Caradimas R&R at Kefalonia - August 23rd - September 2nd 2011

[John]

We just returned from our short R&R to the island of Kefalonia again, so here are some pictures for your guys and gals.

This year, in addition to Lena and the twins, we had with us Lena's mother, Viera and our eldest son, Sergios and his soon-to-be fiancee, Julia. Sergios and Julia had arrived from Ukraine the previous night, with a red-eye flight. We started from our house in the Athens area, at 3:00 am on August 23rd, in order to catch up the first ferry to Kefalonia, which departs the port of Kyllini at 08:00 in the morning.

Here is the first picture, showing another ferry, going to the island of Zakynthos, leaving Kyllini port, right behind ours.



Here is a picture of us on the ferry.



Here is Lena, with all her sons.



Sergios and Julia enjoying their vacations in Greece.



Sergios is studying in a state-owned law university in Odessa Ukraine, while Julia is studying in a ...... one, same city. The kids have been dating for six years now.

Lena being happy from seeing her eldest son again, after one year and for going on vacations to her favorite island again.



The twins were also very excited from seeing Sergios again.



Has Microsoft got into the cruising business?



We crossed that cruise ship shortly before arriving at Kefalonia.

Here is a picture as our ferry nears Poros, one of Kefalonia ports.



After arriving to Kefalonia and unload our things to the apartment we rent (at Milos Studios http://www.miloskefalonia.gr/) the kids (all ... four of them) went to the pool, while me and Lena did a quick run to the local super-markets for things we needed. Here are the kids having fun.











As you can see, it was not just the twins that had fun in the pool, the ... elder kids had quite some fun too.

At noon, we of course visited our preferred tavern, Klimatis, in Lourdas beach.



What is Sergios looking at?!?!?



If you ever visit Kefalonia, you owe it to yourself to visit Klimatis tavern, it's not only that the food is so great, the atmosphere is relaxed, the owners and staff are friendly, the view is great especially at sunset, and the shade created by the vine leaves above allows you to enjoy your meal like nowhere else in the world.

We spend the biggest part of next day at the beach, enjoying the sea. But in the evening, we were in for a surprise.

Sergios got a ring out and dropped it in Julia's champagne glass. When she tried to drink, she had the surprise of her lifetime. She found the ring, and then Sergios fell on his knees and proposed her.





We knew he was going to ask Julia to marry him, but we had no idea when and how he was planning to do it, so it was fun!

[John]

We spend most of our days visiting beaches around the island. Here are some pictures from Spartia beach, where the "kids" had some fun.















From another beach, where we found some interesting shelters created by some English tourists.









This tree was growing horizontally, instead of vertically.



Lena posed for some pictures.

[John]

I also had the chance to spend some time taking pictures around the island. Not as much as I've wanted to, mind you, the island presents some fascinating pictures opportunities, but I had to spend time watching the twins as well as doing other things that the head of the family (Lena) ordered me to.



















This bar has been moved to a new location and grow by one ... floor, since last year.



The stairs to .... nowhere.







Alex was coming with me, during most of my shoots, acting as my ... model.





We also rented a boat for a day, and visited some deserted beaches around the island.

The Captain at work. Unfortunately, the Para cap was lost during the trip.



The second Captain at work, Sergios.



A shelter we found in one of the beaches, which we expanded and improved a little.







Of course, the kids had most of the fun.





Julia being nice to her future father-in-law, LoRL



On Saturday evening, we visited a dance club in Argostoli, the capital of the island. A friend had suggested that club, called "Katavothres". If you do visit Kefalonia, you may want to avoid that club. The DJ was one of the worst I've listened to, in my entire life. We stayed there from 12 midnight up to three o'clock, and we didn't see anyone dancing. The music was so horrible, that the place looked like a cemetery instead of being vibrant. That's a pity because the club is located in an amazing area, right on the sea shore and it appears that the owner has paid quite a lot of money for it. It's a pity that the people working there, are so self-centered. When I asked for the manager to complain, the waiter said he was busy and couldn't come to our table. Take my advice, that's not a place you want to visit in Kefalonia.

Here are some pictures of Sergios and Julia, to remind us of that awful evening.

[John]

On our final day in Kefalonia, we ate at Klimatis (of course), where we snapped those pictures below:

Me, begging Marina, the owner, for the recipe of her excellent stuffed red peppers.



On the lower left of the picture below, you can see Marina's version of the Greek "Souvlaki". A delicacy I love so much, I was having it as the main course, every time we visited the tavern.





Here is Marina, with her son Gabriel.



During the last visit, Alex fall in love with one of the girls working there, Linda.



For the rest of the day, he didn't touch the ground, he was always in Linda's arms.

And in the evening, he proposed to her, I guess he didn't want Sergios to be the only one with a fiancee after this trip. LoRL



Here is a picture of us, with all our friends at Klimatis.

And here is Jim, with his ... friend Anka.






Thanks guys and gals.

Here are the last pictures from our visit to Kefalonia this year.







So long Kefalonia, we'll be back.

[John]

During our stay in Kefalonia, I also got the chance to visit the Air Force base, where the fire-fighting planes are stationed. I had talked on the phone with their pilots last year, when I published some photos of their efforts to fight a fire near Lourdata (see last year's thread here), the place we stay in Kefalonia, and they had invited us to visit them. So I grabbed the opportunity to go see them. Col. Petros Sarandos had been transferred to another base, but Maj. Andriannos Beredimas was there and he welcomed us. Not only that, but the kids got the chance to sit in the PZL's cockpit while the good Major answered all their questions (about a zillion "what's this?").









We also had the chance to witness the take-off of one of the PZLs for a test flight, after a repair of its engine's electrics was performed, by the base engineers. Maj. Beredimas can be seen taking of, in the pictures below.









Needless to say that the twins enjoyed the opportunity to ... explore all the equipment in the base.

I need to thank Maj. Beredimas and the rest of the base personnel for their hospitality and the time the spend with us. The people who fly and maintain these planes are real heroes and I appreciate the chance to be with them a lot.

Thank you guys!!!

[ncviking]

Hey Boss, what a great looking family! Looks like y'all had the time of your life.
Thanks for sharing..

Regards,
Chris

[John]

Thanks for viewing Chris.

[John]

The next three pictures were taken in a beach near our house, where we spend Sergios and Julia last day in Greece.







The kids left for Ukraine Sunday evening, they promised to be back next summer!!

[Spyros]

Whoa, information overload!

First of all, congratulations on Julia and Sergios' engagement! Now let's take everything else in order:

- No, I don't think Microsoft has started offering cruises yet ("Sorry, your cabin has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down" - sorry, couldn't resist!), but Bill Gates was seen cruising in the south of Crete this year, aboard his tiny little boat - the one with two helipads on it.

- I wonder how health & safety people would react, seeing the kids jumping off that cliff!

- 'Somerset Villa'? LOL, you have to love British humor...

- I always thought that 'Dromader' was a nickname of these planes, it's nice to see that it's official! ('dromader' is the name of an African, single-hump camel)

- Great pictures, but you had a nice scenery (and models!)

- Of course they put another floor on that bar... why else would it be worth moving it??

- Only people with (small) ponytails can wear baseball caps (adjustable, of course) while piloting a boat!

- I'm struggling to translate the name of that club in English... but it sounds a fitting name to what it is! I never had you for a clubbing guy anyway..!

All in all, it looks like everyone had a great time. Here's to a great winter, an equally great holiday next year and a wedding somewhere in between!

[John]

Answers:

First of all, congratulations on Julia and Sergios' engagement!

Thanks man!

I wonder how health & safety people would react, seeing the kids jumping off that cliff!

They won't say anything, how could they speak after a heart attack?

Only people with (small) ponytails can wear baseball caps (adjustable, of course) while piloting a boat!

Yeah, I found that out. Oh well, I am sure George Wedge will have another one for me in the SHOT Show.

I'm struggling to translate the name of that club in English... but it sounds a fitting name to what it is! I never had you for a clubbing guy anyway..!

I am not a clubbing man, for sure, but the Boss is (Lena) and when she wants to go clubbing I have to follow. And when she hates the music, she can't dance, so she is not in a good mood, so I have a problem.

But that club was really amazing. First of all, it is the only club I've been in (and thank God, I've been in several), which was really cheap. We were four of us and the kids. We'd ordered a bottle of liquor (Jageirmeister) and asked for Cokes and snacks. They brought us the bottle and only two Cokes and a small dish with some snacks. The kids needed two cokes for themselves, so what were the rest of us going to drink with our drinks? Then, when half the ice in the ice bucket had melted, I asked for some more, and the waiter told me "You still have ice in there"!!!!! And then there was the music!

Just take my word, next time you are in Kefalonia, don't go there. It's OK to go for a coffee in the afternoon to enjoy the sunset, but as a club, that shop leaves a lot to be desired.

As for weddings and all, I do not know, I do not think it will happen that soon. Sergios still has three years to graduate and I think Julia has another two also, so I do not see them getting married before that. Perhaps Alex but not Sergios and Julia, LoRL.