Thassos 2004

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Day 3 - Friday 11th June 2004

No sooner had we had breakfast and packed our bags for the beach, then the sky decided to cloud over once more, darker than yesterday and again our tans would have to be put on hold. Both dispirited and wondering if this was going to be the continuing theme for our entire two weeks, we again decided to traipse into Thassos Town, this time with a view to hiring mountain bikes, or even that car, but really it was to pass some time.

A stray dog decided to follow us around town and every time we thought we'd lost it, the pattering of feet would sound and there he was, trotting along behind us. We walked a few streets we hadn't walked the day before, stopped on a bench by the harbour side and gazed across at the fishing boats and the slow life of this typically Greek town.

Before we knew it, the sun was out. That seemed impossible given the dark, dense blanket of cloud that covered the sky a few hours earlier. There were still a few cotton wool balls of cloud dotted around the increasingly blue sky, but slowly the sun zapped those away with its powerful rays.

Debs' earlier advice of positive mental attitude towards the weather had clearly worked. Gone were the cold clouds and with them our feelings of disappointment, replaced instead by an encouragement and an excitement and an eagerness to get down on that beach.

The afternoon sun was hot, but it wasn't too sticky and the breeze coming in from the Aegean was both cooling and refreshing. The only downside was that we were surrounded by Germans - something that I'm sure is familiar to the older British gent. But it became very clear to me that construction is inherent in the make-up of a German, the only thing is that they are not very good at it. Take the sandcastle that a podgy, protruding-jawed German was trying to build for his children - it was just like the empire they tried to build last century - a lot of effort, but soon crumbling round the edges before an almighty collapse.

It stayed fine for the rest of the day and we both spent a lot of the time reading and cursing young German children for crying and disturbing our peace. I managed to finish one of the three books I had brought with me which prompted an important thought - did I have enough reading material for the duration?

After showering and again having a few games of cards on the terrace, we ambled down for dinner and listened to the live music on show. We had a cocktail at the bar and tried not to mention the war, but with waiters assuming we were German and the sheer volume of Krauts at Makryammos, the temptation was just too much.