Agia Mamas is one of the oldest churches on Naxos

We all take a lot of pictures on our digital cameras but it always surprises me just how many I take each week on Naxos. Today, I downloaded 331 pictures starting with our hike in Melanes last Saturday with Manolis and Maria and ending with our drive to the Naxos airport with Rob and Kelly.

Hiking with Manolis and Maria

Manolis and Maria have been friends of ours since 2000. Marilyn and Maria walked each day on the beach when we lived here before. Manolis is a doctor who now has his practice on Paros (the island next to Naxos) but they still make their home in Naxos. They took us out for the day last Saturday for a hike which lasted all afternoon and ended with an amazing meal in Melanes (a small village).

At Kourounohori with Manolis and Maria

Rob and Kelly and Amy and Val arrived on Monday after having spent two nights in Athens. We picked them up at the airport and, after dropping off their bags at Rena Valetta, we could hardly wait to start showing them around. There is so much to do and see on the island and we knew our time was limited.

l. to r. Amy, Val, Marilyn, Kelly and Rob at the airport on Naxos

When Marilyn and I travel, we are always interested in meeting people in different countries. Our friends from Canada had a great time this past week getting to know our friends on Naxos who have been so generous with their time and have opened their homes to all of us. Here’s a few pictures which will try to capture some of that generosity.

OUR FRIEND NIKOS OPENED THE CASTLE AND GAVE US ANOTHER TOUR.

Nikos and Marilyn

Singing in the Castle grand room

Amy on the Castle balcony

VISITING WITH STEPHANOS AND KATARINA IN FILOTI

While driving through Filoti we saw Stephanos and Katarina out for a walk and stopped to say hi. They immediately invited us back to their home for food and drinks. Later, Stephanos took us to the old home of Katarina’s late aunt which is located at the very top of Filoti.

Rob and Stephanos talking about gardening

Descending to a room below in Katarina’s late aunt’s old home

Group photo from a roof top high above Filoti

SPENDING TIME WITH ANDREAS AND NELLY

Everyone had a lot of fun meeting Andreas and Nelly and they had fun with our friends from Canada. Andreas and Nelly invited us to a picnic at their country garden where they have grape trees, fruit trees, olive trees, and chickens. Nelly cooked an amazing meal over an open fire while we all sat around enjoying the tales of Greece as told by Andreas.

A picnic hosted by Andreas and Nelly

We invited Andreas and Nelly over to Rena Valetta for dinner

A night of celebration and song at the home of Andreas and Nelly

OUR FRIEND KATHY OPENED UP HER ‘FOLK ART MUSEUM’ AND GAVE EVERYONE A TOUR

Kathy, who came to Naxos on holiday from Australia, has spent the past 37 years on Naxos. It is a familiar story – meet a Greek guy, fall in love, get married, and start a family. Kathy and her husband started a museum a few years ago which is open for tourists in the summer high season. Kathy opened it for us and gave a tour of so many interesting artifacts and stories.

tour of the folk art museum

Kathy’s home

We took everyone to Moni Fotodoti which is the monastery Marilyn and I visited earlier during our stay. The last time we were disappointed to find the doors locked since all churches were open in 2000 when we lived here. We’re not sure what has changed but it seems many are now locked (if only for the off season). However, we had the most incredible luck. A woman from the village Damakos, which is about 2 km away in the valley, was there lighting the candles which she does each day. She let us wander around inside.

Inside the monastery

Moni Fotodoti

Dome from inside the monastery

Moni Fotodoti from the path to the village of Damakos

On Wednesday, Rob and Marilyn played a gig at The Jazz Bar to a full house of revelers.

Rob and Marilyn at the Jazz Bar

Jazz Bar Crowd

The weather has been nice but a bit windy and therefore it has felt cooler. However, we did get to the beach where everyone got a chance to hunt for Naxos eyes and on another day we spent most of the day on the beach when the sun shone all day and there was no wind. Our white skin was a bit sensitive to the rays after a Canadian winter.

Hunting Naxos Eyes on the beach

We drove to Filoti on Thursday to a community celebration which takes place each year just before lent. There was free wine and food and lots of Greek dancing.

Celebration in Filoti

Young girl dressed in traditional clothes for the Filoti celebrations

The stores and restaurants are starting to get ready for the tourist season which will start in April. A man named Nikos was working inside his jewelery and gift shop while we were walking through old town. All four women bought bracelets with naxos eyes and then decided to take a photo.

Bracelet photo shoot

The Naxos Eyes bracelets

Amy and Val caught a Ferry to spend two nights on Santorini before flying back to Canada. After they left, we took Kelly and Rob on a hike to Kourounohori which is an old Jesuit retreat which is ruins. Manolis and Maria took us there the week before and we were amazed at the structures. It is really starting to crumble and some people want to restore it but apparently they can’t find out who owns it. It could be Jesuits who came from anywhere in Europe.

Jesuit retreat also used as a school for mathematics

Kelly at Kourounohori

Exploring the Jesuit Retreat built several hundred years ago.

Rob and Kelly left for Athens this morning (Saturday March 9) and will fly to Canada tomorrow. We are staying on Naxos until Tuesday in order to say goodbye to our friends and tidy up Rena Valetta. We arrive back in Canada on Wednesday March 13th.

Apollo’s Gate at the entrance to Naxos port

While we were here, Marilyn’s uncle Wayne from Toronto, passed away. Marilyn jokes that she always had a crush on her uncle Wayne and Mel and Wayne said Marilyn has always been their fourth daughter (they have three others – Lisa, Leanne, and Nicole). We have spent many wonderful times with the whole family and were so sad to hear about Wayne’s death. Marilyn was able to record a song which is being used as background music for slides which are being shown at the funeral. We wish we could be there with the family but will visit as soon as we get back.

Dionysus God of Fertility and wine and divine intoxication

Of all the gods which have existed and do exist, I think the Greek gods were the coolest. That’s because they interacted a lot with humans. I really wish they hadn’t got bored and left Earth. It isn’t the same without them.

There are so many great stories and one of my favourites involves Ariadne, Theseus and Dionysus.  I especially like the possible twist to the the story in terms of who got dumped. Theseus, of course, is well known for the time he slew the Minotaur on Crete. Greeks had been bringing humans for sacrifice to the Minotaur for many years and quite frankly Theseus was getting a little tired of it. Unfortunately, Theseus didn’t really have a plan and would have ended up as hamburger except for one thing…………

Theseus and the Minotaur

This isn’t the best picture of the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur but Theseus was naked when he entered the maze and I didn’t want my blog to offend anyone. Theseus was …..well let’s just say….manly.  Anyway, it was actually Ariadne who helped Theseus. She was the daughter of King Minos and half sister to her ugly brother the monstrous Minotaur. Ariadne gave Theseus some golden thread to unfurl as he went through the maze. After he killed the Minotaur he used the thread to get back out. Okay, not all that amazing as a plan but it worked.

Ariadne had a good life but……..

There are probably a lot of reasons why Ariadne betrayed her father (the King) and her (monstrous) half brother but as you can see in the picture above, she looks kinda bored. When she saw Theseus’ big ship she wanted to get off the Island of Crete so part of the deal was that Theseus, if successful in killing the (monstrous) Minotaur, would take Ariadne as his lover. So far so good………

The monstrous Minotaur

Now here’s where it gets interesting. While sailing home, Theseus docks at Naxos Island. This could easily be to get some food since Naxos is an agricultural island. It’s unlikely it  was for any tourist attractions because as far I know they hadn’t been developed yet. However, there is another theory. It is possible that Theseus stopped at Naxos to get Ariadne off his boat after realizing it was a bit crowed for the two of them. Well, that’s Theseus story anyway. But take a close look at the picture below and you might guess where this story is going……

Who’s that up in the clouds?

That’s Dionysus sneaking around up in those clouds and it is quite possible Ariadne, seeing a chance to hang out with a god may have actually dumped the mere mortal Theseus. Maybe it was Theseus who ended up crying. Regardless, Ariadne ended up with Dionysus and Theseus (possibly distracted) forgot to raise the white sails so hid father committed suicide ….but that’s another story.

Bizantine Church

I spent most of the past week marking mid-term papers but Marilyn and I got out for a drive on Thursday. We discovered this Bizantine church after a short hike from Apiranthos which is a village in the middle of the marble mountains. There are so many of these ‘treasure’ dotted around every part of Naxos.

Inside one part of the church

Many of these old churches are in ruins. Some have frescoes which were plastered over by invading cultures and competing religions but the plaster is now falling off and once again revealing the paintings.

Another part of the church

What was really exciting on Thursday though was finding a castle I’ve been searching for during the past few weeks. I know it isn’t easy to lose a castle but there was one I visited a lot when we lived on Naxos in 2000 and I just couldn’t remember where it was. We took a narrow dirt road off the route to Mount Zas and lo and behold there it was. I particularly like the medieval look and spooky tree in the front.

Castle of Fotodoti

Unfortunately, they have done a lot of renovations to this castle which is also a monastery. In 2000, it was always open but now it is locked. Still, its a cool structure and a fun drive and hike. Rob, Kelly, Amy, and Val will be arriving on Monday. We’ve been trying to decide where to take them since there is far too much to see in just a few days. I’m sure they’ll be pleased with some of the excursions we have planned. I’ve reserved a min-van so we can all travel around the island together.

Olive Tree

Ed and Nancy arrived last Monday by boat after touring the sites of the Greek mainland. We had a fun drive around the island on Tuesday under cloudy skies. When we were close to our hotel at the end of the day it started to rain and hail and there was quite a thunderstorm throughout the night. However, Wednesday was a beautiful warm sunny day for more adventuring.

During our last visits, we hiked to an old church called Agia Mamas and have been looking for it on a few drives this time. We thought we found it when we hiked a long way to the church you see above. Turns out it was not the one we were searching for but it was a lovely hike. Unfortunately, the door had been affixed with a new lock so we couldn’t get in. On the way back to our car, we met Sam who was tending his sheep and he told us he had a key to the church so we decided to hike back again. Turns out there was a definite language problem…..Sam didn’t have a key and was quite surprised to find the new lock on the door. So we did the hike twice and had a good laugh about it.

Sam leading the way back to the church

Marilyn and Nancy were both taking lots of pictures of flowers blooming in the countryside. Some of Marilyn’s ‘flower’ photos are scattered throughout this blog. There are many hiking trails on Naxos. Many are up mountains and through valleys which connect the villages. These paths have been used for hundred’s of years. We also like to stop at various historic sites and old churches. Every drive is filled with exciting things to see.

Another ancient church

A church cemetery

In Greece it is customary to exhume the dead after one, three or seven years. If the flesh has completely dissolved, the bones are washed in wine and reinterred. But if the body still has flesh on it………..I think I’ll let you look that up on your own. There’s also the part about drinking wine from the scull of someone with whom you had unresolved conflict but I’m not even sure if that is really true. 

I’ve posted some pictures of the marble mountains in my previous blogs. We stopped with Ed and Nancy at a place where they have huge blocks of marble being cut into slabs of different thickness.

Huge blocks of marble

While hiking it is common to find lots of goats and to lose track of the path. In the picture below I took a short cut only to come upon a fence which I tried to pull back so I could continue on my way. I got stuck for a while which made Marilyn glad she hadn’t followed me.

Being watched by the goats

As most of you will know, Greece is experiencing some very difficult times. Most people blame politicians and banks for the troubles which have led to high unemployment and economic collapse. Many people worry about the stability of the country. On Wednesday, the two largest unions called for a national strike day. There was also a protest in the town square in Naxos.

National day of protest

Still, many of our friends here are optimistic for things to get better. We finally met up with our dear friend Nikos who, in 2000, was the reason we ended up staying on Naxos for 4 months. His family own the Venetian Castle in Naxos and he is a big booster of Greek culture on the island. He is opening a new bar in May which he took us to see. After that, he opened up the castle for us and took us on a tour. This was ‘special’ because it is usually closed in the off season and our very personal tour can’t be booked through any travel agent.

Castle Tower

The castle was constructed in 1207 by the Italian named Marco Sanudo who invaded and captured the island and named himself Duke of Naxos. His ancestors ruled much of the Cyclades until 1564 when the Turks took over. The castle is filled with ancient relics and artifacts and in the high season it is a ‘museum’ offering tours.

Standing on the tower balcony

View of the port from the castle

In the dungeon Nikos has set up a concert area where he organizes concerts. We enjoyed a drink of rak-o-mello (raki, honey, and cinnamon) while Marilyn played a few songs. This is where we celebrated Nikos’ wedding in 2000.Here are a few more pictures throughout the castle. We also got to meet Nikos’ daughter whom we hadn’t seen since she was a baby. She is quite a lovely young lady who has a very good command of the English language. She is also taking piano lessons but was too shy to play for us.

Nikos’ daughter Andrea

A few months ago, Nikos was putting a new entrance into the castle off the patio when a worker discovered what appeared to be a door in the side wall. It was visible because of the way the sun was shining that particular day and time. Nikos removed a few stones and discovered there is a room which is under the current castle chapel. In the early writings, it is mentioned that Marco Sanudo was buried in ‘the chapel outside the castle walls’ but this chapel has never been discovered. Now Nikos thinks he may have discovered the burial site of Marco Sanudo. Nikos removed the few stones so we could see inside……very cool. We can hardly wait until he explores inside which he intends to do in the next few months.

Is this the ancient burial site of Marco Sanudo?

As if our day wasn’t already full, we headed down to Alyko beach to search for Naxos Eyes which can sometimes be found after a storm (which happened the night before). Nancy found 5, Marilyn found 2 and I found 3 which was a good haul. We then went out to the southern point of the island and watched a beautiful sunset.

We finished our day on Wednesday with a great meal and some Naxos wine at a nearby restaurant. The food is great on the Island and every restaurant gives huge portions. It is not uncommon for the restaurant owner to offer a free dessert after we’re already stuffed. This time we got a free liter of wine and then free cake. There is a lot of wine produced on Naxos and it can be bought in most stores in water bottles. We quite liked the wine we were drinking so we bought two bottles to take home with us.

Red wine purchased at the restaurant

Ed and Nancy enjoy scrabble so we’ve already played several games. As you can see from the picture below, Ed has an unfair advantage (in his lap). Just kidding. We’ve managed to get together with a lot of old friends but not all. A group of expats have arranged a music night and asked Marilyn to play. These are a lot of the same people who enjoyed coming out every Wednesday when Marilyn played each week at Bar Vegerra in 2000/2001. Nikos is also planning to arrange a music night.

Having coffee with the expats

I realize this is already a long blog and I many have lost some of my readers by now. Honestly, all this has happened in only seven days. A lot of our time was spent hiking and also exploring old town in Naxos. We also spent a day with Giannis and Maria when they took us to their son’s country house high in the hills. The pictures below provide a pretty good summary of the day……

Morning hike in Potamia

lunch at Niko’s country house

Picking lemons with Giannis

Driving back from Niko’s through the stream

Hiking Mount Zas in the late afternoon

Cave where Zeus was raised as a boy

On Sunday night, Marilyn played in old town at The Jazz Bar for a few hours. A lot of our old friends came out to hear her and also join in a sing-a-long. At the restaurant before going to the Jazz bar, both and Ed and I thought this calzone pizza for two was worth a picture.

Marilyn playing at the Jazz Bar

Here are a couple more pictures for those of you who just can’t get enough of Greece.  The first is a shop in Hora which Marilyn calls “The Stinky Cheese Shop”. It is where we buy our cheese and some spices and is full of really cool stuff. The next picture is of Nancy sitting in Zeus’ cave contemplating ancient history perhaps.

Stinky cheese shop

Today (Monday Feb 25th) we said goodbye to Ed and Nancy at the Naxos airport. We had such a great time with them and they love adventures as much as we do. This coming week, we have not guests visiting us but on March 4th we are looking forward to having Amy, Val, Rob and Kelly on Naxos. There are still so many places to explore on Naxos it is hard to know if we will take them to things we’ve just seen or go to some of the other interesting sites. The weather is getting better now so we’ll hope it stays warm for their time on Naxos.

Farewell to Ed and Nancy

Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades but still easy to drive its entirety over a couple of days. Apallonis on the north shore is only 54 Kilometers but it takes a couple of hours due to the many mountain twists and turns. It doesn’t help that I’m older, wiser, and more fearful of driving off the mountain than I used to be.

Kelly and Vicky and I drove to Apollonis for lunch and stopped along the way at various sites. The Agias Tower is accessible by a path and you can climb up the stairs to what used to be a home and lookout. This wouldn’t be allowed in the high season but there isn’t anyone around to keep people out.

Agias Tower on the North Shore

Vicky on the stairs of Agias Tower

When we first visited Naxos in 2000 and stayed for 4.5 months we did a drive to Apollonas at night. In front of the shops a large group of men were hauling nets in from the sea filled with small fish and emptying the nets on the paralia. It was quite exciting to watch and reminded us of the smelt season in Hawkestone.

High Above Apollonas

Apollonas is also the location of one of the four Kouros located on Naxos Island. We call this one “The Jay Leno” Kouros because it has a huge chin just like Jay’s. Jay said he found that kinda funny. The Kouros is a huge figure carved from marble. The four which exist on Naxos were abandoned at some stage for one reason or another and have been lying where they are for hundred’s of years.

Jay Leno Kouros

On our way back from Apollonas we drove to the Sanctuary of Demeter. We had tried to find it earlier in the week without success. However, we did manage to locate it this time thanks to a guy who spoke no English but could point really well.

Demeter’s Sanctuary

Marilyn and Kelly arranged a scavenger hunt in “Old Town” Naxos which involved finding a headless statue, a donkey, a cat, and a lot of other fun stuff. Everyone had to take pictures of what they found off the list. I won but was disqualified when the judges discovered my lemon tree was really a lime tree, my donkey was a horse, and the cat really didn’t have a sparrow in its mouth. Oh well.

Setting out on the scavenger hunt

Old Town Naxos

There’s a lot to see and do on Naxos and sadly we ran out of time with Kelly and Vicky. Vicky left on Thursday Feb 14 and Kelly left Feb 16. We had a great time together and were sad to see them go. Ed and Nancy arrive Monday so that will be fun. We did manage to get back to Alyko beach one last time to search for Eyes of Naxos. We found four. Here’s what they look like.

Naxos eyes from Alyko Beach

During the scavenger hunt we came across a few houses for sale in the Old Town and later checked out the prices. This one below (which seems to need a bit of work) is priced at 390,000 Euros. I don’t think it is going to sell considering the Greek economy.

House for Sale

SAYING GOODBYE TO VICKY AT THE NAXOS AIRPORT

At the Naxos Airport

At Rena Valetta we have one room for our bedroom and one for our community kitchen. It works out great.

Our room at Rena Valetta

Our Kitchen

We played a lot of scrabble with Kelly and will do so with Ed and Nancy I’m sure since we all love the game. We’ve also started playing Tavoli again which is a Greek game played on a Backgammon board. It’s a fast game and every bar has a Tavoli board.

Having a game of Tavoli

Yesterday we had one of the hottest days since our arrival on Naxos. At the south end of the island there is a huge abandoned resort which was well underway to being developed before the construction stopped. Now, after many years, nature is reclaiming it. I love wondering around it and I took some pictures yesterday.

This parrot has quite a vocabulary and mimics words if you stop to talk to it. It’s also trilingual….English, Greek, and Bird

That’s Marilyn on the left

Lush green valleys will soon be producing the vast amount of food grown on Naxos

One of the many hidden beaches on the island

On the roof of Rena Valetta with Vicky, Kelly and Marilyn

This is our third visit to Naxos Island in the Cyclades having lived on the Island for 4.5 months in 2000/01. We were picked up at the port by Giannis who is our landlord for the next six weeks. We also got to see our old friends Andreas and Nelly as well as Katarina and Stephanos, Maria and Manolis, and Dimitris.

Ferry from Athens to Naxos

In 2000 we came to Naxos because it was one of the few island with Ferry service after there had been a boat accident which killed 82 people. Our intention was to stay only one night but we went to some live music and dancing at the Kastro, got to know the owner who invited us to his wedding, and ultimately ended up staying over four months. Naxos is known as the ‘agriculture’ island and food is grown here for distribution around the Cyclades. It still has an active tourist component but not as big as other islands in the Aegean.

Port at Paros Island

After six days without Ferry Service our boat from Athens to Naxos was quite crowded. For only a few Euros extra we booked into the first class lounge which meant we were guaranteed a seat. As it turns out, it was well worth it for the 6 hour boat ride.

Marilyn and Kelly in “First Class”

As soon as we arrived we made arrangements to rent a car from Markis at Vision Car Rentals. The normal price is 25 Euros per day but we know Markis from previous visits and he gave us a car for 150 Euros for the entire month. That’s only 5 Euros per day. Having a car is fun on the island as there are so many ancient sites to explore and beaches and villages to visit.

Marble Mountain

Naxos also has an abundance of marble and every floor, stairway, counter top, etc. is made from Naxos marble. We first saw this marble mountain in 2000 and were interested to see how much smaller it is now after being cut away. The marble is removed in huge blocks and taken to a location where it is sliced into slabs of different thicknesses. There is marble discarded everywhere. (If you look closely at the picture above, you can see a truck at the bottom of the marble to give you some idea of the scale).

Hunting for Naxos Eyes

We traveled down the coast to one of my favourite beaches to look for Naxos eyes but the wind has been strong and it was a bit chilly near the sea. The “Eye of Naxos” is a natural jewel shaped by the sea and sand in the oval opening of a shell, and is one of the lovliest gifts you can give to a friend as it is believed to bring luck and good fortune. I’ve always found a few when staying on Naxos although most tourists only hear about them. They are made into jewelery and the shops in Naxos have lots on display in rings, ear rings, bracelets, etc. I’ll post a picture once I find one (on my secret beach).

Kouros

Exploring the narrow streets of Hora (Naxos Town)

Today, we all went on a hike with some local residents. Each Sunday, a group gets on a bus and travels to a location, hikes for a few hours and then gets picked up by the bus at the end of the hike. It isn’t a tourist event but something we know about from our previous time here. They are always interesting and often follow paths used hundred’s of years ago by mules to connect one village to the next. Our hike took us to the ruins of a Venetian Castle built around 1400AD. Here are some pictures of our climb and descent.

Vicky will be flying back to England on Wednesday and Kelly will leaving for India a couple of days later. Ed and Nancy arrive from Alberta on the 18th. It’s been windy and a bit chilly but 18-20C is still nicer than the weather in Canada. Tomorrow we are going to do some more driving around the island and Marilyn and Kelly also made up a scavenger hunt which we’ll do throughout the old town of Naxos.

On Wednesday January 30^th, we “loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly….hills that is”. Okay that might have been nice but what we did do was drive a Uhaul truck to Hawkestone Ontario with ‘stuff’ accumulated over 18 months in Saskatchewan. We also towed our vehicle behind so Marilyn and I could ride together. I’ve driven from coast to coast many times but never in the winter. All in all, it was a good trip but a lot slower on snow packed roads.

We spent five days with Ryan and Sally and Evan before flying to Greece. Evan stayed home from day care to be with us for three days and it was a great time to reconnect with him. He’s so much fun and daily influences our own language with what we call Evanisms. We just hope he didn’t fall too far behind on the days he missed at day care.

Our flight to Athens was incredibly smooth and actually arrived early. We met up at the airport with our friend Kelly who had just spent a few months in Cameroon. Kelly’s friend , Vicky, from England has also joined us in Greece.

Greece has been going through a lot of problems lately with 26% unemployment and numerous protests over austerity measures. This may explain why crime is also on the rise. On the metro train from the airport to city centre, I became a statistic when I was robbed by pickpockets. These guys were very smooth (I hate to use the word professional). They created a commotion, made like they were trying to get to the back of the crowd, jostled their way past me and got my wallet which was in a zipped pouch of my shoulder bag.

Temple of Athena Nike at the Acropolis

It has been more of an inconvenience than anything else. I didn’t have my money in my wallet so they missed out on 1400 Euros I had removed as a precaution.  I did lose credit cards and my driver’s license which were quickly cancelled and reordered using Skype calls. Fortunately, Marilyn still has her cards so now this trip is on her I guess….ha ha.

Lots and lots of motorcycles in Athens

We originally planned to stay only one night in Athens so Kelly and Vicky could visit the Acropolis. However, we found out upon our arrival that the Ferry workers have been on strike for the past few days. Since I bought our tickets through my new Greek friend Dennis at a travel agency in Athens, he let me know and was able to cancel the tickets for me.

I am strong supporter of Unions so I can be supportive of the workers. New legislation allowing the Ferry Lines to decide how many they need as crew has resulted in over 2000 layoff notices. I never think it’s a good idea to have the fox in charge of the hen house. Also, some workers have not been paid for six months.

Being ‘stuck’ in Athens turned out to be a stroke of luck for us. We have spent the extra days in Athens exploring the sites of the city and have seen and done things we missed on our previous visits. I’ve attached some pictures below……each being worth exactly 1000 words.

The Parthenon

Signs at the Parthenon say reconstruction and preservation efforts would be complete in 2004. There are still lost of cranes and lots of scaffolding but it looks like the project may have come to a stand still. Still, it is certainly an impressive site.

Roman theatre restored

Anyway, the government ordered the Ferry workers back to work, the police are enforcing the back to work legislation and we have tickets for a boat first thing tomorrow morning (Thursday Feb 7). All is well in the cradle of civilization where they have some really old rocks and lots of statues missing heads and arms – worthless junk now I guess.

Marilyn, Kelly and Vicky also went through the new museum which was voted ‘Best Museum in the World” by those people who get to vote on such matters. They all agreed it was amazing and impressive but not necessarily the best ever.

How to squish a temple

How to topple a temple

Athens is a tourist city with tons of outdoor restaurants, shops, and sites. Throughout the city, it is like a never ending carnival. There are squares located everywhere with musicians playing, people dancing, and a variety of other activities.

Some drummers and dancers in the square

I watched a guy make some very big bubbles

I’m not sure why but the anti-smoking movement has not hit Greece. It reminds me of 30 years ago in Canada before everyone discovered that smoking was the most disgusting habit in the world. Smoking is everywhere in Greece and all the restaurants allow smoking inside and out.

Lots of retail waiting for the tourist season

There is not much actual begging and we’ve seen very few homeless people on the streets but there are still a few things to get used to. For example, every restaurant has people hired to convince you to eat at their establishment. This means it takes a lot of time to be polite but make your way past a restaurant. All the restaurants have the menu outside but they insist on telling you verbally the food they prepare. If you show some interest but not too much, they will quickly offer a free glass of wine or a dessert. There are also lots of people selling flowers…mainly roses. Whenever you are sitting in an outside cafe you get approached. I’ve been approached more often perhaps because I’m traveling with three women. They don’t persist if you say no thanks. It is also fairly common for kids to have a cheap little accordion which they play in your ear and then ask for money. There are lots of talented musicians and singers busking on the street corners as well.

Changing of the guards at the Parliament Buildings

I guess that’s enough for now. We’re looking forward to getting to Naxos Island tomorrow and seeing some old friends. I’ll leave you with this picture of a Jabba the Hut sort of animal I say slithering around one of the parks. I’m not sure if this is its mouth or the other end.

It’s been a while since I’ve written on my blog. I guess the adventures in Saskatchewan aren’t as plentiful or as interesting as those in Africa. Still, its Christmas with lots of fun times planned for the holidays, so it seems like a good time to put pen to paper (huh….like I’m going to scribble words when I can type three times as fast).

This is the first Christmas since Marilyn’s father passed away so we are glad to be here. I’m sure there will be some sad moments and also lots of happy memories. Last year, Ed and Marg got out their flying machine and delivered presents around the neighbourhood. The picture below was taken just as they were landing in our driveway.  Marg, as you can see from the expression on her face, was a bit nervous with Ed’s/Santa’s flying, especially when he kept taking one hand off the wheel to wave to everyone.

It has been cold in Hanley since October with temperatures having gone as low as -24C. I can’t say I like it that much but it does create a beautiful landscape. The trees have been filled with ‘hoarfrost’ and it really is quite amazing. Hoarfrost, for those who don’t know, is a deposit of needle-like ice crystals formed on the trees by direct condensation at temperatures below freezing point. When the sun shines on the limbs it is stunning.

Hoarfrost close up

Marilyn has been involved in quite a few musical functions during the past few months. Wherever we go people seek her out. She played at the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Hanley Hall in November, participated in the Classical Afternoon variety show in Saskatoon, co-directed the Hanley Christmas Concert with her cousin Kathy, and has been giving voice lessons to some students at the Hanley Composite School.

Remembrance Day

Marilyn introduced ‘Reader’s Theatre’ into the Christmas concert and convinced me to participate with two other people in reading through “The Gift of the Maji” which is a clever little tale about a young couple who are so anxious to give each other a loving present for Christmas they both screw up.

Song from Mikado at the Classical Afternoon

When the sun was shining one cold day (they’re all cold), I decided to go for a walk around the town of Hanley and take some pictures.

The Hanley Pub

The Hanley Arena

As with many small towns, Hanely struggles to raise money for its community hall and arena and curling rink. The ice in the rink is installed and maintained by volunteers and there are lots of fund raising dinners and shows. Hanley had an active Community Theatre Group which put on plays for the past 15 years but those in charge got tired and there hasn’t been a play for the past two years. Although quite successful in raising funds, the Theatre Group failed to nurture new people who would take over which is a fundamental principle if you want to develop a strong sense of community.

Ice Rink Inside

When I was out for my walk, I was easily able to access the inside of the arena – all the doors were open so the cold air from outside could freeze the ice inside.

Marilyn and I took Marilyn’s mom to see the Enchanted Forest in Saskatoon which is a major “winter” tourist attraction. Sponsored by many businesses, it is a display of amazing lights which has grown and developed over the years. It takes about an hour to travel through it in your car.

Entrance gates to the Enchanted Forest

Just one of the many “light” creations

The “Idle No More” protest initiative (which was actually started by some women in SK) has been spreading across the country and Marilyn and I joined the protest in Saskatoon last Friday. It is primarily a ‘native Canadian’ protest movement but has interest to anyone concerned about recent changes to the Federal environmental regulations. I’ve joined a lot of protests in my day but this one is unique because it is based in ‘native ritual’ with drumming and singing.

Aboriginal ‘prayers’ near the Saskatchewan River

‘Circle’ of friendship while the drums beat

I think the world could use a good ‘cleansing’ but, alas, the Mayan prediction didn’t come true. The bomb shelter we constructed in our back yard cost $30,000 but right from the beginning I knew we could use it for all kinds of other things if the Mayan’s were wrong. Looks like we’ll have a great ‘cold storage’ room for next year’s vegetables, an extra bedroom when guest stay over, or a safe haven after Korea and Iran develop nuclear weapons.

We are having Christmas dinner with Marilyn’s immediate family today (Dec 23) and going bowling on Dec 28 with about 50 members of her extended family. After the bowling we are having traditional Christmas pizza and going back t0 Aunt Ag’s for a sing-a-long.

Marilyn and I wish all of you a happy holiday and a fantastic 2013. Unlike the guy in the picture below, we hope your ‘ride’ through 2013 stays on track.

Heading home after a fun night at the pub in Hanley

If you’ve become a CFL fan, as one must be in SK, you’ve seen the snow falling and the cold air from Cow Town to Winterpeg and ToonTown in between. So it was a good time to head south. Marilyn and I took three days and went to Regina (which doesn’t seem to have a nick name). Still as cold, of course, but fun. Marilyn arranged invitations to the opening of the 27th session of the SK legislature. I’ve wanted to see and tour the parliament buildings since coming here.

SK is now a ‘have’ Province banking on potash, oil, and uranium to boom (excuse the pun). Of course we all hope agriculture does well too.  Best I can tell, the crop in our area was between anywhere from okay to  good this year. Anyway, it was fun attending the ‘Throne Speech’ and seeing the pomp and ceremony.

SK Parliament building erected 1908-1911

After we finished having ‘tea’ in the Legislative Building with all the members of parliament, we checked into our downtown hotel, went out to the Copper Kettle for dinner and picked up our tickets for a play at the Globe Theatre. We didn’t know much about the play called “Midsummer”  and had the option of seeing “Billy Bishop Goes To War” which was playing on the larger of the two Globe theatres. Turns out “Midsummer” was the best play I’ve seen in a long time. It was so funny. We’d highly recommend you get in your car right now and drive to Regina to see it.

Here’s the write up from the brochure

A Midsummer’s weekend in Edinburgh. It’s raining. Bob’s a failing car salesman on the fringes of the city’s underworld. Helena’s a high-powered divorce lawyer with a taste for other people’s husbands. She’s totally out of his league; he’s not her type at all. They absolutely should not sleep together. Which is, of course, why they do.

“The most ambitious play writing on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe” – The New York Times

**** [4 Stars] “With its gently poignant pop songs and honest humour, it’s rough, ready – but still romantic.” – The Globe and Mail

*Warning: this production contains mature content not suitable for persons 18 and under. Please contact the Box Office if you have any questions.

Stairs leading to the rotunda in the parliament buildings

 

Real Mounties, not Halloween Costumes

It was great for me to see the changing colours on the fields over an entire year. I made a lot of trips to Section 10 and got enough done to close up the house for winter. I wish there was some more nice weather so I could lay the new flooring, finish the drywalling, and build the wrap around deck.

Marg and Marilyn scraping off some old tile flooring

Section 10

Working on the foundation

The new subflooring

I’m sure most of you know about the flocks of geese in SK but you may not know about the cranes. Whole fields along the canal were filled with cranes on a few days on the way to Section 10. One day miles of fields were covered with brown and white Canada geese and I stopped my truck to get some pictures. As soon as I closed the truck door, the first wave of geese took to the air, then the second, then the third until literally tens of thousands were darkening the sky.

Crane in flight

Geese taking flight after being startled

Everyone is really missing Ed but Marilyn and her mom and family are doing well. Marilyn presented the first Ed Peters Memorial Scholarship to a student at the Hanley Composite School on Tuesday October 7th to  Mikaela Kilcup who is in first year of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.

Bob, Marg, Mikaela and Marilyn at the award celebrations

We have made arrangements to go to Greece in January for a few weeks. Marg is coming with us, for some of the time, and other friends are also planning to spend a bit of time with us on Naxos Island. With the cold weather coming early to SK, we are counting the days. We will be spending Christmas this year in SK and visiting Ryan and Sally and Evan in January during a stop-over. We also want to go back to Japan again this year to see Sean and Makiko and Julian. Old age sure is a busy time of life.

Below is our place in Naxos. Rena Valetta is the same place we stayed for 4 months in 2000. If you want to visit us between Jan 24 and March 10 give us a call and we’ll book your room ($25 per night)

Sadly, Marilyn’s father passed away on Wednesday August 29th. He had started to become quite weak in the weeks before but each visit to a Doctor focused on his heart and ultimately each one missed the real problem which was cancer. Just two weeks before his death, he was finally diagnosed with cancer in his lungs, kidney, and liver. For the last two weeks of his life, Marg and Marilyn and Margie did a super job of caring for him in his home. His funeral will be held on Wednesday Sept 5, in Hanley. We are certainly going to miss all the activities we’ve been doing together but Marilyn and I are extremely pleased that we decided to move to Hanley last year.

Doug’s grave stone

It was only a few weeks previous that the family installed a new head stone at Doug’s grave. Marilyn’s brother Bill carved it out of a large rock showing Doug’s love of horses. It took a team of people to drop the heavy grave stone into place but Ed did it with ease as he manipulated the tractor.

We also went to a dedication of a new polo field near Saskatoon which has been named in honour of Doug. Doug trained polo horses and played polo for many years.

Ed and Marg and the family were the guests of honour and Ed and Marg tossed out the first ball to get a game underway between Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Everyone was very proud, the game ended in a 6-6 tie, and a meal was served following the game.

Ed, Marilyn and Marg at the polo game

We were also happy that Ryan, Sally, and Evan got a chance to visit with Ed and Marg prior to his death. They came out to Hanley on the 22nd of August and we had a great time showing them our new home and some of the Prairie sights. This has been a good year for seeing our grandchildren. We were in Japan in May with Sean, Makiko, and Julian….then we went to Ontario in July and spent time at Ryan and Sally’s when Sean and Julian were there and finally a the time spent here in Hanley.

Evan and Marilyn in Ontario in July

A family outing in Elora

Ryan and Sally visited us in Hanley in August and we got to show off our ‘amazing’ little grandchild.

At the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon

Grampa and Evan at Section 10

Marilyn and I also had a busy summer in Saskatchewan. I’ve been doing a lot of renovations to the house we moved to Section 10, Marilyn put in some beautiful flowerbeds, and our vegetable garden has really produced a lot of great meals.

Drilling for water at Section 10

One of Marilyn’s flower beds at our home in Hanley

Our vegetable garden

Marilyn and I also traveled north to the Ness Creek Music festival which is in the middle of a large forested area. While we were there, we met a group from Mozambique called Wazimbo and ended up spending a lot of time with them. There was a lot of great music and it certainly had a friendly ’60’s’ kind of feel to it.

Ness Creek Main Stage

Hanging out with Wazimbo band members

One group we really liked is from Vancouver called Hey Ocean. Check out their music if you are looking for some interesting sound and lyrics.

Ness Creek Small Stage

Ness Creek Drum Circle

On our way home from Ness Creek we stopped in Prince Albert and toured John Diefenbaker’s home and later we stopped in Duck Lake which is a small prairie town with many large murals painted on the buildings.

John Diefenbaker’s home when he was a lawyer in Prince Albert

Main Street of Duck Lake

One of the many murals in Duck Lake

Evan and Grampa

I just spent 10 fun days in Ontario and returned home to find our community ravaged by a severe storm with 100 mile an hour winds. I left Ryan and Sally’s house at 1 pm to catch a 4pm flight on Tuesday which was suppose to land in Saskatoon at 5:20pm. Unfortunately, we flew into the storm which was hovering around Saskatoon, circled for 20 minutes before the pilot decided to get the hell outa here and head for Edmonton. I have never been on a plane which dropped so far so fast and shifted sideways so far. It was really quite scary.

Tree down and broken fence

To add to the ‘adventure’, a lot of people got sick due to the sudden shifts in the plane, including the 13 month old girl and young mother seated next to me. I helped clean up as much as possible but the mom was covered in puke when Morgan threw up all over her front and down her blouse. The flight attendants wouldn’t let anyone get out of their seats so there wasn’t much we could do. Then other passengers started using their barf bags and another little girl in the seat directly in front of me let loose her stomach and it was oh so smelly that the guy sitting next to them also got sick.

Our family of Wrens survived the storm in their nice house outside our kitchen window

In Edmonton we were asked to leave the plane so they could clean up the mess. A few hours later, we got back on and flew to Saskatoon where the storm had passed. I arrived at 11:30pm but was glad to be safely home.

Evan starts Karate too

At our house, we lost a huge limb from a poplar tree which took out a section of our fence. Our yard was covered in branches of all sizes. In true Saskatchewan style, a group of high school students and some adults came around with rakes, bobcats, and trailers to haul away the debris. The town opened up the land fill site to accommodate everyone. We were also without our telephone for three days when one big branch took out the wires. Fortunately, it just missed the power line.

My vegetable garden also survived the storm

That said, I had a great time in Ontario visiting friends. I went to attend a meeting at Seneca but took some extra time to tour around. First (and last) stops were with Ryan and Sally and Evan. Evan has grown so much and is now talking a lot. He is so sweet and the spitting image of how Ryan looked when he was the same age. Ryan has started back at Karate which he did back when he was in high school and University. He has set up a “karate gym” in his garage.

Ryan’s Karate Gym

I spent time with Darryl, Lisa, Bradley and Britney before having an evening (with dinner) at Rob and Kelly’s. Next night, Paul and I went to the Casino for dinner and a bit of easy money. Actually, I ended up winning $383.00.

Marilyn has been working on a huge flower garden

On the Friday, Amy and I went to her cottage on Bear lake. Jeremy came after work and Doreen arrived on Saturday. It was two days of glorious weather before a rainy day on Sunday before returning on Monday.

I didn’t take many pictures during my visit to Ontario but here are a few left on my camera.

Marilyn did some crafts with Julian in Japan

Would you trust this flight crew?

Makiko and Marilyn in matching tops from Costa Rica