Day 3: Hotoussa, Greece

 

Village House, Hotoussa

25 December 2025

It was really cold overnight, but the house is well-insulated and the bed is comfortable, so we slept well. We woke up around 4.30am as our internal clocks are still a bit haywire - but it was nice to call people at home and wish them a Merry Christmas.    

We went back to sleep and then got up when the sun rose to do a bit of maintenance around the house - vacuuming, laundry and a bit of cleaning. It was a cold day, but sunny and with no wind, so a perfectly pleasant Winter's day.

In daylight, the drive up to the house seemed a little less treacherous - but only a little. I realise the steep drop I'd imagined last night isn't that steep, but there is an abandoned house just below us that is very dramatic. There is also a glorious view across the fog-filled valley from the verandah and the ancient fig tree that Jim always talks about looks quite impressive - even though the branches are totally bare in the mid-Winter.

Around 9.30am, we headed off to Tripoli to have breakfast and see what shops might be open on Christmas Day. There were quite a few people strolling around the town, and the numbers increased as the morning wore on. It seems that Greek people like to go out and about on Christmas Day. Maybe they don't do big Christmas lunches - or maybe they go out to restaurants? A lot of Greeks live in small apartments, so it's quite possible they go out for Christmas.

There is nothing like mixing with Greek women to make you feel underdressed. Every single one of them - from the smallest girl to the oldest Grandma - was dressed to the nines. I've never seen so many fur coats in the one place. (Let's only hope they were actually faux fur.) They all had perfect hair and makeup and looked ready for the fanciest occasion.

We had a booking for lunch at 1pm at a nearby restaurant up the hill. Apparently Jim and Telly came here often when they were here and liked it a lot. I actually found it underwhelming.

We were seated at an outdoor undercover area, with gas heaters, which was nice and warm - but we were the only ones at a table for two. All the other tables were set for 10, 12 or even 20 people. We were quite early and so got served quickly, but it was quite apparent we weren't considered important.

The waiter came up and rattled off half a dozen dishes that were on the menu. He spoke so quickly that I barely understood half of what he was saying. (I hate places without a printed menu!) Jim asked what I wanted and I just stared at him blankly as I had no idea what to say. We eventually worked out some things to try - but it seemed a very limited selection to me. And when I heard the waiters telling other tables what was on offer, they mentioned lots of other things they hadn't offered to us!

We ended up having stuffed cabbage rolls in an egg & lemon sauce, which were delicious. Then there was wild beetroot in oil and vinegar, wild small onions, a terrine thing in aspic (which Jim liked but I didn't eat), a plate of chips and then a rabbit and onion stew with more chips. The rabbit was a bit tough and full of bones, the bread was rather stale and there were too many chips. The beetroot and onions were perfectly okay, but nothing special. 

More and more people were arriving as we were finishing, so we made a quick exit. We came home and had a cup of coffee with some cakes that Jim's cousin gave us earlier in the day. He owns a bakery and was working all day today. We dropped in to say hello and he insisted that we take a box of biscuits home.

I don't think we'll go out again this evening. Maybe just have a few snacks from the cupboard for dinner. Jim seems perfectly happy to go out driving all the time, but I'm already sick of it. It's such a pity that there is nothing within walking distance of the house.