We call it Las Vegas because there, right in the middle of nowhere, coming right out of the darkness are literally hundreds of lights shining like a giant beacon in the night!
Everybody had to be inside before the Bride and Groom and their 'top table' arrived. They were then 'cheered in' - actually it was a lot of banging knives and forks on plates and whistling! The DVD film crew and photographers were back!
First the couple had to pose for them and kiss on camera - more banging of knives and forks – and then for the cutting of the wedding cake (a huge layered cream, honey and nuts gateaux. The ‘cutting formalities’ completed, the music started.
It was the equivalent of a Disco, with a young man seated in the corner of the taverna surrounded by an amazing amount of electrical equipment that he controlled to play the music. He was very good, and he played non-stop from that moment and until the time we left!
Seated at tables of around 12 per table there were 100 people crowded into this small tavern. It was such a wonderful sight to see so many happy, smiling people. The tables had large jugs of wine on them and these were refilled within seconds of them being emptied!
The starters were delivered on small plates to share around the table, one plate at a time. The dishes arrived around every 10 minutes, and everything was delicious!
The main course was spit-roast lamb and the meat was so tender it just fell off the bone.
Then the Wedding Cake was served and it too was delicious; light and creamy!
Shortly after the cake had been eaten, the plates were cleared, and Nikos’ Dad came around the room stopping at each table to give us all a gift, and his gift was a bottle of whisky to drink for the ‘Wedding Toast’ and then to drink for the rest of the evening.
Wow, such hospitality and generosity!
Everybody filled their glasses for the Wedding toast,
“To the Bride and Groom. Bravo!”
After the toast, the newly married couple took to the dance floor for the first dance of the evening; slow. This was accompanied by a lot of whistling, clapping, cheering and foot stamping.
Then, the real dancing began! So many people gathering around circles in such a small space!
As the evening went on, the dances became more frenetic and more complex at the same time; large circles of people moving within other circles; some clockwise direction and sometimes others in a counter-clockwise direction.
Greek dances are fascinating; swirling bodies and skipping feet, or slow 'dirges' as they move around, holding hands and telling their 'story' through the music.
Throughout, it was a constant throng of people shouting, whistling, laughing and jumping. Even the Priest was dancing, right there in the middle of a group. There he was; glass of Champagne in one hand, and arm around a pretty girl next to him as they danced along with the others. He knew how to enjoy himself!
Then, finally Nikos took to the floor to dance solo for his new wife, and he proved to be a very good dancer!
Photo: Nikos Dances Solo For His Bride.
NEW YEA R’S EVE 2009
Over the next few days (27th December to 31st December), we decided not to do any ‘real’ work; this meant no weeding and no maintenance jobs on the house. Oh, and a few days off from my job of ‘Watching The Olives Grow.’
We just spent each day quite lazily ‘pottering’ about and taking the odd walk to the village to visit the post office and do some shopping as well as seeing the fishermen at work. Oh, and a glass or two of Ouzo whilst we sat in the sunshine at one of the tables on the harbour wall; just watching the world go by! New Year’s Eve was a fabulous day. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. It was, and is, just so nice to stroll around the village; we never tire of it.
During the early part of the evening of New Year’s Eve, we received an electronic card from our good friend Martin. I had sent him an email earlier in the day describing how hot it was here today and about the blue skies. I asked him how his Lemon tree was doing?
The card read, “Yesterday you told me ‘bout blue, blue sky, and all that I can see is just a yellow Lemon tree. I’m turning my head up and down. I’m turning, turning, turning around, and all I can see is another Lemon tree.” He sent this card because his Lemon tree was underneath 20cm of snow back in the UK! Also because we like Penguins!
His comment about his Lemon Tree reminded me about an event we experienced together earlier in the year in April whilst on one of our trips to see the villages in the mountains.
Photo: Martin’s Greeting Card.
WARNING! If you have already read ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ written by Stavros Allanopolis, please be aware these next few pieces from that book are repeated in this book. They contain the original text relating to the ‘big lemons’ and the ‘background and positioning’ information as to how the house became known as Meerkat Manor.
For any reader who has not read ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ please read on.
For those that have read Stavros’ first book, please move forward to ‘Welcome to 2010’.
So, about Martin and his ‘Big Lemons’ …… We were sitting at a tavern sipping an Ouzo when this lady came by carrying two bags full of Lemons. We could see that the Lemons were very large indeed, and we cried out, “Kalimera". Ooooh! Aaah. Bravo!” as we pointed at the Lemons in her bags. She stopped and gave us a big smile and said something that we didn’t understand. It must have been along the lines of “why thank you for complimenting me on my big Lemons,” and the next moment she put one in the middle of our table! We gave out more “Oooh’s and Aaah’s” because it was so big and smelt so good too.
Then, before we knew what was happening out came three more Lemons; one for each of us! Now, this is an example of the people of The Mani. The Maniots are so friendly and generous.
I have to tell you, these were no ordinary sized Lemons; these were a whole handful each, both in Martin’s hand and then in Valerie’s glass! The slice in the glass was 11cm in diameter; it was the size of the palm of her hand and only just fitted in the glass. This size compares to say 4cm or 5cm diameter of an average sized Lemon!
Photo: Martin and Stavros With BIG Lemons.
Valerie decided to have her Vodka and Tonic with a slice of Martin’s lemon in it. Look closely and you will see that the ‘slice’ is a large as the glass and even Valerie’s hand!
Photo: Vodka And Tonic And ‘Slice’.
Clearly the memory of his first trip to The Mani had stuck with Martin because, when he returned home, he decided to plant two Olive trees and Lemon tree in his garden to see whether they would grow in the English climate.
To date, he reports that the Olive trees are showing signs of growth, but the Lemon tree is finding it hard work under the 20cm of snow and without the hot sun that we have here in The Mani!
Whilst looking back to 2008, also of interest to you may be the naming of our house as Meerkat Manor.
We have three favourite African animals; Elephants, Giraffes and Meerkats. Not surprisingly, therefore, they are all featured in the house and garden.
When we left the UK, we brought with us two very large, framed, colour photographs of Elephants, taken by a professional photographer on Safari in Africa.
One is a close-up head shot of an elephant chewing on a leafy branch, and the other a distant shot of a small family of elephants climbing up a bank of a river after they had been drinking and bathing.
We also brought with us two carved (in Africa) wooden statues of giraffes; a large carving of a Mother, and small carving of a Baby. They stand side by side. Well, Mother on the floor, as she stands about one metre high, and the baby standing at just 30cm stands next to her on top of the coffee table. Meerkats? Well, we brought 28 of them with us from the UK! So, let me explain.
It was whilst I was in the local Garden Centre (back in the UK before leaving for Greece), and I was buying cat food when I found these statues of Meerkats. They were made of stone, and they came in three different s
izes and, incredibly, looked like the real thing. It was love at first sight and I just had to have one!
Well, as it turned out I bought 28 of them! I took them home and packed them away without telling Valerie. I had decided that they would be my ‘welcome’ surprise when she arrived in Agios Nikolaos to start our new life together in Greece.
On one of my weekend ‘removal’ visits, I carried them all in a holdall and took them on the plane as hand luggage. It was to be their first and last flight. Safely unpacked, I left them all in a row on the window sill looking out and waiting for us to arrive permanently.
Photo: Stone Meerkats Waiting On Window Sill.
Our house is different from most of the others built in the area as it is very small, so I decided to continue the trend of ‘different,’ and as a result, we have given the house a name. The name is Meerkat Manor (in Greek lettering for Meerkat Manor), and this is very different name from any of the other houses nearby, or in all probability the whole of Greece itself! I had it in mind that I would build the statues into some rock ‘homes’ on the walls surrounding the house, and I also arranged for a friend of mine to make two house signs in Welsh slate.
Photo: Meerkat Manor Sign On House.
Photo: Meerkat ‘Silhouettes’ By The Front Gate.
I built the stone Meerkats into the rocks at different heights to try and create the image of them ‘popping up’ to see what was going on around them, and on the ‘lookout’ for predators; generally ‘guarding’ their underground homes.
Photo: Meerkats On The Lookout.
During 2008, for my 60th Birthday, Valerie gave me a unique present; A metal Meerkat to put on top of the smoke vane on the chimney stack. Very cute
Photo: Stavros With New Meerkat.
Once I had put it on the chimney stack, I felt that we were now fully ‘branded’ and it can be seen quite clearly from a distance too!
It has a ‘friend’ on the roof too, as I cemented the largest of the stone Meerkats onto the corner of the tiles as the ‘chief look-out’ and ‘guardian’ of the house!
Photo: On The Chimney Stack.
During 2008, the large insurance company Norwich Union launched an advertising campaign which featured Meerkats. It is really clever and they updated the content regularly for the last five years. If you haven’t seen it go to www.comparethemeerkats.com – you won’t regret it! There is also an ‘adventure’ film in the making based on the characters featured in the advert. Guess what I’ll be hoping for as a present for Christmas 2011? Can’t wait!
WELCOME TO 2010
Come the evening of New Year’s Eve we went to Smokey Joe’s for supper but it was closed! Other than Easter Sunday, we have never known it to be closed before. Maybe Nikos was still on Honeymoon! So, we set off to the harbour and found another grill bar that was open and had our dinner there.
We had arranged to meet our friends Elaine and Tony for a drink in the bakery on the edge of the harbour at 11pm. When we got there it was closing; maybe the ‘closing’ disease is catching! I know the owner and asked if he could just serve the drinks before he closed the front door for the evening.
He poured the drinks, passed them outside and said, “Pay me tomorrow,” and then he locked up as he was clearly heading for the harbour to celebrate too!
Around 10 minutes before midnight we finished our drinks and strolled round to the harbour entrance to see what was happening. This was our first New Year celebration in the village; for 2008 we stayed at home for a quiet dinner and a bottle of ‘bubbly’ together to see in 2009. So, we didn’t know quite what to expect down here in the village to see in 2010.
As we turned the corner, it seemed like the whole village had turned out! Such a large crowd of people had gathered and there they all were laughing, chatting and drinking; waiting for the New Year to arrive. There was a 'free, help yourself' bar! You name it - they had it with EVERY KNOWN DRINK available!
Once again, another example of the generosity of the Maniot people; we think that the local bar and taverna owners make a contribution to provide the complimentary bar.
It was a fantastic atmosphere;
- ‘Expectation’ was in the air
- A DJ playing music
- Church bells rang out their musical peal
- Then Midnight,
A great big cheer went up from the crowd.
“Welcome to 2010. It is a new Decade. Yammas!”
Then we got another surprise!
Almost immediately as the cheering ended, a firework display was set off from the other side of the harbour entrance. It was a clear sky, and no wind, so the view of the fireworks was amazing; unbelievable! After the firework display, people started to go home.
On our way home, we stopped for a ‘night-cap’ at Aaggi’s Bar, and then walked home through the Olive tree groves.
Photo: Stuart And Valerie Welcome In 2010.
As we walked along the track, I realised that it was a Full Moon, so as soon as we got home, I got my camera out and went ‘Watching’ to see how the Olives were doing during the Full Moon.
After all, it was the 1st day of the month and time for the ‘Watching’ photo to prove that I’m doing my job!
What a day! A fantastic celebration to see in the New Year and to capture a photo of the Olive tree with a Full Moon! Then it was time for bed to face a new day in a new decade at Meerkat Manor. As I got into bed, I was thinking to myself that if I had been granted a New Year’s wish it would have been,
“Please stop the Oxalis and weeds growing at Meerkat Manor.”
New Year’s Day 2010 At Meerkat Manor
Photo: ‘Watched’ at Full Moon.
Come the Dawn on New Year’s Day 2010, I was up having my cup of tea on the upper terrace. This was another day in ‘Paradise’ and I was back doing my job ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ in right in front of me.
Being multi- skilled, I was also able to look to the East and look out towards ‘Zorro’ mountain whilst I waited for the sun to rise.
We call it ‘Zorro’ because of the distinctive Z shape of the road that we can see cut into the mountain’s side. The road is very steep and the curves are very tight as the tarmac road winds its way up the hillside to the village of Platsa and here are no guard rails either, but the view from up there is great!
Photo: The ‘Sign of Zorro’ Road.
New Year’s Day was a brilliant day! Valerie gave me a Meerkat Calendar; a fantastic start to the year!
Photo: Meerkat 2010 Calendar.
The sky was bright blue and not a cloud in sight, and at 25 C the sun was hot, so we decided to go for a walk down to Pantazi beach before lunch.
We walked along the shoreline to the village and then back to the house. We had left our New Year’s Day ‘treat’ cooking in the oven; Roast Beef complete with Yorkshire Puddings and Roast Potatoes
Photo: Roast Beef And Yorkshire Pudding.
Now is the appropriate time to tell you that there is a little story behind
JANUARY 2010
It was day two of the new decade and somehow we had managed to convince ourselves that we were still ‘on holiday’ and that we could do what we wanted to do today. So we continued to give the weeding and the ‘Watching’ a ‘miss’ for another day! We decided to climb the mountain behind us that led up to the Church built into the cliffs just below the quarry.
Photo: Church In The Cliff.
Once again it was a really wonderful day. As it was so hot, we set off in just our T-shirts and jeans; big mistake! After 20 minutes, we got a reminder of how quickly weather can change; it clouded over and rained, and then there were hail stones! Quite a shock; our first ever in Greece! However almost as soon as it happened then it was over; no more than 10 minutes from start to finish, and then back to a brilliant warm and sunny day. Bizarre!
Photo: Church Entrance.
The climb was steep but we got to the Church. Built right into the mountainside, it nestled into the rocks. It was so simple in desi
gn and content and well worth the climb.
From the garden of the Church, the views of Agios Nikolaos and our house were really good. We were so high up and yet everything was so clear to see.
Photo: Church Bell Tower.
The beauty of this church is the simplicity of it.
Whitewashed walls inside and out.
An Altar and a Lectern for the Priest to rest his bible.
10 Icons on the walls.
A dozen well-worn wooden chairs.
Photo: Inside The Church.
After looking around the Church, we continued our walk along the ridge top of the cliff to a quarry.
After the hailstones, the sun had come out and shone brightly onto the sea. The view from up there down to the sea was amazing. After the hailstones, the sun had come out and shone brightly onto the sea.
As we went we came across so many wild flowers already in bloom.
The purple Anemones were so pretty just moving their heads with the gentle breeze, yet only half an hour before they had been subjected to hail stones! As far as the eye could see along the track, we could see whole clusters of these magnificent flowers. Very bright and beautiful in stark contrast to the roughness of the stone track.
Photo: Wild Anemone.
As we descended, we saw goats, turkeys and chickens in pens.
Watching the Olives Grow Page 4