A place in the sun

I was in Crete this time last month. Beautiful long lazy sunny days and warm evenings. I promised the owners of the place we were staying - which was utterly fantastic by the way - the Hotel Aloi in Annisaras - that I would send a painting. And this is it. It isn't finished yet, school term has started so my painting hours have been somewhat curtailed. It is oil on canvas paper...since that can be rolled up easily and sent via airmail. It depicts the path through the gardens to the terrace, late in the afternoon when the sun was low and less fierce and really illuminated the trees.

Been away....

and not painting much alas. Off to south of France on Saturday but I AM going to take some paints with me this time. I figured its high time I dug out my watercolours. In denial about the summer being over, moi? Damn right!

Highlights from Zakynthos

I won't bore you with endless photos of beach shots. Suffice to say we went to Maistrali in Tragaki, the same place as last year and it was truly fantastic. I picked out a few that capture the holiday pretty well.





Rumour was there were sharks in the pool....


Actually just J, looking for his paddles.

No holiday at Maistrali is complete with out some Greek night dancing. M joined in with far more enthusiasm than most, but I have to admit it was great fun once you got going....Lots of spinning involved. lol.

We hired a jeep for the day to explore a bit and visit the turtle (caretta-caretta) nesting beach at Gerakis. We decided it would be fun to try and find "that restaurant we went to last year" which is perched on top of one of the mountains. Picking one, we proceeded to drive up very steep inclines and when I observed that the road was more goat track than anything we drew to a halt. It was then I looked out the side window to see these...accompanied by gathering angry bees...


Zakynthos is famous (and rightly so) for its gorgeous honey but we didn't wait around and after what seemed like a 90-point turn on a road barely wider than the jeep with a 1000ft drop on one side, we made off in a cloud of dust.

We eventually found the restaurant, in Gerakari. This taverna sits at the top of the mountain, in the highest point of the village overlooking the island. The terrace where you eat is a balcony which is built so that you have a panoramic view of the island. I think the owner must be keen on flowers and crochet....In the beautiful gardens I came across this fellow...And for once, clean and fed (at the same time rather than one or the other) children. Yammas!