Even More Greek Diaries continued….
December 3rd, 2011
Dear Readers,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and good food. Now, you must be in the middle of Christmas shopping and decorating, so it seems odd to be writing about the Greek trip I took this past summer. However, I promised to finish the story, so…..
GREEK DIARY…continued…..
June 27, 2011, My cousins, Takie, Noni, and Della ( Della came to join us from Long Island during my second week there), and I drove from Athens to Kalamata, the city where both Taki and I were born. The trip took only four hours on a modern four lane highway. I couldn’t help but remember the miserable ride on a local bus back in 1973 that took nine hours on a narrow road, around and around the mountains.
Kalamata is the second largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece and located at the head of the Messenian Gulf. It is known for the succulent dark olives, honey figs, and the honey-covered sesame sweet called pasteli. It is also known for its many beaches on the Mediterranean Sea and its beautiful dark-eyed women. It is a busy city of more than 85,000 people living and working there.
We are staying at the Elite Hotel which is across the street from the beach. It has all the necessary amenities, including a restaurant downstairs that serves coffee very early in the morning, thank heaven. The breakfast buffet is incredible: fruit, eggs, ham, bacon, lukoumathes, muffins, and sweet rolls, pancakes, and the most fantastic yogurt I have ever eaten. Behind the hotel is a grove of olive trees.
From the window of the room I share with Della, we can see the beach on the right and the mountains of Mani on the left. To reach the beach, there is a tunnel under the street. A waiter can take a drink or food order and run under the tunnel to the restaurant and bring back the order. We sit under umbrellas on the pebbly beach and watched the clear blue water of the Mediterranean sea while drinking wine. What a life!
On the beach side of the road is a boardwalk that curves around the bay for what seems like miles, with hotels, stores, and tavernas. In the evening, people are out, walking and eating in the tavernas. No one stays inside and watches TV.
We go into the city to visit a famous old church, Ypapandi. The corner stone was laid in 1860 but the church was greatly damaged in the earthquake of 1963. The historic church has recently been restored. Behind the church is a small nunnery where 20 nuns live. The nuns weave scarves and other small items to sell. They have an incredible rose garden in the courtyard, but I notice the gardener is a man. Hmm?
We also go by the property that once was my grandparent’s house. I remember playing outside on the dirt street in front of the house when I was very young. Now the dirt street is a double lane boulevard with imposing stores and apartment houses built on each side. One of those apartments, built on the site of the old house, belongs to my cousins.
We drive up the mountains to Mani, the area where my husband’s people are from. The ride up, going around and around the mountain, is beautiful. The area is covered with green foliage and tall trees , unlike the dry rocky terrain of Athens and Kalamata. Unfortunately, I am too car sick to enjoy it. I know I am susceptible to motion sickness but, carelessly, I leave my medicine back at the hotel. I feel okay as soon as I get out of the moving vehicle. We have gone up there to visit the Vlychada Cave in Diros, Mani. It is an interesting cave with brilliant white stalactites and stalagmites that were formed thousands of years ago. The cave was first discovered in 1900, explored in 1949, but has yet to be completly charted. I’ve been in the cave on a previous trip, and since going through necessitates riding in a small boat, I opt not to go inside. Cousin Taki stays to keep me company.
After Noni and Della exit the cave, we look for a taverna in a nearby village. My system is still a bit rocky and I am looking for soup, but the only soup they have is fish soup.
Suprisingly, the fish soup is not only delicious but it settles my stomach. The Maniati are known for their pottery so we visit some of the shops and purchase a few pieces to bring back home.
Back in Kalamata, we enjoy our last day on the beach and shopping for souvenirs before starting back north to my cousins’ condo in Saronida, near Athens. Now, it’s time to think of packing and going home to Savannah.
With regret, I say goodbye to the land of my birth and my dear cousins, Noni and Taki. There are no words to describe what they have given to me these two weeks. They have given me a place to stay, taken me to places I want to see, fed me continuously, but most of all they have give me so much love. I feel I can never repay them. But, I will try.
Luckily, the airplane ride home is uneventful. Fantastic as the vacation was, it’s good to be home.
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Best Wishes for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
