It Started With an Ouzo

by Stavros Allanopolis

  Photo: Martin On The Throne.

  The site is in such good condition and on such a large scale that the Archaeologists used JCB mechanical diggers to complete some of their excavations!

  Their week went all too quickly and when Trish and Martin returned to the UK we went back to ‘business as usual’ at Meerkat Manor. Therefore, the following day, as usual, I went up to the studio apartment terrace with my cup of tea to look at the new day. I had to do a ‘double take’ at what I saw. There was snow on the mountains behind us! We had bright, brilliant sunshine and temperatures around 20 C and yet there on the mountain top was snow. It was quite surreal!

  Photo: Snow On The Mountains.

  Photo: View Of Snow From Kardamyli.

  OUR 1 ST ANNIVERSARY OF LIVING IN GREECE

  On 9th April 2009 we celebrated arriving in Greece and we celebrated our 1st Anniversary of living in our ‘Dream’ house in ‘Paradise.’ We really could not believe just how quickly the time had passed by and just how much we had achieved in our first year as Greek citizens; arriving, unpacking, settling the cats, endless trips to Kalamata to buy furniture and other fixtures and fittings, as well as fulfilling part time jobs and designing and creating our garden; all packed into one year! To commemorate the day, I bought Valerie a ‘miniature Orange tree and planted it a Greek urn, placed right in front of the main steps up to the front door of Meerkat Manor.

  Photo: 1st Anniversary Oranges And Certificate.

  How do you think we celebrated this occasion?......

  Well, we didn’t go back to ‘the Scene of the Crime’ but we did go out for an Ouzo at a nearby bar right on the water’s edge.

  Photo: ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ And It Continues With An Ouzo.

  The celebrations didn’t last too long for the following week, I ‘hobbled’ off to Colmar for my Consultancy assignment and when I returned, the rest of April was spent on gardening and weeding!

  By this time, we had devised a plan for the adjacent plot of land and how to turn it into a garden. We would have stone circles built around the olive and Mulberry trees and I would construct some paths passing through the garden from the gate and right up to and through the arch leading into our garden.

  We also decided to have a stone bench in front of one of the olive tree stone circles. It was all about timing and recruiting the right help to complete the project.

  Before the garden paths were built, the large stone circles round the olive trees were to be built by Petros (with a little ‘help?’ from his young sons), and the bench was built on one of the stone circles by Gert whilst the paths were under construction.

  Both are very genuine and charming Albanian guys and they too have become good friends. Petros and his family live in nearby Riglia and Gert lives with his wife Doreen just 100 metres up the main track from Meerkat Manor.

  Photo: Petros And Sons Built The Stone Circles.

  Photo: Gert Built The Bench.

  The paths were to be built by me, with the raw materials supplied by Dimitris .... “maybe tomorrow, Stavros!”

  The garden was to be built by Valerie and her Mother.

  So, we worked out the timetable and booked Valerie’s Mother to arrive at the end of May when the construction works would have been completed. The ladies’ job was going to be to weed the whole garden and plant the flowers and herbs.

  The days were hard and it was getting very hot. Temperatures were regularly into the 35 C all day long. Still, we gradually made progress and the garden was taking shape with every day that went by. Petros finished the stone circles around the two large olive trees and we planted some of the ‘Ice Cream’ succulents within the circle. With the heat of the day, and with a little bit of watering in the early in the morning and last thing at night, they soon grew.

  Gert arrived and set about building the stone bench on top of one of the stone circles around an olive tree.

  Photo: Building The Stone Bench.

  We chose this spot for the shade. From 8am until mid-day it was shady here under the tree; it was an ideal place from which to watch the garden grow, and maybe even to sit and have an Ouzo from time to time!

  Photo: Finished Design Of The Bench.

  During this period of time we had more visitors arriving, and first to arrive to stay for two weeks was my first wife; Monica.

  She was staying in an apartment near Pantazi Beach, and she was soon followed by Nina; my daughter with Monica.

  Nina stayed with Monica at Pantazi Beach apartments.

  Nina is a semi-professional author and is gaining extensive recognition in the literary world for her ‘slipstream’ stories; half truth and half sci-fi. It was Nina who encouraged me to write this book, “Go for it Father. You can do it!” And I did!

  Next to arrive was our friend Ann who stayed in our studio apartment for a week, and she was happy just to watch the work in progress and offer encouragement!

  However, whilst she was here, we took a couple of days off from work to drive her up into the mountains and do some sight-seeing in the villages.

  Then it was time for Valerie’s Mother to stay with us.

  Although aged 77 at that time, she worked tirelessly everyday with Valerie. The weeding and the planting was probably the hardest of all the jobs because the Oxalis was rampant; growing knee high everywhere! They weeded and they weeded some more!

  They dug the ground over and eventually they created the vegetable garden.

  Valerie had been busy growing plants from both seeds and cuttings in readiness for the construction of the new garden.

  The flowers included Geraniums, Roses, Sunflowers and Lilies.

  The various vegetables were ready too; Chard, Sweet corn, Peppers, Butternut Squash, Tomatoes, Rocket, Lettuce, Chillies and Courgettes.

  The herbs were Rosemary, Mint, Parsley and Basil.

  Photo: Valerie’s Mum ‘Poses’

  Photo: The New Vegetable Garden.

  Finally our friends Sally and Pete arrived just as the bench was being completed, but left before they could see the fully finished item.

  Photo: Pete and Sally On ‘Their’ Bench.

  Photo: The Finished Bench.

  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY ‘ROCKS’

  During this period, it was getting near to our Wedding Anniversary. So, there we were, working every day and with visitors coming and going, and I started to get an idea about what to buy Valerie as a present.

  The expression ‘glutton for punishment’ comes to mind, because I was thinking of a way to improve the garden even further, and this before it was even finished!

  When you mention ‘rocks’ to ladies, they usually think in terms of diamonds, and other gemstones.

  However, I had a different type of ‘rock’ in mind to give to Valerie to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary. This ‘rock’ was a rock from up on the mountains! In fact I gave her two rocks as I felt that they would add character to the garden and that she would like them. At worst, they would cover an area which would lead to less weeding in the long run!

  They came by lorry. Giannis (not the builder, but another friend who has a transport business) drove me up the mountain and we identified the two rocks that I wanted to put in the garden.

  It was quite strange because up on the mountains we were in the clouds and it was raining. In the garden at Meerkat Manor it was bright sunshine! We had to make two journeys because the weight of each rock was on the limit of the capacity of the lorry.

  One rock was around 10 tons and the other was about 8 tons. We drove down the twisty mountain road with our precious load on board, ready to be hoisted into the garden.

  Photo: The Rocks Arrive.

  Photo: The Rocks Being Unloaded.

  Their arrival not only added to the transformation of the garden, but somehow I felt it completed it.

  They fit perfectly.

  More to the point, Valerie loved them; love at first sight; cute!

  Photo: First Rock In Position.

  It took a
while to unload the rocks, but eventually we got them positioned.

  Giannis and I celebrated with a well-earned beer.

  Photo: Celebrating With A Beer.

  Photo: 8 Ton Rock Insitu + ‘Baby’.

  Both rocks were chosen for their look! The 10 ton rock looked good from all angles; back, front and each side.

  Photo: The 10 Ton Rock - Rear.

  Photo: 10 ton Rock Completes Transformation .

  Photo: The Second Garden Is Finished!

  Photo: Garden Covered In Oxalis.

  Photo: Garden Transformed.

  In a little over six weeks, the space has been transformed from a patch of land covered in rampant knee high Oxalis into a real garden!

  We all agreed it was worth the hard work and toiling in the heat. The whole idea of the rocks was to create a garden that looked as if it had been constructed around these enormous rocks that had already been in place; maybe had even been there since time began!

  In time, we will plant cacti and other small plants that will grow in the holes in the rock and to give the impression that they too have always been there. In fact, already growing in the rock are some yellow type flowers, something that looks like ivy and some extremely pretty pink cyclamen plants.

  Some holes will fill with water when it rains and will give the birds a place to stop for a drink. In the extreme heat of the day, Owen sleeps in the shade of the arch of the larger rock. Everybody is happy. For Valerie’s Mum in particular, it had been two weeks extremely hard work.

  Before she left to go back to the UK, we promised her another visit in August, just to enjoy the week relaxing in the garden and the sunshine. She would be able to stroll around the garden and enjoy looking at the ‘fruits of her labour,’ so to speak.

  Also, by then, we expected the flowers and the vegetables to be growing well, and we hoped that the Sunflowers would be in flower, with their cheery bright yellow heads towering over the vegetables planted in front of them. Well, as it turned out, maybe a bit of weeding too. The Oxalis just does not give up!

  Job done, over the next few days, Valerie and her Mother consumed some well-earned drinks, both at Aaggi’s Bar at the water’s edge and on the upper terrace of the studio apartment.

  Photo: A Glass Of Wine At Aaggi’s Waterfront Bar.

  Photo: Well Earned Drinks On The Terrace.

  When Valerie’s Mother returned home, we decided to take a few days off from gardening and went out in the car for a few days.

  We worked at just being tourists. We went to visit villages in the mountains; some we had been to before and others new to us. We just gently idled the days away.

  We had timed these few days to culminate in lunch to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary. For this, we went to a fish restaurant which nestles down on the water’s edge in a tiny village called Limani, which is situated at the far end of the Itylo Bay, close to Areopolis. It was and still is a fishermen’s village and the boats, both large and small land their catch there; much of it just for the restaurant.

  Photo: Fishing Boat Alongside The Fish Taverna.

  Photo: The Terrace At The Water’s Edge.

  The waiters clean and prepare the fish in the sea right on the steps at the edge of the terrace; you cannot get fresher than this!

  All in all it was a great way to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary!

  SUMMER 2009 – THE FIRE AND MORE VISITORS

  Valerie was once again doing the ‘see-ins’ for Thomas Cook and during July she was very busy as the flights and the hotels were fully booked,

  I had more Consultancy assignments in Athens and one of them was for just one day, so Valerie came with me to stay the night before and then travel back during the evening of the following day. It was a chance for Valerie to have a bath; her first in 16 months! We only have showers in Meerkat Manor and the hotel had a full sized bath in the bedroom, and in the grounds a there was very large swimming pool. So, Valerie had two baths; one on the night we arrived and one on the following morning. After breakfast, whilst I went off to work, she swam and lazed by the swimming pool for the whole the morning and went shopping in the afternoon, and she met me at the coach station in the evening. We even got to see the Corinth Canal during the journey. Once again, quite the tourist couple!

  A few days after we returned there was a fire. Around dawn, I awoke to the sound of ‘whirring’ very loud overhead, so I got up to find out what it was. As I scanned the mountains to the East, I could see smoke; a lot of smoke! Clearly there was a fire on the ridge top.

  Then I discovered what the ‘whirring’ was. It was a Scorpion helicopter carrying a large bucket below its bodywork. This was followed by an aeroplane and I watched them as they took it in turns to approach the sea below me, the ‘plane to dip its underbelly into the sea and collect water in the special tanks fitted there. The helicopter hovered over the sea and lowered the giant bucket into the sea to fill it with water.

  They then both flew over the house and climbed up to the ridge top and spilled their water loads right onto the flames below them. They flew so low over the top of the house as they made their way in a slow circle up to the mountain that I could see the faces of the pilots; they waved to me!

  These pilots are incredibly brave men. Although computer controlled, the pilot of the plane still has to go right down on to the water and skim along with its fuselage below the surface. So too the helicopter pilot as the weight of the water-filled bucket must be phenomenal! It looks quite small in the photo, but that is because of the angle it was taken at. The bucket is almost the size of our house!

  The fire must have been very big on the other side of the mountain, where we couldn’t see, because this activity went on non-stop for the whole of the day. They didn’t stop flying until it was quite dark.

  This fire reminded us of the well-televised fires that caused so much destruction the year before, and with the loss of several lives. So, that night we sat wondering and we made our plans how to evacuate Meerkat Manor should we need to in the days to come or at any other time in the future. So, we now have our ‘Exit the House in Times of Fire’ plan, and we have practised it to make sure it works!

  We also have a special place where we keep all our valuable original papers, our passports and our memory sticks that contain back-ups of all the computer files and our photos. In the event of an evacuation, we will take these two small bags and leave everything else behind.

  The ‘plane and the helicopter returned at first light the following day and started the same routine. They kept this up until early in the afternoon, and then they left, so we assumed that they had put the fire out. In the event, the fire continued to burn for another two days, but apparently it was being kept under control by the local fire fighters who were stationed on the other side of the mountain. Quite a sight to see, but an eerie reminder of the seriousness and danger and threat that fire is in The Mani region.

  During the remainder of July and August, Valerie continued with the ‘weeding cycle’ which seems to be one of ‘three steps forward and two steps back!’ Meanwhile, I had made a list of some smaller construction jobs to be done and I concentrated on these. Most items on the list involved re-routing some of the drainage pipes for the rain water (when it rained) from the flat roof on the studio apartment, and the upper terrace. I diverted the roof rainwater pipe into one of the external water tanks. This would now be exclusively for rainwater with which to water the plants in the garden. I diverted the pipe for the waste water from the studio apartment’s terrace around the cacti garden and onto the path and from there to soak away. It is worth noting that when it does rain, it rains!

  As the ground is so hard, it does not absorb the rain easily and in consequence we experience ‘flash flood’ like conditions. The same is true on the roads; the water just flows across the top like a river in full flow!

  For my birthday, Valerie bought me a hammock. Hey! When was I going to get the chance to ‘chill out? No chance at this rate, but I’ve bee
n working on it when I have had some serious thinking and planning to do! The method of delivery for the hammock was quite unusual; Peter and Mel arrived to spend four days and brought the hammock with them from the UK; both the hammock and their presence were an unexpected birthday present!

  Whilst they were here, we agreed for them to visit again in August for two weeks and bring Ruth and Joseph with them. As the garden could no longer accommodate Ruth and Joseph’s tents, we hired a two bedroom apartment in Stoupa for them to use as their base. So a just a few weeks later, the four of them arrived and settled into their apartment in Stoupa. It was less than 50 metres to the beach and they spent most of their time there.

  We carried on working in the garden during the mornings but most afternoons, we travelled over to see them as they lazed on the beach or went snorkelling. Seeing them having a good time just relaxing and generally doing nothing made us decide to take some more time off from the gardening when Valerie’s Mother arrived for her second stay.

  Shortly after they left to go home, it was indeed time for Valerie’s Mother to visit again, and sure enough there was weeding to do! However, as we had previously promised her, we did manage to have some nice trips out and once again visited some of the villages up in the mountains; stopping for the odd Ouzo as we travelled from one to the other. We saw some familiar and some strange sights along the way. Although Donkeys are still a mode of transport in the Mani, we were surprised to see cars as flower pots. That was a first!