Itisallgreek2me

In A Word – “Smiling”

I know I have said this before …my twice yearly journeys to Greece are not for holidays.  I consider this to be my other home where I spend a big part of my time and it must be difficult for some of you to imagine just how beautiful the island of Spetses is.  A paradise … akin to heaven on earth.

We are being treated to unbelievably glorious, warm, sunny days.  Because I like to help Costas in any way that I can, most days I just take the short walk to Agios Mammas beach right here in the town.  After all, it is the same sun and sea as anyone will find elsewhere around the island, perhaps just not quite as peaceful as the Spetsiots go about their daily business and chores on their preferred mode of transport – motorbikes and scooters.  One day I was quite amused by a middle-aged guy doing his press ups at the water’s edge then juggling pebbles picked up off the beach.

As much as I would love to do so, I am not visiting the Bar every night.  The late nights, or should I say early mornings, take their toll and I hate missing any part of the wonderful Spring days.  They are always, without exception, fun times in the Bar … catching up with old friends from the past and meeting new people.  This past week, Steve who skippered “Spindrift” for 12 years, based on Spetses … we had not seen Steve since 2010 and he turned up out of the blue.  Also Ian who visits the island frequently … I well remember the first time we met in 2010 on a day when the sea was rough and for safety reasons, the Flying Dolphin could not dock … we were taken back to the mainland.  Together with three others, Ian and I shared a taxi from Porto Heli to Kosta then a water taxi across.  Lara has been visiting from Athens too and we met Paul from the UK … all have left the island for now.  One night I met Alex – Greek father, Kiwi mother, born and bred in New Zealand.  Alex and her husband Vaggeles who is from Spetses, live here with their 18 month old son Dimitris.

My good friends Paddy and Wendy are here from Ireland for a three-week stay.  On Saturday night I caught up with them in the Bar early for a couple of drinks, then we went to Triporto for dinner … sharing three yummy dishes, including Lahanodolmades (stuffed cabbage rolls) filled with ground meat and rice and covered with an egg and lemon sauce.  Costas and I have eaten out a couple of days for lunch at Spetsiotiko and Bouboulina … at the latter I particularly enjoyed the Fava, a puree made from yellow split peas and topped with olive oil, lemon juice, chopped red onion and parsley.  Of course, I am enjoying cooking too … anything from a full English breakfast to Greek cuisine.  Today I made an oven baked chicken and potato dish for lunch … tonight a big pot of chicken soup to have on hand in the freezer.

Aside from busying myself  in the kitchen and taking care of other domestic chores, I have spent many hours sorting and putting into albums all of Costas’ photographs from his trip in February to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.  I just need Costas to buy one more album.  It has been a labour of love but I am almost there.

Footnote:  To date I have been unable to fathom out why when I Publish Images on my page “Photos 2013” I cannot seem to get them in either an ascending or descending order, so please be sure to scroll down the page if you do not want to miss any of them.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 20th, 2013 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.