Easy Living

Dear Friends and Family, Well, Paradise was a little breezy and cloudy today (Saturday, 18 August). It really began early in the morning. We find ourselves, despite vacation mode, rising at about 4:45 to 5 am. Partly, it is such a wonderful time of the day. In this very rural setting, there are times when you can literally hear NOTHING! It is amazing. Also, the night sky, just about a hour before the first hints of light gather in the east, is so clear, the stars so bright and there is just this expansive canopy of darkness that is a wonder. And then, of course, you go through the various stages of morning light. In fact, I caught this photo this morning to give you a sense of, at least, one of the stages.

Saturday was an easy day. As I think I have said before, we are usually pretty wiped out after an extended day trip. Wasn’t quite as bad yesterday, but we did decide to take it even easier than we normally take it. I got a walk in and took our laundry down to the village and Polley and I just sat by the pool and read. I have been immersed in the 5th book of the Game of Thrones (been reading it ever since this trip began) and I was determined to finish before the day was out . . . and I did! But, of course, with the end came the certainty of a book 6! Despite the breeze, Polley and I did go into the village to check e-mail and see our friends at Ormos Café. They are very nice and certainly work hard. While there I took a cuple of more pictures of the harbor as I don’t think I have previously focused on the bathers in the bay.

Opposite us is an hotel and a kind of public beach where anyone can go and for the price of a beach chair and an umbrella, they can spend the day . . . and they do.

Sissi does not have any beach, so the majority of the swimming takes place in this bay. The absence of a beach is also one of the reasons that the town has not been developed more than it has After doing a big of grocery shopping, having lunch and, of course, our siesta, Polley and I returned to Ormos about sundown. Last night was particularly dramatic largely because there were some clouds in the sky that you see here playing across the sun as it is headed down.

The problem with sunsets is that you just don’t know when to stop shooting as, at times, they just get increasingly intense and colorful. I like this shot as I captured the silhouette of a couple with the setting sun as a backdrop.

Once we had tucked the sun away for the night, we headed up to Liofito, a family-run restaurant in a little garden setting

We have become regulars there. The food is very good and the family that runs it are very nice. It is also very inexpensive, which is a plus as well. There is also a pretty little waitress-busgirl(?), Manuela, seen here with Polley.

The first night I stopped to make a reservation, she was wearing a kind of off the shoulder, asymmetrical top with her hair braided and she looked to me like some sort of Greek goddess! She told us she is not part of the family, just an employee, but a very attractive addition to the atmosphere. We had a wonderful meal, especially some fried tomato fritters. Fabulous! Aside from eating and drinking a litre of wine, we mostly played with a couple of the family cats. I am not sure if I have mentioned “Charming Charlie” before, but charming he is.

He is a real delight and frisks about from table to table, but seemed especially drawn to Polley (Surprise, Surprise!) last evening.

He has a brother, whose name we don’t know. He is a bit more cautious, but eventually was in my lap for 30 minutes or so. Lastly, each time we have been there, about 10 minutes before we are ready to leave, these 3 musicians wander in

They are never playing anything Greek. Usually in is some Mexican number, like "Besa me mucho" that we recognize from PV. They are not really very good, but are most insistent that you make a contribution. If not, they threaten to keep on playing! Anyway, a lovely day and we hope to duplicate it tomorrow. Tune in to find out if we are able to do little or nothing two days in a row.