First, there's the place: a beautiful stone house in a tiny village at the end of a narrow winding road through the mountains that's unpaved for the final few kilometres. This is, quite literally, off the beaten track. For big city dwellers like us, it offers welcome calm and isolation, but with all the comforts of home. The kitchen is well-equipped, the bedrooms and bathrooms are tastefully decorated, and there's a lovely patio for outdoor dining, shaded by trees and surrounded by a vegetable garden. The house is a few metres from a pebble beach in a cove that's perfect for swimming. If you want to walk or hike, there are plenty of nearby trails. Then, there's the generous welcome: Antonis' father Yorgos presented us with delicious home-made cake and biscuits, a bottle of delightful local wine, and a small flask of raki. If you're looking for rest and relaxation, it's hard to imagine anything better. Only one drawback: at the end of our holiday, we had to go home.