Out and About

 The days are cool  and still quite long.  We go off daylight saving on Saturday night Sunday morning. The days will start to draw in.  I have started walking, seeing the neighbourhood again, checking up on what's new and what's not.  

My first walk takes me within view of the sea and the bay below.  Nothing has changed here

We have had a few showers but no significant rainfall.

The fertile area with grape vines and olive trees is still very brown and dry

This beautiful stone house has finally been finished, after 15 years.

There were people there this summer.  The windows and shutters were open but I still haven't seen the owners.  They must live in Athens.  It's closed up and empty again

Even though it's so dry a few wild flowers have appeared amongst the rocks and dry stalks

Cyclamen

And ?

Poros has a recently established system of old pathways.  They have been cleaned and cleared and a walking club tramps the paths.

These signs show where they go and how many kilometres each section is.

This is  a narrow rocky path which eventually leads down to the sea.  I started walking it today but it's very uneven and stony with dry branches poking out onto the path.  I didn't go far.  It's a bit precarious for a wobbly walker like me.

It's nice to be out in the fresh air in the evening for an hour or so.  There are bikers and runners about and quite a few quad bikes.  Poros still has tourists and late vacationers.

Sunday Lunch

 A Sunday in mid October.  It wasn't very warm, only 22oC, with a stiff breeze.  K wanted to BBQ.  He had acquired a couple of octopus tentacles and he had it in his mind it was a day for ouzo and octopus.

The octopus tentacles were hung out to dry alongside my washing

Then on to the electric grill

With that brisk breeze it was not a day to light the coals.

There is still a fire ban in place

From the grill to the plate.

With a few squeezes of lemon juice and a sprinkling of oregano.  The perfect meze for ouzo.

Lemons are rather scarce at the moment.  Our trees have only a few hard green fruit.  At the greengrocer they are 1.70 euros a kilo.

On my daily walk I managed to pick a few green lemons* from neighbouring trees and they had quite a lot of juice.  

The meze was saved.  

After the first course there were grilled chicken wings and greek salad.  And wine

A friend, koumbaros** (the father of Ks, now 30 year old, godson)

stopped on his way home for a quick chat and an ouzo.

Quick chat and an ouzo.  This is Greece.

These 2 grew up together and are both ex-Navy. They have a lot in common.  Once they start talking they find it hard to stop.

4 hours later, after rather a lot of ouzo and wine, they finally decided it was time to break up the party.  

K was a happy camper after these hours of company, conversation, discussion and debate. It's what he loves.

*on today's walk I carried a back pack and some secateurs.  I only managed to cut half a dozen lemons by squeezing my hand through a nasty rusty fence. I need a grandchild, but most of them, including Poppi, have flown the roost. They're in Athens for the start of their tertiary studies.

Of course I could just ask. This neighbour would willingly open the gate for me. But stolen fruit is tastier. Or in this case, juicer. 

**koumbaros.  Bestman, groomsman or woman, godfather or godmother.  A  koumbaros becomes a close member of the family

Bread

 Another church post.

 It's an important part of Ks life. 

  This particular church service takes place on the 23rd September every year to celebrate its consecration. The church, in our old neighbourhood, was built after K and his school friends found an icon when their football fell into a hole on a building site. Many, many years ago.

It's a long story but apparently the woman who owned the land, then living in America, had a dream that the icon would be found there.  When she heard of its discovery, she donated the land and paid for the church to be built.

How did the icon come to be poking out from under a few feet of dirt on a building site?  The only explanation I've ever heard is that it was the site of a much older church which had been demolished.

Anyway, the boys found it.  I know them all, all in their 60s now, and they all tell the same story.

K decided he would have another try at making the Holy Bread which is offered at services like this.  That Holy Bread which has to have a stamp in the middle.  The stamp which never comes out clearly, as it is supposed to.

We did a slightly better job this time.  You can, if you know what to look for, see the stamp outline on the bread in the photo above.

This is how it is supposed to look

There will be a 'next time' I'm sure. 

Photo thanks to Google 

The church of 'Christo' 

Like a lot of churches here it hasn't got much room inside. We perched on a wall at the back. 

You stand or sit where you can.  

Misc...

 Floating around the internet lately

Why is there a 'd' in fridge and not on refrigerator?

The English language.....

A mobile health unit was here in Poros for a few days.

There were eye doctors and teeth doctors and orthopedics and more.  All arranged by the council.  The doctors checked over 454 school children. All free.

Doctors come to the schools for check-ups most years.  My daughter's bad eye sight at age 8 was discovered by a test at her school when we lived in Crete.

They usually don't come in such concentrated form.

Christmas...in October

'Far too early to be thinking about Christmas' most will shout.  Including me.

In the good old US of A you've got something called Halloween and then Thanksgiving, or vice versa and you have to get those darn elections over and done with.

Here it's a few name days and a National holiday and church fiestas.  You know the drill.  I don't have to fill you in on all of those.

And then December.  And a few more family birthdays.  Though October seems to be the most popular month for those in our family.

Anyway.....

It's not till December that I usually start thinking of Christmas.  And presents.  Though K is already pressing me on what we will eat on Christmas day.  The usual!  He cooks Greek and I cook kiwi.

The grandchildren have all grown up and it's not easy finding presents that they might enjoy so last year we started a Secret Santa Christmas draw.  Each of us drew one name and we all bought a present just for that person.

Oh, except for the Christmas stockings.  That's a tradition they all still enjoy even though the oldest is 24.

This year the next wave of grandchildren are going off to the big city to study and by next week there will be only one left on Poros for the winter.  So we had the Secret Santa draw early while most of them are still on the island.

And, as usual, you can't come to Papou Ks house without partaking of food and drink so it was another 'party'.

'Guess who' hiding in her hoody, keeping warm after a few hours of rowing practice.  She wrote the names on slips of paper.

So whose name did you draw Poppi Mou?

An excellent bottle of Marlborough ( NZ) sauvignon blanc for Elli and I and our granddaughters sharing it with us too now.  Darn.  

Thank you Peter and Fernanda who brought two bottles of NZ wine when they visited last month.

K and son in law Yiannis drinking the local plonk

All set up and almost ready to go 

The meat is on the grill, the 'good wine' bottle open

October Church Fiesta

 Agioi (Saints) Kyprianou and Justiniani

In English they are Saints Cyprian(male) and Justina (a virginal female martyr).

I've just been reading up on these two.  They have a long story which I will not relate.  Bits of their skulls and hands and feet are kept as Holy Relics in Monasteries all over the place from Mount Athos here in Greece, Cyprus to Romania.

So ......

Half an hour away, across the strait, down the road, and round the corner is a picturesque blue and white church on a cliff above the sea. It's dedicated to these 2 Saints. The Priest just happens to have been a sailor at the Navy base here when K was one of the officers. 

Papa Makarios is a good man and an ideal village Priest. Twenty years ago he raised money and had the church built and since then he has been gathering basic food stuffs for the poor, supporting parishioners and urging the council to provide facilities for the elderly and a sports arena for the younger generation. 

Today was the celebration of the Saints and the founding of the church.

A man of the people unlike the monks at the monastery here on Poros.

Blue and white with flags flying all the way down the road.  

2 fire trucks slowed down as they passed, alarms flashing, parked further down and their crews came to take part in the procession of the Icons.  The Icons of the Saints, decorated with flowers, are paraded around the church and grounds.

The church inside and out was crowded.  We perched on a wall outside as we often do.  When the tray was passed around for donations they made 500 euros just from this service.  There was a service last night and another this evening.

All the money goes towards feeding and looking after the needy of the village of  Taktikopouli.  Some will go towards the centre for the elderly.  A place they can gather, enjoy some company, entertainment, coffee and meals.

When the liturgy was over and the Priest had had his say, warm and humurous, everyone filed in to receive a small piece of Holy bread.

I have gone inside on occasions but usually get a strange look from whoever is the priest.  I am obviously a foreigner and they know I'm not likely to be a member of the Orthodox church.

I didn't go this time and I should have, along with Poppi.  This priest would have loved to see Ks wife and granddaughter.

His eyes lit up when he saw K, his old Navy Officer.  He hugged him, told everyone around that he was the best officer in the Greek Navy, related a couple of stories about their time together and pressed a bottle of the Holy wine into Ks hands as he left.

We have promised to go again one Sunday soon.

From the church we drove down to the town of Methana.

Methana is under an extinct volcano and smells slightly sulphurous.

    The waterfront was empty  and perfect for a cappuccino 

Coffee and orange juice time with poppi

Me and K

From Methana we went over the hill to a bay on the other side of the peninsular, passing through the village where Ks dear Mama grew up.

He enjoyed telling Poppi about her great grandmother herding sheep for miles every day to a shelter in a cave,  wading into the very rocky sea, full of sharp volcanic stones to catch octopus and gather shellfish, to wash the winter mats and rugs in the sea in spring and travelling by donkey to church fiestas, of which there are many around there.

We finished off the morning eating at one of the fish tavernas at the little harbour of Vathi (Deep).  There were half a dozen  yachts with foreign flags tied up and we were entertained by a couple of catamarans that came and tied up in front of us. Bulgarian or Romanian. It took them a while to sort out the ropes. It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday in October.

K, who is related to the owner of the restaurant (naturally) chose fresh grilled cod.  But he was the only one who ate fish at this fish taverna.  I had chicken souvlaki and Poppi had bifteki (a grilled hamburger without the bun).

And there were pureed yellow lentils and boiled greens and some cheese for me.

Greek Wedding

Saturday. 

6pm

At the chapel down by the sea at the end of the harbour.

The chapel is dedicated to the Holy Cross.  A picturesque blue and white chapel by the sea at the entrance to Poros Harbour .

K's niece, Vasiliki, married Kyriakos, the son of a friend.  Immediately after the wedding ceremony the baptism of their 2 year old son took place.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross

The end of September and it was hot. Very hot even at 6pm and as you can see there was very little shade.

The wedding ceremony took place outside the church and we all stood, or perched on the sea wall, watched and caught up with relatives we don't often see.

This little girl found a sandbox full of stones and tried to empty it.

Kyriakos and Vasiliki wearing their wedding wreaths.

Kyriakos, his Mum and little Konstantinos waiting for his Mama to arrive and the wedding to begin

The table setting with a small pouch of sugared almonds and an almond cake called 'amigthaloto' a local sweet made from crushed almonds

The reception took place at the Sirocco, the old disco up what seemed 100 steps.  The disco has been closed for years but opens up for large events like this.  

My 3 girls dancing, full of life and not minding the heat.

The music inside was ear splitting and from our table we couldn't see the dancers. So we all went outside where it was a tad quieter and much cooler, with a view of the dance floor.

The DJ played a mix of modern Greek and foreign music. Music for the younger generation but K and I got up and gave it a go too. We had our photo taken on the dance floor by the photographer and then went back to our perch on the wall.

There was a bar outside where all the men gathered. Free drinks.  Whisky is very popular at weddings.

Papous K with 3 of his grandchildren 

It was one of the best weddings we've been to. Vasiliki invited all the extended Greek family, and family from the Netherlands.

The Disco has been closed for many years and there was a general discussion amongst the oldies, like us, that we hadn't been here for at least 30 years. A long time ago in days of yore......

The steps up are a bit challenging nowadays and caution is advised coming down them after a few too many glasses 

I was escorted down by my granddaughter, although I only had one glass of wine. I'm wobbly without any wine at all.

K was escorted down by his daughters, but in a lighthearted way which didn't damage his reputation. 

Wishing them a long and happy life together.