Provisioning for the Ionian

[Wife of Lofticus]

On strict orders from my wife I am told that for provisioning in Italy it is desirable, nay essentilal, to stuff your boat with as much Prosecco as she can carry in every available nook and cranny

+1

 

[macd]

+1

[on boats full of prosecco]

You've given Lynne the hump now. If she'd known Max was full of the stuff, she'd have boarded. Suppose I'll just have to buy some at Turkish prices...:ambivalence:

 

[santelmo]

Perhaps what they are doing is what we do and that is stocking up on stuff that is heavy to carry around in a dinghy. Things like longlife milk, fruit juice. wine and beer,cereals, bottled water, etc

 

[Chatelaine60]

Where is the greengrocery in the Aegean please?

 

[Chatelaine60]

Sorry got it in Lakki, Leros. Thanks

 

[sailaboutvic]

Sorry got it in Lakki, Leros. Thanks

Long way to go to get you fruit and veg if your in the Ionian m the good news is the a few other here and there

 

[charles_reed]

No reason to stock up in Sicily - but every reason to not do your main shopping in the islands where prices are definitely higher than on the mainland.
Only things I've found necessary to stock up on are Marmite and various spices such as dhania, jeera, haldi, garam masala etc. But then they're unobtainable in Sicily as well.
Of late, I've found Greece (mainly the Aegean) considerably cheaper for fresh food than the UK or France the flavours infinitely superior.
The main point, don't re-victual in islands, prices are invariably higher, freshness inferior and choice limited.
As to wine - the better Macedonian reds are several degrees better than any Sicilian reds. Whites are pretty mediocre though.

 

[vyv_cox]

Long way to go to get you fruit and veg if your in the Ionian m the good news is the a few other here and there

True enough but not so many worth photographing. ��

 

[sea@tigger]

make that +2

 

[Max K]

I can totally agree what vyv cox has said, the fresh produce in the Ionian, is second to none, I have just spent a couple of months in the uk, the food back home (Ionian) tasted far better, Chicken tastes like Chicken, not pumped full of water, as for Carrots, sheer delight, not forgetting the kokino krassi hic!

Lidl do several good Aus, Chilean, SA reds at €2.85ish. I'm drinking one now, David. That is £2.13 a bottle!

I DO miss English style sausage, even though one supermarket here in Gouvia does a good imitation. Zipseal plastic bags of good quality are hard to come by and they are needed if a boat fridge is going to be properly useful.

Max.

 

[Thedreamoneday]

Anyone know if you can buy quorn or tofu in the Ionian, the better half is a veggie and doesn't eat fish either.

 

[ccscott49]

Wine, definitely, red and white. Cheap Italian wine so much better than cheap Greek wine - one thing we always stock up on our way through. Hardware, e.g. you need a new PC, a new power drill? - a lot cheaper in Italy.

Lidl do a range of cheap red and white wines from all over the world, mostly 2-3 euros a screwtop bottle and very good they are too, they have in Lefkas and Corfu an range of Bordeaux wines from 2010 (gold label wines from best year for forty years), for 7-10 euros a bottle, Take your pick.

 

[luturna]

As an aside, does anyone know the situation with buying prescription medicines over the counter, for example statins or thyroxine?

 

[tedgorton]

hic or hunc, the aspro is better than the kokkino in my opinion as far as truly local wine goes. The robola on Kephalonia is splendid (8-11+ EUR); otherwise the lefkaditiki Gi from Lefkas is OK for a medium-bodied red. Sicilian wine in general is more varied and better and as you go up the quality scale, cheaper than Ionian. Greek wines from central Greece can be great but hardly any closer than Sicily...

 

[ostra4]

As an aside, does anyone know the situation with buying prescription medicines over the counter, for example statins or thyroxine?

Not sure about those two but its possible to wife has bought quite a few prescription medicines over counter , they can sometimes offer an alternative if they don't have your particular drug in stock .

 

[Davy_S]

Regarding medicines, you can certainly purchase antibiotics, and many prescription drugs over the counter at chemists, (including snake bite) Regarding wines, I do not like white wine, I drink the local Red, If your taste is bottled wine, I quite like Linos, made by the Kefalonia robolo winery.

 

[DaiB]

Both are available, it helps if you have the box from the one you want to replace.

 

[Melody]

Ok, lets start with Lidl, in the uk a can of peas is 25p, in the Ionian Lidl a can of peas is a euro.

Moral: when in Greece don't eat canned peas

Not sure why you'd want to when we have such wonderfully tasty fresh vegetables.

The only thing I ever stock up on from outside Greece is teabags and Marmite.

No reason to stock up in Sicily - but every reason to not do your main shopping in the islands where prices are definitely higher than on the mainland.

Only things I've found necessary to stock up on are Marmite and various spices such as dhania, jeera, haldi, garam masala etc. But then they're unobtainable in Sicily as well.

Good point about shopping on the mainland if you can. Everything that has to be imported to an island will be more expensive due to freight costs.(speak to a Hebridean and you'll find it's exactly the same in the UK)

Can't help with spices in the Ionian but there are some great shops for buying all sorts of Indian spices, herbs, chapati flour, basmati rice in bulk, etc. located in the fruit and vegetable growing areas of Argos (and possibly elsewhere) If you call into Poros, drive from Galatas up towards Methana and you'll pass two (hmm, I suppose if you're on a boat you'll need to hire a car or take a bus). They are there for the large numbers of Asian agricultural workers and are very cheap and good. For Oriental spices we used to visit a well-stocked shop in Glyfada, just east of Piraeus. Haven't been for a while as we can get what we need locally now, even if it costs a little more.