Europe Spring 2019 Poros, Greece II

It is time we talk a little about food, since on this part of our journey we get to take some Greek cooking classes. We did not expect this to actually happen as they were booked. But one morning around 7:30 we got a call and were told to meet at the docks to go to a farm in Galatas, which is on the Peloponnese coast.

Heading there we had no idea of what to expect. We had met Katrina Sakelliou the day before. She provides the cooking lessons, and is also the owner of The Odyssey hotel in Galatas. This is a picture of the road leading into her farm. Citrus trees and olive trees everywhere.

We started by walking the property and picking not just herbs but also wild lettuces, and many plants that to us looked like weeds.

Along with some of the greens and herbs she had planted we then were to start prepping the food for the lunch,

We also made a sort of filo dough and then rolled into it the chopped greens with herbs and onions, with the help of Katerina’s assistant Maria.

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Then it was time for a snack break,

So we also made some chicken, and a sort of pizza that they called pita,

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As you can see we cooked a lot of the food in the wood fired oven, and on the coals. Oh yeah, there was also shredded zucchini, and we added that to the leftover chopped greens with some cheese and made fried patties,

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Overall it was a pretty good looking lunch, and it most certainly tasted great!

Which we shared with the workers on her farm,

On one afternoon in our apartment on Poros, we heard a bunch of noise down on the docks not far from us. When we walked down to the harbor to take a look this is what we found,

Seems that among those that had their boats ported, there was a contest to see who could make the best foil hat! I guess you could say ‘whatever floats your boat!’………bad, bad, joke………!

Another day on bikes we went to Galatas on the boat to ride through the countryside to Treginia. We went because we read about some ruins that were near there. But after getting to the small hill town and discovering we had yet more uphill to go, we decided to entertain ourselves in the town,

We are quite easily entertained. The restaurant in the middle picture with the blue sign, professes to have a ‘free barrel of wine’. I think there is probably a little missing in this translation.

On our ride back we stumbled across a farm that produces honey, and of course we had to stop,

To taste and buy some honey!

With our host as a guide we spent another half day on the island of Hydra.

This is a very wealthy island. There have been 5 prime ministers of Greece that came from this island. There are no cars permitted on this island, therefore all the transporting of material is done by donkey!

And they do not hesitate to load them down!

Here, take a look at some other photos of this island that has less than 2,000 permanent residents.

So we learned from our host a little about a Greek tradition called ‘name day’. Our hosts’ friend, who owns the pastry shop, had a name day celebration and we got invited to this Greek tradition. Name days are more important than birthdays and widely celebrated in Greece. When a person is born you get your birth name. This name will correspond to, or resemble, one of a saint’s name that also has a day on the calendar of 365 days. On that day you, as the celebrant, give a party for whoever wishes to come. There need not necessarily be invitations, people just show up. The host cooks lots of food, sometimes provides music, and everyone just has a good time. ‘Till early in the morning. Well here are the pictures from that celebration.

First there was the food. Chicken, pork, and lamb on the spit. Goat in the wood oven. And lots of vegetables.

Then came the music, all in Greek of course,

And the dancing,

Then…………………, the traditional breaking of the plates!

Take a close look there, those are broken plates they are dancing on!

Of course, a little clean up is necessary at times.

We were certainly honored to be able to be part of this celebration. It was nothing like we had been to before. And everyone present were very kind in explaining to us what this day was all about.

There is no way to show you all of what we did in the 10 days we spent on Poros. It was a wonderful time and full of many surprises and experiences we will not forget. We visited Greece for the first time as tourists, and came away having new friends in a new country. Let’s leave you again with some of the many photos we have gathered on our wandering through Greece.

Next, travel with us as we cruise some of the islands of Croatia, and the Croatian coast!