Early morning competition

 

Early morning backgammon competition with Diego before customers start arriving.

Love the architecture!

Summer days continue

 Hot days with daily swims and dinners with friends.

View of Chora from the windmills.

First drawing

 

Hot days

 

Another hot day with no wind! Yesterday I went with a friend in a small boat to a sandy beach and enjoyed several swims. Today I decided to wander around Chora and do some drawing.

I have two secret spots that  are usually shaded. Today they were not shaded so I moved to an outdoor cafe  to sketch one of  the churches in Chora.

 

A visit to Vroutsi

 This afternoon I drove to the village of Vroutsi to visit my friend

Every village holds reminders of past lives. Once a cafe, this door locks in the memories of a vibrant community from yesteryear.

Waiting for my friend to arrive from her daily morning swim,

I was drawn to the contrast between the aging door 

and the vivid laundry of today’s life in the village.

Chora colours

 Yesterday morning I explored the pathways of Chora in search of colour

Wind…wind…wind

 This village of Chora, set high on Amorgos, experiences more weather extremes than other communities on the island. Since I arrived we have endured constant winds from the north. Most of us already wear warm clothing, especially at night! 

Skies are still blue with clouds racing across in tune with the winds. Morning coffees are shared on one of the terraces at Jazzmin.I have not attempted a swim in the Aegean yet but if the winds lessen today I’ll be tempted.

 

Arrival

 I arrived on Amorgos 34 hours after leaving Vancouver on Sunday. Fortunately a few hours of sleep onboard the ferry rejuvenated me enough to handle the half hour drive in my rental car to the village of Chora. The little orange Fiat Panda had just enough gas to get me there. My companion for the drive was my friend Buket who had surprised me with a visit from Istanbul. We arrived in Chora at 3:30 am on Tuesday. My apartment was waiting with a dish of fresh fruit, bottled water and a carafe of local liqueur.

After a brief sleep I wandered up to Jazzmin Cafe for a warm hug with my friend Theo. This is the gathering place for a group of very special people. They soon started arriving with more hugs. What a wonderful reunion that will continue during my month here as more friends continue to arrive.

Jetlag demanded a lazy day after breakfast, unpacked, picked up a few groceries, napped and finally walked up the pathway to Fotodotis for a dinner of eggplant salad and grilled sardines. Delicious!

More reunions with friends from Amsterdam and farewells to others who were heading home to England.

At the end of a very long day it was time to enjoy a long sleep(hopefully).