When I looked in the mirror after the first wee of the morning I decided that I had already put on weight. My face looked fatter, and I had to work harder to button up my trousers.
I will have to be disciplined when we all sit down for our meals. The first test breakfast and I only ate fruit while I watched the others tuck into their meals.
The bus picked us up and we climbed a fair proportion of the hill when the signal came for us to disembark. The route followed a rising valley until we reached the pass. Some of the party marched on higher while Maggi, Matt Mark and I followed the route down with Myriam.
There are so many chapels on the hillside. More houses of worship than could ever be supported by the population of the area. They are still maintained perhaps out of superstition by the locals.
We waited for those who had taken a route to the peak in a small village and surprisingly we found a cafe open. We indulged in a drink and Myriam chatted to the owner who spoke a smattering of English. He invited us into the kitchen where he had his stock so that we could choose our drink.
The others joined us in due course. Once they had refreshed themselves we moved on descending through rocky pathways. At one point we met a retired sea captain and his wife.
The route became quite tricky and reminded Maggi and I of the descent from Table Top Mountain in South Africa.
We arrived at our destination, a seaside taverna where they specialised in mousaka. We had the normal, Greek salad plus other appetisers before the main dish arrived. Marg raved about it, but she never says a derogatory word about anything so it’s hard to know what she really thinks. Unless of course she does think everything is fabulous.
The meal finished just after 3 and the bus wasn’t due to carry us back until 5. I changed in the restaurant into my swimming costume. We walked along the empty promenade to the beach. Others changed there and I found an entry into the water without rocks underfoot.
The water initially sent shivers all over but I soon grew accustom and made the splash above chest height. A swim around for a bit and then the job of removing the sand from between my toes.
Once dressed again the time had not passed 4:15. Some people visited the first cafe they found. Maggi, Matt and I wandered around Korthio. The town looked a bit downbeat with the tourist season over. We did find an ice-cream parlour open where we bought some excellent fare.
By the time we returned to the hotel we had little time left before setting off to town. The boss of the coach company told us the restaurant we would eat in was also the best in Andros.
Her thoughts were not shared by our party as we left to return to the villa. The place certainly charged the most of any of the place on the holiday. I only had the fish soup. As we returned home I could feel the indigestion come on. The tummy trouble made it a very restless night.