Over the last week we've had a few visitors from back home. First, we had Foti's Nona (Godmother) visit on Saturday. He was very excited and couldn't wait to show her everything about his new house. That visit was short and hopefully we'll be able to visit her in her family's village before she leaves Greece.
Our next visitor was Pete. Pete has been a friend of ours for the better part of our marriage. He's visiting southern Greece for a few weeks and we were lucky enough to have him travel up north so that he could spend a few days with us before he was on to his island hopping and family visits. It was great to have a friend from home here for a few days. He brought me a Hershey's Symphony bar and Jalapeno seeds for my garden. The kids were thrilled because he gifted them with fruit snacks and Fruit Roll-ups.
It seems that he arrived just in time for the summer heat to turn up and we all suffered together. I kept joking about how shiny we all were and how Greece has given us such a healthy glow...he'd roll his eyes. 
Pete was also lucky enough to meet our little owl. It ventured down the fireplace to have a peek at us earlier in the day and then at around 2:00 am as we were enjoying a conversation it decided to join us. Pete was more than happy to help me lead the owl out of the house. It flew into a window, bump into walls and finally ended up behind the TV. The little guy seemed exhausted. Pete wrapped it in a towel and took it to the window so that it could fly out and that's exactly what it did. It took a minute to assess the situation before it actually took off. I'm very surprised at how calm the owl was when Pete picked him up. It didn't seem alarmed at all. That was really cool.
The kids enjoyed running around the statue of Alexander the Great.
And then they just ran around the park area. They had a blast.
When we were walking back to the car we noticed police officers ticketing cars that were illegally parked and one was even equipped with a power drill/screw driver. As they ticketed vehicles for being parked illegally they were also removing license plates. I can't say that our timing couldn't have been more perfect as our car was next in line for the punishment. We won't be stopping there for a quick picture again without looking at all of the signs. It didn't seem like an illegal parking spot as we waited for the spot when we were parking and there were cars parked all the way down the street. But then again we're in Greece and anything goes. We've got to be more careful. It would have really stunk if we had to go to retrieve our plates at the police station...we know because we've already done it! That's another story...
So Pete left yesterday afternoon and now I'm trying to catch up with everything that I've neglected over the last few days. Until my next post...
How can you tell what's illegal? LOL. It's wonderful to have visitors from home (especially when they bring gifts!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a nownderful thing to see friends and share with them a nice time.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun having visitors from home. Most of my friends are too poor to make the trip here, even with the promise of free food and lodging! That's what I get for making friends with people from Humanities programs in college instead of the Business folks I guess.
ReplyDeleteWhen we go downtown these days, unless it is a Sunday, we bite the bullet and pay for parking at a designated lot. We are so over the days of driving around looking for parking. And it is very hard to tell what is illegal when ten million other people are parking in the same place!
always leave room for comers and goers during the greek summer - you'll gt used to it!
ReplyDeleteYou can blame your visitors for bringing the heat with them. That's what people used to do to me when I lived in NY and visited. I'm glad you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to think about an owl wrapped in a towel. Honestly, I wouldn't think to do that out of fear of giving the poor thing a heart attack (that's actually happened when we tried to take a bird gently outside in a handkerchief).
Lucky that you kept your license plates too. Sometimes lady luck is smiling :)
Syd-LOL! I know, right? no one ever knows what the hell is going on around here. The Hershey's chocolate was appreciated. When he asked me what I wanted and I asked for that he was shocked and noted that some of the best chocolate is here, in Europe. I agree, but they don't have Hershey's!
ReplyDeletePhilip-It was wonderful and we were sad to see him go. It's nice to be around people that actually understand me.:)
Mel-We usually pay for parking too, without thinking twice. We parked on the waterfront just to snap pictures and we couldn't have been away from the car for more than 20 minutes-I can't believe that there were actually police officers enforcing parking restrictions. I think that taking a license plate is a pretty good idea actually, a little harsh but if it works I say take them!
Maria- I know, we're expecting quite a heavy year next year. I think that most of our friends are giving us a bit more time to settle. We definitely have a "booking" for Sept. 2009 though.
Kat- Actually, we did blame him. We told him that it was fine before he came and it's fine today so it was totally him!
I was a bit skeptical about wrapping the owl in the towel but Pete said he knew what he was doing so I let him. The owl didn't budge and accepted his help. I thought it was amazing.
And about the plates, I know! We don't need any distractions outside of what we've got going on here! We were lucky.
My brother and wife visited us last year in Greece - they couldn't understand the parking signs and ended up parking illegally. It was a 90Euro ticket but at least they left the license plates. Your owl saga would make a good short story.
ReplyDeleteLaurie-I agree, they are lucky! 90 Euro is steep though.
ReplyDeleteI know, my owl story would make a great short story, I agree.