Driving and living

It is raining today in Lesvos, not a heavy rain, more like the rains in Seattle. Early in the morning we drove to the small point of land called the Cape of Agios Focus at the end of the Vatera beach. The ancient harbor here was paved with smooth stones to keep the pirates and raiders from anchoring their boats. Above the harbor is the ancient temple of Dionysus, the well of Achilles and a small, modern Greek Orthodox church. The road to this place is semi paved with rough concrete and the last portion of narrow, rutted road goes up a steep hill but ends abruptly with a fence. There is no place to turn around so we had a bit of fun backing down the narrow, rutted steep road. While this was a relatively safe maneuver, there was an opportunity to go over the cliff, roll the car and end up in the Aegean Sea. Fortunately, with a little skillful driving, some loss of traction and a 90 degree turn, we safely made it down the hill backwards.

With no other lunch plans we drove to Polichnitos to the taverna with free internet. Polichnitos is a village with narrow, steep streets, many one way only, the problem is figuring out which is the right way as you wind uphill watching for traffic and squeezing between other cars, with no exact idea of where you are going or how to escape. As we came around a tight corner all I saw was a flash of yellow, and as my life passed before my eyes, the small yellow car was able to stop within inches of my door. Who says this is a dull, boring village?

While we were sitting in the taverna, the folks we met earlier in the week stopped to invite us to their home. They spotted the burnt orange Panda and knew we were there; apparently this is the only burnt orange panda in the entire island so we are easy to spot.

“The foreigners with the burnt orange Panda”.

Later we stopped by their house in Vrissa. The folks have an interesting past having met in Paris as college students. Panu is from the Congo, while Mary is from New York. They married and settled in Athens, had three children who now live in NY and Maryland. Their house is very unusual, built on a street corner on a narrow street. They have been working on this house for years; it took more that four years just to purchase the property since it was owned by several family members who did not speak to each other. Only a couple of the original walls are still in existence, everything else is new. Nice workmanship but apparently it was quite a challenge to obtain materials, engage good workers and keep the construction according to the plans. They have since purchased two adjacent properties, have almost finished one and will soon start to renovate the second. These are old, buildings, in poor condition that require lost of work. The one house had an earth floor where they kept olive oil in large clay pots, and the goats and sheep stayed in the first floor while the family lived in upper floors.

Not sure I would have the patience to take on a major project considering all the obstacles.