From May Day to Greek Elections
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
May Day Flowers on doorway – Spetses
An entire week since last I posted a Blog … some of you will be suffering withdrawal for which I apologise. Having so much fun, the days and nights come and go very quickly.
Last Tuesday – May Day – a public holiday in Greece for workers. Families make wreaths of flowers to hang on their doorways whist in strong contrast, others protest and hold strikes.
Wednesday was the 2nd Anniversary for Costas and I … went out at 1330 hours to Filippos for an English breakfast – yummy – yet another glorious day and a very pleasant outing. In the evening I went early to the Bar. Costas’ team Tottenham were playing and John and Jerry were making regular telephone calls to update him. It was one of those nights when I stayed until closing. A late night not conducive to an early morning walk … never mind, I go out whenever I can and hope one day this week to walk the 26 kilometres around the island if there is a day which is not going to be too hot, however, with some sun to assist with photographic opportunities. Saturday’s walk took me by Blueberry Hill … long since abandoned, it was once an open air disco where people danced under the stars. On Thursday I may go with Ray and Heather on the boat over to the mainland … a chance to give their car a run, visit the market and so on.
Lemon trees are a very common sight here in the island homes’ gardens …Costas needs around 100 litres of juice to see him through the summer months in the Bar and at this time of the year, people bring him bags of lemons to squeeze and freeze in 500ml plastic water bottles. On Thursday I made 9 litres, today another 6 litres … I quite enjoy the task, productive but non stressful.
Friday we met Ray and Heather at Bouboulina Restaurant for lunch at 1500 hours. Costas had asked the cook to make Beef Stroganoff for us … we started with a selection of salads, followed by what was an enjoyable main meal, however, it was not a traditional Beef Stroganoff. Furthermore, one of our salads was Agria Horta (wild greens) and Costas asked for another portion to take home. After discovering the next day that we had not been given Agria Horta, he went back to voice his disappointment on two counts.
It has been a full on weekend … Friday, Ray, Heather and I went from Bouboulina to Mayo for a few drinks, then on to Bar Spetsa where I was delighted to see Paddy and Wendy. We met during my first week on the island in May 2010 and until now, our visits to Spetses have not coincided. On Saturday I decided to go early to the Bar as I enjoy the opportunity to sit and chat with Costas until it gets busy and did it ever get busy! He was working alone and the Bar was pumping … he unwound after closing at 0230 hours when we enjoyed a few drinks with Roland and Eleni at Balkoni Bar until 0500 hours in the morning.
Of course, yesterday saw the Greek elections and as predicted, the two big parties who have dominated politics for decades, took huge cuts in the vote counting … now Greece faces an even greater uncertainty for the future. It is not clear who is going to govern the country and the people have made it clear they do not want anymore cuts. The Neo Nazi party Golden Dawn received 7% of the vote … where will all this lead? No one knows. We were to meet Ray and Heather for lunch at Paradise … I set off in the heat of the day to walk there and got lost trying to take a shortcut, the little streets being something of a maze. Ray had been dispatched on the bike to look for me, coming all the way to the house but to no avail – silly me. A pleasant lunch after which Costas left to return home and watch Tottenham on the tele … we three stayed on, finally leaving on the bike at 2200 hours and on to Bar Spetsa – home shortly after. During the afternoon, Debbie, Michelle and Panayiotis were in our company. But, best of all was the moon rising as yesterday it was the closest and largest full moon of this year. In short, the earth, moon and sun all in a line with the moon in it’s nearest approach to earth … amazing!
Today, as with every day, I sunbathed for an hour around midday, my tan coming along very nicely thank you. Looking up into the bluest of skies, watching the seagulls gliding through the air – I thought to myself, I wouldn’t mind coming back as a seagull in my next life. Met Costas for lunch at Spetsiotiko, partaking of one of our favourite meals … Barbounakia (small red mullet). Sitting there on the seafront in Dapia, I said how blessed we are to be living on this island – it truly is a Paradise!