Patra

Our apartment in Patra is called `Central Studio`. Aptly named as it is directly across the road from St Andrews cathedral. Safely tucked away behind big wrought iron gates it is cool and quiet. Sadly there is no outside furniture in the high walled courtyard at the rear. Its a shame as it is a lovely space, perfect for breakfast or a refreshing drink in the evening. 

Patra is not a tourist destination. I have yet to see a postcard or a fridge magnet (which are the guage of just how touristy a place is). There is no tourist information office, so no map which makes it a bit difficult to navigate your way around. Dont forget we have no smart phone, so no google map. If you google Patras top attractions you will find; the bridge (crossed it already), the cathedral (its outside our door), the castle (too far out to walk to), the lighthouse, the archeological museum and the local vineyard that makes a fortified wine called Mavrodaphne. Unfortunately the vineyard requires a car to get to it. So, we immerse ourselves in local life and learn to chill out. Just around the corner is a supermarket and a pedestrian road full of little bars, cafes and restaurants. It never fails to amaze me how these places survive. There are usually customers but they are sitting for hours with a coffee and a glass of water.

We soon find our favourite place. The lady who runs it speaks no English, we speak no Greek, so we are well matched. So far I have learned `Freddo spresso` or `Freddo cappuchino` is delicious iced coffee, and `aqua` gets me iced water. Need to practise `Erythro krasi` (red wine) and `Lefko krasi` (white wine). `byra` (beer) is virtually the same in any language so far. 

Yet again portion sizes are huge! Yesterday in the city centre we found a cafe with `sandwiches` on the menu. Great, thats all I want, a nice little sandwich as we will eat a proper meal tonight. What we got was a huge wrap stuffed with souvlaki (meat grilled on a stick), salad, chips and a yoghurty minty dressing. We couldnt eat it all. I dont understand how these skinny little Greek girls eat these huge meals and still retain size 6 figures. Its not fair. Then, in the evening, we call into our bar for a drink before heading off to find a restaurant (neither of us is actually hungry) and our new friend serves us little plates of crackers with cheese and salami, and bowls of crisps. We never did get to a restaurant. We had 3 drinks each which were accompanied by 3 plates of nibbles.

I do feel we are in a real Greek city, people are living and working here. There are no throngs of Japanese tourists, camera clad Americans or Germans. There is no `English` version of the menu. I like this. 

Tell me, why is it that we always find the perfect restaurant on our last night anywhere?

We swan off in search of a restaurant that has great reviews only to find it has closed down! But over the road is a lovely wine bar called Cuccuvaia with a nice menu with some non-fried food. Norman has mushroom rissotto with truffles, I have salmon fillet with a tomato glaze on mashed sweet potato. Washed down with a rose wine from Crete. Very nice. Then we had some Tentusa which is a local liqueur that tasted very much like rum and cloves. So, replete we walk home and get dragged into our local bar by our new chums. (Ok, didnt take much dragging). A couple of farewell Rakis then home to bed.

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