If you pay to book specific seats then all you are getting guaranteed is seats next to each other. I

Our Thomson flight to Argostoli in Cephalonia was pretty uneventful. It took little over three hours which was just about as long as I would be willing to put up with such little leg room. I had made a wrong assumption lpga futures tour when booking our specific seats which was that as I had paid to book them I would receive them. This was wrong.
If you pay to book specific seats then all you are getting guaranteed is seats next to each other. If you want the exit row then you have to pay more for these extra room seats! If you do as I did which was book the seats that I knew (in that particular aircraft type) were the emergency exit then they reserve the right to move you out of them nearer the flight time unless you pay more. Coming back I ended up paying twice to get the seats I had originally booked!
We enjoyed our full size bottle of champagne and a fine selection of chocolates that I had pre-ordered on Thomson. The champagne brand would not make Moet et Chandon quake in their shoes but very adequate despite lpga futures tour my hangover. We also bought snacks on the plane although the prices were through the roof. We initially laughed when an elderly lpga futures tour couple next to us got out their picnic of potted meat sandwiches, pork pie and a thermos of tea but the last laugh was on me...and my wallet when I paid silly money for a bacon baguette.
So we arrived, on time, at Argostoli and not too much the worse for wear. It was hot and sunny and we entered the building in high spirits. It is not the largest of airports but the air conditioning worked well and there were a few places to sit whilst waiting for one s bags. It was then that I started wondering about the night before bag check in service and whether they had remembered to load our cases the next day. We waited and waited.
Finally the first of our bags spewed onto the carousel. I immediately spotted it was mine not Judith s which was not good news. Greek baggage handlers must be the slowest in the World and I warn you that you will need to be patient. Time ticked by and no bags were forthcoming. Finally, right at the very end, the last bag popped out and thankfully it was ours. Praise be! Nothing worse than being cloth less in a foreign country, especially as it would have been all my fault .
The rest of the formalities on arrival at this airport are minimal and we were soon out the other end without ever knowing if we had been through customs. We decided to pick up a car at the airport and we used a company called CBR which has their office less than 5 minutes stroll from the terminal entrance. lpga futures tour I simply wheeled our bags up there and the car was waiting. You can get all types of hire car but I recommend you pick one with a slightly bigger engine due to the steep and winding terrain you may end up driving through.
The island is split up into two tourist parts. The southern coastal strip, which is more open, sandy and populated, and the north which is mountainous, very much quieter and more scenic. The main southern resorts are Scala, Lourdas and Lassi while in the north you have villages and ports like Fiscardo, Assos and Agia Efimia. In the not too distant past there was a significant earthquake on the island which affected the landscape in the south whilst leaving lpga futures tour the north almost untouched. The island is a very relaxing place and the overwhelming number of local people are kind and helpful.
If you do pick up a car at the airport you must make sure you have good directions to your destination as the road signs are pretty useless. The airport itself is well signposted but if you are going to say Fiscardo lpga futures tour like we were than forget it without a concise guide. lpga futures tour You have to skirt around the main town of Argostoni and that is much easier said than done. Also be aware that if you are on a roundabout you have to give way to any car joining it!
The drive from the airport to the villa we were staying at not far from Fiscardo takes about an hour. Once beyond the main town you literally follow the coast northwards on a good quality very winding road built into the cliff face. Overtaking is neither recommended or that possible and coming face to face with a lorry full of locals speeding the other way is always lpga futures tour good fun for thrill seekers! If you have a manual geared car you will have well exercised wrists by the time you get where you are going. Finally watch out for goats as they think they own the road and can stroll in front of you at any time.
I was moaning further back about the early flight but its advantage is that flying at 6.30 a.m. means you get out of your car at the villa around 2 p.m. local time which is perfect for gaining access after the maids have cleared up from previous guests. Also, when going home, you can leave the villa around 10 a.m. and have loads of time to get to the airport. Still a blooming awful peak time to fly out from Gatwick, especially if you are checking in bags on the day.
So we arrived at our villa and it was beautiful in every way. Breath-taking views over forests and cliffs, clean sparkling pool with plenty of sun loungers, everything you could want if you could get in that is. The key was in the door but the door would not open. We were literally stuck outside peering through the windows at what seemed a perfectly renovated cottage.
It was called Vigli Retreat and unsurprisingly located in the village of Vigli which is perched above the Ionian Sea. The villas are high enough to catch any breeze but close enough for the short trip to various beaches nearby. We rented it via a company called Unique Villas and were very pleased with our choice of company and location. It would have been even better if we could have got through the front door but eventually I was able to open the rear entrance.
Apart from being well equipped and in a very pretty scenic spot the villa and its location had other virtues. There is a good grocery shop in nearby Maganos and less than ten minutes from there is the beautiful fishing village of Fiscardo which has at least three bigger food stores. On the way to Fiscardo there are at least two excellent restaurants and our favourite was The Stone House who do great spit roasts twice a week on Fridays and Sundays. I will tell you more about Fiscardo later.
Probably like most people the first thing we did was thoroughly inspect the villa and what it contained. Unique Villas provide a small supply of essentials but frankly not enough to see you through a continental breakfast. A complementary bottle of wine was a nice touch but no substitute for bread and butter. I was disappointed that there were a shortage/lack of essentials like kitchen roll, toilet paper, oil and the sort of things that others, like us, leave behind them but Unique Holidays lpga futures tour say they are restricted in what they leave by food and hygiene rules. lpga futures tour I am not convinced!
The rest of the villa appeared in excellent lpga futures tour working order. The air conditioning was extremely effective in both the open plan lounge/kitchen and bedrooms. There was plenty of hot water to go round and the windows opened up to a very pretty well tended exterior. Like many Mediterranean bedrooms the beds consisted of normal lpga futures tour mattresses laid directly on top of boards and took a bit of getting used to. Never mind we thought, we could recover during the day on those brand new sun loungers we saw on the way in.
The next day proved a little more taxing. After a night on the hard beds we headed for the sun loungers only to find that they were made of hard plastic and had no mattresses. In fact the only covers of any sort were four small wafer thin seat covers for alfresco dining. It seems strange that someone who has clearly spent so much money on furnishing a villa should skimp on such comfort essentials. We can soon sort this out, I thought. I decided to wait until the following day (Monday) to call the area rep as I did not want to disturb his weekend.
It was then that we discovered Panos. Or Panos the Terrible as I nicknamed him afterwards! The villa has no phone, no Wi-Fi and practically no mobile phone signal so I took the opportunity of ringing on my mobile whilst shopping lpga futures tour in Fiscardo lpga futures tour where the signal is strong. Also you can pick up free Wi-Fi there. I got through lpga futures tour to a very grumpy Panos on the third attempt. It sounded as though he was driving his motorbike at the time judging by the noise and the regular cutting off which he clearly seemed to blame me for. I tried to tell him about the door and mattresses until he grunted and seemed to hang up. Welcome to Cephalonia I thought.
When I got back to the villa I noticed a motorbike lpga futures tour that looked lpga futures tour half abandoned in the driveway lpga futures tour and there was Panos stomping around the corner in all his glory and he did not look happy. He did not seem to grasp the fact that I was not there waiting for him and his mood seemed to deteriorate as I tried to explain about the door and sun beds and the lack of phone signal..
The door issue was quickly solved. You see what I had missed was that because such doors have airtight seals you have to yank them towards you before pushing them forward. This he demonstrated with such gusto that strips of the sealant fell off it. Silly me! The mattress problem was a bit harder (excuse the pun). We were told in a voice usually lpga futures tour reserved for children s television announcers that the covers for the chairs were also for the sun beds. He then placed the tiny thin cover on one of the beds just to be sure our tiny brains lpga futures tour had absorbed this obvious solution. It was like covering an elephant with a teacloth but by this time I just wanted him out of there.
Finally, and with a theatrical shrug of his shoulders he disappeared under the swimming pool and emerged with one of the old sun beds. This was canvas and a little better, lpga futures tour but not much. Anyway, he then headed for the gate and I asked if he had a second one. You want another he asked incredulously? No I said wearily, that will do. The rest of the holiday lpga futures tour we part solved the problem by taking all the blankets out of the villa