Home Again

Yes, I've already begun to think of my little house in Drapanias as home, especially since our road
trip to Santorini, which involved navigating unknown highways and city streets in my rental car. I'm not the most confident driver to begin with, so it was all a bit challenging but I managed to do so without further damaging my vehicle.

The cats are adjusting after their stay with Kissamos Cats. I thought for a while there that they were never going to forgive me for dropping them in the care of complete strangers, in an outdoor enclosure, no less (they are completely unused to being outdoors, and although the cattery has very nice, roomy, secure facilities with a little house inside where they can hide, I imagine the strange sounds and sights and smells must have been quite scary to them). Cleo was more traumatized than Rikki, but they're both lounging on my bed now as if nothing occurred, so hopefully their little pea-brains will forget it all very quickly.

I can tell already that I'm going to love Crete, and my little corner in particular. There is a natural beauty and laid back atmosphere here, but just five miles away in the town of Kastelli there are shops and tavernas that pretty much provide all the conveniences one could want. Even the little mini-market up the street from my house sells the basics.

However, this most recent trip to Santorini, my third, has confirmed that I still find it the most beautiful place on earth. I think Merit concurs. We had a wonderful time there.

A few pictures from a sunset/dinner sailing excursion:






















An ouzeri in Oia, Santorini, where we ate lunch on our last day. It was the first really sophisticated food we've had since we've been here, and the atmosphere was sublime. I had stuffed red peppers to start, then snails in a garlic and tomato sauce. Merit had a Greek salad (which she has eaten every day since coming to Greece) and "stripsi", a cheese pie with honey. She wasn't really crazy about her cheese pie, but she wasn't about to ask me to supplement her meal with any of my snails. She's got several pictures of me scooping the globulous critters out of their shells, and I found her dedication to photographing my meal admirable, given that it was done between bouts of gagging on her part.










A very sweet old man trying to sell post cards outside one of the tourist traps where we ate one evening. We each got up from our meal separately to go buy some from him, because none of the other jerk tourists were giving him the time of day. He was very appreciative. And for some reason thought that we were Dutch.










The customary complimentary after dinner digestif. In western Crete it's Rakki, some places get a little more creative. We've had ouzo, vin santo and some desert liquor with a cinnamon flavor . Very civilized, if you ask me.










Moonrise over the eastern side of Santorini.