Chalkida

Luckily, arriving in Athens (or the port close to Athens) was much easier. We got in touch with Louis’ uncle and convince him to attach the trailer to the car because we have WAY too much stuff. He was easy to find in the crowd and so we loaded up his Subaru Forester with 5 adults and two kids and headed through town. Our plans were to drop by his uncle’s apartment, drop some of our stuff in their storage closet, and then all of us head up the mountain (about 2 hours up the road) to Chalkida. Louis’ aunt and uncle have a vacation house up in the hills and we were going to spend the weekend up there. We loaded up the cars and headed out about 8pm or so. It might have been later; the sun was setting. We drive for about an hour and stop in town to have souvlakia by the water. We then pile back in and head up further into the hills. I don’t remember much about the drive because I was in the back seat sleeping. I was exhausted and we still had to arrive, unload and get ready for bed.

Balcony at house in Chalkida

The house in Chalkida was Gorgeous! It was a beautiful 3-4 bedroom house overlooking the valley and the city of Chalkida. Thia Kandia said she chose this place because it reminded her of Kardiani. Thia Kandia was the best hostess, helping us put together beds and cots for the kids and ourselves. I took a shower, fell into bed and remember nothing.



The plan for the next day was to head down to the beach and play. Even though the house was up on the hill, it was only a 20 minute ride down. You got the coolness of the mountains up in the house, and the warm ocean waves of the beach down the hill. This place was PERFECT. As it turned out, Meghan needed to rest and so did the children, so they took a long afternoon nap. Thia Kandia wanted to go to the beach too, so she and I headed out together. It was an interesting and quiet afternoon. Thia Kandia speaks limited English and I speak pretty much no Greek. We sat on the beach, swam, napped and just waited for everyone else to arrive. About 3 hours later, they did.

The beach for the rest of the crew (i.e. children) proved to be a bit of an issue. You see, there is NO sand on this beach. It is all rock and pebble. If you have very tough feet, getting those 4-6 feet to the water is no big deal. But even I, who does not like to wear shoes, had to have on water shoes to make it without cringing. Perrin wanted to build a sand castle, but couldn’t. Lena could not move about freely. We had to get them both in water to keep them busy.

After about an hour of this, we begin packing up and heading back. Thia Kandia had made roasted chicken and potatoes for the night meal and dropped off the chicken at the bakery in the next village. The house electricity is run through a generator (for various reasons—and it’s cheaper) so they pay a baker to use their oven. Works out pretty well. We picked up the chicken on the way back to the house and had a lovely supper out on the back balcony under an umbrella. It was a great way to end a pretty good day.

The next morning, we were supposed to get up and go to church for communion services. It is tradition that after a baptism, the child, parents and God-parents attend communion. Everyone but me went. I elected to stay in bed and rest and no one seemed to object. However, when everyone came back, I was itching to get out of the house. We were supposed to meet Louis’ cousins down by the beach that afternoon, but our days do not often go as planned. Meghan and Lena and Rosemary all needed to rest, so they laid back down for a nap. Thia Kandia took Louis, Perrin and I back down to the beach. Across the road from the beach is a hotel with a swimming pool, and that is where Louis’ cousins had elected to squat. Once Perrin realized there was pool and no need to brave the rocks, he wanted to stay there and play. Thia Kandia and I both prefer the ocean, so we went back across the street. Three hours later, I was hungry and thirsty and I found everyone under the shelter at the hotel sipping frappe and playing backgammon. Perrin was still swimming with Ilias. They finished up their game and we all headed up the mountain to have supper together.

Georgia in the garden with her massive zucchini!

View of Chalkida and beaches from the balcony

We ate early that evening because we were planning to head back to Athens that night. Everyone else had to be at work Monday morning. Thia Kandia and her helpers (Louis and Kostas) put together the best stuffed tomatoes I have ever had in my life. After cleaning up the supper dishes we all agreed to pitch in and get the house back in order. We finally left the house after dark to brave the highways back to Athens. We checked back into the hotel we were in originally. Louis and Ilias went back to Louis’ uncle and aunt’s to pick up the remainder of our things. I had one full day left in Greece on Monday–time for one more small adventure.

Chalkida at night