Every day I wake up & wonder how I will fill my day & each day things unfold in a way that I could never have anticipated. Today was another prime example of this.
I started by walking down to the seafront to watch Debbie sail off to the West of the Island. She left at 8 on the dot & stopped in front of where I was sitting on the sea wall to unfurl her main sail before heading between the two small islands just off the coast.
We were messaging as the sailed away & much to her joy she was accompanied by a dolphin at one point. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, still & sunny. The streets were quiet & it all looked a little like a postcard. I honestly feel like I’m living in a dream. Rural Lesvos life suits my temperament & I am feeling more relaxed here than I have done in a long time.
Once Debbie had disappeared over the horizon I stopped in at the bakery for a raisin bun to have with my morning coffee. Greek lesson was on line at 9am & I was tested again by having to answer questions & create sentences on the spot! There’s only one way to improve though & that’s by practising. I am trying to speak Greek in all the shops but mostly the Greeks want to be helpful by speaking English! I asked the butcher this morning what time he closed but later realised that, whilst he understood me, I’d asked ‘What hour closed?’, not grammatically very pleasing but it worked so eh!!
Very tempting to have baklava for breakfast but I’m not walking as much here so resisted! After class I walked (three mins tops!) back to the shops with a view to doing a getting supplies for dinner. First though I stopped in for a coffee at one of the other cafe’s on the seafront. The lady who served me is English but has lived here for 30 years & that says it all about Lesvos, once you’ve been once you will never stop coming.
After coffee I walked back to the butcher & bought some pork which he minced for me. The chopping block in the shop was a tree trunk which has obviously been in use for a long time. I didn’t take any pics because the butcher seemed a bit grumpy & I didn’t feel comfortable asking him if I could!
After the butchers I ventured to the two mini-markets to buy vegetables & lentils for the pork stew tonight. I decided that I would cook Maria & Aris dinner as they are working so hard. It was fun trying out my language skills in the shop & I took a long time reading things & checking out all the different products.
On my way back home I stopped in at Nico’s place for an impromptu lunch & beer. Nico used to have one of the cafe’s in town & owned it for 40 years. Prior to that he lived all over Scandinavia & he speaks pretty good English. He has a fabulous garden & as well as eating a delicious lunch I left with a big bag of fresh salad for tonight’s dinner
There isn’t an inch of wasted space in this garden & he has all the summer veg growing. I came away with a cracking Iceberg lettuce, rocket, herbs, lemons & a full belly. His wife had made soup with meat, veg & rice in it which was so good. Following this I had a hard boiled egg, bread & home brined olives in local olive oil, they were super salty & so tasty.
I had a beer & Nicos drank white wine. A neighbour came calling & stayed for ouzo & a chat. It struck me whilst I was sitting there listening to them yammer on in Greek how much more sociable the Greeks seem to be than Australians. I know that Nicos is an elderly chap with all the time in the world but everywhere I go I see groups of people sitting, talking & enjoying each others company. It’s really lovely to see, I think it’s a better way of living than the rush rush that we all seem consumed with in modern Australia. They have a saying here Σιγά σιγά, slowly slowly & I’m embracing it wholeheartedly.
By the time we’d finished chewing the fat it was getting on in the afternoon & I needed a rest! An afternoon of weeding in the sunshine with a podcast on whiled away some time & then it was rest time again.
I cooked us a pork stew thing tonight using a cabbage from the garden & we had it with salad & bread from the local bakery. A couple of bottles of local wine, some EDM beats & a lot of conversation rounded out another day in paradise. I bowed out early to come & write this blog. I fear the night may have got a little rowdy had I stayed 🤪