Another day, another taxi driver... today it was George from www.taxikatakolon.com.
Just as arranged George was there waiting for us as we walked out the gates... Actually, George had been a Facebook friend for a while now, so he quite quickly recognized us as we walked off...
We jumped into his car and we were off..... What... What’s that .... you have wifi in the car..... yay so now we were facebooking our way around Katakolon.
George took us to the main town of Prygos. Not touristy but a good look at how Greeks really live... we visited the main church in the city and walked around some of the streets where we saw the type of shops they use for everyday life. No souvenir shops alternated with jewelry shops. We saw butchers at work cutting their meat.... blacksmiths at work making olive oil tins, baking tins and BBQ grates and one of our favourites.... the ouzo factory, where not only could we knock back an ouzo, but different types of Liqueurs and the very infamous Raki.
George then took us to the new Archaeological Museum in town. Well, it is not finished yet but there was one wing that was complete, and we were able to walk through. We were lucky enough to meet the gentleman who had unearthed many of the artefacts and he walked around with us to explain some of the display. He only spoke Greek, quickly and with such passion.... I was only able to understand every few words and tried to translate them to the others, and anything that I missed, George translated to me the best he could....
He unearthed a few burial plots showing us bones that were found. They had been carefully dug around then some sort of base was poured around them and when dry the whole thing was lifted off the ground.... hard to explain .... and I may have the translation all wrong, but whatever, it was impressive...
There was a skull unearthed that still had fabric wrapped around it like some kind of headband or the remains of a headdress, and a large urn unearthed with the remains of a small person inside...
We left Prygos and then headed to the little Monastery of Panayia Cremasti perched high on a hill. This church is actually built into the side of the hill. The views were spectacular, and we were lucky enough that someone was there to open the small church up for us. Instead of climbing the stairs back to the car we walked down the hill to the bottom where George picked us up... looking back up the hill you could see just next to the church a hole where behind it was where the old church use to be.
Off again to visit Olympia Land Winery a small family-run business. When we arrived, we were greeted by Amanta the owner's daughter. Amanta is very warm and welcoming and took us on a tour around the vineyard, the processing room and the cellar.
We were then sat down ready for the tasting..... out came the 2 plates full of cheese, salami, olives, bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. We tried half a glass of White then half a glass of red topped off with a shot of Raki. Everything home grown or made in the winery. The cost was 8 euro’s each and it was well worth it. All wine tastings should be like this LOL
George then decided to swing by his home, and we met his wife. She was a little surprised especially as she was out working in the garden. All the homes surrounding his house belong to relatives and on the way out we stopped to pick figs from his mother-in-law's tree... we enjoyed these at Sailaway.
After lunch we visited the beach for a swim. George took us to a resort where we could use the beach with no charge... we had good fun frolicking around in the swell... not really waves. Along the beach there were deck chairs and cabana’s you could hire... we had a laugh at these little blue tents that were situation approx every 100 m and they were the change rooms... unfortunately the flaps did not meet so Arnold had to stand guard at the opening so everyone could not see Ros get changed.
On the way back to the port he took us for a drive along the beach to grab some great shots of the ship. Another great day.
EDIT : Since writing this sadly George has passed away, but his business continues now being run in the capable hands of his partner Takis
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