Longa (Logga)
We left Nemea around 4 pm and drove on to Logga, stopping en route at the Lidl outside Kalamata, on the way to the airport; then we went through all the familiar villages like Petalidi and Chranoi that we have visited on previous trips.
We spent about an hour in the house, then went straight out to the restaurant near the church, having mediocre house rose wine, but accompanied by a good meal with tsatsiki, and chicken and pork souvlaki, all for 30 Euros. The restaurant is run by a woman called Maria, and is opposite a Kafeneion (coffee shop) that seems to be permanently inhabited by elderly men. I didn’t see a single woman visit (I don’t mean that there were any married women in there either).
Logga has some very good shops full of practical equipment and hardware, the kind of shop we have mostly lost in the UK. Our first dilemma was how to make coffee in the morning, and we rummaged through the ramshackle supermarket opposite the house for a cafetiere. This turned out to not be available, but they had coffee filter papers, and we located one of those blue funnel for engine oil which was a serviceable alternative to a regular coffee filter.
The church never seems to be open, although we did not stay in the village Sunday morning. The clock on the church tower is set permanently at 10 to 10, so it is correct at least twice a day, just before we went out in the morning and just before we went to sleep at night. It gave me a rather pleasant feeling that time had got stuck.
The Blue House
Not much has changed, so it felt very much a la recherche de temps perdu, and it was great to get to the house in Logga after a bit of angst about lack of satnav directions. Everything here is in blue and white, including a mountain of cushions on the sofa in the upstairs living room, with blue shutters that open onto a balcony with blue railings, overlooking the church.
We love everything about this place. On the terrace, there are two solar panels that heat a tank of water, so you have fresh hot water every morning. The terrace looks out on the neighbours houses, but also has a view over the church all the way down to the sea. We spent several evening drinking rose wine at the blue fold-up table, with similarly coloured blue chairs.
The other thing I love here is the book collection. Almost all the books are about Greece, and there are several volumes of poetry by George Seferis and Constantine Cavafy, more recent novels and a good selection of historical books, from modern Greek history back into ancient times. There is a large green cupboard behind the bookshelf that has a collection of videos with a Greek theme, not least Mamma Mia which we watched last time we were here.
Beach House
The Beach House is much simpler than the town house, and in many ways even more comfortable. There is no clutter, the garden is still under development, and there’s something very basic about the whole arrangement that I quite like. We had a swim, sat on the terrace reading, went inside for a poke around, came back and read more, went for a walk along the beach, photographed more cacti and then another swim.
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