Of all the information I put out there, I get the most questions about what I am wearing. This amuses me somewhat because I mainly wear lycra in my studio, at the bottom of the garden.
However, as a former textile designer, I love colour, texture, pattern and clothes. And there is no better time to wear your lovely frocks than on holiday. This is where you get to be the fantasy you, the one that looks rested, swims every morning, enjoys meandering lunches with wine and has time to hang out with your partner and read fiction ( which I generally never do anymore as my head is in study and research mode most of the time).
Where did I go? I went to Limeni because I had heard from my Greek friends over the years that the Penepolesse is where the Greeks go on holiday. Limeni is a small fishing village in the Mani region. It sits to the west of Athens. This is where to come for those who want to experience the beauty of the Greek coastline. You fly into Kalamata, about an hour and a half drive to Limeni, or you can drive from Athens, part of the mainland, separated by a canal.
We didn’t hire a car because we wanted to be really lazy and not dash about doing things. It was easy to get a taxi, but the cab there and back probably costs the same as car hire.
It’s a small village with many restaurants on the front, including a Japanese restaurant and a pizza place. There is one big shop selling gifts, beach wear and jewellery. The only diving, paddle board and pedal hire company on this part of the coast is in Limeni. If you want more shops, restaurants, supermarkets and banks, Aeropolis is a short drive away.
Kourmas Taverna was recommended to us as having the freshest food, and it became our local. The food was delicious. I’m salivating thinking about it. I like to eat a wide range of vegetables and don’t eat meat, so the plentiful menu of vegetables, salads and fish was most welcome. We deviated to another restaurant once, it wasn’t as good, and we stayed loyal to it thereafter. They have a beach club where you can hang out all day, swim in the sea, and have lunch whenever you are ready. They have so many vegetable dishes, including my favourite, Horta. This is the name for local greens, which could be wild kale or whatever grows in the region. That, with grilled sardines or seabass, was my go-to meal almost every day.
I prefer to stay away from the bustle, so we rented an apartment on a hill. It took 15 minutes to walk down to Limena from there. The walk up and down for an early morning swim, a walk down for a pre-dinner swim, and a sunset swim on the walk back up became our daily routine.
What did I pack? Precisely the right things, it turns out. I took it on as cabin luggage, which I never do. I always take away too much and a ton of skincare as if no other country has shops. But this time, I packed:
5 cotton dresses - from left to right in the main picture:
Zimmermann beach cover-up, I have had this dress for over a decade and take it away with me everywhere I go.
Ulla Johnson long dress, a good cover-up for when I have had too much sun or for the evenings so that the insects can’t get me. Bought on The OutNet
Yellow-tiered broderie anglais dress, this is my dress-like-a-lemon-pudding frock. I’ll update where this was from.
A peach print dress by Farm Rio was bought in the sales last year.
The white embroidered dress above, bought somewhere 20 years ago - still going strong.
1 x swimming costume and a bikini by Marysia - had both for 10 years
1 x swimming costume by Eres - bought last year
1 x pair of gold and wooden mules - Ralph Lauren from The OutNet
1 x YSL gold sliders bought at a vintage fair
A big cotton wrap that was bought in Greece years ago.
For travelling, I wore silk-washed trousers, a cotton top and a sweatshirt with a cotton wrap around my neck on the plane. I wore socks and trainers on the flight because it’s always chilly.
I took with me from BeautyPie: 50 SPF sunscreen, a facecream, a black kohl pencil. I took a couple of lipsticks and a creme blush. Once I had gone through security, I bought a deep conditioner, a Shea body butter, and aloe vera gel and used it all up while I was away.
I took out my hair dryer/brush and hair styling products at the last minute, I wouldn’t have used any of them.
I did take my new Nuface mini which tightens and lifts skin using micro-current therapy, as I had time to try it out and set up a daily habit. I like this, and used aloe vera as the conductive gel. My Rio face lift device stopped working. It was torture and not something I wanted to do every night. I might have unwittingly voodooed it dead.
I also took some resistance bands with me. And five books, three of which I left behind for others to read. I could have ditched the YSL sliders, but it was a holiday, not Tenko, so they came with me.
It has taken me the best part of my adult life to figure out how to travel light and still dress up on holiday. I think I have cracked it.
I buy well-made things in natural fibres, mainly in sales, and I have kept clothes and shoes for decades. I don’t buy tigs often, I buy a piece or two that will work with what I already own. I rarely buy from the high street. I have never bought into fast fashion. For the same amount of money, you can buy something much better made if you buy it second-hand. I use Vestaire Collective, HEWI as well as Positive Retail ( I sell a lot through them as well).
I have dropped a lesson for paid subscribers to draw in your waist and strengthen your core. Let me know how you get on with it.
Thank you for reading,
Nahid x