often the case. Myself I avoid the busier places because they get so loud unless of course they are full of locals then it is worth it because the food must be good. Zorba was played again.

Another ferry.

Another weather alarm clock yesterday, this time it was Thor throwing his thunderbolts about. The drive down to Igoumenitsa was through torrential rain but it started slowing down while we were on the ferry to Corfu and today we have sun, yay! I am now staying with a Corfiot family at the end of a track in the middle of nowhere. The apartment is the ground floor of their house which I think is actually their son's place but they need the money so rent it out in the summer. Villi tells me he is an unemployed agronomist but I think he may mean he normally does people's gardens and with the current crisis people cannot afford to get the gardener in. He is busy anyway he grows most of his own fruit and veg and also has chickens and turkeys. He doesn't waste his grapes on wine he turns them into grappa and I am now the proud possessor of a bottle to go with the lemons and eggs Lena his wife gave me. Lovely people. Yesterday it took me hours to find my new digs so I stayed put in the afternoon and had a few beers. Today I explored Corfu town, it seems a nice place with the warren of streets like a maze but it was full with two cruise liners on the jetty, one of which was the Oriana, so I went up to the castle to get away from the tourists. The forecast is good and I plan to explore the island and go to the morning market in town for fruit and veg etc, it might be a quiet week blogwise.

Down from the hills.

Yesterday I meandered down from the hills to the town/small city of Ioannnina, I was here by 11am so I parked up and tramped all around the walled city which is refreshingly uncluttered with shops selling tourist tat, there were a couple of shops providing basics for the locals and a restaurant and café. The citadel was at one time Ali Pasha's seraglio but is now the site of his tomb next to a restored mosque there is also a museum with an annex which you can visit for the princely sum of 2 euros. Lunch was a giros pitta, the chef told me that when I say pitta it sounds like pizza but then again he is American. He kept me amused with his take on the problems between Greece and the EU, apparently it was the Germans forcing Greece to take out loans and then having the audacity to want the money back. After the entertainment I visited the Archeology Museum which had some amazing articles on display, I could not believe the intricacy of the silverwork from over two thousand years ago. another surprise was the display of coins. There was a coin from Syracuse in Sicily which had the three legs of Man on it and I thought that was a Viking symbol, the other was a representation of the goddess Athene on which the Britannia on our coins must have been based and both of these coins were from around 25BC to 14AD. To cap the day I checked in to a very homely hotel and the food last night was a Greek version of chilli chicken with olives and sultanas which I do not normally like in hot food but it all went together so well. This morning the hammering rain woke me up, I resolved to not let is stop me from exploring I would put on my waterproof and go for it but my waterproof is still behind the cabin door on the boat, not the only thing I have left behind this trip! Anyway the visit to Dodoni went well, the rain slowed and I still had an umbrella in the car. Dodoni apparently was the site of Greece's oldest oracle 4000 years ago and I thought the original oracle was at Delphi, anyway by 1300 Zeus was speaking here too, so I stood under the sacred oak tree in his temple and asked him what direction my life will take when I grow up, all I heard was birdsong, goatbells and the patter of rain on my umbella. The site is well placed in a bowl between the mountains to the West and the hills to the North and East and there is an aura about the place which is hard to describe, the other feature is the very large theatre which is still in use, according to the blurb, in it's heyday it could seat 17,000 people, there was no one there to see me perform. This afternoon I caught the ferry across Lake Pamvotis to visit the small island which has six monasteries on it and I discovered three times as many stalls selling tourist junk, anyway the weather gods got me back for mocking Zeus. I am now in my cosy hotel room after a hot shower listening to the rain on the window. The forecast tomorrow is clearing then the following 9 days wall to wall sun which should make for a pleasant week in Corfu or Kerkyra in Greek, maybe that is a sign?

Back to basics.

After last night's indifferent 'Beef in red sauce' meal I decided to go back to basics tonight, the pork kebab and salad was absolutely brilliant. I am a man of simple tastes but I cannot remember a night in a restaurant in Greece when Zorba was not played at least once. A great exploring day today, I started of with. Walk to the local monastery which was built on a crag overlooking the gorge. The views again were spectacular, it seemed to me to be an ideal place for contemplation. There was the opportunity in the monastery church to light another candle to Jan and as I lit it the sun came out from behind the clouds so I know she is still with me. The rest of the day I spent driving up circuitous roads to visit remote villages. The scenery up here is too much I can't think of the correct superlative to describe it and there are surprises around every corner whether it is a spectacular view, a local looney in the middle of the road or a herd of cows looking for fresh grass, it certainly keeps you on your toes. Well I know I have only got a few weeks left so I have planned the trip home. I will be visiting a couple of friends en route as well as the Stelvio Pass so after leaving the far south of Italy on the 4th of June I should be home on Friday 10th, see you in chapel Peter.

Up in the hills.

I know we were spoiled with all the fantastic food we had whilst sailing but last night I had the worst meal of the trip so far at the Barrel restaurant in Nydri the food was not cooked/reheated properly and it had virtually immediate laxative effect. Take my tip, don't go there. Lunch today was Lidl rolls and ham picnic up in the mountains. I was planning to walk the Vikos gorge but I went out to look at it and it is fearsome, 1100 metres deep, that is the height of Snowdon. I was talking to a guide and he did say that although the distance through the gorge is only 12kms it takes around 8 hours because of the climbs and the rough ground. He also said not to do it solo. I will get some walks in but not the whole length of the gorge.