A three hour walk to town

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Despite having done some shopping yesterday, there are still a few items we found we missed, so after breakfast Evy and I set off to walk to the closest supermarket 6 km from here. With the sun shining and the lighter weekend traffic, it was actually a good walk through the countryside, though by the time we got back, having walked over 12 km, we were both zapped.

In the early afternoon, Tashos, our upstairs family's oldest son, dropped by and said he would like to take us to Lake Prespa. Later on, his father Louis came by and invited us all to go out tonight to Ouzo in Kastoria so, after a souvlaki dinner at home, we all piled into their car (along with Lea, his wife) and headed off.

Lake Kastoria, with the lights of the town reflected in the still water, looks beautiful on such a clear cold night. The restaurant in Kastoria (Cofu therapy), was a quite swanky place with neon blue lighting and a bar made from sand layered between two sheets of glass. Though I had thought we were just going out for Ouzo, Louis ordered several delicious plates of Calamari and other snacks along with tzatziki.

We haven't usually liked Ouzo, which has a strong licorice flavour, but on ice which dilutes it a bit, and served with delicious Greek food, it seemed more palatable.

I find bars with the music playing and all the noise very difficult to hear in at the best of times. Add to this the language barrier (we know only a few words in Greek, Louis speaks just a bit of English, Lea none at all), it was tough to make conversation. I ended up pulling out my iphone to show them photos from home to have something to share as it wasn't going to be easy to have a conversation. This was a good ice breaker and gave us a change to share a bit of where we come from (though often in pantomime form to get the message across). Joshua entertained himself making intricate sculptures out of the spent Ouzo corks and toothpicks. In the end, it was a great evening and we were very grateful for their kindness in taking us all out and showing us a bit of “the real Greece”.

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