fromrusttoroadtrip: You know that moment when you set up camp on a remote beach in Greece and then a

fromrusttoroadtrip:

You know that moment when you set up camp on a remote beach in Greece and then a family of 16 cats and a herd of 200 goats descends on you?

No? Just us?

This was rather a special place to stay, on the beach of a small yet extraordinarily steep coastal village which sat abandoned for the winter- no lights in the windows, empty boats moored up, a little windswept but beautifully and utterly peaceful.

We’d been parked only a few minutes when a dishevelled tabby cat emerged from the bushes, curious, warily checking us out. Then another smaller tabby appeared, and like Russian dolls so did a little tabby kitten, and then the smallest, cutest yet fiercest baby kitten too. 

More and more appeared in all shapes and sizes, until we had a crowd of cats all around us, yowling, climbing in the wheel arches, jumping onto the roof and sliding down the windscreen, and a couple even found their way into our dinner. Although they were feral animals really, I still found comfort in the crowds of cats, as I always found it hard to leave my own behind when we were on the road. 

This was the kind of unexpected magic that punctuated so many of our camp spots in Greece, always something unusual, always wild and incredible views. Nestled away amongst the sheer cliffs, or parked up on the sand, camped atop a mountain viewpoint or with waves lapping at our feet and views across the bay to Mount Olympus; Greece never disappointed.

And yet we feel that there was so much more to explore, so many more opportunities to get into the culture, so many stories to tell. A melting pot of ancient civilisation, Western influence but with a distinctly Balkan twist, Greece is a country that is easy to fall in love with, but not so easy to define. We feel ourselves longing to return, to drive its bumpy olive-strewn roads once more, to throw ourselves back into the Greek way of life and seek out people with stories to tell…