Left - Alan arrived yesterday from Abu Dhabi. Our 30 something degrees Celsius a nice cool off for him. We caught up with him at Fiorendino Bar in Frikes with Melina Raft, designer of the 'I Am Ithacan' t-shirt.

Above - Peter Razos is back on ithaki, this year with his 78 year old daughter Olivia from Australia.
Left- Dionisis Raftopoulos, also known as 'The Tailor' is also back for annual sojourn to Ithaca. He comes each year from Melbourne Australia. Dionisis is also father of Melina Raft.

Above - Frikes Bay.
Above Left - Yiannis Taverna in Stavros is a local and visitor favourite.
Left & Below - Margarita Cafe in Stavros

Above - Incoming to Piso Aetos Port.
Left- Too naughty to show.
Below - Fiorendino Bar

Left - George from Spavento Bar in Kioni doing what he does best. Mix drinks.
Below - Peter from Fiorendino Bar.

Sunday 8th - Yesterday evening, Perahori celebrated St. Raphael Vespers. I was hoping to get along, but the cosmic forces had other things in mind. I also missed the Ouzeri under the stars at Filiatro Beach in the south of Ithaca. Both worthy occasions.
Above Left - Frikes at 7.30am. Left & Below - Kioni locals.

Above - Nikos from The Gods gift shop in Frikes sets up a shop.

Above - Peter Razos, well known summer face both in the south and north of the island, is here from Melbourne for a short 2 week holiday with his daughter Olivia.
Left - Yefuri in Platrithia, is a popular place for brunch every Sunday morning.

Ithaca's tourism is down this year for July. People are generally very philosophical about it, but it's still a hard pill to swallow. It's not just Ithaca, but also other Greek holiday spots. Here at least, the island is small and even a small amount of people have an impact, but on larger islands, the down turn in tourism is having much greater effects. On Ithaca, as on other islands, the earning potential for the community is during the summer, if that's down, the entire year is down. I can say however, that those who are on the island, all seem to be having a great time, despite the economic situation and if where you live, it's raining or cold, you should come on over. Here it's blue skies and sunny days, with long afternoons at the beach. In Greece, we don't have Summer interrupted with storms and rain. It's just one blissful day after another.

Monday 9th - It's been hot hot hot, the best relief is of course, floating in the Ionian.

Above - Penelope Restaurant in Frikes puts on an appetizing spread. Some excellent reports coming from its diners. Sofia Moraiti has now officially split with her partner in Penelope's and is taking on the Summer trade solo with the help of her friendly staff of course.

Tuesday 10th - A big day for the village of Ag. Sarantas in the north of Ithaki today as it prepares for the wedding of Jason Gabriel (Gavrillis) and his beautiful partner, Brody. The Gabriel family has a deep rooted history in the village, although the family lives in Australia. The wedding party has played a big role in injecting some action into the northern and the southern economy, with guests making the most of their time here on the island. When you think 60 - 100 + people for each wedding, it sure adds up in terms of tourism. No one thinks of it in those terms, but it is a reality. In the north there was Floods wedding last month from the UK, today, the Gabriel wedding from Australia, and coming up soon, the Haralambos wedding from South Africa, not to mention the numerous weddings in the south, both by visitors wanting to enjoy a Greek wedding and by locals and Mainlanders. Ithaca does offer a special environment for these special days, so it's no wonder even people who don't have roots on Ithaca, choose Ithaca as their ideal wedding location.
Below - Andriano from Laertes Fruit and Vegetable market does the pre-dinner rounds to the restaurants in the north of Ithaca, delivering their produce ready for the dinner shift.

Left - Alan McDowell is here from Abu Dhabi and is seen here with the Raft sisters, Melina (Fashion Designer) currently living and sharing her time between Abu Dhabi and Ithaca, and Marianne (Graphic Designer), currently living in the UK. These Melbourne Australia girls have combined their talents to bring Ithaca, the I Am Ithacan t-shirt. The t-shirt has become a popular gift purchase for both Ithacans from abroad and visitors who are Ithacans at heart.

Friday 13th - If you're superstitious, today you may want to be a little careful, although in Greece, this is actually a lucky number and date, so who knows, your superstitions may end up bringing you good luck instead.
With temperatures in the high 30's over these past weeks, just a little reminder that fire danger is high which means no burning, no tossing cigarettes or open barbeques, especially on isolated beaches as can be done by Flotilla parties. The landscape has almost dried up.

Left - The road down to Polis bay from Stavros in the late afternoon. Below Left - Vathy from Mazarata.

Left - Lilia, Steve, Sue and Mark. Steve and Sue are on their fifth visit to Ithaca, and although they're haunt is usually in the south, they made a trip up north for dinner out in Frikes. It's always great to meet people who have been watching ithacagreece.com for a long time.

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