Nemo

Something new 

Family fun for everyone

Nemo

as this semi-submarine  is called, is cruising around Poros this summer taking tourists and locals out for a tour of the seabed.

This depiction is from their site,  Pan Saronic. It shows exactly how it works

They say

'with the upper part staying on the surface and the lower part, with it's large windows, you get the sensation of a real dive'

12 spaces available, airconditioning, and from what we've heard its only 15 euros for a 45 minute underwater experience.  There are night tours too.

Forget the Titanic, you could jump out of this and swim to shore.  If you had to.

This is the photo I took

I don't think I'll be trying it.  Me and small boats do not get on well together.

 

The Navy

 If we want to go out in the evening now our first choice is always the little canteen/taverna at the beach below the Navy base.  It's open only to Navy and ex-Navy personal and it's subsidised.  In other words, it's very cheap.

Navy themed paper tablecloths

It's entirely self service.  Glasses, proper knives and forks and a jug for the wine are provided.  Everything else is one use only.  The paper plates, scraps, cans and other rubbish are wrapped up in these cloths at the end of the meal and we throw it all in a large bin on the way out

Sitting right on the beach hoping for a breeze

I did mention that Sofia's taverna had the cheapest greek salad at 5.50 euros.  Well I was wrong.  This salad, with feta cheese is 1.90.

Pork souvlaki

The menu is pretty basic.  Pork and chicken souvlaki cooked on a grill.  The young conscripts there are excellent grillers. It's all well seasoned and tender.

There's tzatziki, fried potatoes, greek salad, pizza and a few other things.  Pork chops, probably bifteki (grilled hamburger), a good selection of beer and wine from a cardboard cask. 

Enough to keep most people happy

Obviously if we want to eat out from now till the end of August, this is where we come

Sunset

Poppi, Papous and Nels

Proud Papous, loves to show off his children and grandchildren to all his navy comrades.

He served at the base here for over ten years,  and planned most of the electrical work at this canteen.  The present Commander was deputy on the base while K was there and tells everyone how valued he was and how dearly he was missed after his retirement.  Big happy smile.

Around About

 What's up?  With the second round of elections Greece re-elected the New Democracy party with a safe majority.

The day ended in thunderstorms and heavy rain.  It was so nice, maybe the last time for many months, to go to sleep listening to the rain beating on the tiles.  Today of course is a sunshiney day but very humid.  

Good for my nasturtiums.  The tomatoes didn't get battered and the pumpkin plants grew an inch overnight.  All's well in the garden.

We are still getting dust clouds though the rain this time seems to have been cleaner and washed away the orange streaks on the car.  The last dust cloud  covered most of southern europe and even reached the Carribean.  I sometimes wonder how much sand is actually left in the Sahara.

Almost the last of the roses but they seem to have revived with the rain too.  The plant behind it is a bougainvillia.  The no-thorn variety

Oregano

We have been given bunches and bunches by neighbours and I have a thriving pot of oregano in the garden.

These bunches are hanging out in the shed to dry

The last of the rugs have been washed, hung out to dry on the garden gate and are now stored away till November

The water pipe down the side of our road broke for the umpteenth time.  At this spot the pipe has broken 3 times in the last few months.  It usually takes them 3 weeks to get round to fixing a leak.

This is not just a leak!  We put this video on instagram, facebook and sent it to the Mayor. the 'gang' was here before 8 the next morning to fix it.  But I wonder how long it will hold.

Fiesta!

The biggest church fiesta on Poros actually takes place not on the island but across on the mainland.  Its the celebration of the Madonna of Mercy,  Agia Eleousa.

Behind Plaka beach is a small church that you're barely aware of except on its fiesta days June 3 and 4.  Everybody, but everybody from Poros, Galatas and surrounding villages visits, usually on the eve of the actual date, to light a candle, listen to a little of the service and then walk up the road to inspect the market stalls.  

Agia Eleousa decked out in its 'Sunday best'

The church is so small that the congragation must stand outside. There's a line to buy candles to light and leave in the containers of sand.  After the candle rite, the faithful approach the decorated icon of the Virgin, cross themselves, kiss the icon and back away.  Some stay to listen to the service before moving on and leaving room for newcomers.

At the finish the Priest hands out small cubes of Holy Bread which you receive and then many kiss his hand.   I have only done this once and I got a strange look from the priest who obviously knew I was a foreigner and probably doubted my faith.  Rightly so.  I grabbed the bread and moved away fast.

Then there are many many loaves of sweet bread which are sliced into big chunks.  This is what I liked, when I still ate bread.  Its sweet and a bit spicy, every loaf different, depending on the housewife or baker.  You take a hunk, or two and wander off  munching contentedly. 

   

In line for candle lighting

After the formalities its time for shopping therapy.  The road outside is lined with stalls selling underwear, toys, cheap jewellery, knick-knacks and clothes.  The food stalls sell grilled corn, fried dumplings with honey or nutella, and pastelli, bars of sesame seeds and honey.

It's a tradition to buy knickers but I wasn't impressed by them this year.  K bought a few pairs of boxer shorts and we all bought sox.  6 pairs for 6 euros.  

The biggest attraction for the men.

Roast pig.  A whole pig is on the bench and you chose the piece you want which is hacked off and wrapped in grease proof paper to take home.  15 euros a kilo.

These market stalls are getting fewer and fewer.  There used to be at least half a dozen pork sellers but this year it was just this one.  The men in days gone by would spend an hour walking up and down the road, inspecting and discussing the pig situation before deciding which seller to buy from and which piece to have chopped up for them.

This year K was not at all impressed by the roast pork.  First of all it wasn't cooked on the spit but in the oven and there was far too much fat.  He didn't buy any but many did. The seller was a busy pork peddler.

The easiest way to get to the Panagyri, fiesta, is by taxi boat

I hate these little boats.  I have difficulty getting in and out of them without assistance.  Going was ok.  There was a young chap to hold the 'old lady's' hand and help her down.  Coming back there was no help.  I misjudged the height of the step and literally tumbled into the damn boat.  Fortunately I fell 'in'  onto the lino-ed floor and not 'out' into the sea and wasn't hurt.  Well, my pride was but hell, it's not the first time I've fallen in public, though I haven't done it for a long time .  At least now I can get up by myself and don't need a rugby team to grab hold of me and drag me upright.

Getting off the boat

Easy if you're a youngster

Look who we met there

The famous Bitouni sisters

Two of our grand-daughters

We met the other grand-daughter too wandering around the stalls with friends and 20 euros burning in her pocket, but she's camera shy.

K loves occasions like this .  He literally knows everyone and makes slow progress to the church and up the road as he stops every few metres to greet friends, family and acquaintances he hasn't seen since the last fiesta.

For those who really know how to celebrate a fiesta there are chairs and tables set out on the sands of the nearby beach and a live orchestra and singers who belt out traditional eastern Greek sounds till dawn. The taverna sells cans of beer, whiskey, roast pork served on baking paper, Greek salad, tzatziki with plastic knives and forks. Hundreds sit down to listen to the music and dance. I did it once, maybe twice.  You really have to be Greek to enjoy this sort of entertainment.

All a lot of fun for some.  I don't think I'll be going next year.

Poros Photos

 Summer photos. Some from the sea and some from land. 

The little church of the Holy Cross.  

The ruins of a Venetian fortress, with more ancient settlements underneath, guarding the entrance to the harbour

This year's lager.  Only served at the Navy canteen.

Strange name for a beach bar

'Seen Into the Sea'

Our thornless dwarf bougainvillia in full bloom

Poros Holiday

October holiday on Poros Island

No words needed

One Down

Not for vegans or the faint hearted!

We were invited for a roast dinner today

 

The meat was surprisingly tender and there was no 'ripe goat' smell.

It slow cooked in the oven for 3 or 4 hours with olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. No salt or pepper. Lots of potatoes too.

It was only 17 kilos so it wasn't one of the bigguns.

Neighbour says he won't shoot at anything unless it's on his land. The herd got under the wire a few days ago. Fair game. They'd damaged quite a few olive trees . 

One down, the rest scarpered and haven't returned ....yet.

The leaks were patched up but K just told me there's now water bubbling up from the road right outside our gate

Visiting Day

 Visiting day at the Naval Base.  The new recruits have had a week of confinement at the Base here, plus another week or so at the main marshelling station in Athens.  They used to spend 6 weeks here but now it's more like 3.  Learning to march, handle guns, peel potatoes, garden.  Basic training.

Every greek male is supposed to do time in the armed forces once they reach 18, with very basic pay. Time in the Navy was 2 years but it's down to something like 9 months now.  Not too much time to spend away from Mama but a nuisance if you're studying or starting a new job.  It can be delayed until after your studies and those escaping overseas can now get some sort of exemption.  They used to be nabbed as they re-entered the country and sent into the army.

Our oldest grandson has put his conscription off till he ends his studies in a couple of years time. 

The 2 Sundays here at the base they are allowed out till 4pm.  A few hundred young sailors are joined by several hundred mothers, grandmothers, girlfriends and a few Dads all eager to fuss over their young boys.  

We hadn't realised it was visiting day when we went for coffee and arrived at the lower gate of the Base to find young lads dressed in white flocking out into the parking lot, heading for the cafes and tavernas in town.  

From experience we knew it was touch and go whether we found an empty table at our favourite cafe.  While K parked up I dashed for our cafe which is first in the line of harbour cafes.  I grabbed a table, not our usual one, but with a view of goings on and out of the sun.

The regulars were noticeably absent, either by choice or because 'their' tables were already occupied

Mamas and Grandmamas bring tupperware containers of meatballs and dolmathes to feed up their sons who are fading away without their homecooking

Sailors, sailors everywhere

Goats

Our herd of wild goats have returned.  They have found a water source.  The leaky water mains.

The pipe was fixed last week and a few days later it burst again.

Happy goats.

The piping all the way down the road will have to be replaced.  Sometime.  Sometime never.

Here are just a portion of them having a drink.  The herd must be well over 20, from huge billy goats to frisky youngsters.  The latter are in danger of being wiped out.  Our neighbour just bought a new gun

We hear them most nights now, rearing up and bringing down the lower olive branches, chewing up any branches from our lemon trees and bougainvillia that hang over the fence.  That's fair game, I don't mind them trimming the overhang.

The house on the other side which has been vacant for a few years has just yesterday been rented out to a dutch couple.  They arrived while I was watering the garden. I naturally came out to see what all the fuss was about.  We don't do 'fuss' around here normally.

There they were, the nieces of the aged aunt who once owned the house, our local estate agent and the foreign couple.  They all came over to tell me what was going on and the dutch, or maybe  it was Austrian, woman introduced herself. I was taken rather by surprise, thought they hadn't spotted me having a snoop and didn't quite take it all in. 

They obviously weren't told to keep their big garden gates shut because we could hear the goats having a feast in their garden last night.  I hope the olive trees aren't too badly damaged.  It will be olive season in a month or so.

This neighbourhood is becoming quite cosmopolitan.  We already have english neighbours, who only usually come for the summer, then there's me from NZ and now we have Dutch/Austrian.  They have rented for all the year but from what I understand they will only be here for a month.  A year long holiday rental.

The last few days we have heard a few rifle shots from next door. Neighbour says he's 'trying out' the new gun. On what?

And yesterday there was a huge explosion which rocked the house. I don't know where that came from. Maybe a fisherman was dynamiting fish down in the bay.

Or the navy was detonating depth charges.

This morning I was woken by the sound of a shotgun going off very close, six times. It was another neighbour, across the valley. Though the shots were so loud I thought they were outside our front gate.

K phoned him straight away. He was scaring the goats from his land.

Then tonight I really did hear a kerfuffle outside our gate. A large smelly billy goat had managed to grab one of our rose bushes and was munching away and another was breaking down Vaso's fence to eat her carob tree. 

They've survived and multiplied for several years now.  

No shotgun is going to scare this lot off. They roam over kilometres of forest and  ancient rocks, feasting on olives and occasionally destroying vineyards and vegetable gardens, eating roses and trimming lemon trees. 

Grape Harvest

 Elderly neighbour Vaso was due to start her grape picking on Monday, red and white. But it rained. So she will have to wait a few days for the vines to dry out.

Most years they would be picking only the white grapes now and leave the red for a couple of weeks. But they're ready early this year. The sugar content, which son Vangelis checks on with a little gadget, is spot on 

This is some of our harvest. We haven't had such a good crop for years.

The red has been very well watered but the white, at the end of the garden, got no water . The white is sweet and the skins not too tough for once. They both have seeds but are still ok for eating. 

The red grapes especially have been tough and sour in years gone by. 

I wonder what made this year different.

July was quite cool but August was the norm. One heatwave after another.

We had so many bunches we gave a lot of them away to neighbours.

Last year the bunches turned to dried up raisins on the vine. This year they're full of juice

Vaso doesn't pick anymore. She's the supervisor. It will be her son, daughter and son in law who do all the hard work. They're a hard working family, following the example of their tough old Mama. When it comes to harvesting their grapes, olives, lemons or oranges the family pulls together and does the work, even though the daughter and son in law live in Athens and are retired professionals, teacher and engineer.

The volume of their grape Harvest has gone right down in recent years. They juice the grapes themselves, and put it in barrels.  Once upon a time they nurtured 5 hundred litres, or more, of wine

Not anymore. They'll probably manage to process just enough for the family. 100-150 litres. 

The son says he will pull out most of the vines next year and keep just enough for the 'house'. It's too much trouble. Though they have their own wine press , machines, barrels and paraphernalia. 

Rain

 A moody Monday. Overcast and noticeably quieter. Schools open next Monday and visitors are disappearing fast.

A film is being shot on Poros.

It's called Kyuka. In Japanese it means 'holidays'.  Not sure where the Japanese fits in.  It's a  film about 3 family members, father and two children who come to Poros on a yacht. 

All locals who want to take part can/could register.  I didn't

We were down in the harbour for shopping very early this morning and found a legal parking.  But really, why bother.  You only get blocked by some idiot and can't get out.

We waited 10 minutes for this guy to turn up and I waited for an explosion from K and an

open palm gesture

A real insult and usually accompanied by some very salty words

But instead this guy got a smile and some friendly banter.  A friend of K.  He got off with not even a slap on the wrist.  And then waited till we backed out and took our park so he could go off and have a drink with his friends.

GRRRRRR says the grumpy bear

It was quite cool this morning and while we were having coffee it started to rain.  Hurrah.  

But it was only a 10 minute, quite heavy, shower

Still it has cooled us down and given us a glimpse of autumn