greece calm

The sun is rising in a clear sky today. Yesterday we had a moment of hope for persistent cloud cover and so set out happily thinking we could achieve some sights. We valiantly set out to see some old water baths or hot pools on the ocean. By the time we got there the heat was bad again and kyr was expiring in his black t shirt. So we abandoned that plan and parked ourselves at a taverna for lunch – not being necessarily hungry but fearful that they would close for their abominable mid afternoon 4 hour stint. It is a bit of a race to keep everyone’s blood sugar tickety boo. Joop proudly informed us that the greek cuisine is the oldest in Europe – 2500 years old. Unchanged in all of that time. Its not bad – just tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, cucumber and a bit of yogurt and meat and fish for good measure. We’ll see how I feel after two weeks of it. Not much fruit to speak of just watermelon which is has seeds and is quite sweet. I am trying to encourage Kyr to be a bit braver. Who doesn’t love domaldes? The highlight of any taverna is the cats. At least 5 young beasts frolicking around, very friendly. Very few older cats which makes me pause. Where do they go? It worries me a tiny bit. I suppose all of that procreation does them in. How many litters can you have before expiring. All in all they seem moderately healthy with the feline greek physique – very slim. One of our cats at the hotel that graces us with her presence at breakfast, has dreadful pus in the anterior chamber of her eye. Pretty difficult for me to deal with. In fact I have a hard time looking at her but she seems quite happy. The dogs (obligatory one per taverna) are hilarious looking – some with sort of beardy faces on dwarf like bodies. Kyr likes to say a cross between Sam and Toby.
I am more and more impressed by the placement of our hotel. It is very islolated – perched on the windswept coast facing Turkey with very few people in sight. Your only sense of people is to gather at the pool and be caught up in dutch and german. People definitely oblige by answering in English but it is a bit lonely. Not too many north Americans.
Kyr was regaling me last night with read aloud passages from My Family and Other Animals, about Gerald Durells’ years of living in Corfu with his family. The book was a highlight of my youth and it is so neat to be able to correspond his descriptions to our physical reality. I’m enjoying that part. It is probably one of the highlights of travel for me – that correspondence of joining all your imagined things – gleaned from novels, movies and history to the real thing. Its like bringing a bit of your past forward to greet you later. We picked our way along a moonlit beach last night to find a place to eat in a neighboring hotel. The only night creature seems to be bats. There doesn’t seem to be too many things to be afraid of. Crime doesn’t appear to be a problem, the sea doesn’t seem to be prone to rages, and I doubt if there are any large predators. In fact I’m wondering is there any mammalian wildlife at all to go to their wild animal hospital that they are very proud of. Lots of birds though and despite the sparseness of the sea life – one very weird looking sea centipede thing – bright orange and yellow with a segmented 1.5foot body. I tried valiantly to convince myself that it wasn’t poisonous as I snorkeled away rapidly.
The people at the internet place are quite friendly so it is not an onerous job to go in and work away – luckily. It is very empty as well except for a young greek boy perhaps 10 yrs(proprietors son?) who seems to be there no matter what time. I worry for these children addicted to the internet. Kyr is even able to talk to his friend Trevor on MSN when it is 2:30am at home. What is that? I’ve tried to imagine the pets eeking out a living here. Imagine Obelix as a taverna cat. Maybe he’d last one day. He’d make himself hoarse complaining. Little Archie would be a wreck. Too many things to worry about, not enough opportunity to be pressed against people. My pets are just not laid back enough to make the transition. Maybe that is like their owner. I hope not.