- Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective
- Day 73: Homeward Bound
- Day 72: Our Last Full Day
- Day 71: More Sifnos Sightseeing
- Day 70: Exploring Sifnos by Car
- Day 69: Sun, Sand and Sea on Sifnos
- Day 68: Bus Trip to Apollonia
- Day 67: Mum and Dad’s First Full Day on Sifnos
- Day 66: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
- Day 65: Sifnos Sunshine and Mavri Spilia Hike
- Day 64: More Clouds Over Sifnos
- Day 63: Sifnos Cloudy First Day
- Day 62: Sikinos to Sifnos
- Day 61: Sikinos Sightseeing
- Day 60: Relaxing on Sikinos
- Day 59: Ios to Sikinos
- Day 58: Ios Last Full Day
- Day 57: Ios Psathi Beach and Palaiokastro
- Day 56: Ios Chill Day
- Day 55: Ios Agia Theodoti Beach
- Day 54: Exploring South Ios Magganari Beach
- Day 53: Naxos to Ios
- Day 52: Exploring Naxos by Car
- Days 50-51: Agia Anna
- Day 49: Relaxing in Agia Anna / Plaka Beach
- Day 48: Island-Hopping Continues: Aegiali, Amorgos to Agia Anna, Naxos
- Day 47: Kos to Amorgos
- Day 46: Kos Final Full Day
- Day 45: Last Gym Session on Kos
- Day 44: Moving Hotel Room Part 2
- Day 43: Moving Hotel Room
- Day 42: Visiting Tigaki
- Days 38-41: Living Life in Kos Town
- Day 37: Back to Kos Town
- Days 34-36: Nothing But The Pool
- Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain
- Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)
- Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
- Day 30: Ed Arrives on Kos
- Day 29: Why I’m Still on Kos
- Day 28: Kos Town Hotel Move
- Day 27: Kos Beach Day Again
- Day 26: Kos Car Hire
- Day 25: Kos Town Beach Day
- Day 24: Cutting Tilos Short
- Day 23: Rhodes to Tilos
- Day 22: Rhodes Town Beach
- Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town
- Day 20: Rhodes Arrival from Karpathos
- Day 19: Exploring Karpathos by Car
- Day 18: Ammopi Beach by Bus
- Day 17: Karpathos Beach Day…Again
- Day 16: Karpathos Beach Day
- Day 15: Karpathos Arrival
- Day 13: Gortyn, Heraklion and Sitia
- Day 12: Phaistos and Matala
- Day 11: Preveli and Agia Galini
- Day 10: Road Trip Across Crete
- Day 9: Last Day in Palaiochora
- Day 8: Last Time at Grammeno Beach
- Day 7: Elafonissi Beach
- Day 6: Finally the Wind Dies Down
- Day 5: Grammeno Beach Again
- Day 4: Frangokastello, Hora Sfakion and Chania
- Day 3: Palaiochora Morning Exercise
- Day 2: Palaiochora and Grammeno Beach
- Day 1: Crete Arrival
- Touring Greece Without a Plan
- An Exciting Journey Begins
Monday 23rd August 2021
Delicious DIY Breakfast
Having bought breakfast supplies on my way back from dinner last night, I quite enjoyed preparing my own meal to start the day. Especially knowing that the yoghurt and orange juice were of good quality. I had also purchased a small box of chocolate-coated cereal flakes, so I began with those and some orange juice, then followed up with yoghurt and honey plus a coffee.
Although the bed didn’t look overly comfortable, I’d slept well and was excited for the day ahead. As with most of my island visits, I like to start slowly and so all I have planned for today is a walk down to the beach, starting at Agia Anna and heading south towards Plaka until I find a nice spot to sunbathe. Then I’ll find somewhere for lunch and either return to my sunbathing spot or, more likely, choose a different location for some variety.
Hot Walk to the Beach
As I’d expected, the walk from Hotel Birbas to Agia Anna beach is a bit of an effort in the sun. It takes about 15-minutes so not terribly far, but with little shade and on a busy road, it isn’t much fun. Once I reached the sea, though, I walked across the smaller of the two beaches at Agia Anna – the one south of the small port – and continued south around the headland and past the small church.
The first part of the beach here is ‘clothing optional’ (i.e. nudist) so beware if you venture past and aren’t aware of this! There is a wooden boardwalk that goes along the back of the beach, though, so you can easily rejoin the dirt road that continues parallel to the beach, or just keep walking on the sand. I carried on through Maragas, past the busier section of beach mostly covered with sunbeds operated by the various tavernas and bars behind, and ended up at a quieter spot near the 3 Brothers Hotel.
The walk took about 35 minutes in total from leaving the hotel. One thing I noticed was how much busier the area seemed to be compared with my previous visit back in 2018 – there are loads more sunbeds at the northern end of the beach and just more people in general, especially since Covid-19 is likely to have affected tourist numbers.
After a quick swim to cool off, I spent a few hours relaxing in the sun, reading my Kindle and listening to Spotify. As always, this is one of my favourite ways to spend time in Greece: just chilling out, enjoying the hot sun on my skin, the cool breeze and the sound and smells of the sea.
Lunch Time
By midday, I was getting pretty hungry so I packed up my things and began walking back north in search of a good spot for lunch. I ended up choosing a place called Souvlucky, next door to Yazoo Summer Bliss bar/restaurant, where I enjoyed a cold Amstel beer and a BBQ burger. The burger was really tasty, though the chips weren’t so great: they seemed like yesterday’s fries reheated, but since I’m not a massive fan of chips anyway, it didn’t bother me much.
Having walked a fair distance back towards Agia Anna, I didn’t return to my previous spot after lunch. Instead, I stopped at Peppermint just further north and used their beach sunbeds instead. The atmosphere was really good, though I slightly regretted it when I came to leave and discovered the sunbed+umbrella had cost me €12! Oh well, lesson learned.
At 4 pm, I decided it was enough sunbathing for today, so I packed up and made the journey back to the hotel, retracing my steps from this morning. The walk was even worse in the full afternoon sun, but I had a dip in the sea before I left and was mentally prepared so it wasn’t all that bad. As soon as I got back to the room, I stripped off and had a wonderfully cold shower!
Dinner
Once it had cooled down and the sun was beginning to set, I dressed for dinner and strolled back into Agia Anna. This time, I chose a taverna called Sto Kyma which is practically next door to where I ate last night. I quite fancied their spinach ravioli, so was somewhat disappointed to find out it was unavailable due to a shortage of spinach! Instead, I ordered four-cheese penne which was nice enough, but a touch bland, so I made up for it by ordering a chocolate brownie for dessert which was fabulous!!
