Idyllic Lifestyle – Kastelli
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
View towards Rodopou peninsular from family home, Kastelli, Crete
Yesterday’s exhaustion, bought on by my overnight sleepless ferry journey from Piraeus to Crete, has today left me, for which I am most grateful. Any thoughts I had of visiting Vanna and Roma last evening – there is always an open home policy in force there for family and friends to pop in on a Saturday night, to eat, drink, talk, laugh a lot and listen to music – well, I was much too tired and retired early around midnight. This morning I was woken by loud shouting and much to my surprise, the time was 1045 hours … I had slept well.
It has been very quiet here – with many of the younger family members now working and living in Hania and none returning to Kastelli this weekend. What I am really enjoying is the food, not that I have had food elsewhere that was disagreeable but rather – Katina quite simply prepares the very best from the freshest of ingredients … food to die for! Yesterday when asked what I would like for lunch I said “Mia Salata” (a salad) which made Katina laugh. She cooked Biftekia (meat rissoles) and made an amazing salad, the best I have enjoyed ever. Not just your basic Greek salad, it had tomato, cucumber, red onion, small black olives, pickled green peppers, chunks of potato, purslane and fresh basil, tossed in an unforgettable dressing. Today for lunch, Katina, Katerina (a grand daughter of hers) and I had chicken in sauce with Hilopita (homemade noodles). Back in the days when I lived here, all the women in the family would come together for an afternoon and we would make copious amounts of Hilopita, enough to see us through the winter months. Recently, Katina on her own made 8 kilos of flour into Hilopita – no woman I know works harder than she does. At the moment we have green seedless grapes – so, so sweet and delicious!
Of all the cats who were resident here in May, only one remains – the rest have perished as many do, one way or another they meet their deaths on the road or mysteriously die, their tiny bodies found in the garden. I suspect many are poisoned. There is, however, a new addition, rescued from a rubbish bin in Hania by Yani and this cat and Billy the family dog love to play together.
When I moved on in May the goat was pregnant. Within days she had given birth to two kids – one died at birth, the other was eaten on 15 August, the day when all Greeks celebrate and commemorate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Today after lunch I made my way down to Kastelli beach which is not the most amazing beach in Greece but I love it. Kastelli sits in the bay between two peninsulars – Rodopou and Gramvoussa. The beach is somewhat stony, however, the sea is wonderful – still very warm once you are in it and the sun still has the ability to burn, even though along with the crowds, summer has gone and supposedly autumn should have arrived. I will definitely return to the beach every day that I can, making the most of it until I must move on … at the moment, I plan to do so next Sunday.