Summer is over ..........
“Kalo Hemona” – Good Winter – has been the greeting from colleagues when we met up over the last two weeks as we returned from holidays. We ourselves had gone camping with some friends for a few days in amongst the pine forest close to the seaside town of Agia Anna on the North East coast of Evia. This has a vast beach, over 5 kms long, which looks over to the well known islands of Skopelos and Skiathos. Closeby is also the spa town of Aidipsos (Edipsos) and the lovely little harbour of Limni on the West coast.
We also had my cousin and her family over in August. They had purchased a plot of land here in 2001, on which we built them a villa. So happy were they that in 2006 they asked us to build them a second one as an investment. Both are now rented out long term. In November 2007 they were featured in the Sunday Times, which did a special report on the island.
Autumn is on its way........
After a summer during which it only rained once, we were glad when the first autumn rains arrived ten days ago. The temperatures suddenly dropped from an oppressive 35 C to 26 C. This caused havoc to our daughter’s party – we had planned everything out around the pool – but we rapidly transformed our living room into a disco with my son as DJ and four hours later 40 happy teenagers (a few still wet from an impromptu swim) were collected by their parents at 1.00 a.m. !
My daughter was actually celebrating her “Name Day”. This is a Greek tradition. Whilst Northern Europeans normally remember their birthday, Greeks celebrate the day of the Saint whose name they bear. On this day friends telephone to say “Hronia Polla” – many happy returns - and the person, whose name day it is , distributes cakes to work colleagues or school friends ! As a result Greece has a multitude of patisseries (“ Zaxaroplasties”) even in the smallest village . Try this link if you want to make your own Bougatsa … a delicious
The Grape Harvest
The grape pickers out in the vineyards that surround our house have now nearly completed this year’s harvest. Due to the hot summer this year many vineyards, which have early maturing grape varieties, had already finished by the end of August. Small producers usuallyl take their crop along to the co-operative for processing, although many are now pressing and making their own wine. This gives us an increasing variety of locally produced wines.
Gone are the days when I remember going to student parties in London with a bottle of Greek “plonk” . Over the past decade Greek wines have become increasingly sophisticated, and the “Hima” which we buy by the carafe in the local tavernas is now very palatable. Although many Greeks still prefer the astringent taste of Retsina – and I very much like drinking it with a strong mature Feta cheese and olives- it is slowly going out of fashion
|
