Our first stop after Spetses was less discovery, more nostalgia – a little taverna for lunch  situated on the edge of the ancient city of Asini that we used to visit with my Grandmother.  I remember as a child being told a story about ancient jewellery discovered in the bay by snorkelers…as a consequence, we were obsessed with finding more treasure, despite it having the largest sea-slug population we’d ever seen.  Of course we never found any..but it meant the adults always managed a very quiet, happy lunch..hmmmmmmmmm.

And then, with a twist and a wink of the fickle finger of fate the sleepy atmosphere suddenly changed.  People moving, fingers pointing to the sky, telephone calls and noticeable agitation. We looked behind us and saw an ever growing column of smoke, the cloying smell of burning layering the air.

We jumped in the car and thought our route would take us quickly away in the other direction..but instead we seemed to be heading straight into the thick of it.

And then we were clear..having experienced forest fires before, it was good to see the professionals were onto it. I hope no-one suffered.

Our destination, the very beautiful Apelon Triton villas on the outskirts of Leonidion on the Peloponnese.

We went down for our very first swim in the pool..and met a family…from Clapham South! Oh what a small, small world..

Down at Plaka at sunset, the main harbour/beach of Leonidion.

We were all blown away by the quality of the food.  Little did was know Leonidion is the European centre for aubergines! There’s a Festival every year and chefs come from all around to prove their aubergine recipe is the best!

The kids were just happy to play on the beach.  This was a lovely spot where an ice cold mountain stream met the sea.

This was a new area for all of us – I hadn’t come here in my backpacking days as it’s pretty inaccessible without a car, the mountains are high and the beaches are on little winding roads all the way down.   But it’s so very beautiful and unspoilt.

All the beaches had different coloured stones, here at Poulithra they were shades of grey and perfectly round.

The view from our favourite taverna..a foodies delight: grilled sardines, goat with aubergine and saganiki mussels.  All utterly delicious.

The husband trying to have his photo taken without a double chin!

SOOO good.  If you’re ever here, these are the details!

Sadly, this was quite a common occurrence..

Oh no he’s on the phone AGAIN!

Another little bay – Sampatico – this time the stones were green..

As the sun went down we could look back to Spetses..it was very strange being on the other side.

Laters, Kate x