Gigs From Abroad Part 27 Greece – Part 3

Continuing the tale from last week where we had decided to undertake some island hopping and in advance research it suggested there would be daily ferries available heading from Zante to our next destination of Kefalonia. However, we subsequently discovered there was only transport every two days and that didn’t match up with our schedule. It is a nine-mile crossing, and we were beginning to embrace our inner Steve Redgrave or Michael Phelps before we thankfully discovered a Plan B.

This involved a 30-mile taxi to the other ferry port at the northern fishing village of Agios Nikolaos Skinari. The friendly taxi driver dropped us at his favourite bar, and we bedded in for a while as we had landed there 3-4 hours before our departure. We then shuffled down to the rather sparse ferry point before departing on the 7pm sunset crossing to Pessada.  

The Sunset Ferry. Image Credit Jimmy Crossthwaite

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian batch of islands and was the location of the siege of Argostoli between the Italians and Germans in 1943 during World War II. After the German’s victory their brutal reprisals including the execution of five thousand Italian soldiers. The subsequent English author Louis de Bernieres book and film ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ is based on this event.

There is also an unproven synopsis that the island is the actual setting in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. Musically they have a long history with a Philharmonic Orchestra being in play since 1836. Additionally, Richard Wright who was the keyboard player in Pink Floyd for ten years was born there.  

We were there for six days and stayed in Argostoli and hopped on the ferry over to the fishing harbour of Lixouri for day trip. Taking a route over a steep hill from the town centre brought you to the resort of Lassi, where one night we attended a restaurant with the owner having a striking resemblance to Ian Dury.  Across the road we saw a chap called Gary performing in the Lassi Kefalos Restaurant and Bar.  

Ian Dury. Image Credit listal.com

Our previous remaining visit to Greece was in 2010 to the small island of Skiathos which only has 27 miles of coastline but has 60 individual beaches. In the 19th century it had a profitable period where it was a shipbuilding hub which utilised the profusion of pine trees naturally at their disposal. The international airport is located very close to the lovely capital of Skiathos town and is a plane spotters paradise. There were some dangerous cakes and fabulous restaurants where you could dine on the Catch of the Day and imbibe the local ice cold dry white wine. 

The core bus route runs regularly along the length of the island and has numbered bus stops, 1 being the capital and 26 being the last drop at Banana Beach, and during our stay, we travelled to every stop to fully view the island. One of the previous residents of Skiathos was the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip who was born there in 1921. Additionally, the island and its neighbour Skopelos were utilised as locations for the Mamma Mia film.

We made our trip at the tail end of the season in September and the weather as a result was a tad erratic. On the Saturday we were endeavouring to head out to a local bar to watch the Burnley v PNE match and also grab some tea but outside there had developed the most cataclysmic electrical storm I have ever witnessed. The field opposite was completely swamped, so much so the water was threatening to enter our accommodation.

Finally, there was a marginal easing in the monsoon, so we grabbed the opportunity to scamper down the soggy track to the bar. Immediately after our windswept and sodden bodies bumbled through the door, a lady in the corner piped up with a ‘Deliverance’ style voice asking, ‘Are you the entertainment?’ to which I replied instantly ‘I can be if you want me to be’ which thankfully resulted in her craning her neck back in. It got worse before it got better as PNE proceeded to improbably throw away a 3-1 lead in the last 10 minutes and lose 4-3.

Deliverance Duelling Banjos scene. Image Credit americancinematheque.com

Thankfully the friendly accommodating bar owner fed and watered us superbly despite the constraints of the inclemency, which resulted in him scampering to the supermarket next door to top up his dwindling larder supplies.

Our next planned Greece trip was going to be to the picturesque location of Santorini with the bonus of grabbing a couple of days in the capital Athens before heading home. It was all booked but then the pandemic struck and everything was cancelled. We have never yet had the chance to rebook and slay that particular ghost, though I believe it is now hugely oversubscribed with tourism numbers. 

Gigs from Abroad Part 27 Greece – Part 2

In 2023 we decided to head to Crete for our 25th wedding anniversary. Crete is a fair size land mass and is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and welcomes 6.3 million visitors per year. The island was the home of Europe’s first advanced civilisation, the Minoans who hung around for 1300 BC years and built the palace of Knossos.

Famous residents include the Greek god Zeus, actor John Aniston (Giannis Anastasakis), father of Jennifer Aniston, singer Nana Mouskouri and professional gambler Nick Dandolos, otherwise known as ‘Nick the Greek’. Though the latter named sounds like a fringe character on Only Fools and Horses, wonder whether he ever met ‘Dirty Barry’!  

Nana Mouskouri. Image Credit photos.com

It has two international airports, one at the capital Heraklion in the north, the second resides at Chania which is where we flew into. We were fortunate to grab some lovely accommodation in a suburb called Kato Daratsos village, which was a short bus ride away from Chania or a more leisurely walk along the seafront which we completed a couple of times.  Our lodgings were linked to a family run pool complex next door and the lady there could not have been more friendly and welcoming.

There were a few beach bars and some fine local restaurants, and we managed to source a nearby one with an enclosed outdoor veranda called Sterna Chrisi Atki on our anniversary. Whilst we were having our meal, completed with a mighty slab of Cretan Orange Cake, we observed a huge local family on another table. They were several young kids in their party, and it was thoroughly refreshing to see them all well behaved and thoroughly engaged at the table throughout their dinner with no phones, drawing books or tantrums!

There were several streets off the main drag running down to the sea and on one such avenue there was Kato Daratsos Thea Artemis Café where one night we saw a singer called Sebastian performing. Close by our accommodation we also caught a portion of Rock Lobbies set at Kato Daratsos Theos Village. We headed into Chania for a few nights out and there were many small windy streets and busy squares in the old town. At one point, we ended up at Chania Harbour where we saw a local chap called Carlos playing.  

In June 2025 we completed our latest trip to Greece and headed initially to the island of Zante (known locally as Zakynthos), which is part of the Ionian islands and also has the name of ‘Fioro di Levante’ which translates as the Flower of the East. During World War II the Mayor and the Bishop (it is not a precursor to a joke) refused the German requests and hid all the residents jews in rural villages, and all 275 survived the conflict and both dignitaries were later listed as Righteous Among the Nations for their bravery and compassion.

Chania Harbour. Image Credit pixels.com

Zante was battered in 1953 by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake which resulted in most of the buildings being destroyed. Subsequently all buildings were then strengthened and proved to be effective when a 6.4 scale earthquake struck in 2018 as it caused significantly less damage.

On our visit we headed into the resort of Argassi for a period of eight days and understandably given the time of year it was rather scorchio! It was a tidy spot with a plethora of restaurants and bars, many of which we visited. One particular spot deserves mentioning and that was the friendly Beer Academy where they had an extensive selection of Greek bottled beverages which I obviously took it on my shoulders to work my way down the list, with my favourite being a Thessaloniki brew called Nymfi.

On the inventively named Main Road there was Argassi Nonna’s Kitchen Bar where we saw an act called The Boys playing and further down at Argassi Diane Palace Hotel a chap called Stavros was performing. There were the predictable tribute acts on stage at Argassi Legend Sports Bar and Grill where we saw ‘Rod Stewart’ and at Argassi Captains Hotel we witnessed Gary playing.

The Beer Academy. Image Credit argassizakynthos.com

There was a chilled beach bar called Argassi Solesea which was a fine spot to while away a couple of hours gazing out at the Ionian Sea and on one particular visit there was a chap called Al tinkling away gently on the house piano.

There were two establishments that had music on every evening, the first was the Argassi Green Frog Bar, which had a busy restaurant attached to it. It was a cosy establishment and when we attended there was a decent ‘mash-up’ singer called James Erlam performing. At the opposite end of the resort was Argassi Artemis Bar which was a slightly weatherbeaten venue and an accomplished veteran blues guitarist called Nightshift Kim Starner provided the tuneage.  

We were a couple of miles away from Zante town and we mulched into there a few times, either on foot or on the bus which dropped you at the bus station which was situated on a dusty road overlooking the town. Due to the hot weather, the shops in the capital had proper siesta compliance with a complete shutdown in the afternoon hours.   

There was one restaurant on the front called Spartakos which we visited a couple of times and where we had a fantastic fish platter. Further sealing the deal was when I went to settle up the bill and I spied a picture of my favourite tennis player Rafa Nadal with the owner from when he had visited the establishment.