When I removed my earplugs this morning, I heard the steady downpour of rain. The entire island will celebrate! The olives will be plump for harvest. The hills will turn green. The pathways and houses will be washed clean. There is only one concern. Will the ferry sail tomorrow morning??? The rain is accompanied by strong winds!!
During breakfast we heard the Thunder God for the first time in Greece. He rattled and roared above us, sending spikes of lightning from the clouds. It was quite a display. The winds continued all day with the sun trying to peek through from time to time.
Yesterday we heard a story about a ferry arriving at the port of Piraeus, dropping anchor and sitting away from the pier. Apparently the fishermen were holding a demonstration and had positioned caiques along the edge of the piers so that none of the ferries could dock! This is Greece!!
Nadia and John waiting for dinner!
Dinner was planned for our last night at Jazzmin Cafe. Theo would make lemon garlic pasta, I would make a salad and Nadia would create another veggie dish. At the last minute Nokie arrived and took over the underground kitchen. Armed with a three foot length of broom handle, he wanted to roll out pastry to make a pork pie. There were pots and cutting boards everywhere. The counter was dusted with flour. Some pastry was prebaked, to be crumbled later into the pie filling. His creation finally went into the oven at 10pm!! The kitchen was finally free for me to make the salad. Reaching up, I pulled down a large bowl. Unbeknownst to me, Nokie had poured the pork broth into this bowl to cool. I took a bath in it!!
Nokie rolling the dough!
Being a super organized person, I had packed the luggage earlier in the day and taken the bags to the car, ready for our early departure the next morning! As I grumped my way to the car, dragged my bag back up to the room, cursed my way into extra pants and shirt, I couldn't think of anyone to blame for this fiasco!! Of course that added to my frustration!! It was bad enough to have stinky socks in the luggage that refused to dry in the damp humidity; now the odour of pork would permeate everything!
Returning to the Cafe with a black look, I was greeted by Nadia's laughter. It was tempting to pout but I decided not to add further ruin to the evening!! I gave in to the potential humour of the incident. The pie finally emerged from the oven at 11pm, golden and steaming with delicious aroma. The dinner was delicious, finished off with slices of Russian Cake freshly baked that day by Theo. We tucked ourselves into bed at 12:30am, stuffed and tired. The alarm was set for 5:00 am.
On the ferry at 6:00am, we decided to share a 4 bed cabin with Yorgos and Nadia for the trip to Piraeus. Wise decision!! We all needed a few hours of sleep.
After careful consideration, we decided that our Greek friends just don't think of us as elderly folk who need their sleep! They think of us as friends who want to share in their tradition of late dinners!! Bravo!! We will look back on these special times as we tuck ourselves into bed at home, night after night, at 10pm!!
Looking back at the port of Katapola from the ferry at 6am!
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