|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 March 2011 by Tony Wells The Greek island of Paxos, an olive-covered dot in the Ionian Sea an hour’s boat ride from Corfu, is off the beaten track when it comes to mainstream tourism. During the high season a pleasure boat or two may call in at the main port of Gaios for a couple of hours, or hover in one of the sandy bays of even tinier Anti-Paxos to let the trippers plunge into the clear turquoise waters, but for most of the summer little Paxos follows its own rhythms of life, into which the visitors slip within a few hours of their arrival. If you are new to Paxos, I can assure you that the daily round is about as big a contrast to your life back home as imaginable. Suppose you are staying in the picturesque little village of Loggos, a collection of a hundred or so small stone houses –the larger villas with pools tend to be in the hills behind the village – on Paxos’s northeast coast. Your day begins with a short walk to Vassili the baker’s on the jetty, where you select one of the thick-crusted loaves, still warm from the oven, from a large wicker basket. From there on to one of the local grocery shops or mini-markets, for a jar of honey maybe and a tub of yoghurt to complete your breakfast. On the way back to your accommodation – one of Travel a la carte’s Manor House apartments, maybe, or one of their new Muses villas, all within 10 minutes’ walk of the village – you pause to take in the picture of the harbour in the morning light. Colourful boats with outboard motors, one of which you may have already hired for later in the day to take you to an outlying beach, jostle each other gently in the blue-green water; Captain Makris, thin and wiry, with a flat sailor’s cap on his head, is on the deck of his leisure boat, preparing it for the first of his round the island trips, taking in the Erimitis cliffs, the blue grotto, and anti-Paxos; further out, beyond the jetty, a fast sea taxi sits up in the water as it ploughs its way to Corfu, speeding some late travellers to the airport to catch their return flight. Return flight? Poor people, having to leave Paxos! As for you, you amble back up the slope to the house, put the kettle on for the day’s first cup of coffee, and settle down on the terrace, facing the sea. A light sea breeze rustles the leaves of the trees behind you. In the clear morning air, the view stretches as far as Corfu to the north, and the Epirus mainland to the east. In the middle distance, a ferry as big as a hotel progresses slowly northwards, heading for Ancona or Venice by way of Corfu. The mild Ionian waves lap against the rocks below, as the day begins to take on heat from the morning sun. Soon it will be time to stroll down to Loggos harbour again, to pick up the boat, or maybe just to walk the few hundred metres to Levrechio or Marmari beach, the nearest two beaches to Loggos, with a light picnic of salad, olives, cheese and some of Vassili’s bread, to spend the day – how? Doing very little. Relaxing, reading, going for an occasional leisurely swim to cool off; and reflecting, perhaps, on how uncomplicated life can actually be. It’s one of the great lessons of a Paxos holiday!
For
further information on Travel a la carte’s villas on Paxos and other
islands visit www.travelalacarte.co.uk or contact Tony Wells in the UK
(email tony@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 020 7316 1867) or Chris
Griffiths on Paxos (email chris@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 0030 26620
31207).
PAXOS:
|
Travel a la carte
|
|
|
Travel à la carte |
|
