A... Zakynthos!

By now we have taken a liking to going to Greece: so, taking advantage of the many summer flights that EasyJet and Vueling offer and bearing in mind that we did not want too long a flight, that we have already done some of the islands, and that we really wanted, for once, only the sea, we chose to go to Zakynthos. The island is small, but it offers a wide choice of places to sleep, eat and go to the beach. We hired a little car through the usual Rentalcars and, after picking it up at the airport, we headed for Alikanas, a seaside resort about thirty km away, chosen because it is fairly equidistant from many other beaches we would later want to see. Here we took a pretty room with a kitchenette, never used, at the Spinos Studios, booked with Booking and with an excellent value for money.

But giving advice on places to sleep or eat seems rather ridiculous to me, both because it is really crammed with both, and because, in our case, a couple of the places we went to eat because I had read about them in more than one travel story turned out to be the least satisfying! So, just like what I think of those recommendations that the Lonely Planet guides dispense with so much "swagger". Do not trust them and follow your instinct of the moment! At least, if I am not satisfied, I know it depended only on me.

If we had wanted a truly relaxing holiday, we could easily have stayed in Alikanas for seven whole days, because the sea is shallow and clean and invites you to stay in the water, and this, I must say, was true of almost all the beaches we visited! We preferred to move around and enjoy as much as possible the variety of resorts, which include sandy, pebbly, boulder and rocky beaches: in short, truly for every taste! As for this too, it is not easy to give advice, because it is subjective and because it may also depend on the day you get, for both sea and sky! We were most enchanted by Xigia, which includes three fantastic little stone coves, and then the island of Marathonisi, with a very white beach and pure Sardinian-like sea, but alas with far too many boats continually taking turns at the shore, preventing you from having the calm swims the water would invite you to take.

But, even if sometimes with a few small disappointments compared with expectations, we liked everything: Daphni, Gerakas, Kalamaki, Porto Koukla, Agios Nikolaos, Cameo Island and Navagio. The water was generally quite cold (we set off at the end of June); in most places there was room for everyone, while in some, such as Xigia, Navagio or Marathonisi, the number of bathers increases in waves, because they are perhaps poured in by a boat or a coach, and since the world is very varied, full of slobs and shriekers as well as respectful and quiet people... sometimes you are lucky, other times very unlucky. And anyway, I am left with the prevailing feeling that there really was room for everyone.

The prices, except for petrol, which is expensive as in Italy, are low: to eat for three we spent between €28 and €34, and almost always by the sea! While the sunbeds, when you paid for them, cost at most €8 with the parasol! In some places (Daphni, Agios Nikolaos in the north and Porto Koukla), if we found them free, for which we never had to go at dawn, it was enough, but not obligatory, to have a drink at the bar, obviously not at inflated prices! The island, partly flat and partly mountainous, is characterised by the presence of beautiful olive groves, some colossal, and wonderful, luxuriant Mediterranean scrub that sometimes reaches practically the sea. There are sea caves, or rather small coastal grottoes, which you can visit with the countless boat trips that leave from practically every village or resort on the island.

Among these, the unmissable one is at Navagio or Shipwreck, the Shipwreck Beach, one of the most photographed in the world. As many have written, the number of people poured out by the boats and the boats themselves that often remain practically at the shore for that little hour of stop are really an industrial quantity... but you cannot even think of going to Zakynthos and not seeing this beach with its unique colours and characteristics, reachable only from the sea. The beach can also be seen from above, heading beyond the village of Volimes, but if you suffer even the tiniest bit from vertigo, believe me, it is better to forget it! I will conclude by stressing how much hospitality and warmth we received once again in this country so despised or treated as if it were second-rate. Besides the welcome, we noticed a great, great desire to work and to do it following all the rules.

So, I am repeating myself, but as far as we are concerned, long live Greece and long live the Greek people.