The Story So Far
May 2000
Our first visit to what we now consider to be the only place to go for a holiday.
A tin of sardines could be considered five star accommodation when compared to flying economy class.
I doubt if Linford Christy could have kept pace with me exiting that plane.
Stepping off to the warm night air was the first sign that i was somewhere other than England, the temperature
must have been ten degrees warmer.
Travelling during the night doesn't allow you to see much of the scenery so i had a nap for the hour or so it took to reach Sidari
We stayed at the Zafiris appartments where we were welcomed by the owners son Zafiris (you guessed it , the appartments were named after him).
After getting the baggage to our appartment, i chatted with Zafiris for an hour or two whilst dawn crept up on us.
I realised i'd met my first greek friend and as the light of day illuminated the surrounding coutryside i was taken aback by the natural beauty of the place.
I needed a couple of hours more sleep to set me up for the first day, so after saying cally nicta (good night) it was off to bed.
There were eight of us, me and Gail and our kids, Sean, katie and kirsty in one appartment and Colin, Lynn and thier daughter Carmel in another. After the first night we found it easier to have one of our kids sleep in thier appartment, it was a little too cramped for five people.
The first day we just lazed around the pool and enjoyed the sunshine, silly me!
By the end of the day i looked like i,d fallen asleep in a ferrari painting shop!
Very painful, so after an early meal and  six bottles of aftersun it was off to bed.
We had a walk about town the next day, checking the local bargains etc, etc.
Colin and i are not the sun worshipping type, so we went back round the town while the girls bronzed themselves by the pool.
 After walking around in the heat of the afternoon we called into The Planet Bar for a drink, (just to cool down..you understand.) Stefan the barman served us a large beer in a frosted glass taken from the freezer...ahhh perfect!
We stayed and chatted with Stefan for a while......nice bloke, his favourite sayings are "no worries" and "very nice weather".
After cooling down five or six more times it was back to the appartments to change for dinner............and a night on the town.
The Mimosa Hotel was our choice of venue and we wern't dissapointed, good grub and good entertainment.

The next few days were much the same....great stuff!! It was becoming more like a home from home every day.

Lying in the sun for two weeks might be some peoples idea of a perfect holiday, but it's not mine!
Both me and Colin prefer to do a bit exploring, so we decided to hire a scooter and travel around the north of the island.
And that's when we met Yiannis.
Yiannis and his wife Kiki run the Melitsa branch of Pink Panther Byke hire where you can hire scooters, mountain
bikes, yachts and aeroplanes........well maybe not the last two but he was so helpful i'm sure if we asked he'd find some way to supply them!
While we were in the shop we noticed a guitar leaning up against the wall. A few years ago Colin and i tried our hand at guitar playing but neither one of us was an aspiring Jimi Hendrix. We asked Yiannis to play something we may have heard of.
Imagine two tourists and a local greek musician, (Yiannis plays in a traditional greek band), wailing out Led Zepplins
"Stairway to Heaven", the passers by had every right to stop and stare!

We settled for mountain bikes and set off to explore the local countryside. Getting about town was easy.......nice flat ground
and plenty of gears.
It was a little way out of Sidari when we hit the hills and OH BOY!!
Half way up one hill there was a little farm house and both of us slowed ( from 2kph ) to take a look.
ARHHH! two of the biggest , meanest looking dogs came growling from the back of the house heading straight toward us.
We passed two Lamborghinis a porsche and Michael Schumacher out for a test drive, before we realised we were six
kilometres away. Arillas is where we ended up. What a beautiful place! I would recommend visiting the other resorts close to Sidari, even if it's just to fill your photo album. Some of the scenery is spectacular.
The ride back seemed ten times further.
When we finally arrived back in Sidari we stopped off at the Planet for a drink, (by now this was our local).
We told Stefan where we had been. He bought us a pint and told us we were crazy, we thought so too!!

Every day of the holiday we tried something different. Different tavernas, restaurants and even the local fast food joint.
Almost all of the restaurants in Sidari serve excellent meals, some meals are better than others, one restaurant may serve better
steaks than it's neighbour while the other may serve better traditional meals. It's a bit hit and miss.

Some of the bars have regular karaoke nights. As well as the good singers you also get the bad, (us).
At one karoake night Colin and me did a version of Laurel & Hardy singing trail of the lonesome pine.
Everyone had a good laugh! The DJ recorded it and gave us a CD, have a listen karaoke kings, after we got home more than a few people had
a laugh.
On our last night Martha invited us for a meal at the Planet. A traditional greek meal of spaghetti and chicken cooked in a rich sauce. This was one of the best meals we had during the two weeks we were there. Both Martha and Christos joined us and after several bottles of wine we spoke fluent greek. (well, that's how i remember it.) Later in the evening we met two blokes from lincolnshire, Widge and Alan. They have been regular visitors to both Sidari and the Planet for some time. I don't think my head hit the pillow 'till breakfast time, but isn't that what one does on the last day of a holiday?
 
 
 

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