Watermelon Man

  

Job: selling watermelon and freshly pressed olive oil by the side of the road in Greece

Name: Santos

Age: 85 

I love watermelon and can't get enough of it in the summer especially while trying to survive the scorching heat of Greece in the summer. We stopped, had some water, ate some watermelon and had a chat with Santos for a little while. 

He spoke perfect Italian as he went to school in Greece when it was under Italian rule. He remembered the change over to Greek power and was a great person to speak to about the history of the region and politics at the time. 

He's a lovely man that told us about all of his grandchildren and his life growing up in the beautiful hills that surrounded his truck - he came here each day to sell the olive oil that was produced by his family nearby and was happily listening to the radio when we arrived. He said he meets people from all around the world each day that stop to take photos of the vista and to eat his watermelon. It's always nice to meet locals and hear their life stories, he had a blessed life and was a very cheeky, happy and enthusiastic man.  After purchasing some olive oil and grapes he washed them for us and even added a few extra sweet sesame seed goodies in our bag. 

Kindness, a smile and great olive oil - lovely things that remind us about our travels in Greece now that the nights are getting shorter and darker and colder. I hope any of you that travel around the island of Rhodes see Santos on your next trip.

 

Taking indoor bars outdoors

Trendy bar alert: ANGEL CLUB - Rhodes, Greece.
In the back streets of the old walled town of Rhodes, in an amazing setting with cobble stones below and the warm walls of the ancient buildings all around, the bar had 3 large chandeliers hanging outside,  they looked like they were suspended from the sky!

The music was also piped outside the bar which made it feel like an outdoor club in the middle of a few winding residential alleys. Unfortunately the night we visited it was very empty, maybe it was too early as the Greeks go dancing at 1am. Check it out as a place to have a late night after a day out in the hot, hot Greek sun.

Boat BBQAnother grey & rainy day in London. Thought I would look at some Greece pictures to remind me what the sun actually looks like. Found this one of our tiny bbq aboard our hosts' boat Jade. I wonder where Jade is sailing now? The last I heard from our lovely hosts Shirl & Pete, they were in Mykonos. Oh the life...they have been sailing around the world for the last 6 years!

We had a bbq'd fish one night that Pete caught in the strait of Messina, on their jouney from Sicily to Greece. I can't remember what it was called but it was delicious - it was so large they will be eating it for a while to come.

Well back to London grey weather, went to a great restaurant called Market, in Camden yesterday, for lunch and had two courses for a tenner - will write about that later, off to find a sun bed or a job in Greece :)

Octopussy & the Beckham dream shatteredPics from the Greek restaurant where we had the cute Beckham-like waiter serving us fresh octopus and fresh smelt. We then saw the young waiter eating lunch on his break and it was vile, he was shoveling the food down like it was his last supper!

Face down, not swallowing and just stuffing the food down without breathing; not knowing how to use a knife and fork properly dropped the David Beckham fantasy quite quickly. At least the octopus was delicious and we got to watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and chat with the nice Papou who's son owned the restaurant, he is sitting in a special chair by the TV.

Greek fish market
This fish vendor was lovely, although we communicated with very few words in the same language. The little fish in the wooden crate were served to us in the restaurant facing this fish market (our young waiter looked like David Beckham!) they were just fried in a simple flour batter and they were delicious with a simple squirt of lemon. I call these fish smelt and so did the menu, but this man was calling them something different, most likely their Greek name.

My Dad used to catch these when he went fishing, I think that is all he ever caught with the net, as when he used his fishing rod he only seemed to catch sea weed!

Greek lunch
It is now officially winter in London!? It is very cold, wet and grey which is just the type of weather that is perfect for August, non?

This is what lunch consisted of last week - fresh, simple and delicious. The tomatoes were delicious and juicy, the bread was fresh and the Spanish chorizo (from Borough Market) was delicious. Along with the view from the boat, you couldn't have a more relaxing lunch.

Hopefully Mother Nature sends some sun our way -maybe she can take a little heat and sun from Greece, they had plenty. Gotta run and shut the windows as another downpour has just started!

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Sail away with meTaking a long weekend jaunt to the Greek islands. I am sure there will be lots of gyros, dolmas, olives, souvlakia and moussaka consumed. Will take lots of pics and sample as much Greek cuisine as possible, including a little Ouzo - Opa!

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