Well we’ve arrived in the Leonidio region and settled into our beachfront retreat at Lakkos. We’re on the edge of an agricultural area with olives, tomatoes and oranges in abundance. The perfect place to hide away for a while!

In one direction there are fine views of the mountains and cliffs, and to the other there is only sea. Although we are surrounded by world class rock climbing, the draw of the ocean has kept us by and in the water.

It’s literally twenty paces from the kitchen to sitting on the empty beach, so we’ve been making the most of it.

Between the sleeping and swimming, we’ve made sure to have eaten and drunk well.

The slow pace of life has been a real tonic. In the days leading up to Christmas, we’ve moved slowly, chatted, reflected and kept each other company. Our house is at the end of a dead end road and only really used by farmers, so we have the full beach to ourselves most of the time. It feels lush, vibrant and full of life here. This is the view from our bedroom balcony.

Having been close to here for Christmas in 2017, we drove the few minutes down the coast to the small harbour to see if we could remember or recognise any of it. It was only a couple of kilometres away, and involved crossed a dry river with no bridge! Best not mention that to the car hire people…

The old port was familiar and we saw the lady who owns the Tavern and who used to give us free oranges to try and coax us into having dinner in her restaurant! The beach had become busier though, as back then the area was barely known by climbers. Now there is a car park full of brightly clothed people living out a range of old and new vans from all over Europe. Number plates include UK, Swiss, Austrian, Romanian and lots of Germans.

We took several swims and relaxed on the busy beach – when I say busy, I mean we could see about seven or eight other couples stretched along the kilometre length of pebbled beach! The swimming and snorkelling was still idyllic and stacking rock therapeutic.

Christmas Eve was a bright and quiet one and we were happy with that.