Last full day in Tinos Greece

Our run of hot, windless days came to an end on our last full day in Tinos - Friday 10th of May. We woke to a Wellington like wind on a windy Welly day and the temperature had cooled to 18/19C which was pleasant enough but so much cooler. No sitting by the pool today. 

Photos above - the weather we woke to and Steve and I by the port covered up for the wind. Bottom right I wanted to include at one stage the obsession in this country with rip off oreos, every supermarket / mini-mart / tiny hole in the wall place has masses of them disproportionate to everything else they sell. We have tried many versions and flavours now paying everything from $2 for a packet to $5 in the Tinos mini-mart.

Our plan had been to get up exploring the island early but the hills were all covered in cloud so instead Paul went for a run while the rest of us read and ate. I found a clause on our ferry ticket that our e-Tickets must be printed for boarding so we headed into the city for lunch and visit to the travel agents. 

Our lunch was splendid, really traditional Greek kai in a restaurant that was spread over 3 shops and outdoor seating. 

We sat in one of these wee former shops, bottom and top left are at our table. The menu was extensive so we ordered loads of food as always, Fennel rissoles, a platter of cheeses with bread and tzatziki for our starters. Then each of us ordered a "portion" which is a protein with a carb. Lib got pigeon with spaghetti, I got pork with potatoes (pictured) for instance. Was all divine flavours wise and topped off with a wee wine (served in a carraffe with a tiny glass).  

More wandering in the city and a quick visit to the travel agents - who told us we don't need to print the tickets and no we can't find out beforehand whether the ferry will be cancelled tomorrow. 

On the ferry cancellation I was worried after fast ferries were cancelled when we first arrived in the Greek Islands due to excessive winds. Everyone else pretended it wasn't a big deal but Steve and Paul did look at slow ferry to Athens / flights back to the UK from there just in case, happy in the knowledge we have a backup plan we headed off to explore more of the island. 

Steve drove today. He and I together as Imogen and Don know isn't a great combo but we survived. Google tried to send us through a tiny village (Triantaraki) with stone walls either side, we reached a chair then could see a vespa up ahead and realised we might not be able to get through so asked some locals who - with a very straight face - told us we couldn't go any further, we could tell they thought we were crazy to be on this road at all. Steve did an amazing job reversing us out of the village with nowhere to turn around. We did a mini explore of this village and saw an ancient laundry and flour mill and some cute houses plus more dovecotes. 

Right - Dovecotes, bottom right showing a new building butted up to an old dovecote. Top right the press we think is a washing press. 

Next we navigated up to Volax a tiny village built in an area where the whole countryside is covered in huge boulders. We had seen these boulder covered ridges when driving yesterday but it was surreal turning a corner and the hills changing from terraced with man made stone walls to hills and hills covered with massive naturally forming boulders. It was spectacular. The weather too was spectacular closing in on us rapidly and reducing our visibility somewhat. 

Volax village was cute, it has a amphitheatre and traditional shops - a soap maker which Steve declared smelled like Lush and we also saw old men crafting baskets from cane in another shop. 

There is a taverna there (where we stopped so Steve could use the loo) and one cafe. We also went into an ancient kitchen ruin that has been preserved for the tourists, otherwise it had houses in varying states of repair. As we left 2 x coach loads of Greeks arrived so good timing. 

Left - top left the ancient kitchen, looking across the ampitheatre steps to the village with the weather coming in. Bottom - they found another local beer to try and a shelter built into the rocks. 

Right you can see the size of these rocks up close, and the hills behind covered in them. Plus bottom trying to show how the hills go for miles covered in rocks. 

We were all pretty tired from the wind really so headed back to the town to buy Greek donuts - which I hadn't managed to try yet. Paul and Karen went to a tiny place where the women made them for us from scratch and they were divine, light, fluffy and covered in honey or chocolate sauce. 

Back at the villa it was still a raging wind and we had a power cut which took out our internet and as we learned in the morning our hot water too. So we had a picky dinner finishing off the lettuce, cheeses, salami, meatballs and left over cooked veges from in our fridge. 

We spent our evening playing a game where you pick a theme and then everyone chooses the best song they can think of for that theme eg: Flowers or Animals. It was awesome fun and the dancers enjoyed a wee boogie. 

Last few photos here are - left two alleyways in Tinos port town, right dancers and one of the donuts. 

Tomorrow we get up and leave, weather permitting. Very sad as we have loved this time in the Greek Islands.