This was our first full day on Chios and we slept late, but still Ben looked pretty tired at breakfast, though Suzanne was all smiles and I was incognito as the orange juice and coffee arrived to be accompanied by eggs and ham (but the eggs were thankfully not green) breads pastries and sweet breads to be eaten with jellies and fruits which got Sarah and Ed up for the task of the day which was to explore the beaches near our hotel so that we could slowly acclimatize to the driving.

We began with the beach at the Aghia Markela Monastery with Ed and then Ed, Sarah, Ben and Suzanne trying out the water which was very clear as they entered and then after a swim, we sat under the trees as Ben examined his bites and Ed and Sarah Suzanne and I enjoyed the scenery at both ends of the beach and in the middle before I decided to walk down the beach along the water and found this path that led past this sign along the way with the waters seeming rougher

until I came across this cross but still I continued until I came upon this memorial which was labeled and looked in to note the contents before beginning my walk back until I got into the shade of our tree and recorded my foot as I watched Ben and Sarah swim

while meanwhile a game of Kadima was happening next to us and the lady whose hair color matched her bathing suit color went for a swim and Ben and Sarah

were joined by Suzanne and the others who passed by leaving Suzanne, Ben and Sarah in my sights

until Ben decided to exit (and I decided to record this)

and then Suzanne and Sarah started to move but I focussed my attention on Suzanne's journey

until she reached Ben with Sarah in the background and Ed settled in as we recorded the stones Suzanne had found Ben's injury and my dying battery and so decided it was time to walk by the monastery with the interesting sign and take the obligatory phone booth picture before going to the restaurant and ordering Pepsi Light getting some bread and water and a Greek salad and another with bacon and cheese to go with the tsatsiki garlic dish and pies and fried cheeses of various sorts (some of which surprised us for their contents) and then Ben's burger with egg on top arrived complete with fries which amused Suzanne Ed Sarah Ben and me even as we recorded the fruits and bee attractors in the nearby tree having neglected to get our complimentary watermelon for which we had to return though we used the occasion to get a picture with our waiter and to have him take these pictures of us at the table and these pictures with the sea in the background which set the stage for us to walk back past this sign and take another obligatory phone booth picture before traveling to the next beach, getting out of the car looking around a bit and then following the boards to the water before exploring the length of the beach as Suzanne made her way forward and the scenery was beautiful until Suzanne found her rock as Sarah photographed and Ed joined Suzanne's search though I seemed to be the one to find this sea glass as we explore a bit more including the garbage and changing place and shade tree before we headed on to the beach at Limnos where we did a quick explore recorded the menu and then headed back to the hotel where we found the swimming pool and Ben Ed Sarah and Suzanne enjoyed the rest.

Next, we headed out to dinner in Sidhirounda where we had our first retsina of the trip with a Greek salad and the local breads along with pies stuffed tomatoes water salty's (aka sardines) and a bean dish. After recording Ben Sarah Ed Suzanne and me, we recorded the name of the restaurant, took a picture of the owner (who was nice enough to give us pins to repel the evil eye) and bought ouzo for the road.