Monday, March 15, 2010

Rain, Rain, Go Away

By Claire
Saturday it rained. We rode our bikes into town early and picked up supplies. Then we watched 4 movies in a row. It was interesting to note that everyone in the neighborhood stayed pretty much to themselves inside their campers or caravans.

Sunday was nicer with intermittent sprinkles. Pat and Brian invited us over for a visit so we spent the afternoon inside their gorgeous caravan talking, drinking wine and eating their wonderful green Greek olives. They had printed out a list of all the places we must see in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland. We had a wonderful time talking about travel, life, books and more travel. They even gave us a set of six books about a crime solving 7th century Celtic nun in Ireland. I had tried to get these books (21 in the series so far), by Peter Tremayne, for our Kindles; but alas, they are not available. We were thrilled to get a starter kit and Chuck has already begun the first one, Absolution by Murder . What a nice couple!

Today opened with blue sky, sunshine and birds singing. We rode into town, hit the ATM, the produce market and the market with the really good green Greek olives.

ATM in town


For some insane reason I decided to make potato leek soup. It sounded so good two days ago when it was cold and we were holed up inside. I forgot what a tiny kitchen we have. At any rate, Chuck cut up the potatoes and I sauteed the leeks, borrowing some thyme from Katie's plant and using the chicken bouillon cubes she gave me. It just didn't seem right not to invite her and Derek over for lunch since she provided the key ingredients. They were busy doing a major laundry (just like everyone else around here as soon as the sun comes out--ha ha, I had already done ours and it was already swinging in the breeze and warming in the sun!) so we let the soup simmer and set the table outside, opened the wine and cut up the big loaf of bread we had picked up this morning. They seemed quite happy to join us.

Lunch


So lunch turned into a 5 hour conversation. After we finished the soup, bread and two bottles of wine, Katie sped off on her bike to get more and came back with three bottles of wine and two fantastic pastries each. It's nice to have great neighbors.

We were sorry to see Klaus leave the other day but he had places to go and people to see.

Saying goodbye to Klaus


This morning we stopped at a restaurant in town that appeared to be open--the woman was sweeping the place out and we smelled good things. I asked if they were serving lunch or dinner. She said yes, dinner after 7 pm. When we got back home we asked Pat and Brian if they'd like to go to dinner tomorrow night. They're leaving Wednesday and were delighted with the idea, especially since they'll be packing up and dinner will be the last thing on their minds. Katie and Derek were game as well. Should be fun.

Finikounda--Center of town


I do NOT want to leave this place!


Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. ~ Joseph Addison

3 comments:

Elisabetta said...

Yes.
Not wanting to leave, the sense of community and the days that start at breakfast .. and the ensuing conversation centers on What-will-we-have-for-lunch?
Then Lunch.
And the conversation that takes the aforementioned 5 hrs and then What-will-we-eat-for-dinner?
There may be some brief shopping in between.
But getting uh-pp out of your chair is v-e-r-y hard, isn't it?
How did you manage to have summer in winter?!
Going to Kriti? (Crete?)
Elisabetta*

Chuck and Claire said...

Summer in winter? Just good planning, I guess. We won't be going to Crete. Both been, too expensive with a camper and this place seemed like the equivalent. Besides, we're going to Paros on Monday without Homer.
Claire

Karin said...

The little town of Finikounda looks charming! You will definitely leave with good memories! Now...Paros awaits you! We are working on all the Greek gods (Helios, Poseidon, Dionysus,and Xenia - to name a few) so you will be assured a great visit!

Kali taxidi,
Ta leme,
Karin and Michael on Paros