Frosty and sunny

After receiving several comments about no new posts from the Canadian side of the world...I decided to post one solitary early morning photo. Mornings continue to be frosty, days are beautifully sunny!

It is 2 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday.

Catching up on much needed sleep for two nights and managing to stay awake during the day although by 7:00pm we are looking quite groggy. This ten hour time adjustment isn't any easier as we get into our "olderness" stage of life!!

The sign on the garage door says "Don't ride naked"...a Harley-Davidson slogan. Bikers would certainly not choose to ride naked in this morning's frost!!

November 12 & 13

Our farewell dinner was great with Pelagia and Alexis joining us. Unfortunately we didn't put our heads on the pillow until 1:00am and the wakeup call was at 5:00am...OUCH!! It will be a very long day of transit!

Yesterday we wandered through the market area after looking at graffiti images.

There was also an opportunity to sip on fresh orange juice

while watching the activities in the fabric store across from us.

A "George Michael" lookalike was choosing gauzy fabrics

for his next night club act!!

November 12 - Megan's birthday

Stayed close to our area today but discovered some interesting parts and met friends. On our walk to breakfast we encountered Thomas, from France. He visited Amorgos for the first time last week and shared one of our group dinners. How can this happen in a big city?? Then we had a surprise meeting with Christina from Amorgos!!

Had a decadent breakfast of chocolate cake and coffee/tea at Kimolia, a lovely cafe near our hotel.

Katerina, the owner, is an artist.

She named the cafe after her first love of art with kimolia (chalk).

After breakfast we wandered through the flea market where John was thrilled to find a "hat" replacement for his beloved beanie. The streets are lined with brilliant graffiti images and we talked briefly with the owner of a shop that is dedicated to the sale of graffiti spray paints in every colour.

There was much more to our day that will be on the next blog post. Right now we are heading out to meet friends for a last dinner in Kypselis. More later!

November 11- Mitch's birthday

Another busy day in Athens. We enjoyed a baked omelet breakfast and a bit of shopping time before taking the Metro to meet Nadia for a lunch visit to Theo's mother's place. Enroute we walked through a gyspy encampment that has been in that location for several years. They have built semi-permanent structures for housing and children were running around everywhere.

Lunch was delicious as usual...homemade bread, cheese pie, pastitsio, two salads and a lovely bougatsa for dessert. Zoi has lemon, mandarin, pomegranate and grapefruit trees in her small garden. She gave us some of the fruit and bread for Kalliroi.

Zoi's friend visited while we were there. They have been friends for 60 years.

After a brief nap we joined Kalliroi for a visit to Demetra's studio in the Petralona area of Athens. Demetra s an accomplished illustrator and artisan. She was teaching a sewing class when we arrived.

Demetra's studio

Her son visited us.

Later we shared dinner at an original cafenion in the neighbourhood with Kalliroi, Vassilis and Carmen. 

Kalliroi and Carmen enjoying the music!

It was delicious simple food, good raki, great company and traditional music. In bed at 1:30am!!!

Athens

A sunny day and smooth sailing to Piraeus today. Easy transit on the Metro to Monistriaki and a walk to the hotel. Our favourite room overlooks a lovely church. The weather is good. Life is wonderful.

We met Kalliroi for dinner at a unique place in Exarhia where we shared squash soup, two delicious salads, risotto in a parmesan shell, humous and a prosciutto wrapped cheese. Yummhh!!

This area was totally alive with many bars and cafes. After dinner we walked one block to an old bar for a metaxa nightcap. My camera battery died sometime during the day so I wasn't able to capture any of the graffiti or the hidden charm of this neighbourhood.

Many, many thanks to Kalliroi for introducing us to a different area of Athens!!!

Last meal on Amorgos

On the day before our departure from the island we were invited to Irini's house, high above Katapola Bay. We hiked up a long dirt road to this spectacular spot.

The weather was hazy, still recovering from last night's storm so there was no horizon. Periodically we felt a few drops of rain. The only sound was the music of Billie Holiday from inside the house.

The outdoor table was a sheet of moulded rusted steel mounted on four tubular legs.

Our meal was a delicious medley of octopus pasta, salad, rice, humous,

amaretto chicken, stewed aubergine and rose wine.

Cats

Today was the second day that the vets were neutering island cats. Apparently they did 44 yesterday. I was intent on helping Mata to capture the Jazzmin cats that needed the surgery today. I was unscathed but Mata suffered several scratches and bites. Finally she caught three bringing her weekend total to five cats.

Tempting them with cat food.

Outside the small vet clinic where the neutering takes place once a year.

A carload arrived from the north end of the island.