Saturday 4th October 2025 – Tyros, Greece

We have lost the heat that we have had for much of the holiday with temperatures in the high 20s and early 30s replaced by temperatures in the early 20s.
We left the Semeli Campsite and headed for Leonidio, just a few minutes away. A lovely, traditional Greek town and a centre for many small villages in the area. There are no large supermarkets, so there are many small independent shops – at least two butchers, three greengrocers, three bakeries and an ironmongers and sheet metal shop selling goods fabricated on site. I bought a small oil lantern from the ironmongers and I look forward to testing it out when we get home. The many small tourist shops reminded me of the Greece of the old days. I just hope that next time that we visit Leonidio, those shops are still there and adding to the charm of this lovely town.
We stopped at a small café with lots of local customers. We each had a coffee and a piece of excellent Greek orange cake, Portokolopita. The cake was really good and very unusual – we have had excellent Greek orange cake before but this was quite different. I asked the chef / owner whether it was made with filo pastry. She confirmed that it was, baked in the oven and then the orange syrup was poured over it. She gave me the recipe and I will definitely make it at home.
On to Tyros (on the coast) and Sapounakeika on the hill behind. Our good friends, Glenn and Venice, made their home here until Brexit forced them to leave. We had two lovely visits here, including a very memorable Greek Easter. We parked the van on the edge of the main road and walked up into the village. It is a warren of streets and houses spread randomly over the hill and we struggled to find their house. We might have found it but with a low level of confidence – we will have to check with them later.
Just a few minutes further north, and still with a postal address of Tyros, we arrived at Zaritsi Camping. We were given a tour of the site by the owner and offered a choice of good pitches.
Photos: On the way in Leonidio, we passed this steam road roller, made in Rochester; The portokolopita – the filo gives a totally different texture compared to a normal cake; An intriguing museum/café in Leonidio; The ironmongers or tinworks shop where I bought the lamp; And its owner and tinsmith Nikoloulias Kiriakos; A view from Sapounakeika looking over Tyros to the sea.