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).

August

 

It has been a busy, hot and smokey month. The wildfires in BC have created very smokey skies and challenges with breathing for many people. Outdoor exercise has been limited to short walks for groceries and visits to the library on a quest for the perfect book.

Before the smoke descended on the Fraser Valley I had another overnight visit with Adrian and Franklin. It is amazing to watch his growth, not only in movement but also in his comprehension.

He is a delight!

My sister and I made a short trip to Vancouver Island to sort through photos and slides left behind by our sister who passed away last December. We decided to scan the slides at home and view some of them with my aging projector. Hopefully it still works!

I also visited family in Comox and gave a little demo on sushi making to my grandson and family. 

Heather, August and I enjoyed a walk through the beautiful gardens at Filberg.

Only 20 more sleeps until I leave for my second solo trip to Greece. I had hoped to make this trip next spring to celebrate my 80th birthday but it looks like hip replacement surgery will be on the calendar for next spring. So, I decided to travel while I am still able to enjoy the experience.

This time I have decided not to stay in Athens at the front end of my travels. Instead I will go from the airport by bus to the port, Piraeus, and kill time until my ferry leaves for Amorgos. That will mean a 4-5 hour wait in a cafe/restaurant which could be tricky. I might have to move around...a coffee here, a salad there, a coke at the next. On the ferry I will have a cabin and a chance to catch up on sleep. By the time I settle into the cabin I will have been awake for 27 hours. It is another 9 hours onboard until we reach Aegiali on the island of Amorgos. After disembarking I will find the car that has been left for me and drive 1/2 hour to Chora, the village where I will spend a month. Whew! Am I too old for this?!

Crazy Sock Day

 

A recent painting inspired by  

CRAZY SOCK DAY.

My niece's daughters dressed for the competition!

Busy days

 

It has been a busy time with travels to Vancouver Island, visits with friends from Salmon Arm and babysitting 8 month old grandson Franklin.

A gorgeous float with my son-in-law and grandson on his 14th birthday in Comox.

A great visit on Granville Island with special friends from Salmon Arm.

Franklin is spending the day and night with me today while his parents move to a new condo.

He has just started to crawl and weighs 22 pounds...a challenge for his Nana to lift him!

 

It is predicted to be a very hot day so the small AC in my dining room wall 

will be blowing cool air later. It should be a fun...and exhausting day!

50 years ago

 

I realized this morning that it has been 50 years since my first visit to Greece. I immediately searched for the diary and budget books that I had saved to record that special trip.

We arrived in Athens on October 27, 1973. It cost 3 drachmas (12 cents Can) for the bus ride from our campsite into Syntagma Square. Our first stop was American Express to retrieve mail from our families. We thought that it would be a good idea to purchase a Greek Monopoly game to refine our non existent knowledge of the Greek alphabet and language.

During the next two weeks we visited Sounion and travelled back and forth into Athens for mail and delicious donairs. Everyone, except me, decided to sell their blood for 320 drachmas each to help cover the cost of a ferry trip to Crete. I declined because my menstrual cycle was late and I was worried about pregnancy. The ferry was 1100 drachmas($44 Can) for our VW van and the two of us.

Our currency consisted of AmEx travelers cheques and a $4000 Letter of Credit. When we had used all of the travelers cheques we were forced to find a bank in each location. We would present the Letter of Credit to a bank clerk along with our passports as ID. Then we would wait while they placed a telephone call to our bank in Vancouver before giving us the requested amount of cash that was held in trust. Everything is so much easier now!

Because we were determined to keep our expenses to a minimum I kept track of every cent that we spent. Free camping on a beach at Agios Nikolaos on Crete helped to extend our stay in Europe.

Everyone except me was a smoker so part of our expenses went to purchasing cheap cigarettes. It was very uncomfortable when six people crowded into one of our vans to play cards in the evening with the confined space full of cigarette smoke!

On November 17th we learned of a 4:00pm curfew due to the Athens Polytech uprising in protest of the Greek military junta. For several days we stayed on the beach and did not walk into town but, finally, on Nov. 19th the curfew was lifted and we went in search of groceries and water.

We stayed in Greece, mainly on Crete, until January 7, 1974 when we crossed into Turkey to continue our adventures.

I will be returning again in September to celebrate my 50th anniversary with this special country!