Kira Panagia, Karpathos, Greece (Κυρά Παναγία, Κάρπαθος, Ελλάδα)
25 July 2016Waking up early to have a quiet morning swim, we were once again shocked by how clear the sea was at our little Kira Panagia beach. The air conditioning unit in our AirBNB didn't work particularly well: it had been set up in the corridor, so we were forced to leave our bedroom doors wide open and even then the ambient temperature stayed high enough for us to sweat throughout the night. Even so, we were content in knowing that a wonderful beach was just down the hill.
After a quick breakfast, we drove south to Karpathos town in an attempt to find a garage where we could acquire a replacement tire. This was surprisingly difficult, and after driving around for a while with no luck, Fabienne and Yannick visited a car rental company to inquire there. The receptionist wasn't sure, but rang her mum up on the phone for input. They were given directions to a possible garage that was part of a petrol station (there were only three petrol stations on the island) while I had seen a bakery nearby and leapt from the car to get me hands on some bread! I was stuck in line behind an old woman who had a long list of different pastries she needed, but I got a loaf in the end and returned to the car just as the others were leaving the car rental!
Following the employee's mum's directions, we pulled into the petrol station which did indeed have a garage attached. A mechanic inspected the tire, too it off our hands and told us to return in a couple of hours.
With time to kill, we drove to the town of Menetes to continue our Karpathian adventure. With no car parks around, we found a place to pull over along the main street and walked up to a high point of the town: the church. We could see the tall white belltower poking up above the rooftops and figured that it would make for a first-rate lookout point.
At one point, we turned a corner to find that a Jack Russell terrier was frozen in his tracks, staring at us and silently trying to decide "friend or foe?" We left him alone in case he settled on 'foe' and glanced over a couple of tavernas that were featured on Lonely Planet.
As it was nearly time to pick up our freshly minted tire, we drove back along the coast and stopped for a brief swim at a pebbly beach north of Karpathos. And before we knew it, all of our tires were fully functional again! Only out of pocket €20, we were pleased with the cheap fix (though Yannick and I were informed later that the tire blew out as Fabienne and their dad were driving on the French motorway towards Paris).
As it was nearly time to pick up our freshly minted tire, we drove back along the coast and stopped for a brief swim at a pebbly beach north of Karpathos. And before we knew it, all of our tires were fully functional again! Only out of pocket €20, we were pleased with the cheap fix (though Yannick and I were informed later that the tire blew out as Fabienne and their dad were driving on the French motorway towards Paris).
He pointed out which dishes were available that day, indicating that they used local produce and what was in season. We ordered grilled aubergine and courgette, briam (a dish made from potatoes, green beans, artichoke, pea pods and okra in a tomato sauce), baked feta and a local dish called macarounes (oniony pasta). Everything was lovely, including the white wine and the traditional cookie covered in icing sugar that was presented to us for dessert.
Driving onwards to Lefkos, we kept our eyes peeled for signs directing us to the fabled Roman cistern. The definition I was taught for 'cistern' is the tank that sits behind the toilet that fills up with water. This is correct, but 'cistern' also refers to tanks that supply taps with water, and an underground reservoir for rainwater.
On the way back to the car, Yannick spotted a doorway down an overgrown track and went to investigate. It turned out to be a cave that someone had converted into a simple house, with the entranceway made of stones that looked like they had been stolen from the cistern. On the way out, I wasn't paying attention to the low doorway and banged my head. I'm told it was quite funny to witness.
Today's post was almost called: 'Fiesta Like You Stole Your Auntie’s Table!'
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