Laskarina Merchandise

 As well as the Laskarina shopping bag mentioned in my previous post clients also received a very handy travel wallet to keep your airline tickets in. These certainly proved very durable as mine still goes with me now. Passport and GHIC in the secure zip up part and travel itinerary and boarding passes in the larger slot at the rear. If anyone still covets one Ian Hogg (Nissia Holidays rep on Tilos) told me a year or two back that he still has some at a price (money goes to a cat charity).

You could also purchase some branded items from Laskarina such as a water bottle carrier. I saw someone on the beach at Livadia with one a few years back. I cannot remember what else you could buy! For a long time you could spot the odd sun umbrella - presumably at their former properties but I haven't seen one now for years.

Anyone else still using anything from those days? Have you spotted anything out and about? 

Laskarina Lost (Twenty Years On)

 October 2026 marks the twentieth anniversary of the sad demise of Laskarina Holidays which announced it's impending closure in October 2006 with operations finally ceasing the following month once the last clients had completed their travels.

Founded in 1976 by Ian and Kate Murdoch the company was based in Wirksworth, Derbyshire but had moved to Bolney, West Sussex by the time of the closure. The Murdochs had a great love of Greek islands and named the company after Laskarina Bouboulina a renowned heroine and navy commander who fought in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s.

Laskarina prided themselves on a very personal service with guests being welcomed to their accommodation with a reusable linen goody bag filled with arrival essentials such as bread and jam, tea and coffee and a very welcome bottle of wine. The bag could then be used for shopping during your stay - saving on the use of plastic carrier bags. A rep was always based on the island (at least in my experience) and would hold a welcome meeting the day after arrival to provide a mine of information about the island and to give details of an organised trip/picnic as an optional extra.

They did have a web site (though, as I recall, you couldn't actually book your holiday online) but they did have a forum Laska Chat which was full of useful information. One of the moderators had the unusual name of Daffy (who I assume was none other than Triantafyllos Psaras (known as Daffy) now of Nissia Holidays. I think I did ask a few questions on the forum - using painfully slow dial up internet.

I personally went on three Laskarina holidays Lipsi, Halki and Tilos and was considering where to choose next from their extremely tempting brochure when news of the closure came through. Press reports at the time cited the rise of internet bookings and budget airlines as the reason for closure. It was feared that a small loss in 2006 could become a bigger loss in 2007 and Ian Murdoch was quoted as saying that it was better to close down whilst still able to pay everyone. The sad death of Kate Murdoch in 2005 was said not to be a factor in the closure decision.

Could Laskarina have survived? Other holiday companies have adapted to the rise of the internet and budget flights. Greek island specialists such as Nissia, Olympic and Sunville continue to offer the magic of the islands twenty years later. We will never know now.

What memories do you have of Laskarina? Did they make the right decision to close while still solvent? Could they have adapted to new technology whilst still keeping their personal service intact?

Culinary Confusions

When I first started going on holiday with my former partner she would get annoyed when I pointed to the menu when ordering drinks or food (to be fair, she got annoyed at quite a few things) but she did manage to convince me that this wasn't a polite thing to do as it implied that the server didn't know their own menu or wouldn't understand someone ordering in an English accent. So, duly convinced, I dropped the habit and things (mostly) worked out well. However there have been a few memorable exceptions.

Like when heading to a Roman amphitheatre for a performance of Oedipus Rex performed by a Korean troupe (in Korean) which, possibly, would make quite a few want to put their own eyes out but actually turned out to be quite dramatic. What better way to start the evening than a tequila based Margarita cocktail? Remember, no pointing involved, so what we got were two ice cream sundaes. Could have been Margherita pizzas I suppose (but they're coming up next). 

Like at one of our favourite beach front tavernas when we ordered Greek salad and delicious hot chips (I rarely eat chips at home but always enjoy them in Greece). The salads were fine but the longed for chips (still no pointing) arrived as a bowl of shrimps. Just what two vegetarians hadn't ordered. It was made worse by our feeling these were probably quite an expensive item on the menu. We felt a bit awkward about going back there for a few days but decided that we liked the place and we liked the food so went back for lunch. We ordered Margherita pizzas (said they were coming up). Sadly, that's exactly what didn't come up and we were presented with Pepperoni pizzas instead. After the shrimp incident we just felt we couldn't send them back so did the only thing we could which was to fork off every piece of Pepperoni and put it to the side. Quite what they made of that in the kitchen I can only imagine.

Another island, another lunch (and still no pointing). Cheese omelette and (you guessed right) a portion of chips. A few minutes passed and the charming young woman came back to ask if I wanted the chips with my omelette to which I said yes ( I didn't want them as separate courses). My omelette duly arrived and I waited for my chips but eventually started to eat only to discover that the chips were inside the omelette. Clearly, the word "with" had been taken in quite a different way (and no amount of pointing would have helped here). Not a dish I can recommend in case you were thinking of trying it! 

What do you think - is pointing at the menu impolite? I now think it is and don't do it anymore. 

What are your own culinary confusions, food fails, dining disasters? Please keep it confined to Greece ( no I got sea slug instead of snake stories thank you) and above all please do not identify individuals, taverna names or locations -just keep it generalised.

Remember it's not them, it's you (probably).

Christmas 2020:

At the end of a strange and unexpected year, wishing everyone the best Christmas possible and a much better 2021. Stay safe. Regards, David.

Tilos 2018 (Dodecanese):

Livadia harbour on Tilos island

I'd last had a holiday on the Dodecanese island of Tilos way back in 2006 with the now long gone British specialist tour company Laskerina. That, in fact, turned out to be their final season in business. I've written about that trip here before and it is fair to say that whilst I enjoyed Tilos I hadn't really seen it as a return destination in the way that Halki has become. However, after a couple of day trips from Halki I began to consider that Tilos was worthy of a prolonged visit and finally booked for June 2018.

Having used Expedia to put together a few short trips (Athens etc) I finally abandoned the safety net of a package holiday to book my first prolonged holiday. Settling on the well reviewed Apollo Studios in Livadia and convenient British Airways flights I found myself at Rhodes airport on the Monday night. This is where research comes in as I already knew exactly where to board the public bus to Rhodes Old Town. Coming out of arrivals you turn left and the bus stop is by a cafe with outdoor wooden seating. At only a couple of euros this bus will save you a fortune on taxis -just don't expect any special luggage facilities! The 40-60 minute bus ride takes you along the coast to the Old Town before terminating at the bus "depot" (it's just a side street in reality). Now to find my hotel the Domus Rodos in the heart of the Old Town. Luckily a helpful woman at the bus ticket office pointed me in the right direction. Put simply, you head back the way the bus has just come then left at the end of the street straight down to the seafront. Turning right here you will find yourself in the walled Old Town with Kolona harbour on your left. This was exciting as there were the Dodekanisos Seaways fast catamarans moored up for the night. All ready to take me to Tilos on Tuesday morning (ticket already booked online through their website). Actually finding my hotel proved rather harder as I soon got lost in a maze of narrow streets and alleys but eventually found it.

Collecting my booked tickets the next morning from the ticket office at the harbour it was soon time

Bell tower of Agia Zoni, Mikro Chorio

to board the Dodekanisos Express for the just over two hour trip to Tilos. Be aware that (at this time anyway) there were no facilities at the harbour for buying water etc but as I found on boarding there was already brisk trade at the bar well before departure time. Powering down the length of Rhodes it was up on deck all the way for me alternating the calm of the stern area with being blasted up in the bows.

First stop is Halki island and I had wondered if this would be the point at which I regretted going on to Tilos. However, Halki all looked just as it ever does and with that reassurance I was excited when we headed off again after a very brief stop. This time the ferry follows the length of Halki before heading on towards the already visible Tilos. Arriving at Livadia I was met my the owner of the Apollo Studios who transported me and my luggage all of the few hundred yards to the studios. It was a nice touch anyway! My ground floor apartment was great with a large patio area to sit in all planted up with basil plants

Megalo Chorio on Tilos island

First day. First walk and it was off to the cliff top path to Lethra beach. Find this by taking the uphill road out of Livadia for five minutes or so then the turning on the right marked for the Ilidi Rock hotel. Just follow this road to the end where a closed "goat gate" will lead you onto the path. Enjoy the spectacular sea views on this circa 45 minute walk but do watch your step in a few places where erosion had undermined the path. Lethra itself is a big stony beach which I actually had to myself being quite late in the day.

Next day was up to the deserted village of Mikro Chorio. Again just follow the uphill road out of Livadia for circa 40 minutes. For a short cut and welcome shade you can scramble up a bank onto a path through a wooded ravine. Find this where the main road turns sharply to the left. Mikro Chorio is highly photogenic with all the deserted houses now thronging with goats and sheep and the beautiful church of Agia Zoni. What I missed on previous visits was the remains of a medieval Crusader Knights castle. This is at the top of the village to the right (looking uphill) and well worth the few minutes it takes to walk up to.

If one deserted village isn't enough for you take the cliff top path to Gera. From Livadia head right

Solar energy on Tilos island

(facing seaward) and just follow the seafront road up the hill at the end of the bay to the chapel of Agios Ioannis then continue on the path beyond. Gera is truly deserted and derelict but, again, you will have plenty of company from goats and sheep.

It's always fun to take a ride on a local bus and I did this to the Capital of the island Megalo Chorio. This is full of pretty blue and white houses and narrow little paths. Walk upwards to the top of the village to see the church of Archangel Michael. High above Mikro Chorio are the ruins of another Crusader Knights castle which, in theory, you can reach via a path winding its way up the hillside. Find the path by going to the rear right (looking towards the castle) of the village. There should be a wooden sign pointing you to the path. Be aware that though this path starts off as an easy walk it does get trickier higher up and, in fact, on this visit I lost the path totally and didn't make it to the castle itself -just ended up fifty foot or so below it with no visible way up. Worse, because I now had the sun directly in my eyes I couldn't see the way down again either! I just had to carefully stow my camera in my backpack and improvise a route down. I now know that there are two key things to look out for. Firstly when you come to a derelict building on the right of the path you need to turn right and head up behind this building. Secondly, the path has lights (sort of) so look out for black electric cables and low level lights at intervals to keep you on track.

Another thing you can do by bus is to take the Sunday excursion (in season) to the monastery of Agios Panteleimon. Essentially the bus does its normal route but then continues up the rather precarious cliff road to the monastery where it stops for an hour or so to give you time to look around. Dating from around 1470 the monastery is well worth a visit and you can roam around at will. On the way back sit on the left hand side of the bus so you can get a good look at the huge wind turbine which forms part of the Tilos Horizons project. Luckily, the bus had sliding windows that I was able to open to photograph the turbine as we passed.

Monastery of Agios Panteleimon on Tilos island

For my final walk I took the bus up to Megalo Chorio and then did the road walk back to Livadia. This would take around 90 minutes if you just did it direct but there are diversions. Shortly after leaving Megalo Chorio take the road on the right marked Caves of Charkadio (or something on those lines). A short diversion to the right takes you to the island reservoir (which was empty when I visited) then back continuing along the road up to the caves. Here you will find a new visitor centre (not open when I was there) and beyond that an amphitheatre with great natural acoustics. Note, this a modern one, not an ancient Greek relic. Taking the path behind the amphitheatre takes you are to the cave entrance itself although, sadly, this is securely fenced off. It was here that bones of pigmy elephants were discovered - you can see these in the museum at Megalo Chorio though I assume they are destined to feature in the visitor centre once open. Once finished here head back to the main road and resume your walk back to Livadia. Shortly on the left you will see the multiple banks of solar panels that (with the wind turbine) aim to make Tilos self sufficient in power in the future. This is a major award winning project that has attracted attention and coverage around the World and was a deciding factor in my choosing Tilos as my destination because of the photographic possibilities.

So twelve years after my last holiday on Tilos I finally came back and was very glad that I did. Great natural beauty, fabulous walks to be had, lots of photogenic views and an exciting energy project ongoing. What's not to like? The Cockerel Count on Tilos remains at medium -there are some to be heard but do not expect a mass dawn chorus. Goatiness rating remains high especially in the deserted villages of Mikro Chorio and Gera.