Knitting lessons

Can you imagine harvesting olives for two weeks...250kg of olives to yield 30 litres of oil!! The olives on Amorgos are quite small, not enough rainfall or moisture to plump them.

Last night there were over 20 of us gathered around tables for dinner.

It was Thanos' birthday and he prepared the meal of roasted pork, 

risotto, fava and salad. Mata made a birthday dessert. Delicious!!

This morning I helped Suvi with her first knitting project, a scarf for her niece.

Of course she didn't leave the island this morning. It is very difficult to sail away.

"It doesn't matter what you do as long as you "knit" after the bump"!!

I decided to start a new pair of socks but haven't been able to find needles. There is a creative shop in Chora that sells gorgeous yarns but no sock needles so I visited the "old lady" clothing store in Katapola. Unfortunately, the owner was away and her husband was minding the shop. We both explored the depths of the shelves with him continually showing me a variety of regular needles and me continually demonstrating that I needed four short needles. In frustration he would periodically take me to the yarn bin. Maybe I really just wanted yarn?? Obviously the yarn had been sitting in the bin for 5-50 years! So, I will help Suvi with her project and forget about knitting socks!

An Amorgian gaggle of girls

There were only six of us sharing dinner last night. I made the moroccan chickpeas again, a curried veggie dish, couscous and John made a red cabbage/carrot salad.

The chickpeas were al dente but otherwise the meal was a success.

The building where we stay has also been home to three young women who entertain us with antics, laughter and stories. One of the women left last week. Another will leave tomorrow and the third will set sail in December. Our landlady is already feeling sad and lonely.

Elena, Suvi and Mata.

Mata will stay on Amorgos to work at Jazzmin.

Suvi will definitely return to Amorgos.

It will be a challenge for her to leave tomorrow.

Kali Kardia(Good Heart)Cafenion in Tholaria on Amorgos Island

Where else in the world can you enjoy a meal that is made entirely with local products and created for the table by aging hands. The meat balls (kefthedis) are flavoured with herbs from the island and molded by Kiria Plito’s arthritic hands. The potatoes, from her son’s garden, are peeled with a knife and sliced into perfect pieces before being tossed into a bath of hot olive oil that was pressed from olives in the same garden. Wild herbs (horta) collected from the island hillsides are steamed before being drizzled with olive oil and zested with a lemon from the garden. Wine is made from a grapevine in the garden and tastes better than any manufactured plunk.

The meatballs are the best I have tasted anywhere. The potatoes are golden and crisp. The greens are tangy and full of nutrition! Amazing!!

Places like Kali Kardia are disappearing from the islands, being replaced by cafes that serve pre-frozen, ready to eat items that can be heated in a microwave. 

Shelves are lined with everything from RAID to cookies and cigarettes, even a hat. This is where villagers find the items that they forgot to buy at a larger market. It is also a meeting place for locals to share a coffee or a local raki.

If you ever find one of these authentic cafenions on a Greek island don't be afraid to enter and sit with the locals. Don't be in a hurry...wait...something wonderful always happens!

Two dinners

The day of two dinners! I made arrangements with Theo in the morning that he would cook tonight and I would cook dinner on Saturday night. When John and I arrived at the bar it was locked up and there was no sign of any dinner preparations in the kitchen at 6:45pm. We assumed that Theo and Mata, his employee, had gone out for dinner. Maybe they had business to discuss because Theo would leave on the Sunday morning ferry. There is only one place to eat in Chora right now so we headed to Parvas for an unexciting meal prepared by the teenaged daughter.

Finished around 8:00pm, we walked back to the bar to see if Theo had returned. To our surprise the tables were set, candles were lit, wine was poured and Theo was putting the finishing touches on a sumptuous dinner of squash soup, risotto and salad. What could we say?! Our requests for small portions were greeted in the typical Greek way (i.e.) there is no such thing! With aching stomachs we finally made our way to the apartment at 11:00pm. OMG! How was it possible to stuff that much food into our guts!?

Thursday October 30th

Thursday is the day that I am allowed to win at Backgammon (Tavli) every week...and I did!!!

Today we cooked a spinach risotto for lunch and French Anna joined us from Strombos, a small abandoned village on the island where she has a beautiful reconstructed home. We hadn't seen her for several years so we reminisced about past adventures including the time that we discovered her attempting to carry a large metal trunk down a long (1km)rocky pathway to her house.
John carried it for her and she was very grateful. Unfortunately it didn't fit into the space that she had allocated and she was forced to carry it back up the pathway by herself.

This kitten decided to have a nap on her mother!

Jazzmin Cafe/Bar is not just a place to enjoy coffee or a glass of wine.

It is also where people from around the world connect.

Suvi was helping Theodosia to plan her trip to India today.

This evening we were invited for dinner to Theodosia's house that she is currently sharing with Liz, a clothing designer from Holland. We had a tour of the house and a preview of the individual pieces of clothing that Liz is currently sewing for a large store in Amsterdam. 

It was a delicious meal of potatoes, carrot salad, stewed veggies, pomegranate seeds, rice and small fried fish with hints of cumin and curry. Theodosia is hoping to attract artisans to share the house. 

Lazy day

It was a lazy day. Not much happening. I have completed 20 hand written pages of my novel...new twists and turns every day as the plot unwinds.

This is one of the prologues:
30 years earlier
Two boys floated in the Big Blue, drifting away from shore until Chozoviotissa Monastery came into view. The building, a splash of white, appeared to be carved from the sheer rock face above them. They floated and debated the mysterious arrival of the holy icon. "It was a miracle" one of the boys stated. The other, unconvinced, replied "There are no miracles!"

Monday October 27 & Tuesday October 28 - Day 10 & 11

Monday was a lazy day as we saved energy for the long trip. We revisited several places on Tilos before enjoying a farewell meal. Our landlady and the car rental agent allowed us extra time in our room and for the return of the car so we were able to relax until 6:00pm when we made our way to the ferry terminal.

Theo picked up picnic supplies and a bottle of wine for the first segment of our return to Amorgos. We sat on the deck and watched as the boat stopped at Nisyros, Kos and Kalymnos before heading to Astypalea where we disembarked at 1:30am to wait for the ferry to Amorgos at 5:15am.

We started our adventure ten days ago with a sunrise trip and ended this morning with another gorgeous sunrise! So, we are back on Amorgos and it is cccccold!!!! It will take a couple of days for us to adjust to the temperature and to settle into a slower pace.

Today is OCHI Day...the day that Greece said "NO" in 1940 to Mussolini in WWII and the official entry of Greece into the war. It is celebrated annually as a national holiday with military style parades. Our heads were on the pillows when this island celebrated this morning!!