Solstice Swimming

I woke not knowing where I was this morning. I rolled over in bed to find Clare drawing the curtains to let in the light and reveal this view. A good moment.

Breakfast was taken soon after, sitting in the hotel restaurant, gazing out at the view. We could order anything of a list of nice sounding things. I opted for ‘cake of the day’ alongside pretty much everything else. It was a wonderfully unrushed and filling meal.

We checked out around 11am and set off on the road, which was mostly straightforward, except for a few Google ‘shortcuts’ through olive groves on dusty tracks. We had a great stop for a drink and break at a random little town, an hour short of our destination. The cafe was full of old men and thick with cigarette smoke. The bar tender sold me a cappuccino and I picked up a couple of bottles of water to go with it, while Clare went outside to find some fresher air. He asked for €3.00 and I assumed he’d not seen the bottles I’d picked up. Yes, yes he said, €3.00 total. Bargain, I thought and held my breath while I paid and hurried out to reach the sanctuary of the open air terrace. We sat by the roadside watching blokes come and go on old bikes, while we fought our way through the thick coffee sludge.

An hour later, we arrived at Leonidio – our home for the remainder of the year.

Our apartment is on the beach front. In one direction there is only sea. The other faces the cliffs and mountains. The town is a five minute drive away, but out here there are just a few farms and guest houses. It’s very quiet and all very chilled. The owners of the house had left a big bowl of oranges, local honey and jam, a bottle of wine and some coffee out for us. We made a brew and took it down to the waters edge. The sun was just dipping behind the mountains, but we felt we ought to still get straight into the sea to mark our arrival. Not quite a solstice swim, but pretty close!…