Navigating By Napkin

Friday, May 24, 2013
Vlicho, Ionian Islands, Greece
Maybe this is why we never made it to Fiskardo? Well, not really but it might help explain what went wrong.  
 
Sivota, Lefkada to Nydri, Lefkada
May 21

So, not surprisingly I slept through the early morning excitement of the anchor untangling but was happy to hear all was sorted out and we'd be good to go. Next stop Nydri, Lefkada. 

We had a great sail to Nydri, about 10 kilometers up the east coast of Lefkada and through the channel that separates the island from Meganisi. Our attempts to anchor in Tranquil Bay, however, were anything but. After a couple of unsuccessful tries in the crowded charter-filled harbor we motored a little further south and found a spot in Vlicho. Nydri is a resort town and so the waterfront was filled with tourist shops and "Authentic Greek Style!" restaurants with menus featuring Hamburger! Fish & Chips! Greek Specialties! Vlicho please.



Vlicho, Lefkada
May 22

We spent some time walking through Nydri before venturing off in search of the local waterfall - the hour in town quickly proving we did well for ourselves ending up in Vlicho. 
 
We were happy to see that unlike the other places we've been, there are plenty of signs in and around Nydri. Unfortunately, many of them aren't really all that accurate. Despite the telephone poles trying to convince us otherwise, we found the waterfall about 3.5 km out of town. 

 




















 We also found out that horses here on Lefkada are tri-lingual. 


 










 Thankfully the waterfall had a bit more water than Arethousa's Fountain. Dodger could even go for a little swim.

 




















 














 




 On the way back we passed on the telephone pole Taverna Olive Tree and ended up at "The Office" a small family run taverna (and source of the navigating napkin) across the street from where we stashed the dinghy. Mom and Dad cooked while the two sons took care of everything else. Erika and I grabbed a table while Francis brought some groceries back to the dinghy. Our order of three Alphas (considering there were two people and one dog) left the son who was tending to us a little confused. His English was limited to "Okay?" and "Cheers" and our less-than-adequate attempt to explain the need for a third bottle via charades left him more so. He brought the three bottles of Alpha but only two glasses. We were half expecting him to bring a bowl for the third beer and put it on the floor for Dodger. The look on his face when Francis walked in and he realized the third bottle was for him was priceless. "Ah! Cheers!" 
 
The place was pretty crowded and there were a few men sitting in front of the TV watching a Greek soccer match. Unfortunately, as in Argostoli, I couldn't read who was playing but Yiannis, the second son, is fluent in English and so he filled in the blanks. 

As you might imagine, soccer is a pretty good conversation starter around here. Walk into any taverna with a match on, ask who's playing and you're pretty much good to go. Well, sort of. I'm not sure which gets a more stunned initial reaction: an American asking about the match or a woman asking about the match. Combine the two and you've pretty much thrown the earth off its axis. When that shock wears off the questions begin: You're American? You like football? Americans like football? Women like football? Once I've established that, yes, I'm American and yes, I like football we're ready to move on. Although Yiannis, it turns out, favors the NBA. 
 
We worked our way through a few more Alphas and Yiannis and his brother (no, it appears we never got his name) kept delivering olives, nuts and pita cuts with each new beer - at one point sending dad out to get more olives. We had finally mustered the will power to say goodbye to our new family and head back to the boat but Yiannis wouldn't let us leave without a shot of Tsipouro. The same tsipouro that ultimately did me in at the Pirate Bar in Sivota. Yiannis promised though that this was much better "not from a bottle" tsipouro. And after the olives, nuts and pitas we couldn't say no, could we? Of course not. Tsipouro for everyone! So no, lesson apparently not learned in Sivota.

Vlicho, Lefkada
May 23

An old rickety wooden roller coaster. That's what the boat felt and sounded like at about 4:00am. We knew the winds were coming. We knew the rain was coming. We had even re-anchored in a more sheltered part of the bay the day before in anticipation of the weather. It didn't matter. The boat was rocking, the wind was howling, the rain was pounding the deck and I was pretty sure at any moment the anchor was going to call it quits and send us on our way. It all made for a pretty restless night and lazy morning. 
 
Francis brought some news from his daily bread run... but first let me just say, I am so going to miss the daily fresh bread run. Back to the point... There was a small car that had to be pulled out of the bay. It rolled in overnight and the front half was submerged. All of the electrics had been short-circuited so the horn was blaring and the wipers were going. Turns out an earthquake in 2003 caused the quay to sink a bit so when the weather kicks up water can spill over the wall leaving the line between the bay and the road a little blurred.


 
Francis and Erika made plans to head over to see Gordon and Ann (remember the Moonshine Limoncello?), who are also here. Since we'll be sailing tomorrow I was more interested in another day of wandering. Francis dinghied me ashore armed with a handheld radio to call when I was ready to return.
 
Hoping that a walk to the far end of Nydri would reveal something more than we had seen the day before I set out for town but unfortunately all I got was more "Special Greek Souvenirs!" and the scariest ice cream cone ever.  


 



I turned back towards Vlicho in search of a beach - stopping at the bakery on the main road for yet another variation of FreddoEspresso. There was one other guy sitting at the tables outside and when he heard me speaking to the woman at the counter he asked where I was from. He was from northern Germany and riding his suped-up motorcycle throughout Europe. His hometown is near the German/Czech border and he had worked his way south and down the whole eastern Adriatic coast. Now he and his bike were ferry hopping through the Greek Islands. 
 
It was time to put the soccer-as-conversation plan back into action. I told him we were leaving for Lefkada Town in the morning and that my goal was to spend Saturday night in a pub watching the Champions League Final. Of course this got his attention because: 

1. I'm American  
2. I'm a woman
3. There are two German teams in the final
 
He processed it quicker than most of the Greeks had. In fact he was more pleased than surprised. Of course, I'm guessing that's because he figured who wouldn't want to watch two German sides battle for European supremacy? 
 
The woman who worked at the bakery couldn't care less about Bayern and Dortmund but once she heard New York, just had to know if I lived near where they shot Sex and the City. Or Gossip Girl. Or... The Bold and the Beautiful? 
 
Cheese pastry finished, it was time to move on - and that's when I came across the Vlicho Yacht Club and its sandwich board touting hot showers. While I clearly failed the lesson on Tsipouro, what I learned back in the Caribbean has been etched forever in my mind: Always have shower gear in the backpack. No doubt I'd be stopping here on the way back. 
 
I made a wrong turn on the way to the beach and ended up following the road around the far side of Vlicho Bay instead. Plenty of sheep, not so much beach. After a while I gave up and decided a shower was a better use of my time. Wait, it took me that long to come to such an obvious conclusion? What has happened to me? On the way back another wrong turn took me past the town soccer stadium. Well, it was once the town soccer stadium anyway. The gravel pitch looks not to have been used for a while. 


 
The Vlicho Yacht Club was more a base for the British sailors in town than anything else. There were a handful of them outside playing cards but I made a beeline for the showers. VYC resembled pretty much all the yacht clubs I've come across in my travels: shower rooms, laundry service, book exchange, restaurant and bar. Perfection. Celebrating my shower with an Alpha the conversation turned to the earthquake - a 5.something - that had hit not so far away a few hours earlier. The cook had felt it. The bartender too. I missed it. Not quite sure how that's possible.   
 
All scrubbed up, it was off to "The Office." With Erika and Francis eating at Gordon and Ann's, I figured I'd join the family for dinner. The brother-that-wasn't-Yiannis walked right over with an Alpha, some olives and a "Cheers!" while Yiannis informed me that mom was cooking lamb tonight - so lamb it would be.
 
Just before dark I said my goodbyes to Yiannis and the family and radioed Francis. It's off to Lefkada Town in the morning.

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