Itisallgreek2me

Kostoula and I – Easter Sunday

I arrived back in New Zealand on 16 December 2013 … great to see family and friends again and of necessity, eased myself back into working over the Christmas/New Year period.  Life became busy, however, with thoughts of my next spell in Greece to keep me going, by February I had booked my next trip away.  Then, nine weeks ago, my 96-year-old Mum came to stay with me … we anticipated it would be for 8 weeks until I went away.  Sadly, she had been just one night in my home when she tripped and fell, breaking her hip in two places.  Following surgery and a 5 week stay in hospital, she is now comfortable and living in a rest home, making slow but steady progress day by day, allowing me to return to Greece, visit my family and friends on Crete and spend more time with Costas.

After weeks of uncertainty, I left Wanganui on 15 April, staying that night in Auckland with my dear friend Vivienne and her partner Dave before departing New Zealand the following day bound for Crete, via Brisbane, Dubai and Athens.  An arduous journey … it never gets any easier.  On the eve of Easter, busy airports, all planes fully booked and with no chance of scoring an extra seat to stretch out.  On arrival in Hania, Crete, feeling desperate to end my journey, I decided to take a taxi to the home of my friends Antonia and Vassiles.  Amazingly, during conversation with the driver, it came out that he remembered me from the days when I lived in Kastelli, more than 30 years’ ago.

My first couple of days here I froze … unseasonably cold weather, not helped by my level of fatigue and tiredness.  By Saturday I had recovered somewhat from the journey and in the afternoon, Antonia and I walked to the Harbour.  It appeared that everyone in Hania had the same idea … to leave their homes and hotels to spend time in the sun.  The restaurants and cafes were all crowded, throngs of people and a festival atmosphere.  At 1400 hours, amplified live Cretan music and a human chain of dancers formed a line extending right around the Harbour … quite a memorable spectacle.  I had planned to go to church with Antonia at midnight for the Easter celebrations but, unfortunately, feeling once again extremely cold and tired, I retired early to bed.

Easter Sunday morning, Antonia dropped me off at the bus station where I caught the 1100 hours bus to Kastelli, arriving around midday to the usual warm welcome from my family here.  A glorious, sunny day … the goat slowly turning on the spit and the table laid ready for a feast.  30 years’ ago, when there were 22 people in the family, we would have all been together in the one place.  Now the family has grown to such an extent (five generations), each branch of the family celebrates Easter independently.  However, over the past two days, we have welcomed many other extended family members and friends at the house, there have been no dull moments.

So, I am here until Sunday when I will return for one night to Hania before flying back to Athens on Monday morning.  A bus from the Airport to the Port of Piraeus, then a hydrofoil to Spetses and Costas … the last leg of my journey cannot come soon enough for me now.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014 at 4:38 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.