A couple of years have passed already since we travelled to Greece to spend our best holidays ever.
We, my husband, our two girls and me, had taken a flight from Vienna to Athens. We now live in Australia and Europe is way more distant now.
After we had arrived in Athens we had hired a car in direction to Peloponnese. We stopped for a night in Loutraki as our plane had arrived at Athens at night. Loutraki is a seaside resort on the Gulf of Corinth about 65 kilometres west form Athens. We also went to see the Gulf of Corinth and felt very small in relation to this impressing channel. I have never seen something like this before and it was also very interesting to know more about the history when it was constructed.
After a couple of hours drive we finally arrived at Vassilitsi, a small village in Koroni in Messinia in the Peloponnese’s Region of Greece. We had booked a holiday house for 10 days. The house was like a dream came through. We had a fantastic view to the ocean and a terrace around the whole house. When I first saw the garden my attention was immediately caught by all those wonderful fig trees with hundreds of ripe figs waiting to be picked, what I did every morning. If everyone knows the feeling of eating a ripe fig with all the fullness and flavour just stay with me. I can still sense it. There were olive trees as well, as typical for Greece.
Besides enjoying the wonderful view to the ocean we could go for a little walk until we came to a small trail where we could climb down and arrived at a small but peaceful beach. Although the beach was accessible by car as well it was never crowded or noisy. Right at the end of this peaceful beach there was a small alcove. This was a perfect place for finding shade and protection against the sun and to have some quiet time as well.
I still remember that this was the place where I could really relax which I had not been able for ages. I think it was the combination of the fantastic turquoise blue water, paired with the sun reflecting in the waves, the time to read books and on the other hand enjoy being with my family, having fun whilst swimming, snorkelling or playing games on the beach. I had the impression as if time was endless and therefore so precious. On the other hand we had plenty of possibilities to discover the surrounding area and visited historic places such as Olympia. Given that it was pretty hot at this time as it was during August.
All of us have been Greece fans and therefore we really enjoyed going out for dinner as we love to eat Greek food. It was very nice to find some restaurants in Vassilitsi where a lot of Greek people went to eat as well. The food was beautiful and rich and we enjoyed sitting outside until late night. We had the impression that it was less touristic and felt very authentic.
As I mentioned at the beginning already many moons have passed since we had this family holidays and I still have got all those wonderful memories and impressions I collected during this time. Whenever I feel down or under too much stress I recall these memories and immediately my face changes and I start smiling and feel like a wave of life-force and happiness is flowing through my body.
About the Author: Barbara Wallner: English is not my first language and I do hope that my translation still captures how beautiful this vacation was.
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