We're a week into our time in Ioannina and every day is about the same. I suspect that's the case for much of the world. We would love to explore the town, but we're following health protocols and only going outside if it's truly necessary. Thank goodness, the beautiful Greek sun has been shining brightly, and the views from our balconies inspire us. Sam ventured to a couple shops this morning to get some foodstuffs. We shopped at a grocery yesterday and unlike what we've heard from friends and family in the US, the shelves are pretty much stocked here (except for hand sanitizer). Oh, we did finally meet some of our neighbors today. We were hanging laundry on the balcony and we met a friendly couple sitting on their balcony kitty-corner to us, about 75 feet away (good social distancing!).
Beyond that, we've been seeking out low-impact cardio workouts on Youtube, downloading e-books from the library, and I've been drawing (see latest vintage-style travel poster below). Cultural note: Greeks do a siesta kind of thing and many shops close from 2:00 to 5:00ish. We've experienced this aplenty in our trips to Greece. The other day we did our workout on the balcony and had a video playing (low volume, no music, just a quiet instructor talking) to guide us along. We had specifically selected a "no jumping" workout so that we wouldn't disturb neighbors. About two-thirds of the way through our workout, an older Greek woman came out onto her balcony to scold us (couldn't tell what she was getting at until she made the Greek displeased head toss and made a motion like resting her head on her hands to sleep on a pillow). Our response in Greek, signomi/sorry, did little to smooth her furrowed brow. We did some Greek siesta research and learned that aside from shops closing, there's supposed to be utter silence for all the nappers out there from 2-5pm. We didn't think we were being noisy; so if you stay in an apartment with older Greeks nearby, keep that in mind!
Tomorrow's our wedding anniversary (24th!). Seems it'll be unlike any of our other anniversaries. I'm sure we'll do some fancy cooking to celebrate. And thankfully the grocery still has lots of nice Greek wines so we'll have something fun to drink.
We hope everyone is healthy, safe, and not too stressed out.
Beyond that, we've been seeking out low-impact cardio workouts on Youtube, downloading e-books from the library, and I've been drawing (see latest vintage-style travel poster below). Cultural note: Greeks do a siesta kind of thing and many shops close from 2:00 to 5:00ish. We've experienced this aplenty in our trips to Greece. The other day we did our workout on the balcony and had a video playing (low volume, no music, just a quiet instructor talking) to guide us along. We had specifically selected a "no jumping" workout so that we wouldn't disturb neighbors. About two-thirds of the way through our workout, an older Greek woman came out onto her balcony to scold us (couldn't tell what she was getting at until she made the Greek displeased head toss and made a motion like resting her head on her hands to sleep on a pillow). Our response in Greek, signomi/sorry, did little to smooth her furrowed brow. We did some Greek siesta research and learned that aside from shops closing, there's supposed to be utter silence for all the nappers out there from 2-5pm. We didn't think we were being noisy; so if you stay in an apartment with older Greeks nearby, keep that in mind!
Tomorrow's our wedding anniversary (24th!). Seems it'll be unlike any of our other anniversaries. I'm sure we'll do some fancy cooking to celebrate. And thankfully the grocery still has lots of nice Greek wines so we'll have something fun to drink.
We hope everyone is healthy, safe, and not too stressed out.
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| Balcony view, 5:00pm Wednesday |