Sunday 2 August 2009

Sunny Samos

We stayed at the gorgeous Ino Village Hotel. (www.inovillagehotel.com because I cannot do justice with my photographs). It's up on a hill overlooking Samos Town (or Vathy) which is the capital of the island.



There is not a great deal to see in Samos Town. It's in a beautiful bay and there are lots of cafes and bars overlooking the harbour, where we benefitted from the breeze coming in from the sea. There are also lots of great places to eat but for attractions... well, the museum was shut every time we walked past it.

There is a statue in Pythagoras Square.


(Complete with a man picking his nose, in front of it. My camera timing is useless).

There's a very pretty church too.



Gagkou Beach is where we spent most of our time. Most mornings we were there before 9.30 and it was virtually deserted - just us and a few elderly people swimming in the water.



We did catch the bus down to Pythagoria where we scrambled around the walls of Logothetis Castle (which was shut) and visited the church nextdoor.



The harbour was fab - full of yachts and fishing boats. And cafes, naturally. We also walked out to the Efpalinos Tunnel. (Underground aquaduct through the mountain). Surprisingly, it was open and we paid 4 Euros each to walk down some steps, along a short tunnel and back again.

It was worth it, to get out of the heat.




Even the locals were sheltering in any shade they could find.

By, eck! It's been a while.

The last month has been a bit busy. I've been finishing off at work to start my new job tomorrow. (Nervous? Moi? No, not at all, honest. And if you believe that...).

On top of that, I've been marking essays and doing lots of swearing about plagiarism and students who can't follow instructions. Ask them to write 2,000 words and they present you with 741 words.

I've also been on holiday - which was lovely - and some of those photos will be in the next post.

On the knitting front... nothing hugely exciting which is why I haven't posted for a while. Because I decided to knit presents for everyone for Christmas and I don't want to be still knitting them on Christmas Eve, I'm managing to turn my hobby into a chore. That was never the point. Knitting is supposed to my relaxation not another list of jobs to be ticked off.

I am enjoying making the gifts - so the process is enjoyable - and I certainly don't begrudge them as presents for my family. It's the fact that I have created this 'list' and this 'job' as a task to be carried out. So, I won't be doing anything on this scale again.

However, I have been productive:

One sock for Mary's birthday on Thursday. (There will be another).


Socks for Debbie for Christmas.


Two pairs of socks for the BF's birthday and one pair for my Granda's birthday.


Swing Coat for Niece Number 1.


The BF's secret jumper - back, front and the start of a sleeve.