Hotel Alex Kárpathos

... tourist facilities and is fairly well organized, while the north is more traditional with nice hospitable villages keeping intact the traditional way of living. The residents are occupied in ...

... d he dýdn't want to waýt any longer, hence we were glad to hear you were able to find alternative accommodation. I hope you guys enjoyed your stay on Karpathos......we sure did......it was a great studio!.......did you eat at that bizarrely named but fantastic restaurant 'Life of Angels'?......we particularily liked the lamb and moussaka. And did you get to Apella beach? that's surely one of the best ýn the world.....the water is ...

Well, that was interesting. Sort of like a roller coaster. The plane is small and has to battle the heat coming up from the desert when landing, so it is kind of like a 5 minute roller coaster! I am nowat the hotel, and looking out at the ancient volcano crater that makes the harbour here the most beautiful on earth, according to Conde Nast. It is pretty damn fine, I must say. Well, off to the black sand beach to find a bar...

... of the tourist area. It's a wide, cobbled road with trees on the right as well as a few monuments, like the ampitheatre etc, the Acropolis up on the hill, and on the left really expensive looking apartments, with the entry lobbies decorated in magnificent style in some of them. It's meant to be a purely pedestrian walkway but quite a few vehicles sped past us as we walked down so it's best to be careful. The weather was nice, not too cool or too ...

... to drop us and all our loads of baggage to the airport. We went there early because we thought we had way too much baggage. Clearly, not early enough. There were long lines at the airport, snaking their way till the entrance doors. It took ages to check in and then we were through to the really small waiting lounge. All the chairs were taken up and there must have been a hundred people in the tiny space. We had to settle for a space on the ...

... off at a bakery next to the 'Big supermarket', as it advertises itself all over Perissa and got some Greek style doughnuts. A and C had picked up some baklava from this place the previous day but they had been so large (each one the size of a fist, I kid you not) and so oozy with honey that we had all felt shy of actually attempting to bite into one. The doughnuts were nice, not too sweet and we happily munched on our walk ...

... dip his toe in the water to test the temperature. Little A follows suit and promptly falls in, clothes and all, in the deep end of the pool. I don't remember the intervening seond between him falling in and me being on my knees by the side of the pool, dragging him out by his ankle. A and I have a furious fight while I'm shivering and undressing little A and towelling him off all at the same time. Later on, I realise that little A was ...

... with crushed biscuits, chocolate and ice cream, I got a chocolate souffle and M (my sister) and C ordered a walnut cake and a chocolate cake. The dessert servings were enormous and beautifully plated. The souffle was one of the best I've ever had. A's crepe was just too huge though, and despite a manful attempt, he couldn't get through more than half of it. We also got a picture of A and C looking like mafiosos who had kidnapped littler ...

... this vacation was supposed to help us rest and decompress. The kids too are finding it cold enough to be drowsy and we all zonk off for a few hours to the soothing melody of howling winds and pouring rain. I'm the first to awaken at four pm and make my way to the stove for hot tea. I suddenly realise that my track pants are sodden around the ankles and, come to think of it, my feet feel not only cold but wet. I look down to spy a giant puddle of water in the room ...

... wary of cabs, hiked to the Metro (trains run only until I think 10 at night, that's why there wasn't one when I arrived). Now the Metro in Athens is as chaotic as the crowds. No maps at any stations. No written directions. I did my best. I had allowed plenty of time. Now, what I next tell you is what I found out and pieced together later. There IS, in fact, a direct train to the airport- but it only runs every half hour. You get on any other train, and you are lost. I got ...