Country Walks.

It's been another sunny day here in Wales. I was lucky enough to get a lift to our usual Sunday afternoon walk with a couple who live close by so have spent the afternoon telling everyone all about our holiday. 

Today's walk was through a wooded valley starting at Glaspwll. We ended by visiting the bee research station where I was able to stock up on various local honeys for Christmas presents.

But now more holiday stuff-

Despite spending most days on the beach (and very nice that was too) I still took myself off for walks around the village. 

A lane running off the through road very quickly led me into undeveloped countryside. Just what I had been looking for.

The concrete road turned sharply to the left (just past the cars) and up the hill to more villas overlooking the sea. I went that way once but the road came to a dead end by the villas. 

Instead I carried on what was now a stony track past olives groves until it reached an unfinished property by the main road.

We wondered about the many unfinished homes that we saw all over the place. Later I found an informative article online that explained this phenomenon. Firstly it is an ambition of most Greek people to build their own property. Next, if you start building on a piece of land it is more difficult for others to contest ownership of the land. Often building begins before official permission is given (Greek bureaucracy is convoluted beyond belief) and if permission isn't eventually given the structure is abandoned. It is also common practice to start building with whatever funding you have and to complete at a later date. It may take up to 10 years to complete a house and you don't pay tax until the building is done. 

Then of course there was the financial crash in 2008 when the EU called in all the loans they had encouraged the Greek govt to take for major infrastructure projects, roads, tunnels bridges etc. Most people had thought they were grants but no they needed to be repaid. The economy crashed, many people lost their jobs and couldn't pay the mortgages on their building projects. And no one could afford to buy the unfinished projects from the banks.

I never did find the track leading off the main road that would have given me a circular route.

Instead I would turn and walk back downhill towards the village accompanied by the sound of the cicadas in the trees.