Unbeknown to both Peter and Mel, we had arranged for a special souvenir to be made that Ruth and Joseph would give to all the guests at the evening celebration dinner. It was a double sided bookmark.
The pictures were taken by our friend Liz Berry during the Wedding ceremony, and she rushed off and produced the laminated book marks during the afternoon and bought them to the dinner in time for Ruth and Joseph to present them to everybody at the dinner in the evening (Copyright 2009 Liz Berry ©).
Photo: The Wedding Souvenir Book Mark.
Some hours later, Valerie and I took Ruth and Joseph back with us to Meerkat Manor to change for the evening dinner which was to be held in a taverna on the outskirts of Kardamyli.
The Wedding Dinner was at Kastro’s taverna, and when we got there we discovered that the top terrace of the tavern was exclusively for the Wedding Party. The terrace was facing the sea and had wonderful views across the Messinian Gulf, and we sat around talking as the rest of the wedding party and guests arrive
As we waited, the sun set, and it was a fantastic orange hue that made everybody “ooh and ahh!” It was a perfect end for their day of celebration. Peter and Mel very kindly invited Vassilis, Laila and Heather to the Dinner as they knew how much it meant to us for them to share this occasion with us; our first Wedding in The Mani!
When we were all there, dinner was served. The Wedding Feast was the taverna’s speciality; a spit roast of three meats; Pork, Chicken and Lamb, accompanied by salads. As we looked down from the terrace to the barbeque pit below and saw the meats on the spit; the smell of the meats on the barbeque was amazing!
Throughout the time we were eating, a duo sang and played their Guitar and BOuzouki. They sang traditional Greek love songs and songs for the newly married. Of course, we did not know the words or the meaning, but the music was very evocative and just right for the occasion.
There were no speeches after dinner, but Peter and Mel did cut the Wedding Cake and we all raised our glasses for a toast; “To the Bride and Groom!” The design of the cake was a reflection of what was going on in their lives at that time.
There were many pairs of shoes iced into the cake to reflect Mel’s obsession with buying them! To the side of the shoes was a toy BMW Mini Cooper car just like the one which Peter had just bought!
Then the duo changed their tempo and it was time for Greek Dancing, and although none of us knew the steps of the various dances, we all had a try!
Photo: The Wedding Cake.
Photo: Greek Dancing.
I don’t remember whose idea it was, but around one o’ clock in the morning, everybody set off for the harbour in Kardamyli for a swim!
Valerie and I went to watch as Peter and Mel, Ruth and Joseph and some of the others dived into the water; we thought that they were crazy!
For over an hour, they were jumping in and out of the water and diving from the diving board that is fixed to the edge of the slipway.
At two o’ clock, we decided enough was enough and we went home leaving the ‘youngsters’ to it. It is that time in the morning when you find out who your true friends are!
We went back to the hotel and asked the owner if he would ‘phone for a taxi for us, and he told us that we were too late; the taxi (there is only one in the area!) would not come out at that time of night (for anybody!). Walking home was not an option. Not only the fact that Valerie and Ruth had high heeled shoes on, but also that it was over 7km along a hilly, twisty and unlit road. Time to call a friend; we called Heather. She was already in bed asleep but she got up and came to our rescue; a true friend indeed!
After the Wedding, Peter and Mel, Ruth and Joseph and Mel’s family and her friend Zilya stayed for another four days, and they seemed to spend a lot of that time having fun, and most nights returning to the harbour to dive and swim late at night!
On their last morning, we saw them off from the Hotel, as they returned to Athens and their various flights to their home countries.
It had been good to see Peter and the Grandchildren and to meet Mel, and we were sad to see them go, but it was nice to go back to the peace and quiet of Meerkat Manor.
We had had a truly hectic time since that day when Peter ‘phoned me with the news. Non-stop activity for five weeks and now all we had to do was go home and to clear up.
Mind you, we had gained more than a Daughter-in-law; we also had a new stone wall around the second garden. Was this a joy or a threat? More like a threat because it meant that we had to start digging, weeding and planting to turn it into a garden and not just the ‘campsite’ that it had become for Ruth and Joseph’s stay!
AFTER THE WEDDING – BACK TO WORK!
In the event, it took a quite few days to clear up from having had Peter and Mel stay in the studio apartment and Ruth and Joseph camping in the grounds of the walled garden.
We were pleased and excited to welcome them and share in their wedding celebrations, however, although quite sad when they came to depart, we were pleased to have the tranquillity restored to our everyday life in The Mani.
We carried on with developing the garden; the paths and the weeding and we were settled back into our familiar routine, when we received two unexpected communications.
The first was a ‘phone call from the local Thomas Cook office; it was for Valerie asking her if she would be interested in working for them on Sundays? They were looking for someone to help with ‘see-ins’ for two local hotels. This would involve a few hours work on a Sunday afternoon greeting two coaches arriving from the airport; holidaymakers from the flight from Gatwick and then others on the flight from Manchester. The job entailed meeting the holidaymakers on the main road, organising the delivery of their luggage to the hotel and walking them to the hotel (the road is too narrow for the coach to drive along to the hotel). She would take them to the hotel’s Reception to register and present their passports, and then she would ‘see them in’ to their allocated rooms.
She accepted the offer and worked every Sunday through to the end of the ‘season’ in October. She didn’t earn a great deal of money, but none the less it added up as she was putting her earnings into her ‘rainy day stash’ for personal spending, and it gave her something different to do one day every week other than the on-going weeding!
The second unexpected communication came in the form of an email, and it came right ‘out of the blue,’ and I had to read it three times before the message sunk in; Stuart, we want you back!
I received an email from Linda, my old boss, and she knew just how to approach me, as she wrote:
‘Dear Stuart. Hi! I realise that this email may come as somewhat of a surprise and maybe even a shock to you. So, I suggest that you stop reading it now and go and pour yourself a drink, and then return to read the rest of my email.’
She knew me only too well! However, I duly did as I was told, poured myself a drink, and returned to read the rest of the message.
The long and the short of it was, that although I had moved to Greece and semi-retirement, she wondered if I would be interested in doing some Consultancy work on a Freelance basis?
It appeared that in the coming six months, there were opportunities to work in Greece, Germany, France and Switzerland and all in the English language. Before offering the work to anybody else, she wanted to see if I was interested because quite obviously Greece was not a problem for me in terms of travel, and the other countries could all be easily reached from Athens airport. The journeys would be long and tiring days but definitely ‘do-able’ if I wanted to take on the assignments?
Well, I was shocked! I hadn’t planned on doing any more Consultancy work, and I had not expected to return to this type of work. Tempted? Maybe; well, yes I was! The money would come in handy for all the ‘projects’ that we had now identified that needed completing, but that we had not made financial provision for. Her email went on to finish by saying ‘Call me if you are interested, and we can talk it over.’
I dialled her number! “Hey! B
oss, it’s me; I’m interested!”
During the next six months, I carried out assignments in Athens (Greece), Berlin (Germany), Colmar (France) and the ski resort of Davos (Switzerland). As I suspected it would be, the travel was extremely tiring, having to go by coach to Kalamata and then to Athens Airport before flying to the three foreign assignments; two destinations were 19 hours door to door travel! The work was very demanding, but maybe harder still was in having to wear a jacket, shirt, trousers, socks and shoes which I had not done for at least six months!
For each assignment, we earmarked the money I earned for specific projects; more pebbles, sand and cement; new solar heating panels; the ‘new car fund’ and many other items that required money that we didn’t have. This gave me the incentive to carry on wearing business apparel!
In many respects, it was good to be back in ‘the old routine.’ I didn’t find that I had missed it, but I did find that I still enjoyed doing what I was good at and that it was appreciated by the clients, and my boss!
In those six months, I was to experience some real ‘highs and lows’ and some ‘scary’ moments too!
The first assignment was in Athens. I was working with a group of International Business Managers and we were staying at a luxury holiday hotel complex, East of Athens. The hotel was built right on the beach, and in the style of a Greek Temple; a very simple, but luxuriously appointed structure. It was a two storey building built seemingly on stilts. The ground floor was open plan for the Reception, Bar and Restaurant and the rooms were on the first floor above.
At five o’ clock on the first morning the earthquake struck! It was terrifying! It rocked the building back and forward and it felt like it would crumble like a line of dominoes. The quake lasted about two or three minutes. I had experienced some minor ones at Meerkat Manor with Valerie during the last few months, but nothing like this. Back home in Agios Nikolaos, the quakes shook the building, and the plates and glasses in the cupboards rattled, but no more than that. One had to be careful opening the cupboards in case the plates and glasses had moved forward etc.
This was different. The whole building shook and rocked and I was almost thrown out of bed; it was that strong! My experience to date was that most quakes seemed to have come in two’s and about 10 minutes apart; I was out of bed and ready to run for it! Sure enough, the second one came about ten minutes later, and it was just as strong as the first but luckily the building withstood it all.
After about 30 minutes, I got back into bed and dozed off to sleep again until it was time for breakfast, and I was hoping that there would be no more ‘quakes and that they had ended for the day. The earthquake was the talk of the breakfast table, although some had slept right through it and didn’t feel a thing!
Two weeks later I had another assignment in Athens, and then I travelled on to Berlin, the week before Christmas.
Wow! The temperature was a real shock; the temperature in Berlin was so low and, combined with the Wind Chill Factor, I thought that I had been sent to Siberia to freeze to death!
This was the coldest temperature that I had experienced in the previous eight months (and that had been 18 C on the day we left the UK to start our new life in Greece). At minus 6 C it was a shock!
But that was nothing compared with the real ‘low’ that happened on my return journey from Berlin. I had taken the afternoon flight back to Athens airport, and thence by coach from the airport to Athens coach station and then the Long Distance Coach to Kalamata, where Voula, our local taxi driver, picked me up at around 10.30pm to drive me back to Agios Nikolaos.
Around midnight, 11 hours since I had left Berlin, she dropped me off at the top of the main track that leads down to our house. I was tired but really excited about being home. The dead of night; it was pitch black (there are no street lights here!). Blast! I had forgotten my torch, so I crept, inch by inch, down the track.
Eventually, I reached our turn and I looked up to see that Valerie had left the porch light on for me. There silhouetted in the light was ‘home’ as I had come to know it. It was so good to be home again, and breathing a sigh of relief, I turned into the track to walk the last 60 metres and it was then that disaster struck!
As I walked along the track to our house and I tripped over a large stone; I went down ‘dead weight’ flat on my face, and apparently it had been raining earlier in the day and as I hit the ground I got covered in mud!
As I got up, I realised:
The good news; I had not broken the bottle of Whisky that was in the carrier bag in my right hand.
The bad news; I realised that I had sprained my left wrist and twisted my right ankle; the problem ankle!
Oh no! I had made such progress since the spider bite and all that followed. Now, here I was, almost back to square one in terms of not being able to walk properly.
Probably the most irritating thing is that I had been threatening to dig the stone up for months! Day in and day out, I had driven over it with a ‘bump,’ and every day I said to Valerie, “I must dig that stone up,” and I never did, well, not until the day after the accident!
We spent Christmas at home at Meerkat Manor, and we experienced our first olive harvest (detailed in the next chapter), but I was on the move again in the first week of January and my next assignment was in Davos in Switzerland.
Many people hear these types of tales, and of famous destinations, and think that travel is ‘glamorous.’ However, on business it usually is not. Well maybe it can be if you are travelling by private jet!
After 19 hours travelling, I arrived, in the dark, to my hotel at Davos and the client’s Sales Director was waiting for me in the bar of the hotel; just around midnight.
“Stuart. Welcome, I have been waiting up for you to greet you in person. Please have a drink with me. Whisky? Talisker? Your favourite Scotch Malt Whisky drink I believe? Good!”
He went to say, “Tomorrow, no today now, I would like us to start work at 6am, is that ok for you?”
“Yes, of course,” I stammered! “Err, Great. Good. Yes. Thank you. Cheers!”
Just over five hours later, I started work! The room we were working in was in a basement. I arrived in the dark, worked in the basement all day and did not see light of day. I returned to my room in the dark and went out for dinner in the dark. Glamorous? No way! Day two was the same. I was in possibly the world’s most famous ski resort and I had not even seen a ski slope!
The nearest I came to the snow was crossing the courtyard from the hotel to my room; in pitch darkness!
At the conclusion of my assignment on day two, my taxi arrived (in the dark) at 7.30pm to take me to the station for my return trip to ‘Paradise,’ which was to last another 19 hours at least. The plan was that I was going by train to Munich airport, staying overnight there and then catching the early morning flight from Munich to Athens. Then I would travel by coach from Athens airport to Athens Coach Station, and then the long distance coach from Athens to Kalamata, and from Kalamata a taxi home to Agios Nikolaos.
As I boarded the train at Davos station, I comforted myself with the thought of a large, well-earned drink on the three hour journey to Zurich airport. Half an hour into the journey, the ticket collector came and duly ‘clipped’ and endorsed my ticket.
“Please, excuse me, when is the bar going to come along the train, or where is the restaurant car located where I can go and get a drink?”
“Sir, I’m sorry to tell you that you are the only passenger on the train tonight, therefore it was not viable to put the bar on the train.”
I just stared at him in dumbfounded silence. Could this really be happening to me? On the train there was just me, the ticket conductor, the guard and the driver for the three and a half hours journey and no bar; a real ‘low’ and possibly worse than when I injured my foot, I can tell you!
At around midnight, I arrived at the airport hotel, and went through the sliding doors and up to Reception.
“Good evening sir. Mr Allan isn’t it?
Yes, well, we were expecting you sir.”
“As you are the last guest to arrive for the night, I have done all your paperwork and all you have to do is sign here (this he said as he slid the Registration Form across the desk towards me).”
“Would you like a glass of champagne?”
Would I! This was absolutely amazing! Had I died and gone to Heaven? Such hospitality! Unprecedented! I accepted the proffered glass and signed on the bottom line of the Registration Form.
“Please, do have a refill to take to your room. Did you want an early morning alarm call? Good night sir. Thank you for staying with Movenpick Hotels.”
Pinch me, I’m dreaming I thought, but no, it was true; such style. Well done Movenpick!
The following morning, I travelled back to Meerkat Manor. It took just over 12 hours, but I managed to make it up the track without incident!
My next assignment was in six weeks’ time in Colmar, France. During that time before I was due to go, I had planned to help Valerie in the garden. Friends of friends had bought a four-pronged ‘proper’ garden fork for us. They bought it with them from England in their car, and I was quite looking forward to the task as my hand and foot were almost healed.
However, disaster struck again! You just would not believe it, but with the very first ‘dig’ with the fork, I struck a stone deep in the ground and the reverberation through the fork went right up into my foot. Bang! Just like that. I was in absolute agony, and within hours, my foot had swollen up again and once more I was unable to put any weight on it and walk properly. Nor could I get any shoes on, including my trainers. How could I have been so stupid not to take more care?
Eventually the day came for me to go to Colmar for the final assignment, yet I was unable to walk properly, or put a shoe on, or trainers come to that. However, as luck would have it, on the day I was due to travel, some friends of ours were going Athens airport to meet a relative and they gave me a lift right to the Departures door at the airport. I was flying Swiss Air to Zurich and their representatives met me at the airport entrance with a wheelchair and took me to the check-in desk and through security and right into the plane. I travelled from Athens Airport, and eventually to my hotel in France, all the way in a wheelchair, assisted by Swiss Air ground staff. They were great! Even though I was in my socks, I was determined, and they were willing to help me travel.
It Started With an Ouzo Page 14
