Under Water

The sea level on the island has been rising and falling for the last 3 weeks.  This is the harbour road at its worst.  Sea water is lapping harbourside cafeterias and has risen even more since this video 

These high tides are occurring all over Greece. Some say it's because of the strong south winds or the alignment of the sun and the moon. The Mediterranean Sea doesn't have dramatic tide fluctuations . Changes in atmospheric pressure and high winds though can make a difference. 

This present phenomenon has Not been caused by climate change, they say  

However sea levels have risen 10-15cms in the last century. As sea levels rise this flooding will occur more frequently 

It has happened before and it will happen again

Gull walks on water

Boat or car parking?

This is the centre of town and the parking area is usually full of motorbikes, cars and delivery vans, not to mention pedestrians

A Venetian canal?

Instead of a gondola transport is by paddle board 

Further down the waterfront 

That's the church of the Evangelists

Fortunately, like most churches, it's protected from the flood waters 

by a flight of steps leading up to the front door

Like that gull this boat will soon be floating on land

Further out of town at Neorio the sea has surrounded this bench which is usually a metre or two inland

But that was yesterday, last night

The wind changed to strong northerlies.  In just a few hours harbourside flood waters receded 

The parking area dried up

However the sea water is coming and going

One minute it's dry my daughter says and in 10 minutes it's flooded again

We went down to shop today but kept down the other end of town where the sea hasn't yet washed over the road.  

The sea is rough today 

We are having days of sunshine followed by rain and strong winds

One Day

 I woke up this morning with a feeling of doom and gloom.  It must have just been winter blues because the day has gone quite smoothly.

Spit spit spit...... Go away dark thoughts

I talked to one of my granddaughters on the phone and saw a daughter in town with her crowd of happy coffee drinking friends.

I have every reason to be happy

This afternoon as I was returning from my daily walk my son in law Yiannis whizzed past on his bike. Another cheery greeting and a wave.  He's super fit biking up our hills and around the island. 

Yiannis wind surfing in yesterday's Saharan dust storm

There aren't many people around when I go out.  It's gets chilly early. I usually see more dogs and goats than humans. 

But this evening there were neighbours up the road clearing out a shed. We called cheery  'good evenings' and on my return another neighbour slowed down as he drove past and we exchanged a 'how's things' before each continuing on our way.

The day started with morning coffee, sitting in our lounge with the sun pouring through the big windows. 

Then it was time to get out of the house for our weekly shop. 

First stop at the bottom of the mountain were the rubbish bins to toss our rubbish and recycling.  I checked our post box which is in a bank of boxes on  the roadside there.  'Lo' my Xmas calendar from cousin Jenny in NZ had arrived.  I bet she sent it months ago.  I love the way Jenny always sends a photo too.

I must get some photos printed and send them to friends and family.  It's lovely to have an actual colour close-up to stick on the fridge. 

If I send them next month they might just arrive before next Christmas!

After the rubbish drop off we went to one of the bike hire places so K could look for a new helmet.  I go on about how peaceful and safe this island is but it's not crime free.  His helmet was stolen from the closed baggage carrier on his motor bike which was parked right outside our house. Who the hell took it??  We are both puzzled and disappointed. 

The dogs all bark when a stranger goes down our road. I often go outside and see who it is. Nosey? Yes!   Who was skulking around  and what were they looking for besides his helmet?  And oddly enough they also took the board of nails he leaves on the bike seat to deter cats. Kids?  Who knows

I'm glad we have shutters which I can shut tight. 

We went to Kostas Bike shop to look for a helmet. Kosta is a school friend of my K and his  shop is open all year round.  I left them to reminisce and wandered along the waterfront to take photos. 

On one side there were blue skies and on the other storm clouds. The storm clouds soon covered all the sky but the rain has kept away today. Tomorrow will be wet again.  We've had plenty of rain this winter. The vineyards and olive groves around us still have a lot of ground water. 

K can buy a helmet for 45 euros from Kostas. He has an old one he can wear while he decides what to do. His bike also has a flat battery. We use the car more in winter. 

On to the supermarket where I was again aware of price rises.

A good cheese from Crete or the island of Naxos can be up to 20 euros a kilo.  We only buy feta now, at around 10 euros a kilo or gouda which is even cheaper.  K is finicky where his feta is concerned.  It has to come from Kalamata (where those olives grow) or from a village up north.  They all taste the same to me.  Strong

Bread and milk prices have remained steady.  Honey has risen by a few euros.  We usually buy our honey from our little Farmer's market but use cheaper stuff for baking.  I use honey instead of molasses, treacle or golden syrup. 

I often buy supermarket brands because they're a cheaper version.   Macaroni, flour, are fine. 

 Filter coffee prices have gone up. We are only given the choice of Jacobs....or Jacobs, the most expensive on the market here.  The downside of living in a small town. 

Last stop the Allwyn shop.  All-wyn?  Who are they kidding.  This is the betting shop.  It's where we play EuroJackpot and Joker.  I checked the numbers I played a couple of weeks ago.  I often win a couple of euros.  Nothing this time.  But it's only 4 euros to play both games.  If you don't play you can't win!

I usually buy a 1 euro Scratch card too so it comes out at an even 5 euros. 

Home again

Home again, James

And don't spare the horses

As my grandmother loved to say 

Valentino is Greek

 Happy Valentines.......which all began on the slopes of Mount Lykaia (Wolf Mountain) here in Arcadia many eons ago.  The celebration took place at night and Pan joined in with his nymphs, dancing and 'frolicking' to the music of his magic flute  

Ancient Greek colonists brought the festival to the banks of the Tiber where it turned into a wild fertility festival. 

Later Christians tidied it up and turned it into a celebration of sweetness and love. 

One of the Catholic Popes decided the feast of St Valentine would be celebrated on 14th February. And then, who knows...........

The Orthodox church celebrates St Valentine in July.  He has nothing to do with love and romance or chocolate bonbons.

The mythical Greek gods and goddesses of love are Eros (Cupid) who shoots his deadly darts straight to the heart and Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty 

We all know what Valentines Day is today. Nothing to do with saints and everything to do with chocolates, red roses and romantic dinners.

 We shall eat leftover meat and salad. I shall buy him some galaktobouriko (cream pie in syrup) and we shall drink wine from a plastic bottle.

Saturday of  Souls

This year  the Saturday of  Souls in the Orthodox church also falls on February 14th

K has lit a candle for the repose of his dear departed and our friendly ghost Barba Lazaros. 

 

Others may be preparing koliva, funeral wheat, to be blessed or having a priest perform a memorial prayer over the family graves.  The koliva is handed out after today's church service.  It is made of boiled wheat, raisins, sugar, pomegranate seeds and nuts and is delicious. 

Happy Meat Eating Day

 Today is another big celebration all over Greece. Everywhere you go there are simple BBQs set up, clouds of heavenly smoke and the aroma of grilling lamb chops, chicken pieces, pork and sausages.  

You'll find small groups gathered round grills outside the petrol station, on the harbourside, in small alley ways, on balconies and in our back courtyard. 

Even the schools set up a bbq and hand out skewers of pork and chicken to the children. It's the middle of carnival now so all the kids will be in masquerade, throwing confetti and streamers and dashing or dancing to the carnival songs

All  that's necessary is good company, a glass of wine, a piece of meat on the end of a skewer and if you're a traditional Greek some music to sing along and do a few dance steps.   K loves to abandon the bbq and kick up his heels with an 'ooopa' and a wave of his oily rag

The boy has it all under control

Last night he made a bowl of tzatziki with enough garlic and vinegar to wrinkle your little cotton socks and put hairs on your chest

It's one of the last meat eating days before Lent.  

Cheers Bigears

We enjoyed a bottle of excellent prosecco, flavoured with lychee.  Something a little different and very pleasant

Now I'm stinking of garlic and sitting in my armchair beside the fire trying to digest the feast of meat with a glass of plain local plonk.  

Wheeere's Poppi.....and the other Grandchildren

Family Post............

My Mokapuna s

 Heeeere's Poppi

What's she up to? 

She's studying in Athens

She's a bit sad that she hasn't starred on my blog for quite some time. I promised I would let her fans know she is still rowing but she's studying hard at the esteemed Athens Gymnastic Academy 

Her syllabus includes actual hands-on athletics, everything from her rowing, soccer to dance choreography.  She also has lectures to attend and studies sport regulations, history, health, physiotherapy and a lot of complicated sport science. 

This is the way a true athlete studies. 

There's no time-out

Coffee time is study time too

The café here she says is actually a flower shop, and study hang-out

Poppi is not my only granddaughter

Though I can't say I blame you for thinking so

Oooooof the suitcase is finally packed AND closed

Luli is finishing high school and will be in Athens for higher studies next year

In their final year at Lykeio (High School) the kids go on a 5 day 'educational' trip

Her class went up to Thessaloniki, the northern capitol of Greece

It's an all day bus trip up North.

That didn't tire them of course

They all went bowling later

The class visits museums and historical sites during the day and enjoy a 'lively' nightlife 

 

These school trips can be wild

Ask the grandsons George and Jamie

I don't think they slept for the whole 5 days

Partying continued all night in their hotel rooms

George went to Crete for his 5-dayer

and 

Jamie also went to Thessaloniki

Poppi went to Yiannina, a city near the Albanian border. It's beside Lake  Pamvotida where she's often gone for rowing competitions

Poor Nels missed out altogether because her graduation was during the first covid lockdown

My girls, Elli and Danae,  went to Rhodes and Crete

There are hotels which give the schools special packages 

The kids spend months organising transport and hotels and raise money by selling raffle tickets, organising parties and luncheons and soliciting donations from the islands businesses and municipality 

There are usually a couple of  schools at each hotel.  Must be bedlam for the staff

The aftermath 

Luli caught the flu, along with a dozen of the other kids that were on the bus

 That nasty one called Influenza A

She didn't/ couldn't eat anything but Nana's brownies

Then her mother caught the bug and then her father

So I made another batch of brownies

And left them on the steps

I didn't dare get any closer

They wanted Weetabix too but I searched and there are none on the island

The brownies recipe is one I used to make with Luli many years ago when I babysitted her. They often came out too cakey.

  It's difficult achieving that gooey brownie-ness.  I googled and followed the tips. 

The eggs need a really good beating  

Don't over mix

Don't over cook

A packet of chocolate drops or 

A few spoons of nutella lifts them up to another level 

But

Back to Poppi

She's the Brownie Queen 

Her recipe takes 2 days to make and it's worth waiting for. However I don't have her recipe. If I'm going to make Brownies, I want to eat them today. Right Now

Luli's back at school now.  She has extra lessons on key subjects and will be swatting hard till her University Entrance exams in June

Nels, Luli, Poppi

My three girls

My 2 boys

George and Jamie

Winter By the Sea

 

Evening rowers at

Sunset 

The little stone chapel dedicated to St Sophia

Guarding Love Bay

This is a very small bay and in mid summer it's very popular.  There are lines of cars parked along the road above turning it into a one-way track.

Down on the beach there are 2 or 3 rows of sunbeds and half a dozen yachts anchored just off shore

There's one small canteen which does a roaring trade 

I've only ever been down there once.  The seabed is quaggy, squishy underfoot

    But the little bay and beach live up to it's name.

It's a very romantic little bay with St Sophia and her chapel keeping guard and the pine trees almost down to the water providing shade

St Sophia has her fiesta on 17 September.  The service here is always popular and in latter years the 'Women of Poros' have made sure there are piles of sweet Holy bread and other delights to be handed around after the liturgy

Wintery Days

 Fields full of colour .  The  green vegetation scattered with daisies, mauve anemones and tiny flowers, deep purple, and red

A peaceful world.  Very few quad bikes with noisy tourists break the peace at this time of the year.  The locals are friendly and always give you a smile and a 'yiasou ti kaneis ' (g'day  how are you) 

Blue skies.  Without the heat.  Greece enjoys over 250 days of sunshine, so they say.

Time to talk with the animals.  Cats and sheep, chooks, turkeys and the herd of goats.  I always chat with the 2 dogs who live in our road, tell them off for barking at me.  I'm not exactly a stranger around here

Deserted winter beaches full of fascinating flotsam 

At the Temple site the wild greens are thriving

This local couple are filling a bag with a variety of greens to take home and cook

The bay below us with it's winter rubbish. 

 Not as much as I thought there would be.  Lots of bamboo. Not so many old shoes and plastic bottles this year. 

I couldn't go down and poke around . The rain has made deep channels along the bank which are treacherous for me

Wild flowers amongst the ruins

This cat looks well fed
He gets fed I think by the owner of the sheep next door along with a dozen other moggies
He just sat there in the late afternoon sun watching me 

This small flock had escaped from their pen.  They just stood there, undisturbed,  turning their heads to watch me as I walked past

Neglected grapevines 

The elderly owner has let Mother Nature take over

The flooded harbour 

This happens every few years.  After days of rain the sea levels rise and pour in all along the waterfront.  A salty lake 

A few days later it had all dried up