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"Meraki" - A labour of love - to do something with passion, from the heart. The essence of yourself .   Some say we are brave, others crazy. All shake their heads in amazement, perhaps disbelief.In November 2023 we arrived back in Plomari after sailing for a few months and we were welcomed with smiling faces and excitement. The season had been...

OTAN PINEIS STIN TAVERNA - by Tsitanis "When you drink in a taverna, you sit and don't talk.Every so often you sigh, from the leaves of your heart.I would like to ask you and get informedWhat distress made you so melancholic?Maybe you also loved and got betrayed, Come and sit with us, so we can party together." The sounds seduce us – backgammon tok...

The earthen pot surrounded by crinkly parchment arrived at our table. My mouth was drooling. Succulent lamb topped with feta, olives, wild mountain herbs and tomatoes lying on a bed of soft potatoes saturated in lemony juices. Lamb Kleftiko. My favourite dish in the whole of Greece. And what a joy to find that it is a speciality of the Zagori regio...

I close my eyes a lot when we're driving in Greece. The roads are astonishing - narrow, winding, treacherous, a feat of engineering skills. We've driven along loopy roads in Nisyros, skinny tracks in Tinos, spiky passes in Lesvos, precipitous roads in Leros.......but none have been as marvellous and terrifying as the steep, narrow, zig zaggy, deser...

 Sally This year has been one of the windiest sailing years we have experienced, but around the middle of the season, there was an unexpected 7 day lull forecast with the weather maps showing glass like conditions. In 2013 we had tried to sail to the Fourni islands not far from Samos, but we were forced to turn back when we hit the notorious w...

We have visited Gialos, the harbour of Symi island, many times over the years and been seduced by this beautiful town with it's gorgeous pastel coloured neo-classical houses nestled in the natural amphitheater around the harbour and up the hillside. We have always been on the boat, which, in this small and busy harbour, can be a bit stressful, and ...

Particularly in the Dodecanese, it is hard for a traveller to miss seeing the shadows of the Second World War. I have written about this before but it continues to fascinate me as more information unfolds. Italy owned the Dodecanese (meaning twelve) islands from 1918 to 1945. The Italian architecture and town planning in Lakki on Leros island is in...

One week after we launched Pegasus this year, we were exploring the beautiful Chora of Patmos looking for a place to draw. The options were endless in this UNESCO world heritage site with the monastery perched on top of the rocky outcrop and the beautifully preserved old houses and small churches tumbling down around it.  We walked through a p...

Our sailing adventures this year have been peppered with surprises – most good, a few bad. The worst was obviously the earthquake that hit Plomari and terrified the living daylights out of us. Our friend, Gerhard Euler, wrote to us just after the earthquake and the title of this blog is thanks to him: "Wow, so reckless Poseidon has frightened you. ...

Henry and I were having our now habitual siesta one afternoon in Skala Loutra, a small fishing harbour in the Gulf of Gera on Lesvos, when we were woken up by a dull and rhythmic thwack, thwack, thwack. We dozed on a bit and then a cement mixer clunked into life, breaking any chance to carry on sleeping. We dragged ourselves upstairs and saw, on th...

 SALLY AND HENRY A week ago we were about to send out our first blog of the season when we heard news of the devastating fires sweeping through Knysna and the Garden Route. To be so far away from home and see and hear what was happening was awful and we felt powerless to help. Our first inkling of anything wrong was when little Naledi (Dineo w...

We have experienced many firsts during the last 12 years of exploring Greece – the wrath of Poseidon tossing our little boat on choppy `Aegean seas; Greek Easter festivities; eating at a taverna with the sea lapping a few centimeters away; experiencing the generosity and hospitality of Philoxenia (meaning friend / kindness to the stranger) and the ...

It was June 2021. Tired from a stressful trip from George to Lesvos with Covid obstacles flung at us at every turn, we eventually walked down the magical winding path leading to our traditional stone farmhouse with more than a little trepidation. We had been away for 2 years and who knew what we would find? When we dashed for the airport to fly hom...

Cath and Rob are English musician friends of ours who live in a pretty little country house in Plomari with a stream running by, surrounded by small market gardens and stone walled fields enclosing horses and goats. They very kindly allowed us to stay in their country idyll for the months that we were renovating Philoxenia Secret Escape. We loved i...

I often ask myself why Henry and I love Plomari so much. It's not the typical town of your Greek island imaginings. It's a little frayed around the edges, a little faded, kind of gritty I suppose. So what is it that draws us and others like us to this idiosyncratic town? The are many things – the people, the food, the beaches, the architecture. But...

In June 2017 our sailing boat Pegasus was moored in Plomari harbor Lesvos when a massive 6.3R earthquake hit, shaking the boat like a cork and causing havoc in the town. It was one of the most terrifying moments in our lives. But remarkably, what would have put most people off encouraged us and we started our love affair with Plomari. Now we have a...

The discovery was revealed during Channel 5's new series 'A Greek Odyssey,' as its presenter – Bettany Hughes – embarked on a journey across the Greek Islands, from the coast of Turkey – where the mythical Trojan War took place – to the island of Ithaca in the west of Greece.  An ancient Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Nemesis has been d...

In April this year we were supposed to fly from South Africa to the island of Lesvos to spend time putting the finishing touches on Philoxenia Retreat, our beautiful stone farmhouse in Plomari, preparing it for our first holiday rentals since buying and renovating. Devastatingly for the whole world, Covid19 hit and we were forced to cancel our trip...

This very strange year that has knocked the whole world for six has been almost surreal for us. While the rest of South Africa battles with a broken economy, joblessness, hunger and intense frustration, we are reveling in the most beautiful winter at Ballots. We have been able to walk freely through the nature reserve, smell the sea, listen to the ...