Gythio, and various spellings

Gythio August 13/09

We sailed/motored to Gythio, not much wind so had to motor as well. Left at 8:30 a.m.
We were dismayed at the sight of the city. It was so foreign to anything Greek we had seen so far. It looked more like a city in Croatia. Large, functional 3 story buildings from the port to the hillside. Very condo looking and certainly not well cared for. I suspect it was once a thriving fishing area and now is suffering because of the lack of fish available here too.

We stern tied again at port but no one was around to give us a hand so Jim first rowed the dinghy to shore to take a shore line in and tie us off. Then he was back to the boat, grabbed another line as we were pulling the boat backwards as Dave steered. The breeze was blowing somewhat so that made things harder to control too.

Finally settled, we changed clothes and Jim and I went exploring. There is a little island now attached to town by means of a causeway so we walked out there, checked a lighthouse and walked through a little museum – and then stopped for our reward frappe. The cafe was a lovely little place and we enjoyed being out of the sun and having a cool drink. The patio was completely covered by huge tree branches. Cats, ducks, chickens and geese patrolled the area but did not both patrons.
We had a sweet from a bakery. A filo pastry stuffed with nuts, rolled, then wrapped around itself and topped with vanilla pudding and drizzled with chocolate – all soaked in syrup. (Good thing we walk for miles).

We met Marg along our way, she had just phoned Donna and while she was talking to her a rat ran across her foot. Marg screamed. It took her a while to calm down!

Went to dinner on the waterfront. It was the usual configuration of tables along the bay, street busy with traffic, and cafe on the inside of the street. That means the waiters have to dodge traffic as they deliver food and drink. It is a very commonplace operation, and we saw no near misses even though the traffic is steady.