SIR GUESTLING THORN

Clouds big grey thick clouds. That’s the the view, as I write, looking through the balcony door of our apartment. It is a spectacular sky, obscuring the normal sight of the mountains across the bay, the sea, windswept, white caps on the waves. The temperature has dropped to a barmy 20 degrees and the wind speed increased, so your once a year Panama hat, would be swept off to skitter across the rough roads of Ayios! There is a chance of precipitation according to the weather forecast but here is a micro climate and forecasts are often wrong. 

Ag Nik,as it is referred to, has 72 sets of concrete steps, some so long they sweep up and take you high above the Lake where the cafes and restaurants sit hoping that they will capture their share of tourists. The inclines can be steep and narrow, so that you feel like a mountain goat climbing until the relief of the summit. They can be more difficult to descend than going up! A town that has relied on tourism for so long that it struggles to survive without it and the signs of the pandemics bitter damage and is evident in shops and bars that are gone forever. The virus did not affect the town badly but the lack of visitors certainly did. Still new businesses have emerged and the two large hotels on the main seafront are being refurbished to open next year as 5 star accommodation. The residents are as friendly and helpful as ever and after 17 years of holidaying here it is good to meet with our many friends, eat, drink, laugh and catch up on all the news and gossip! We relax and do little but then that is the point!

If you love a place, then it feels like home and the familiarity is comforting. We are always welcomed and the warmth and love we get is always humbling.

I hope everyone has a place like that whether it’s far away or on your doorstep.

Stay well