Coffee break

 Tuesday 28th Hora 

So these posts are going to be a limited in scope, as I am not allowed out much, but like the medical centre experience, it’s good for me to see how I would fill my day, if I was stuck in a house here. I do know things like my favourite coffee shop and supermarket/bread shop will be open in the winter, thank goodness and the bus to Livadi. Well I hope to be able to walk down there unless it’s tipping down with rain. I have managed to manage to make contact with my prospective new landlord, I sent him a text then resent it  using Google Translate, I got a reply to my request that I be able to sign the contract before I leave here on Wed 6th July. In his reply he said “yes, I will let you know the procedure soon”. Whatever soon means! 

This derelict house is actually opposite the big church near me. Someone has started working on another house near where I am staying, it’s not very tall, it’s one of those, that you would step down into from the front door. I hope in time more of these buildings get used. So I went into the bread shop, there was one piece of pie left, it was the manitaropita one, which has mushrooms. The lady in the supermarket, seems to have lost her young helper, she was quite agast that I bought a lemon juice based drink, Greeks like sweet things, as we know. I then ate the pie around the corner and a sparrow came down to have a look at the inevitable flakes that fall off it. I did see the guy with his horse, he seemed to be helping a tourist get their suitcases to their apartment. Going back to the bread shop, I think I forgot to say that the other day, I met this young guy, the owners son maybe, he makes things like my favourite pie, and he invited me to come and watch, but he starts at midnight! I might be there after I move in.

So after my shopping, I went to have my Freddo Cappuccino. It was quite busy today, and a guy I have seen several times was there. He is quite portly, and he wears this sort of cloak. He is often on the phone with an earpiece microphone, so it’s quite discreet. The cloak is close fitting, has a sort of collar and it goes down to his ankles.  Is he some kind of priest? He doesn’t have a dog collar thing. The other people in the shop, were new to me, a balding guy with big round glasses smoking roll ups, He knew some English. There was a young guy who came in, he kept getting up and looking at the clock.  The guy with the glasses, he nursed his coffee for all the time I was there and showed no sign of leaving. I have noted Marinos always wears a sort of latex glove that you see people in food serving areas wear. But only on his right hand. I remember that from last time I was here.

The above photo is a sandwich shop near my place. It doesn’t seem open very often or obviously so. I would have thought it would do quite well here, but it’s not near the other shops. I decided to throw caution to the wind and have another coffee which I managed to order ok. The Freddo Cappuccino is the best on the island, it’s nice and creamy and not strong. In fact for the first time I was asked how strong I wanted it, luckily the guy with the glasses translated for me. When I left, I paid up, put my used glass of water and empty coffee tumbler on the counter and paid. Marinos the owner, said something in Greek and my translator told me, that Marinos is going to offer me a job! I said I was too old, and that got translated back, which made Marinos laugh. I must learn some more Greek like “what is your name”.

This is one of the paths that lead from Lower Hora to Livadi as the painted word on the paving stone indicates. I then walked back home, it’s was still windy, but it becomes still for a while then gusts up. I have deposited my glass in the recycle bins, they don’t look like they get a lot of use unfortunately.  I was trying to take some photos and this little girl appeared through a front door. Her mum then appeared, and I said hello. We managed with her broken English to have a chat. She comes from Athens, was having ten days here, with her grandfather I think. I asked how old her daughter was, she was five. For reasons that were not clear, the lady then told me how old she was, so I thought I better fess up and admit my age. We then said to each other goodbye. I used Greek  to say goodbye which is “antio”  pronounced “andio”. The lady and her daughter replied “ciao”! Finally for today, my UK mobile contract is up for renewal just before my intended move date to Greece, at the moment my provider charges me for roaming, and I have asked in one of the Brits in Greece Facebook groups, about what others have done with their UK numbers when they move here. One of the problems is the UK number is used for two factor authentication so I need to think about that!