Week 40 and 41 in Greece

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Tuesday 17th August
Androniki, a relative from Melbourne comes to stay with us for a few days. We go to Salonika and show her the main sights. Androniki makes some pastelli (a sesame and nut bar) to show us how to do it. She asked for a blender to crush the nuts which were to be added to the mixture, but we used a meat mallot and it seemed to work OK.
We enjoyed the wonderful news that there was a new addition to the Haritonidis/ Anderton Family with the safe arrival of Isabella.
On 1st September we go with Androniki and travel to Arnea so she can met her travel group. Arnea is 70km from Salonika and an old traditional town not unlike Metsovo in North Western Greece, with the stone houses and the windows extending over the road with the wooden supports. The mountains are tinged with mauve from the thyme plants flowering. There were hundreds of honey boxes around them and the area is renown for the honey it produces. Arnea has a huge platenous tree ( plane tree) right in the centre of the town. We actually did go through this town when George, Michael’s brother drove us to a monastery about 3 months ago, but we did not stop at that time. .
We walked around the town and went to the little museum there. They had displays of bread making equipment, honey collecting and also wood working tools and some hand tools like sythes which were used on the farms
Michael visits Voulgari Street Market and buys some large tomatoes from Florina which Mama will use as seeds for tomato plants in her vegetable garden next summer. It is one of the biggest street markets in Salonika and has a huge array of items for sale.
Thurs 3rd September
We catch the bus early in the morning to the Railway Station and catch the train to Florina. It takes about 2 hours 40 mins and is an older train. Last time we went there on the train it was all snow outside on the countryside. We say our farewells to our relatives there as we will be returning to Australia soon.

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Photos

Arnea House
The older houses "cribbed" a bit of space by building over the street

Hardware Store Arnea
Although small,this shop sold many products

Androniki Cooking
Demonstrating how to make Pastelli

Peppers For Sale
A variety of peppers were on sale at the Voulgari Street Market

New Season's Apples
These look so crunchy!

Figs for Sale
Figs only have a short season. Enjoy them!

Cranberries
These were for sale out of the back of a van

Eggs at Market
Different prices for different sized eggs

Feta in Bulk
At the Leiki (Street Market)

Pumpkins
This shows the size of the pumpkin.

Honey Tools
Extraction tools on display at Arnea Museum.

Horse Stirrups
These on display at Arnea Museum

Old Wood Working Tools
At the Arnea Museum

Bread Baking Forms
These wooden forms were at the Arnea Museum

Bread Stamps
In Arnea Museum, these wooden stamps for the special religious bread

Costume Display
Some traditional costumes were on display in Arnea Museum

Weaving Equipment
Colourful rugs were woven by this weaving loom at Arnea Museum

Arnea Back Street
This shows the use of stone in the buildings