Head cold and Zorba

Waiting for the Mediterranean storm named “Zorba” to hit the island but there is no sign of it so far today. The winds are warm and from the south. I have succumbed to a head cold and John is sneezing. Not much energy to roam around or do much of anything.

Blue Star Naxos

The Blue Star Naxos waits in Katapola Bay for the winds to calm

Parvas in Chora

A wall holds the past

Men watch a screen

A soccer game plays

They sip coffee and beer

Smoke fills the air

The family cooks and serves

No one brings a bill

There is no pressure to leave

Only good will

This is Parvas in Chora

8-9 Beaufort

There are two ferries docked in the Bay at Katapola...unable to sail because of the winds which are still at 8-9 Beaufort. Our apartment floor was littered with leaves and dirt when we returned last night...blowing in under the doors. It is cool but not cold and there is no rain arriving with the wind...much to the distress of the locals. The island is extremely dry.

The wind will continue to batter the island from the north until the weekend when it will change direction and send pink sand from the desert! During our last visits we have woken to find a thin layer of pink sand covering the steps.

There are very few spots that are protected from the wind where I can sit to draw...so...it will be another lazy day...reading...and reading...and reading! My current book is “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt...a bit draggy!

A full and windy day

The wind is howling tonight.

It has been a busy day.

Our writing group met this morning 

for the first time during this visit.

Marianna and Christina are working on the first prompt

“Every time I cross that bridge I get lost”.

This evening we drove to Aegiali to celebrate Bas’ birthday

with family and friends.

Finally we drove up to Seladi Bar in Tholaria

where Theo was DJing great music for the Full Moon celebration.

We swaddled ourselves against the wind

and sat outside the bar listening to the music

and watching the moon.

A beach day

It is a calm day...almost no wind. However there is a storm coming...predicted to hit the island on Tuesday night and continue through the day on Wednesday. As a result I am heading to the beach this afternoon. The sea is so calm that it looks like a lake. I hope that most of the “blow-ins” have disappeared on the early morning ferry that departed at 7:00am. Yesterday I felt as though I was in an international cafe on the beach, surrounded by several nationalities...all talking at the same time! With luck...today will be different!

This morning

Mata waiting patiently to take an order.

My morning coffee reflects a fish blowing bubbles!

“Still life” with grocery list...

...for anyone who is curious about prices on the island.

Bread is baked daily and is E1.20 for half a warm loaf of wheat bread.

The Maxwell Suite

We are finally in “The Maxwell Suite”

and were greeted by swans
in a heart holding a flower!

Our landlady moved all of our things from the other room

and placed them in the same positions

 that she remembered from our previous visits!

Maria is a very special woman!

Yesterday we visited the Medical Centre for John’s INR blood test. There was a bit of confusion because John does not have an EU card and they couldn’t figure out how to process him. Fortunately we have known the lab tech for several years...Cleopatra  used to work at Jazzmin...and she stepped in to assist and to take his blood for testing. Afterward we just walked out...no paperwork...and she called Jazzmin an hour later with the results.

We met Anna for coffee and a catch-up on the past 15 months of her life. She will join the writing group again when we start meeting next week. Otherwise she is busy with teaching English to local children and adults. In the evening we met Rahel for a glass of wine and dinner before strolling back to the Maxwell suite with Mata for a good night’s sleep!

Clay and a movie

Yesterday I visited a pottery studio with the hope of creating something in clay for the first time in 45 years. I met several women who were learning the art of ceramics, wheel throwing, hand building, glazing...but, after waiting over an hour for the instructor...I left without handling the clay. Not sure what happened to delay the class!

In the evening we watched a movie that was screened outdoors in Loza (central plaza) about Jacques Mayol, the first free diver to survive a 100 meter dive. It was beautifully filmed and illustrated his connection to the sea. The weather was much cooler last night...high winds. It is possible that the Free Dive competition will be cancelled again today.

Bare body swim!

There is an international free diving competition on the island this week. It commemorates the 30th anniversary of filming for “The Big Blue” movie. Unfortunately, strong winds have forced the cancellation of diving today so the cafes are full of frustrated divers who are forced to sip coffee and relive their previous dives with embellished stories.

Yesterday I treated my pasty, aging white body to exposure on a secluded beach. My companion has a gorgeous bronzed body after a summer of visitations to this beach so I was very self conscious but she was apparently blind to my bodily defects! It was wonderful! I swam between huge rocks into the sea, floating in the sun while she dove like a dolphin. Fortunately there are no photos of this excursion!

Sunset in the bay

We didn’t see the sign when we sat down...

...waited for 20 minutes before John finally went inside to ask if they were open.

Apparently staffing is difficult as most summer employees

have returned to school and other jobs in Athens.

On the rocks

Rachel perched on the rocks

to watch the wedding/ baptism

The wedding dinner

During the wedding dinner I offered to hold

3 month old Layla while her mother enjoyed a meal.

What a sweetheart!

After dinner we enjoyed a New Orleans Jazz 

performance by Gumbo Ya Ya!

The wedding/ baptism

It was a wonderful wedding/baptism...

...a sunny day in the Aegean!

There was laughter and bonhomie...

small children and a trumpet to herald the bride’s arrival.

On her way down the many levels of steps

she stopped to kiss John at his seat on a rock above us.

We were given children’s musical instruments

to use as applause throughout the ceremony

and flowers with olive laves to throw as confetti!

I was too far away to capture a photo of Zoe

as she was dipped into the sea...but...

she did not utter a sound of protest!

It was a perfect day!

Food and music

Last night the air was filled with music 

and the aroma of delicious Middle Eastern food.

Moa Bones performed while Zoe danced with Grandma!

Don, one of our adopted sons, enjoyed the music.

The view from Jazzmin’s upper terrace.

Friday before the wedding/baptism

What a day!...

...filled with more arrivals for the wedding/baptism.

Lucas created a drawing for Papa John

Food and fun for the “Girls’ night”

Zoe with her grandma

I was invited to the “Girls’ night” where we removed leaves 

from olive branches and gathered them for guests

to throw at the bride and groom instead of confetti or rice.

There are many more hours of partying after midnight

but we decided to save our energy for the next two nights!

Chora in the morning

Looking down on Chora during my morning walk

Yesterday

Sipping coffee at Tre Porto 

in the church’s shadow

with headless heroes

Path Art Way - exploring an historical landscape

We have been busy with group dinners and many hug filled reunions!

Last night we joined about 150 people for an artistic walk along an old pathway

from Vroutsi to Rachoula in the south.

Along the way we viewed a variety of creations that were inspired

by the natural elements of Amorgos.

A young woman played music on these Amorgian rocks.

Spiros Martos - “Forms and shapes that do not last in time

and disappear in the first gust of wind”

A feeling of the ancient island history

Fascination

On the pathway

Will this work?

Athens

After an easy flight from London Heathrow we arrived at Athens airport around 7:00pm...however, we didn’t arrive at the hotel until almost 9:30pm...exhausted and starving! So, we wandered to our usual little eatery for a dinner of meatballs, salad and red wine. The walk back to the hotel was a challenge but we rested our heads on the pillows around midnight for a restless sleep.

This morning we managed to book ferry tickets for tomorrow morning, buy Greek minutes for the phone and share a delicious yogurt breakfast. By the time we finished breakfast and started to wander the temperature had reached about 34 degrees so we returned to the hotel for John to shed his sweaty shoulder brace before resuming our walk.

It was too hot to walk around so we did our usual people watching from a small cafe while sipping Diet Coke, picked up a sandwich for later and gave in to the temptation of an afternoon nap!

Blog posting with an iPad has inherent problems including how to post photos. I will persevere and find a solution!

Waiting at Heathrow

We are at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Athens. In the usual Maxwell style...we arrived several hours earlier than necessary!

At YVR we checked our bags through to Athens instead of claiming them in London and rechecking them today. At first we thought that this was a brilliant idea...walking away from the plane, drifting effortlessly through Customs, finding our hotel bus without being encumbered with dragging bags. After all, the hotel would supply us with shampoo and anything we needed for an overnight stay!

Then we noticed what was missing from our shoulder bags...toothpaste, mouthwash, hearing aid batteries (yes...they died this morning), bandaids for John’s toe. Oh well! Our only hope is that the bags arrive with us in Athens despite our overnight stay at Heathrow. Otherwise British Air will have to track us down in Athens...or...ship the bags to Amorgos!...or?!

The Leonardo Hotel near Heathrow was adequate but not recommendable. Checking in took forever...not sure why?...inexperienced staff?...room not ready at 4:00pm?...at least the clerk offered us a free drink at the bar while we waited. Our request for a taxi this morning was acknowledged, ignored and finally apologies were extended. If I had taken the time to review my notes we could have taken a bus instead of a taxi. Sleep deprivation is blamed for that faux pas!

At Terminal 5 we are watching the planes moving in and out with a flurry of ground activity around each one. Our taxi driver told us that every 30 seconds there is an arrival and a departure at Heathrow. When Terminal 6 runway is finished they expect the air traffic to increase to every 10 seconds!