Driving The Duchess to Drama.

 It was time to take The Duchess out for a trip longer than the usual supermarket run. We were heading up towards Drama in the north-east, inland from Kavalla. Instead of the Egnatia Road, we took the old road by the Volvi lakes and along the coast – a lovely route.                          

 And it was as if the local gendarmerie appreciated her status for, on two occasions, two separate squad cars appeared to provide us with an ’escort’ – VIPs, indeed!   

  The reason for our outing was a reunion of Z’s fellow-students, graduates of the Academy at Alexandroupolis.  There were thirteen of them, the proverbial baker’s dozen, with two of us as hangers-on! Most had travelled from nearby places in the northern region.

Our venue was a lovely green oasis by a stream, a restaurant called ‘The Plane Tree’ in the village of Kephalara. We were a little late in arriving and I was concerned that we might have missed Mimi’s repertoire of the day – he’s the stand-up of the group. But we were in good time to catch his comic contribution! Mind you, I have a problem following him as his delivery is rapid-fire and he chuckles mid-joke, especially mid-punch-line! :o

The pescetarians in the group enjoyed fresh river trout – a special local treat. Z had his usual souvlaki and I went for my fave feta-stuffed bifteki.

We were staying at the lovely Kouros Hotel, a little south of Drama so we didn’t actually go into the town. Its beautiful neo-classical features were even more impressive when floodlit.  

The word kouros comes from the Ancient Greek word for ‘a young man’, hence the statue at the front entrance. A tricky shot to take as Z was bent on doing silly things with his mask. :(

There was also a pool – one reason for selection – and we had a pleasant swim in the afternoon. Later, with the entire poolside area to ourselves, we enjoyed a bite to eat and a glass of wine in that very relaxing setting.

 Breakfast was a buffet comprising of the usual eggs, bacon, savoury and sweet pastries but I was delighted to find Scots pancakes there in the spread - and very tasty they were too.

Time to leave. The Duchess and my driver (!) pose outside the hotel, ready to head home.