Ayious Nicholas

We are just back from Ayious Nicholas which was about a 45 min drive through the mountains to another part of the coast. The scenery was amazing! Small white washed churches perched on hillsides, cloud covered mountain peaks and stunning views across the water. We walked along the water front and then ate too much at a fish restaurant (calamari, meat balls with cumin, snails, octopus and Greek salad). Afterwards we browsed some shops and heard all about the Papadoulis family that lives nearby in Kritsa. A shop owner knew the family well (apparently they are a big family here and well respected) and tried to find us some phone numbers but there were too many Papadoulis' in the phone book. At least we have the names in Greek so when we go to Kritsa tomorrow we can ask in the village. Cassie enjoyed herself - she seems to have grown up a bit more and is using a lot more words now, but not too much Greek! We drove home to sunset on the water, a feeling of nostalgia about Manny's family roots and what his grandfather went through to leave his home and move to Australia. We ran out of time to see Kritsa which is only 10km from Ayious Nicholas so we will go back tomorrow morning before lunch.

Last night's meal in the taverna was wonderful. We ate fava (mashed beans), cheese, tzatziki, pork and goat in a red wine sauce from the mountains. Yanni wanted Manny to have goat as he had been talking about it during the day. It was so tender, even Cassie liked it. It was so nice to be somewhere truly Greek. The village here is very touristy with a few too many lilly-legged English so we appreciated being away from the Irish bars and chips, egg and HP sauce menus. The taverna served wine in tumblers, with paper table cloths and a friendly cat prowling for scraps. Not a tourist in sight and just what we had been hoping for.

We managed to change all of our flights today and it's a nice feeling to relax in the knowledge that we are here for a week with no more airports and crazyness to deal with. The weather is still warm in the day but cooling off at night. We have both bought the obligatory tourist clothes of white cheese-cloth shirts and we are putting them to good use. Manny definitely has his Greek Adonis look happening :)

Kali Nichta
Sue