Leaving Lefkada – back up north for a couple of days

Roja didn’t enjoy Karya, in particular the small cottage we took for three days to sit out the storm. It rained heavily for twelve hours then wind gusts of up to 100 kph for the next twelve. I put my head out the door in the early hours and wet snow was falling. Across the 24 hours the temperature dropped 15 degrees, to just 4C. Lots of thunder overhead, then the various noises the wind made, including the shutters of neighbouring houses crashing, and various flying objects making landfall. Whenever we passed the van he made it clear where he wanted to go.

We got out though each morning, even for a few hours on Sunday, following tracks that took us a couple of hundred metres above the village. By now the sky was clear, and the views across the strait to the now snow capped Peloponnese, the first of the season. Both times we finished at the taverna, Barrolo 16, where we were welcomed as regulars.

The first snow of the season on The Plops, as locals call them.. the Peloponnese

This morning, Monday, was a fine cloudless day, and we were away mid-morning, negotiating the van precariously round the narrow streets of Karya, then down the hill to Lefkada town. Aware that the road was closed alternate hours, as on arrival, we stopped for a wander around the affluent marina, and coffee.

There were just the locals going about their normal Monday business, so different to what it would be like in the rest of the year, a very pleasant break.

Then, as illogical as it may appear, I headed back north for an hour, to the village of Glyki. It is here that tomorrow I will meet Nick and Lou, our paths crossing as they return in their campervan from Turkey.

Glyki is at the head of the Acheron Gorge, primarily known for being a holiday destination for rafting, though it has good hiking opportunities as well as many ancient sites of significance as well. Tomorrow is another rain day, so I sorted out options of a suitable taverna to meet in, a place for our vans, and then slunk off a few kilometres towards the gorge for a quiet stopover for the night.

I’d done all this by mid-afternoon, so we were able to take a couple of hours, towards a summer bathing spot, a calm alcove of river aside from the river’s turbulence, much to the dog’s delight.