It was a little cloudy as we fumbled across the beach from the camping gate but it was still light enough to see where we were going. The sky gets a little brighter each day and I can start running just that little bit earlier too. Boris was awake so he joined us and managed quite well. I only ran 3km this morning, the thought of another 1km really didn’t do it for me.
I went to Paleochora to the post office to pick up my new pestle and mortar and a Bluetooth headset. I’m fed up with having to disconnect and reconnect to my various devices so decided to get one headset for my watch and phone and one for my MacBook and iPad. All I have to do now is pick up the correct headset for each device. Life is so complicated! At Petrakis, I bought more fruit for breakfast.
My plan is to make a stew incorporating the remains of the selino as I think I’m getting a bit fed up with that now. The stew consists of potatoes, carrots and a pepper so far but it had to be put on hold for a variety of reasons.
The first reason was Πέντε barking in the camping as Lau brought in another potential refugée from the Paleochora camping. A German guy who stays the winter in Crete and goes back in March.
So I went back to my stew. Then Georgia arrived and was blowing a gasket due to the state of the toilets and the kitchens. She was blowing-up the hapless Albanians who had come to investigate the commotion. She invited me to join her and some friends at Eva’s taverna for lunch and threatened to return at 14:30. Just as Georgia left with her entourage, Christophe arrived to return my lead and to let me know how things are going with Grammeno (AKA Extra-Dog). He told me that they were both very happy and the relationship was warming up. Grammeno seems to have become used to living in a nice, warm caravan rather than having to rough-it on the beach. I really can’t think why. Regular meals and being looked after is also a bit of a bonus.
Christophe accepted my recommendations about training him but I’m sure he’ll manage to work it out for himself. He says he will stick around for another couple of weeks so that he can get a Pet Passport sorted and maybe get him neutered. We discussed additional protection the dog might need if he takes him outside the EU into Asia.
Georgia returned to pick me up to join her friends at the taverna. She informed me that Evá had prepared a different dish for me as the others were going to much their way through a pile of dead animals. She made me a stifado of onions and mushrooms with a tomato sauce. Georgia said that if I couldn’t eat it all, I could take it with me. I replied that would not be necessary. The cook was suitably impressed by my dedication.
The meal consisted of a Greek salad, as expected. This was fine as I just didn’t eat the féta. Then there was the mountain of dead animals with pilaffe. This is rice which is quite sticky and runny at the same time. There is a special Cretan way to serve it and it’s very popular for occasions too.
At one point during the proceedings, one of Georgia’s cousins arrived who I’ve met before. He is a bit taken aback by this crazy English guy who eats nothing to do with animals, which is hardly a surprise given the Cretan culture. But the more a read and research, I’m sure that it will only be a matter of time before the meat-eaters and dairy munchers will be in the minority as people learn the health and other benefits of a plant-based diet. The Internet makes it so easy to share information and research. It’s all there at the touch of a button.
We got back to the camping just before 17:00 for the meeting which Georgia had called with the Albanians. She has cottoned on to my suggestions that letting the camping turn into a slum when the Albanians are here is not a good thing. Her meeting was to tell them that she plans to charge them an extra 30€pm each to pay a cleaner to come in daily to clean the toilets and the kitchens. I don’t speak Albanian but I suspect that idea went down like a lead balloon. I left to walk the dogs as they were raring to go when I arrived.
They were out for nearly an hour and some even went swimming! Boris played with his ball and Oskar found one of the lost balls. Nice to go back with more than we came out with for a change!
They were fed and started on their thirty-day medication course for the dreaded Leishmaniasis.
I’m stuffed with rice, salad, onions and mushrooms, so I will have a little snack with a cup of tea before retiring to my boudoir.
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