22 February 2025 – Time out in Plataria

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 1,205

It really didn’t take us very long at all this morning to persuade ourselves that spending another night here at the Camperstop in Plataria would be a good idea.  We’ve only had one non-travelling day since we left the UK and that was spent stomping around Modena so a proper recharge of the batteries was fully in order.

After a leisurely start we strolled the kilometer along the fragrant eucalyptus lined beach and into the main centre of the village. 

Plataria appears to be very heavily geared towards tourism with numerous guest houses and tavernas, most of which currently appear closed, but there was a smattering of small fishing boats in the harbour alongside the larger and vastly more expensive sailing yachts.  Many more of the latter are hauled up in assorted yards around the village so it’s obviously a bit of a yachty haven during the Summer months.

The village church appears to be a relatively modern structure.  We heard some amplified religious chuntering earlier on but it had all quietened down by the time we got into town.

An interesting bi-coloured fir tree. 

All the way we were shepherded by the camp “security” dog who really appears to have taken a shine to us.

On the way back to the van we stopped off at a small supermarket to buy bread and yoghurt and came away with just enough change to put a load of laundry through the washer and dryer.  It was still quite damp when it was done so we rigged up a line to get the last of the moisture out of it while we sat in the sunshine. 

The temperature only got into the mid teens but sheltered behind the van and out of the wind it was warm enough to at least strip down to T shirts and catch a few rays.

Last night after dark we were joined by 2 more vans and this morning we got chatting to their inhabitants.  One was a middle aged pair of full time travellers from Stoke on Trent who are currently en-route to Turkey in their converted VW T5 pop top, where they plan to spend 3 months before returning to the Schengen area.

The other was a younger couple in a German registered van but the lad actually originates from Somerset.  He and his German partner have just come from Ioannina, which is where we are planning on heading for next.  It’s up in the hills and temperatures there dropped to -7 degrees a couple of nights ago.  Thankfully the next few days are looking to be a fair bit milder, although we could be in for a splash of rain on Monday.

23 February 2025 - Ioannina part 1