With a Little Help From our Friends

This past Friday our friends spoiled us. Early Friday morning, Georgia drove us to the Kalamata bus station, Kleopatra rendezvoused with us on our brief bus 'layover' in Athens, Sergio picked us up when we arrived on Island A., and Zelinda cooked us an Italian meal to cap the day. We feel happy to be out of Kalamata at last and more importantly, to have such generous friends! What lucky people we are to spend at least a month in one of the most special places on earth.

Escape from Kalamata

Nothing happened in our last week to improve our opinion of Kalamata. In the last few days we learned that our Greek friends--and even the Kalamata locals--complain about the people there. Our chef friend who we met in Chania revealed that he avoided telling us about his dislike for Kalamata because he didn't want to color our opinion before we went. He's been there at least 10 times and said the people aren't friendly. One of our last taxi drivers during our stay in Kalamata told us out of the blue that he likes Kalamata but the people aren't good folks. So, unbeknownst to us, the area has a reputation. Why do the people here seem different, even to other Greeks? We haven't gotten an answer to that question from our Greek friends.

The last couple of days in the area, though, were a delight. We had the good fortune of spending a few days with our graduate school friend, Georgia (and her sister and a couple of their Corinthian relatives). We're not sure how long it's been since we've all seen each other; was it 24 years? Twenty-two years? It's been a long time and it was a special treat to get to spend a few days catching up in person in Greece no less!

To be close to Georgia and family, the last couple of nights, we stayed in a small village, Kato Verga, that looks down on Kalamata from a mountain slope. Kalamata looks a lot nicer from a little distance. Oddly enough, our host in Kato Verga also complained about the locals; and added that the people in Thesssaloniki and in Crete are the nicest in Greece. Amen to that!

The Journey

Despite us staying up late chatting, Georgia was sweet enough to wake up early to take us to the Kalamata bus station so we could make our long trip to island A. We really didn't want to miss that bus! We took an express bus from Kalamata to Athens and after arriving there, we had to hire a taxi to take us to a different bus station so we could take a 2.5 hour bus ride to the ferry port, Mantoudi. The day before our journey, our friend Kleopatra, who lives in Athens, sent Sam a note saying she really wanted to see us and wondered when we might connect. How about tomorrow?! She rearranged her day to drive over to the bus station and spend about 30 minutes with us as we waited for the second bus. She even brought us some grape molasses cookies as a treat. It's strange to say this, but from the moment we arrived in Athens and hired the taxi, it felt like we were back in the Greece we know and love.

From Athens, we rode the bus through the island of Evia, to Mantoudi, where had a short wait for the ferry. Between bus and ferry, we did a couple rapid tests (negative--yay!) because our friend Zelinda is still in treatment for cancer and we wanted to try our best to keep her safe. After an hour on the boat, we saw Zelinda's husband, Sergio, waving to greet us on the island, and soon we loaded our baggage into their car.

We met Sergio and Zelinda in 2015 on this island, but we haven't seen them since 2016, at their house in Rome. They also own a house on Island A. and they graciously let us stay in it. We started our retired traveling life here in September of 2019, had to skip 2020 because of the pandemic, and then came back here last September. It's great to be back in 2022, but it's even better this year because we got to overlap with them a bit before they headed back to Italy.

Sergio drove us from the port to their house and the smells of Italian cooking filled the air. Zelinda had made eggplant parmesan and several other delicious foods. We spent the weekend with them before they headed back to Rome. We ate Zelinda's excellent cooking, caught up on their lives, and also got their insight into Italian places to explore the latter part of this year. It's a long list of places we need to research! Between lovely walks and swims here, we'll try to map out the fall, which we intend to spend in Italy.

The Island

It's difficult to believe that we've been in Greece for a year now. It has been an incredible gift to be able to explore so much of this country. And it's exciting to anticipate new explorations in the coming months. But in the meantime, we'll get to partake in the special magic of this place. This is our fifth time on Island A. and as each visit approaches, we're giddy with anticipation. Is there a better place to spend September? That's a rhetorical question.