Weekend with the Fam

My fam arrived Friday afternoon and I thought they had missed the ferry because all these people were piling off and no family in sight. They kept trailing off for about 5-10 mins before I finally saw them (the ferry was completely packed). It was so weird to see them! Linda was with me to pick them up and she drove them to our place and I followed on my bike.

Over the weekend and Monday we did many things! Unfortunately, for 2 of the 4 days, it was pretty cloudy and there were a few showers but the other days were hot and sunny and I think all 3 of them got very dark in a short time.

The first day was a little rainy so we rented a small car and just drove around the island, stopping at points of interest like Lefkes, Naoussa, Piso Livadi, and my workplace. In Lefkes, the rain stopped so we went for a nice walk around the village. Next was Naoussa where we stoped and I had them all try a Greek frappe (you have to if you’re over here!). It was relaxing just sitting and chatting on the patio of the cafe over looking the harbour. The sun came out at that time too which was great. For dinner we stopped at the little town of Piso Livadi on the south side of the island. We ate at a little restaurant with a table right on the water. The portions were huge and the food was delicious!!! We had Greek salads, souvlakis, veal, fried eggplant, and red wine.

After all that we also had time to drive up a pointed hill that has a great view over a lot of the island and a church at the top. There were a few sharp hairpin turns but with the little car, they were doable. We took a bunch of pics and explored. In the evening, we walked around the market streets of Paroikia and soon they were getting tired from jetlag, so we headed home.

On Sat, we had some pastries and Nescafe for breakie in the AM. We traded the car in for 2 scooters instead since the weather was hot and sunny now. We split up for a bit because I had to go into work and they took off for a ride on the scooters. In a few hours they popped by my work and we all decided to meet at Haniotis for lunch (a great place for burgers) because I still had a few things to finish up.

We had lunch and headed home to change for the beach. Mom ended up staying home and relaxing while I took Paul and dad to Kolimbithres Beach. I wanted to take them to the most striking beach and this one is pretty cool with interesting rock formations along the beach and in the water. The water was very nice and wasn’t hard to get into at all; it was noticeably warmer than a few weeks ago when I first tried it out.

In the evening, Tony’s parent’s invited us all up for dinner. It’s always a little nerve racking when your parents and boyfriend’s parents meet and hangout for the first time but everyone got along well! Markos and Linda made great food as usual and we all tried a few Greek drinks including my “foot wine” that I helped make in Sept, Metaxa, and ouzo. We ate roasted chicken, stuffed tomatoes and peppers, Greek salad, baby potatoes, homemade tzatziki, pita, homemade cream cheese, and dessert. We were all stuffed by the time we headed to bed at around midnight.

On Sunday, we went on a one-day cruise to Delos and Mykonos which I had booked earlier in the week. It was a hot sunny day and the ferry ride over was so relaxing. Once we arrived at Delos we wandered around for 3 hours. Delos is uninhabited and is full of ruins that are thousands of years old. There are paths you can take around the old cities and a little museum too. In the center of the island is a small mountain that you can climb up and get a great view of the whole island and surrounding islands. Dad, Paul, and I headed up it in the boiling sun while mom stayed below.

Next was Mykonos (right next to Delos). What a cool island! It’s known as the “party island” and I could definitely see why. It was full of people and most of them seemed to be under 30. It was a fun place to people watch.

We just stayed in Mykonos Town and wandered around the pretty market streets and had lunch near the water. It’s definitely pricier then the other islands, I guess because it’s so touristy. Paul really liked it (hot girls everywhere, lol).

On the way back we pretty much fell asleep on the ferry. We walked so much and it was soooooooo hot and sunny all day. Back at home we had a relaxing night and watched a movie.

Monday was a bit of a let down. We were planning on going to the beach for a swim but it ended up being cloudy and there was rain on and off for most of the day. We all went to Hotel Nikolas to use the internet on my comp for a bit and had coffee. Afterwards, I took them to the main church on the island, called the Church of 100 Doors and we looked around while it poured. Once the rain stopped a little we headed to Zorba’s near the port for some souvlakis (my favorite place to get those, sooo good!).

In the afternoon, Paul and dad took off for a long ride and I stayed home with mom to watch a movie, drink tea and just relax. We both hate going out in bad weather.

In the evening, mom and dad packed and we all went upstairs to have dinner with Markos and Linda again. They made moussaka this time and it was soooo good! My stomach hurt after because it was soo full of food. We hung out up there until it was time for mom and dad to catch their midnight ferry to Athens. We all said our good-byes and headed home to sleep.

They flew out yesterday from Athens to Venice and will continue around Italy and up to England. My bro is still here and will leave around June 7. We are going to go to Mykonos again next weekend and stay the night, so that should be fun!

M