Greece Day 1 - June 17 - The village of Taxiarchis

We arrived in Athens and then drove east to Arkitsa to take the ferry to the island of Euboea (sometime spelled and pronounced Evias) and then to the small village of Taxiarchis where Nick's parents live. They live in the same house that his grandparents settled in after the Greeks were forced out of Asia Minor in 1914 (I later learned that I slept in the same room where Nick was born. I asked if they have gotten a new bed since then). When we got there we talked for bit with his parents but I was tired and went to sleep pretty early. I slept pretty soundly until about three am when I realized that I really had to go to the bathroom. There was one problem, the house was small and I knew they had indoor plumbing, but had no idea where the bathroom was! I lay there in agony for a while seriously contemplating peeing in the yard when the lights in the joining room – the room where Ann and Nick were staying - came on. I quickly got up and asked Nick where the bathroom was. He laughed when he realized that I had no idea that the bathroom was just off the kitchen. Relieved (literally) I went back to sleep only to be awakened a few hours later by the sounds of rooster crowing and the occasional dog barking. I knew we were in a small village but this was the first time in my life that roosters woke me up! I eventually fell back to sleep only to wake up shortly after the sun rise to the sound of a voice over a very cheesy loudspeaker some where outside. I had flashes of South American revolutionaries driving around alerting the townspeople of the upcoming coup. I learned later that the loudspeakers were on trucks driving around the village selling anything from meat, fish and vegatables, to cookware to clothes! I slept for a little while longer with the occasional loudspeaker announcement piercing the air. When I got up I went outside where Nick’s mom, Konstantina – Dina - signaled for me to take a seat outside at the table. She does not speak any English but communicated to me quite well with her gesturing. This is the first time I see the village in daylight, it is located on an uphill slope and the streets are narrow; and most of the street traffic is people riding around on tractors. The houses are all white stucco with a reddish orange tile roofs. As I sit outside I am joined for a few moments by a small lizard. A few minutes later Nicks mom, appears carrying a plate with a few pieces of cheese, a biscotti like bread stick and a cup of thick strong Greek coffee.







Nick’s mom and dad are very wonderful and very interesting people, they know almost no English so Nick has to translate most of the time. His mom is a very outgoing woman with a good sense of humor. His dad (Lykourgos) is a very sweet man who spent his entire career as an Athens police officer. Most of it in vice! That is kind of a funny image because he is a very religious, gentile, extremely neat and fastidious man.

We rest most of the first day except when Ann, Nick and I drive to town to check out where the hot baths are. The town Aidipsos is quite well known for their hot baths and most of them are located in the tourist hotels at a cost of 20 euros for 20 minutes-quite expensive. However, we are in search of a beach area where we heard that for 2 euros you can lay in the sea and enjoy the hot run off from the springs that feed the hotels. We have trouble locating the place so instead we go to one of the many water front cafes for some coffee and snacks. It is very warm out so we find a nice place along the water in the shade so we can get a good view and enjoy the water. The water in Greece is amazingly clear. Unfortunately the solitude of the spot we have chosen to sit is broken by the owner of the fishing boat in front of us who is working on his boat with power tools and the radio cranked up.




That afternoon we went with Nicks parents to visit a couple small churches in the village where they live.











For dinner we went up the hill to the little town square. The restaurant, owned by friends of Nick’s family, pulled some tables together under some trees in the square. We had the first of many souvlaki meals that did not start until 9 at night! The evening was near perfect, dinner in the small town square, everyone around seemed to know each other, kids were running and playing, the food and wine were flowing. I commented that the only thing to make this a perfect setting would be if the square had a used CD shop. No more then five minutes had passed when I noticed a man walking towards us carrying two bags. He came up to the table and held out a few stacks of bootleg CD’s! He had hundreds of CD’s on him, unfortunately they were all CD’s of Greek music. Next time I will be more specific in what I wish for.