Superlatives Spent

Thursday October 13,2011

I was awake early as it was our last day at Porta del Mar and I wanted to catch the sunrise. The moon was still bright in the western sky and the morning was calm, warm and beautiful. I snapped a few pre-sunrise pictures as the sky was pink with the promise of a sunny day. The early fishing boats were getting set for their morning catch. I heard the distant sound of a rooster crowing. Rex hadn't followed me down to the beach as he wanted to post some pictures and had failed because of internet trouble the night before. I was soon back coaxing him out for a walk up the beach. As we stepped out on to the veranda the bright red globe poked up from behind the distant trees and another fabulous day was born. We walked up the beach, encouraged by the light glinting off a fishing boat with its net bobbing in the water. It looked like the perfect picture opportunity. We hadn't been up the road at the far end of the beach so on we went. The morning sun sparkled in the dewy leaves of the olive trees and the open spots were a yellow green in the warm light. Three goats were staked in one field. The two white nannys glanced our way but looked disinterested as we walked by however the black billy watched us curiously, his tidy black beard giving the impression of a little old man. One thing I have really enjoyed about this area is the peace and quiet. Besides the occasional bird and sound of a barking dog the morning was quiet. Most of the places we walked by looked closed up for the season. We did pass a farmer on a tractor spraying weeds along the road side but that was the only person we saw besides the fisherman. We wandered back and had french toast for breakfast and then I quickly tidied up so I could have another hour down in the sea before it was check out time. The water was still and warm. I can't get over how clear and clean it is. I think that is really what I can't resist. All too soon it was time to pack up and wait for the taxi back to town.

We decided to spend the last two nights on Zakynthos Island, in the town. Our hotel is right on the busy water front and has been the best perch for people watching ever. We watched the comings and goings of a cruise ship in the bay, the ferries arriving, the fishing boats coming home for the night as well as the busy comings and goings of the town. We walked about, had a lovely Greek supper at an open air taverna and walked the main shopping street that is all lit up in hopes a few more ships will bring the customers before the season is completely ended.When we got back to our hotel the moon was showing off, glinting in the harbour, lighting up the sea beyond the habour walls. A enchanting end to another glorious day.

Life is so good

Wednesday Oct 12, 2011

This was the kind of day that one stores away in memory to bring out on a -30 day in mid March when it seems warm sunny days are so deep beneath a harsh prairie winter they may never come to surface again. This day was absolutely beautiful! We just lazed in the warm gentle rays of the October Mediterranean sun and read and dozed. The clear turquoise water licked the warm, sandy shore in a rhythmic beat that calms the soul. I watched sail boats in the distance. It was peaceful with the only sound to mingle with the sea's song was a happy sing song of a little girl playing in the sand while her parents lay reading. Eventually I couldn't resist the beckoning water. It was warm and buoyant and so refreshing to paddle and float, letting the lapping water carry me back to shore. I opened the lid in my mind and bottled away every little bit of the day and know it shall bring sunshine to long winter days.

We cooked a yummy omelet supper in our cute little kitchen, went out to catch the beauty of the rising moon and enjoy a cozy evening together. Life is so good!

More Magic

Tuesday Oct 11,2011

Though it was no longer howling like a Nor-westerner bringing early winter, the morning still bode a windy day and the sea still had small white caps. A day for exploring Zakynthos town. The town is 12 kilometers away with a narrow windy spiderweb of roads that wend their way through olive orchards, little towns and a myriad of summer houses, most of them now shuttered and waiting for tourist heaven 2012. Unsure if we would even end up where we wanted to be we asked our hosts about the best way to get to town, Luckily Pavlina our hostess, was leaving for town in twenty minutes and was glad to take us along She dropped us at the road leading up to the old acropolis where, like most old towns, there is a walled fortress. This one had few buildings and mostly just foundations left inside but it was very interesting. The Turks had destroyed it in 1479 and then granted it to Venice a few years later. The walls now standing had been constructed in 1646 under the Venetian rule. In the enclosed area there are foundations of at least 6 churches, two standing gunpowder stores and the prison. Its narrow stone beds, barred windows, and mud floors were less than 1 star accommodations. The view of the town was spectacular. The buildings have a very Venetian look to them and the town had a colourful, tidy appearance from the hilltop view. It was interesting to walk down the stone path into town past 3 and 4 story immaculate Mediterranean style homes and then just a ways further past tiny little huts, still lived in, with lace curtains in the windows and cars parked on the stone walkway close to the house. This kind of disparity is everywhere in Greece. We wandered the shops, grabbed a few vegetables at the market, and explored the waterfront and main square where we ate the lunch we had packed, so we could use up some of our left over thanksgiving chicken. The weather was warm and we wondered if it was better back at Psarou Beach. We found a taxi driver that could get us back. He did not speak English but he recognized the name Porta del Mar. It was a dizzy roller coaster ride back at taxi driver speed. We were pleased to feel the sun warm and see the palms fairly still. We sat in the sun and read for a while and I felt warm enough that I was ready for the real thing. Time to don beach wear and fill the last check box on my list of have-to-dos...swim in the sea. Like everything else on this trip it exceeded expectations. When we got down the the beach the breeze seemed cool and I wasn't sure about getting wet but the sea was a brilliant blue with white cap waves rolling in to shore and I just had to try it. I could not believe how warm the water was! It was like the first 6 inches of water at Wasa on a hot day but all the water was that warm. I loved jumping into the waves and had to urge Dad to hurry up and come out. Tonight after supper we walked down to the beach again and had the icing on the cake as the full moon reflected on the water and the lull on the lapping ocean brought a magic end to another amazing day.

Happy Thangsgiving

Monday October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving Day! We lay snug in the shelter of our little stone house all night as the wind howled and the palm branches fanned the walls wildly. It sounded at times as if we were camped in Waterton! As we stood this morning down at the beach and watched the waves roll in. the sky dark with wind swept clouds I wondered if Odysseus had sailed by and one of his sailors had opened the forbidden bag of wind. We let Kostas cook us omelette breakfast at the Cafe Del Mar. Since the forecast was not too promising for a lay-at-the-beach kind of day, we choose a DVD and some books from the library and planned for a more indoor kind of day. In the late morning we made our way a couple of kilometers down the road where we knew there was a market and hoped it was open today as it was not Sunday. It was dark inside but it was open. The shelves were a bit bare; looking like it was end of the season and soon to be closed. I was happy to find fresh bread, some salt which our former meals had badly needed, and a few other things but no meat of any kind for a Thanksgiving dinner. I did have some potatoes and tuna so we could manage if we were not able to find anything more fitting. We had toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch and then I suggested trying the other little market which had been quite limited. Like the other it was dark inside with no lights on but it was open and they had bacon for a price and I asked about chicken. The proprietor called her son to come translate for her and then he inquired of us "frozen?" I nodded and the lady took us out to the freezer and produced a small frying chicken. "Yes that will be perfect" It was gourmet price but turned out to be the best Thanksgiving dinner we could hope for. I had garlic to rub it with, some salt and oregano for seasoning and for the last hour I added onion and potatoes-missing carrots but oh well. We had apricot jam in place of cranberries) The thing we missed most was company. I wished I had told the young English couple we met at breakfast it was our Thanksgiving and invited them to our meal, though at the time I wasn't sure what it would be, but it hadn't crossed my mind until I was setting it out and wishing we had someone to share it with. I am beginning to see how couple missionaries feel in a strange land, trying to figure out if the bag with strange writing says salt or sugar and trying to cook with a limited assortment when you are used to having access to anything one wants. Oh are we spoiled and did I ever make a mental list of all the things I take for granted in our land of plenty. How we also missed family today and love you all and are so grateful for all our happy associations with you. Happy Thanksgiving and don't forget to count your blessings!

Relaxing Sunday

Sunday Oct 9, 2011

We awoke this morning to mostly cloudy skies with a little sunshine poking through. Mom made french toast for breakfast. It was good to have a fresh cooked breakfast. I guess that I was getting tired of the buffets. As we ate, the sky cleared and the wind died down so we took a little walk down to the beach. It was wonderful, really wet, but wonderful to look at. Almost idyllic. We did not stay out long but came back so that mom could finish her blog and I could add mine. We sat out on our patio in the sunshine and just soaked in the beauty of it all. Just as we finished, the sky clouded over and the wind came up. The sea grew rougher again and we could hear the waves crashing against the shore. We quickly moved our computer and tablet inside. Then it started to rain. So we connected to the net and watched the Saturday morning session of conference. Loved the talks and music. When it ended mom made some spaghetti for supper and we cleaned up. The sun was poking through again so we went for a walk up the road in the opposite direction to where we went to the market yesterday. We took our raincoats, just in case, but never needed them. We saw amazing olive trees, dilapidated and derelict houses, fancy hotels and bed and breakfasts and gardens with all kinds of produce, including large squash hanging 6 feet in the air. We got back and walked back down onto our beach again. very relaxing. I was going to blog but the internet connection was too weak to get on so we watched the BBC news for awhile. I tried the internet again and was able to get on, so we checked our email, blogs and facebook. The wind and rain returned but we are toasty and comfortable in our villa. Just a relaxing Sunday.

Baby steps

Saturday October 8, 2011

We are on our own, no one to make sure we get to our next destination! Yipes!! Am I ready for this? Traveling with the Insight groups was so wonderful because every moment you felt completely taken care of and now we feel like a couple on the Amazing Race just trying to figure it out for ourselves. The butterflies in my stomach kept me from eating much for breakfast or maybe I was just not hungry after such a gorge the night before. Our taxi driver sped through the streets like he was a Indy 500 driver honking at anyone who might encroach on his lane and we arrived at the bus depot in less than twenty minutes. It was barely 8:00 The station was huge with buses everywhere. The girl, whom we asked for directions to where to buy a ticket, said Platform 38 through the door and to the right. We stepped through the door to a huge area with buses parked every where and a myriad of Greek signs but yes there were numbers and I could read them and to the right was Number 38 and I recognized the Greek spelling of Zakynthos. I was relieved the man at the desk spoke and understood English unlike the Indy 500 cab driver. I was disappointed but not surprised when we were told the bus to Zakynthos had just left 15 minutes earlier and the next one would not be until 12:00. He encouraged us to leave our luggage in the baggage room where it would be safe and take the bus downtown for a while. Oh yeah "great idea". I had just been so relieved to get to the bus station in one piece and now I am considering going somewhere else in a maze of foreign chatter and then make my way back here again. Then I looked around, there was really little comfort in hanging out in this fume filled station for 4 hours. “Come on Bet what is the worst that could happen” I chided myself and then made sure not to think up too many scenarios as I'm sure I would have immediately taken the fetal position in the nearest bench.

We boarded bus 51 and headed downtown to Omonia Square. I was assured by a young women on the bus that we just needed to catch the same bus at the same spot to get back to the bus stop. Though we were headed for what we thought was a Square everyone got off the bus on a little street in an old area of town as the bus headed back towards the Station so we climbed off too. So where is Omonia Square and where is that in relationship to the area of Athens we were familiar with. We noted landmarks and started in what I figured was the general direction. Miraculously we went left then right and ended up in Omonia Square at this point the man at the Bus stationed had suggested jumping on the metro to get to Syntagma square. I wasn't that brave so we stayed above ground where I could keep track of landmarks. It all turned out great because we came to the ancient university and library that our driving tour around Athens had taken us by, but we had never got back there to take pictures. Now I knew we were only a few blocks from Syntagma square. We explored a while, watched the city come to life as it was fairly quiet when we got to the square but we were just at the front of the first wave of tourists. By the time we headed back to retrace our way though the maze back to the loosely named “bus stop at Omonia Square” the streets were jammed with traffic and every street crossing felt like a death wish.

As we approached the the general area there was a bus 51 waiting- no driver to ask so I asked a young girl there if she spoke English she said “Yes Please Ask me” She then assured us we were on the right bus to go to the Kissfou bus station. When we arrived there she also got off the bus and asked us if we needed help getting tickets or finding our way to the bus. Her kindness was so appreciated and generally what we have found Greek people to be.

We were soon on our way on a bus that I did not hear much English spoken but there was a man who I had asked about loading the luggage and he had answered me in excellent English and said he and his family were headed to Zakynthos where he had grown up. Because the driver always just spoke Greek I would look to him to see what they were doing and kept him in my sight in case we felt we needed a translator. The drive to the port was along different road than we had traveled before. It stayed near the water all the way and so the vegetation was mostly lush with lots of olive and citrus groves and other agriculture and on the whole lovely red roofed houses surrounded by tall Cyprus trees and palms.

The hour ferry ride was pleasant but it was cloudy and threatening to rain a little more as we had seen the first real rain a few minutes before we arrived at Killini (the port town). When we got to the bus station in Zakynthos we were not sure if any one would be there to meet us as we had not been able to confirm our need for assistance after the schedule change. When it was apparent we were on our own and not having any clue where we were going we decided we were at the mercy of the taxi drivers and I just prayed one of them would speak English and know where our Porta Del Mar destination was in an area of thousands of such places. I approached the cabbies all looking for their next fare and said in English “We need help” Two of the drivers looked to the younger of the drivers who came and I showed him the name and address and he said "yes I know the place". We had been warned to always establish the price before you get in so I asked how much and he actually got out a list of places and the prices to go to each so then we knew it was a fair established price. 22 Euros it was. Off we went on a maze of narrow roads and I knew then that my other resort of renting a car and getting there on our own would have been a disaster. We arrived in one piece relieved that this first amazing adventure leg had turned out so well. When we walked into the beautiful courtyard with stone walls draped in flowers and palm trees and were greeted by Kiri Kosta who had been watching for us. We felt we had just fallen into the lap of the god of Paradise. The little stone cottage is beautiful with tile floors and modern appliances. We quickly set out to the little mini market to get some supplies for supper and Sunday. Had a nice meal of grilled cheese, sliced tomatoes and hot chocolate. Our day of baby steps has all turned out okay and now we are settled in for 5 days of utter relaxation!

A new adventure

Saturday Oct 8, 2011
Today we started a new adventure. Up until now we have been taken care of by Insight, and they have done a very good job. It has been wonderful, never having to worry about how to get anywhere. But that ended this morning. We were on our own. We checked bus schedules online and found that a bus went to Zakynthos at 9:45. So we went out just before 8:00 and asked the porter to get us a taxi to the bus station. We actually did it!! And off we went. The driver did not speak much English so we just trusted that he would get us there, and he did. We went in and found the gate to Zakynthos only to be told that the bus had left 10 minutes earlier. They are now on their winter schedule, and the 9:45 bus no longer runs. The next bus would be at 12:15. We bought our tickets and then had more than 4 hours to find something to do with ourselves. The gentleman at the bus suggested that we catch a city bus downtown. More new adventure. Could we do it? And find our way back in time? We decided to go for it. So off we went. We were dropped off at a street that we had never been at. Using our handy dandy guidebook, we managed to get ourselves back into a part that we knew, making careful notice of where we went so that we could get back. And we were successful. We got back with time to spare and waited in the waiting area. The bus came, we boarded and were on our way. Very few on the bus spoke English, so that was new as well. But the seats were comfortable and I had a nap for a couple of hours until the rest stop. Here in Greece, the buses stop every two hours for a half hour break. I think that it must be a regulation. Then we were off again for another couple of hours until we reached the port town of Killini. Just before reaching the turn off from the main highway to Killini, the bus stopped along the side of the rode and picked up a person. I thought it a little strange but then noticed that others were getting their tickets out. Sure enough, the man came down the aisle and tore off our ticket stub. Interesting way of doing things. The streets that we went on were so narrow that I did not think there was room for the bus to drive down them but they were two way streets and vehicles going the opposite direction. Someone would always pull over so that we could pass. I am always amazed at where these drivers drive these large buses. But we soon pulled up to the ferry, disembarked then boarded the ferry. Within a few minutes, the bus backed onto the ferry as well. Whoosh! Our luggage was with us. The ferry ride was just over an hour and our bus pulled off first and we loaded up and off we drove for another 10 minutes to the bus station. Now what? Trying to act like we knew what we were doing, we approached a waiting taxi and asked the driver if he could take us to Psarou Beach, Port del Mar. Yes, he said, for 22 euros. So off we went. He actually spoke English, provided us with a map and showed us where we were going. It was an 18 kilometre drive through narrow winding roads. But pleasant, and we arrived just before 7:00 pm, and were welcomed and shown to our villa. It was amazing. It was almost dark so we only took a couple of pictures. We asked where we could buy food and were given directions. We walked up, about 5 min, bought 20 euros worth of groceries and then back to our villa. Mom cooked some grilled cheese sandwiches and we ate. It started to blow and rain but we were safe inside. The lights went out for a few minutes but then came back on and the storm subsided. So we made it the first day of our new adventure.