BELLS’ ANGELS

BELLS’ ANGELS

Sorry, I had not factored the 3pm internet café siesta into my previous note. So, about the donkey.

Yesterday on arrival we ventured forth on our new bit of the island to find the supermarket near the castro and provision for some breakfasts and lunches. We are at about the same height that we were on the island in 2006 but not as central, so slightly different navigational marks are needed. And this time we have a front door and a back door in different laneways at different levels.

Nevertheless, in geographical terms we headed left to the sea edge then up, up, up and we saw the supermarket down, down, down, so did that. We procured fabulously fresh tomatoes, cherries and peaches; some feta and yoghurt; some Skopelos honey; and, bread and beer. We have our coffee plunger and coffee, and the house also comes with a plunger so we are set for some lunches and breakfasts. It’s about 6pm on Wed 10 June and I’ve just had lunch, so the Greek breakfast this morning did well.

We had a slowish breakfast pretty-much just gazing through our windows to the blue harbour, feeling good to be alive and here, and listening to the conversations from below rising towards us. It’s as though the words and sentences float up on little wisps of wind. A bit like the smells wafting up when food starts being cooked in the morning.

I needed to complete a report or two from Leipzig to send back and Bas needed to check out the studio at the top of the hill. We both made a start. I headed down to the internet café to complete my work but was sent home at 3ish. Bas was welcomed effusively by the team at the studio and taken by Giogos to his ‘shed’ at the edge of ‘the great view’ for a boys’ lunch including three Tsipouro (ouzo based) with freshly picked garden produce. Tsipouro at lunch time can have immediate effects so he returned and is currently having his post-lunch-Tsipouro snooze before we head back up for dinner at 8pm.

Skopelos Island has 365 churches for its 6000 inhabitants. Skopelos town has 123 of these churches and seven of them are within about 100 metres of us. The previous tenants wrote in the guest book that while they loved the house they were a little ambivalent about the bell ringing. We couldn’t see what the fuss was about, as we tend to hear them gently from afar. However, it’s now 6.15pm and Bas has just been bolted out of his Tsipouro slumber by our closest bell- see photo from front step- the sounds of which were obviously carried to us on angels’ wings and work miracles as a post-Tsipouro agent. Not only was Bas woken but he has also declared that there will never ever again be Tsipouro at lunchtime.

And about the donkey. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the donkey collects the rubbish from the hook that we have not yet found so this morning when we woke about 8am to the clomp, clomp, clomp on the cobbles we knew that we had missed the donkey. We will aim to have a better rubbish response by Friday.