Thursday 13 June 2024

Rooftop Tales

 Somehow I think this is going to be another long one..... 

NZers will totally understand.

Another 'must do' for our visitors has been a drink on daughter Elli's rooftop to admire the view and sunset. It took a bit of organising this time.  It's tax season and Elli works till 9pm or later every night.  Her summers are non-existent.  Every year tax returns are supposed to be finished by the end of June but every year the deadline is extended, sometimes to the end of July, sometimes to August.  That doesn't leave her much time for anything else. 

This is our old house above the harbour.  We built a wall around the flat rooftop and attached a rather frighteningly steep spiral staircase.  When we had people to eat up there I used to haul things up and down in a basket on a rope. 

 Elli has no time for all that and sits on her lower balcony instead and enjoys the cool of the night, and a gin, once she eventually gets home.

She and husband Kyriakos did clean it up though for her kiwi aunt and uncle so we could all watch one sunset.  We had drinks and nibbles while the sun went down.  It was a bit cloudy but just lovely.


The girls with kiwi Uncle
So much bla bla bla and laughter when they all get together


Me and my kiwi s-in-law Rainy
She sorts me out, gets me organised, fills in the english words that I've forgotten and mixes the gin 😊 I need a smiley face there. 
Our kiwi friends, Sherryn and Gary,  brought us a bottle of Prosecco too. Nothing but the best 😀 another smiley face 
We bought a big bag of ice at the supermarket and tipped it into a big thermos (chilly bin/eski) to ice the drinks and keep the beer cold.  
With Greek chips and kiwi dip it was perfect. 
My family knows what we like. They filled up their suitcases with onion soup mix and special kiwi reduced-cream-in-a-tin to make a taste of home.   There's nothing that says home more than a potato chip/crisp dipped deep into a bowl of classic kiwi onion dip.

And lamington mix, Raro drink mixes and kiwi fish batter in a packet, real NZ vanilla essence, chocolates, sauces and a host of other tastes of home. Not just for me but for my girls too who were taught very early on to enjoy 'foreign' food. 



We came for a Poros view
It was the company that kept us there, discussing everything from Greek funeral customs to NZ rowing. Our friends' son coaches the NZ Women's Olympic Rowing team. They quizzed Poppi on Greek rowing and she was overjoyed to be given a NZ rowing outfit from the Tokyo Olympics. 
The next time she rows in Athens she'll be wearing kiwi colours. Another smiley face perhaps 😊

As s-in-law Rainy says, we get on so well together it's a pity we live so far away.  We need to move Poros down somewhere near Fiji.



Pink and white bougainvillia in full bloom


And this my friends, is a Pohutukawa, the New Zealand Christmas tree.  Elli bought it thinking it was an olive tree, until it bloomed.  The leaves are very similar but this is Not an olive tree.
In NZ of course it blooms in December, here it blooms in June.  She is delighted.  
The puzzle is, how a Pohutukawa tree came to be in a nursery in Greece?


Panoramic view of all of us
Pallet benches and tables and a couple of comfy directors' chairs for the oldies.

*I only wrote the word 'kiwi' 8 times, 9 now. I'm loving it 🤩 





16 comments:

  1. I love the New Zealand Christmas Tree. You don't see many rooftop sun terraces in Ireland.😊

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    1. There's too much sun now but it's a great place at night. We used to take a drink up there and watch yachts and ferries criss crossing the bay. Magical. I tread very carefully on that spiral staircase. It goes almoststraightup

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  2. Replies
    1. That rooftop is wonderful. Makes up for a very small house below

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  3. What a great evening, creating fantastic memories that will last forever. Although I'm not sure I could handle that staircase - it sounds a bit scary to me! :)

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    1. Wonderful memories. And we are already talking about visits past.

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  4. Happy days! It´s so lovely to get those tastes of home, I know exactly what you mean.

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    1. We never forget those tastes of home. Our roots. So nice that they're willing to bring all them so many miles.

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  5. Visitors, all those lovely Kiwi tastes and a pohutakawa as well. Wonderful.

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    Replies
    1. I'm jealous of the Pohutukawa. I'll be looking for another one

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  6. I've never understood you Kiwis and your fixation with Lamingtons! That terrace looks superb.

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    Replies
    1. Lamingtons are unusual. If they're made properly they're moist and delicious.

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  7. Everything looks wonderful, the view, the family meeting, the tastes of childhood, the joy.

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    1. We have a lot of laughs over our childhood memories!

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  8. SO much to comment on - and you are clearly having a great time. As for the pohutakawa - you can buy olive trees in NZ so why not?

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    1. Yes, I guess, why not. I'm certainly going to look for another one for me

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