Greek Letter IV Fair Winds

It was late evening and we had just finished dinner at our villa with Sahia and Kamal and we were all relaxing on the star gazing terrace watching the midnight sky dotted with thousands of glittering pinpoint lights when Kamal looked at me with a penetratingly serious gaze and asked me if I knew that Jesus was a Greek. I was a bit dumbfounded but quickly realized that it was joke time for Kamal. I fell for it hook, line and sinker and said, no, I didn’t. How is this possible I asked?

Well, he said, first off Jesus was 33 and was still living at home, he took over his father’s profession, he believed that his mother was a virgin and she thought that he was a god. We all rolled with laughter.

Another summer has come and is almost over. I have just returned from one more Greek sojourn spent with the incredible Christopolus family. This year’s vacation was much different, however, from anything we had previously experienced together.

There are no colossal adventures to recount; in fact, I think that this has been the most serene and sedate of all of the vacations we have ever spent together. No hidden temples to be rediscovered neither nighttime surprise attacks by humongous vicious insects, any man-eating sharks, Portuguese men-of-war or barracudas lurking in coastal waters nor life threatening fires to scare us out of our wits in the middle of the night. Things were calm and relatively placid. Perhaps we should count our blessings.

It was a Wednesday evening in Rome when Princess Giulia Romanoff arrived at my doorstep. She had come, as she also graciously did last year from Sydney, to house sit while I was away. She loves Rome and I always feel very happy and content to share my space with her. She is a seasoned house sitter and enjoys talking to my plants. What more could I ask for, right?

Her itinerary this year is a bit more hectic than last. Aside from her time spent in Rome she will be globe trotting throughout Europe to meet up with family and friends until the beginning of September when she will join Prince Michael, her husband, in Vienna and from there they will sojourn together via Budapest to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

A major event is scheduled there for September 28th. The mortal remains of the Grand Duchess, King Nicholas Romanoff’s mother, will be exhumed from her current burial place in Denmark and finally brought to rest with the remainder of the Romanoff family already buried in Saint Petersburg to comply with her dying wish.

Giulia has promised me that she will sit in the front row of the church during the ceremony wearing a large black hat and wave to the CNN cameras as they pass by so that we can recognize her. You just might want to catch a glimpse of these shenanigans yourself.

The next morning I was off to Athens to be reunited with Nicos and his family and to begin our new holiday venture. I had time to “play” for a couple of days in Athens while awaiting our departure on Saturday morning for Naxos, which I amply took advantage of.

Saturday morning arrived all too quickly and with the speed of summer lightning we set off for the port of Piraeus before the sun had even begun to think about rising. The boat trip south to the Cycladic islands, as always, was captivating. The passing of ancient islands and land masses set into a turquoise blue sea coupled with the brisk morning sea air filled us with renewed hopes and desires long dormant.

Arriving mid-afternoon at the major port of Naxos, Hora, we made our way to a nearby seaside hotel, which the Goddess had booked for us, as our villa would not be ready for occupancy until Monday.

The few days initially spent at the hotel were a good idea. It made the transition into “vacation mode” much more relaxed for us and at the same time it allowed us to “size up” Hora and the local situation.

Our hotel was situated right on the beach front which provided us with ample beaches to choose from for swimming and sun bathing and had a great little restaurant which was connected with the hotel. It too was situated on the beach where we were able to satisfy our epicurean desires without having to think about food shopping or washing dishes or whatever. That would come later. We were beginning to be on vacation. The slide was precipitous.

The restaurant was a little gem. Both the service and food were excellent and you couldn’t beat the location with tables on the covered terrace a stone’s throw from the water. We made friends with the owner and headwaiter and were treated even more royally after that. They saw to it that we always got our preferred table each evening.

Their fried zucchini patties still linger delightfully in my mind: grated zucchini mixed with two types of grated local cheeses, then breaded and deep-fried to a golden brown color - pure heaven if eaten with a touch of tzaziki. Panyiotti, however, would differ with this choice, as he nightly “pigged-out” on their chocolate soufflé. Very delicious I must admit.

Naxos is the largest of the Cycladic islands with vast mountain ranges and beautiful beaches. Thanks to Kamal who later showed us a large portion of the island and it’s hidden treasures on Sunday outings.

Naxos is best known for its agriculture supplying many of the nearby islands with food. It is perhaps best known for its potatoes, honey and dried herbs. Its meat production is also phenomenal supplying Athens with most of its Christmas and Easter goat and lamb. Their local cheeses and yogurt are gusty and of exceptional quality. Its famous marble quarries are still functioning since ancient times and exports their stone throughout the world.

Hora is a typical Greek port town with small labyrinth-like winding streets leading up to a still inhabited fortress used to protect the city in ancient times from sea invasions. The major concentration of shops, restaurants and the like are all situated near the port. It is a charming and easily walked town even though all of the streets go uphill.

The fortress on the top of the town is an enormous labyrinth-like structure, which houses aside from habitations, an excellent and comprehensive museum, concert areas and a number of small Greek Orthodox churches. Quite impressive, in fact, we got lost within its walls a number of times. Luckily Panyiotti was there to lead us on.

Leisurely walking around the town we picked out our favorite shops so that when Monday arrived and we needed to “stock up” on provisions, etc. to take with us to the villa, we would know exactly where to go without loosing precious time.

Monday noon arrived, we checked out of our hotel and called a taxi that took us first to the grocery store and then whisked us off with our suitcases and mountains of groceries through the ever-winding mountain roads to our destination, Kamari Village.

Kamari Village was a successful idea of Zahia and Kamal’s. Both were born in Alexandria, Egypt, and have since traveled the world living in the States for a number of years and finally ending up on the island of Naxos where they bought property nearly twenty years ago.

They are old friends of Katerina and Nicos and they could not have been more gracious or kind to us. Each Sunday, for example, Kamal would pack us up in his cars and off we’d go for local site seeing.

The mountain scenery was breathtaking as we traveled up the steep mountain roads to reach the other side of the island. From time to time we’d stop and Kamal would show us his favorite hidden treasures. He made ancient Byzantine churches, archaic temples and panoramic vistas come alive for us. Lunches at local sites with them were a delight. Aside from being a scholar, Kamal is also the perfect gentleman while his wife, Zahia, the most delightful of human beings oozes nothing but goodness and kindness from every pore.

Once settled in we were ready to begin our holiday sojourn. Our villa was perfect, in fact, too perfect for eventually it became a problem to us in the sense that we really didn’t want to leave it. It was very creature friendly and had everything, if not more, than what we expected or needed. It was the most comfortable villa we had ever stayed in. The Goddess immediately took control of the dishwasher and clothes washer while I did the same with the gigantic refrigerator – all security blankets.

Our villa was built into the hillside as the others near us. It had two floors with three bedrooms, two baths, a very functional kitchen and sitting area and there were four terraces where one could virtually disappear if you wanted to.

The main terrace area is where the pool was located and served as the major “gathering place” for all of us. The flat roof served as both sun terrace and at night became the perfect star gazing point, at least when the wind didn’t nearly blow you off of it. I think that Naxos’ nickname should be the “windy island” for the wind blew, much to Katerina’s chagrin, for days on end.

I did a number of watercolor sketches from this quarter for it had an incredibly beautiful view of the surrounding area. In front of us you could see the island of Paros and to the left Ios and a number of other islands.Santorini was about a three-hour boat ride away. The sunsets were divine. More of my watercolors from this trip can be seen on my site.

The only real disadvantage which the boys - Panyiotti, JJ and friend Alexi - particularly felt was its distance from any major beach complex. By this I mean beaches with facilities such as bars, restaurants, umbrellas, etc. These types of beaches were near Hora, about 17 km. from us. The boys were into comfort.

Kamal and Zahia, however, allowed us to use their cars whenever we wanted and thus this situation did not become a major dilemma. I on the other hand preferred and enjoyed the “savage beaches” near us. Tiny coves or long stretches of wind swept beaches. No screaming children, blaring music, dripping ice cream or anyone stepping on your face by accident for lack of space. To each his own.

As typical, the days flittered away all too quickly. We swam, sunbathed, read, cooked mouth watering dinners, devoured our pool, bonded, sight saw, star gazed and I also did a lot of painting. Much more, in fact, than on any previous holiday.

There were, of course, countless other small incidental tales to tell such as the day in the supermarket when the Goddess fell and sprained her hand or the numerous days spent without running water or electricity or that evening when Panyiotti went off to bed and shortly thereafter we heard a blood curdling scream from down below. He encountered a large black snake in the hallway and was terrified. The snake was undoubtedly more terrified than young Panyiotti was. Kamal later assured us that there were no poisonous snakes on the island. You could have fooled us.

The evening before we left Zahia and Kamal invited us to their house for an Egyptian dinner. It was the perfect closure for our vacation. Both the food and company were exquisite. Gigi, Kamal’s sister, was visiting from the States and proved to be a bubbly and delightful addition to the evening.

The next morning found us hustling off to the port to catch our ferry back to Athens. The return trip seemed long but as beautiful as our arrival. About half way to Athens we were entertained by a school of dolphins that were briskly jumping in and out of the water as we passed by.

Our reentry to Athens was painless. We grabbed a couple of taxis and speed back home to Papagos. We were home in no time at all. Athens, as Rome, at this time of year is not as congested as usual and we really speed” through the city. At a certain point I glanced at the speedometer and it read 130. Yipes, I thought to myself. It was a long day and we were happily exhausted.

Before returning to Rome I had a couple of days in Athens, which softened somewhat my reentry to Rome. I revisited places and sites, which still hold a strong fascination for me – the Acropolis, the National Archaeological Museum, the Plaka and Monastiraki quarters – and of course I made a number of stops at my favorite restaurant, Thannasis, for their incredible kababs.

I didn’t go wild, as usual, with buying sandals but rather concentrated my efforts on combustibles such as pistachios and other such delicacies. I think I have enough Greek honey, halva and Turkish delights to make it clear through to my next visit not to mention the dried herbs and other goodies purchased on Naxos.

My last day in Athens was very special. I met up with Katerina for lunch at the Cycladic Museum. A very special “hidden treasure” which I had discovered a number of years ago where the gurgling fountain and haute cuisine are still very much alive. A current exhibition of ancient Cypriote ceramics, of which I know very little, was also very inspiring.

That evening we dined at the Più Verde, a restaurant near their home. Even though the name “smells of Italian”, it was anything but. The Goddess’ first
impression was perhaps the most apropos – a Polynesian lodge. It is an eating place in the midst of a woods/park-like area built on raised, slatted, open, wooden terraces with ceiling beams to remind one of a Hawaiian queen’s Pacific palace.

It was a unique experience and the food was of international haute cuisine quality and the service impeccable. Almost to die for. Panyiotti, much to his delight, once again got his chocolate soufflé. He desires to become a chef when he grows up and I suggested that he learn how to make soufflé’s as his next culinary project (little does he know what difficulties lie in store for him).

We sadly parted the next morning. It is always difficult for me to leave my favorite “Four Greeks”. The Christopolus family is truly unique and I will miss them tremendously. More than they will ever know.

I feel renewed, inspired and “ready to go”.