Late Summer Holiday

 No wifi in our room and it's sketchy on the balcony. Not even data works.  I eventually get to read blogs and sometimes write one 

No news.  That's good news.  Its all very strange, life without wifi, social media, but I'm getting used to it. Except at night when I used to listen to YouTube in the sleepless hours. Now I pass the hours with my thoughts and try to relax by counting sheep, or listening to my breath and Ks snoring.  

The first few sunny days.  Crazy people out there in the sea doing water Zumba. I watch for a few minutes and put my head back in my book.  

The weekend was busy

Families with young children. We heard their happy voices at the far away playground well into the night

The playground is well kept, lots of unusual games.  Right next to the helicopter pad. I've never seen a helicopter land in all our years of holidays here 

I managed 2 swims before the weather changed.

The first swim .  The water was warm but there was a strange breeze and a tide which pushed me back.  I had to battle to move through the water and reach K who was just a few metres away. 

It was a very strange experience. It would have been frightening but I could actually touch the bottom.  Keeping afloat was tiring and it wasn't long before I was battling back to shore.

The next day the sea was back to normal.  I swam a little, just to say I'd done it, then got out to read and muse in the sun

Now we seem to have a wi fi signal. I'm sitting on our small balcony listening to night sounds and drinking a Spanish red 

We went out for supplies today. K got his raki and some greek white wine. This Spanish red was cheap, in a box. It's actually quite good. Not plonk.

Cheers BigEars

Away

Agia Marina tou Naftikou

 or in English our Navy holiday resort. We are here.

Hooray...I think

A long 4 hour drive was uneventful.  Traffic minimal

And we arrived at our room to find this....

I dragged 6 heavy bags, pillows, sheets, towels, clothes, shoes, books up to the 2 floor, via the lift, to find a broken lock 

The room they reassigned us was on the ground floor of the next door building

Ye gods and little fishes

While K went to get the key for the other room I dragged all the bags back down and reloaded the car

It was a long day before we got settled

But worth it

After a meal in the restaurant we sat on the balcony and opened a bottle of 2023 red

And listened to the crickets, the soft sound of distant  voices and the  repeating call of the scops owl

It's my idea of peace to sit on the balcony and enjoy the night sounds and watch the lights of planes descending into Athens airport

The resort itself is descending into disrepair 

The grass uncut, the cafeteria with despicable coffee

Not what it used to be

The long grass reminded me of paspalum, grasses with long sticky fronds, which grow in the warm summer in wild unmown  gardens in NZ

The first time I'd thought of that stuff in many years

Eyesores

Poros properties.

 There are so many abandoned properties around the island. Some just left to fall down, usually because of family differences, or just left for years half finished usually because of illegal permits. Or no building permit

The old electric  company building.  It's right on the waterfront and been in this state for as long as I can remember.  There's some dispute which means no-one can touch it.  Prime real estate,  grimy and peeling away and full of rubbish

Another property right on the harbour front, next door to that last abandoned building.  This one is owned by a bank and has been sitting here, half built and full of rubbish now for over 25 years.  Rumours are that the foundations filled with sea water and it couldn't be finished.  Who knows.  Like the other one, rumours fly.

They both should at least be cleaned up and painted.

 

And as for this one

It's a house owned by an english family.  The parents died, the children couldn't agree what to do with it .  Another piece of prime real estate, a large house with gardens, right opposite the Police Station.  Now it's virtually unsellable.  There is so much owed on it and a pile of papers and red tape that need sorting out.  

Slowly it has become place for tipping rubbish

And it's falling to pieces

The next 2 properties, once again right on the waterfront, have been painted and one completely restored

 Above...... The old Latsi Hotel 

Now only the ground floor is used. The site of the island's largest supermarket.  A mini market size for most of you.  Not repaired or restored but repainted.

An attractive sight when visitors approach by sea

A neo-classical mansion as it was

The difference is amazing.  The waterfront is so much more attractive. 

Those other buildings in disrepair need a whitewash and a clean up.  They probably need a few rat traps as well

Idyllic NZ

 

Enjoying the sunset 

From my brother's patio in NZ

Looking out towards Mount Maunganui

Drink in hand

Look at that

 brilliant trail of colour across the sea

An idyllic isle

Thanks for the photos Rainy

Another Life

 LIVING IN GREECE ... A repost 

Imagine having a mother in law who threatened to have the police stop your wedding ceremony, who couldn’t understand that all the world didn’t speak greek, didn’t want her son to marry you because you didn’t have a dowry and couldn’t understand why my brothers didn’t buy a house for me.  An alien culture.

Growing up in the Bay of Plenty.  Growing up in the 60s.  We were free, the world was our oyster.  I remember biking, many miles, with my younger brother , from Te Puke to our bach at Papamoa.  A bach* still there, now prime waterfront real estate** but no longer owned by the family  

In the olden days and up until few years ago  the traffic was constant, the side wind from  logging trucks could have hurled us into the road or over into a silage pit.  No place for 10 year olds on bicycles.  Main highway. 

I haven’t been back since my father’s funeral in September 2006.  20 years. 

** real estate, realestate, relestate.  I had to look that up.  Nowadays a thesaurus is essential equipment as I write.  No longer fluent in English, or Greek

*This bach, small holiday home, was built by my father from an old garage. Basic, long drop loos in the early years and artesian water we had to pump to fill the tank, but right above the waves. 

I used to miss NZ acutely, smells, sounds, accents, family .   Now I’m just as much at home in Greece as I once was back there.  I used to feel rejuvenated as I stepped back on New Zealand soil, back to a place which I knew and understood.  I could understand the language, the laws, those laws which back then Greeks considered so strict and suffocating.  But NZers took for granted and (mostly) obeyed.  I understood the culture, could (sort of) pronounce the Maori place names, and knew my way home even though I had been away for years.  No, amend that.  I did not know how to get out of Auckland.  A huge city surrounded by multi-lane highways.  I was used to just one road, most of it without a white line down the middle, no traffic lights, no pedestrian crossings.

I once got a traffic ticket in Tauranga for parking facing the wrong way.  Is that possible?  I wrote the Council a letter explaining what a law abiding citizen I was BUT also explaining where I came from.  A small greek island where we double parked and left the keys in the car in case someone needed to move it.

Where most roads are so narrow you drive in the middle.  Where, back then, there were no traffic police, no-one wore a helmet or a seat belt.  The right hand rule was probably on the books but you gave way, or not, depending who was approaching and where you met.  One golden rule.  Always give way to taxis.  The Tauranga council cancelled my parking ticket.

My father told us that we should see our own country before leaving and we had summer camping holidays all over the country.  I wish I could remember more about these trips.  I know we loaded up the car with a huge roof rack of tents and tables.  Four kids in a car. Arguing of course. One of my brothers was once turfed out and left on the side of the road. That shut us all up.  We did go back to pick him up, to my relief 

 We visited the far north and went to Coromandel many times.  I remember going down to a farm to get a container of milk from the farmer’s  cows.  All things you just wouldn’t do anymore.  Someone would call child services on you for ‘abandoning’ a child on the sound of the road and milk now has to be sterilized or pasteurized, or both.

I felt, ‘knew’ , when I left New Zealand that  I  wouldn’t be returning for a long time.  It took 11 years before I came back to NZ, with my greek family, and that was only because the extended family rallied round and bought our tickets.

Now my daughter Elli says she feels a very strong tie to NZ, as though she has been born in the wrong country.  My niece Katy says the Maori have a word  for this.   Tangatawhenua, the feeling of belonging.  All my greek family love anything NZ and they’ve all visited except the youngest grandchildren. Daughter  Elli should be living there.  At the moment its hard to even afford the passport.

My downunder family, brothers, beloved sisters in law, the next generation, nephews and nieces all love Poros .  I'm lucky, grateful, that they visit year after year.  

NZers will understand 

Chocolate fish. Iconic treat (thanks Elli, just  a bit of NZ colour)

Mince on Toast

 Mince... or you may call it ground beef

Leftover mince on a piece of toasted bread is true comfort food.  The toast preferably is smothered with real butter. 

When I make a savoury mince sauce for spaghetti bolognaise or pastitsio or moussaka and there's a bit leftover this is the simplest and tastiest dish imaginable. 

Is it NZ or a British recipe? Or Australian.

It's a favourite in our house. Even K actually enjoys it. Not traditional Greek at all. So where are it's origins. I grew up with this. As far as I'm concerned it's a traditional kiwi recipe. 

Simple, no-fuss and hearty.  And apparently still a New Zealand favourite. 

The Guardian says it appeared in British cookbooks as early as 1865.  However it's gone out of fashion in Britain. 

The NZ Herald says the recipe wasn't stolen from the British but rescued. 

The reason I'm writing about it is because it came up as a recipe on an online NZ site.  It doesn't need a recipe for goodness sake. It's an idea. 

I would never make it from scratch, fry the mince, add tomato and spices.  Far too much trouble.  But when you've got leftovers it's the first thing that comes to mind for breakfast, lunch or dinner.   

Leftover mince

a piece of buttered toast, or 2

and maybe

a poached or fried egg on top

If you're a kiwi reading this then you'd probably add sliced avocado too.  They seem to add avo to everything thing these days.  We don't.  They're far too expensive.  Special occasions only

Minced beef is becoming a luxury too.  It's around 12-14 euros a kilo

Greek Menu

 Food

Glorious....Greek food... 

Giant beans stewed with tomato

The essential greek salad 

Grilled sardines

It's not a feast without  octopus. Stewed with oil, oregano and lemon juice. Fried zucchini as a side. 

Fried potatoes seem to come with everything nowadays. Even in Greece

My brother Paul.. 

Eyeing up the selection

I can see prawns there. Probably saganaki. Prawns, or shrimps, with tomatoes and feta

Looks like grilled chicken.

It must have been their last night at Sofia's taverna.

The K approved taverna at the moment.

He looks overwhelmed. Food...again!

Cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and herbs in an egg and lemon sauce.

Delicious in the cold of winter. 

This photo was taken at the maiden aunt's house. A different Ratatouille.  Thin slices of potato, zucchini, onion and tomato. Baked in the oven.

Simple and delicious. Olive oil of course and parsley.

Fish from the Med

Whole fish, scaled and gutted

In the oven with carrots, zucchini, parsley, onions and lots of olive oil

Kali Orexi

Bon Appetit

Enjoy your meal with a healthy appetite