#PBTownTravel
Town Travel - My
favourite town by Gilli Allan
I agreed to do this before Christmas.
That’ll be easy I thought to myself.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t well over the holidays – I am still not entirely
recovered – and I managed to forget every word about my promise. Worse still,
now that I come to think about it, it’s not at all easy to pick a favourite
town or city.
I could pick London. I’ve always loved it. When I was young it was my hub, it was where
I lived and worked. It’s redolent with
history. As I’ve got older and moved
west, it’s the place I go to for a treat, to meet up with friends and
relatives, to go to a party or a show, to visit museums and galleries, to do
some shopping. But it’s so busy and
manic, I am always pleased to get home
I could nominate the cities near where I live now, Cheltenham or Bath or
Bristol, the former two are gracious and elegant, the latter is vibrant and
bustling. Or I could nominate the city I fell in love with as a twenty-year-old
when it was still in in the communist block of Yugoslavia – Dubrovnik. But on visiting the place again, now in
Croatia, it had lost some of its idiosyncratic charm – the funny little shops,
the gypsy markets, the ordinary citizens - in the pursuit of money and glamour
and tourism.
The little seaside town of Assos, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbWr8Xh6PFE
on the island
of Kefalonia (or Cephalonia) in Greece, is so small it probably doesn’t even
fall within the classification of town, but I don’t care. It is undeniably beautiful, and a must-visit
jewel on the island, but it is not the least bit pretentious, glamorous or
elegant. Quite the reverse, it has that
slightly ramshackle air typical of Greece, augmented by the romantically ruined
Venetian buildings which toppled during the devastating earthquake in the
1950s.
Apart from the earthquake, Assos has its own share of history too. The island was once an outpost of the Republic
of Venice, and a ruined castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assos_Castle
fortifies the
opposing hill of the horseshoe geology which characterises the natural harbour. Walking up to the top - you can choose the
paved walkway, which is easy but long, as it zigzags all the way, or you can
take the shorter but steeper scramble - is a necessary activity to undertake at
least twice while you’re there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRUb_FC6SKI
In May, when we usually visit, Assos is a riot of flowers – Olleander, Almond
blossom, Hibiscus Bougainvillea, Jasmine, Morning Glory - spilling over walls,
through lintels, overarching the narrow lanes along exposed cables, softening
the ruins and smothering the steep slopes that drop to the implausibly emerald
sea.
But it’s the locals who make the place so special, who make the place
feel almost like a second home, who draw my husband and I back year after year.
Every taverna (four), every mini-market
(two), farm (two) and taxi firm (one), even the goats who obstruct the road and
enliven the soundscape with their clanking bells, are owned by multi-generational
local families. Our arrival is greeted with hugs, and on the sad day we make
our return journey, we leave loaded down with gifts (my favourite being the
litre of olive oil from the farm, which I have, so far, managed to transport
home without accident).
Gillie's Books...
Other wonderful places to visit on Town Travel, click on the town below to read the full story…
Las Vegas, USA with Barbara Gaskell-Denvil
Hexham, UK with Annie Whitehead
In the coming weeks and months you can visit... Click HERE to find out where you are going
2 comments:
What a lovely post. You've bought back some very happy memories as Assos is one of my favourite places too. But its changing... hang on to the happy times Gilli xx
Thank you for including my choice of the the utterly charming little seaside village of Assos. Just seeing it here makes me smile. We will back there in May. Can't wait.
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