Karpathos

It's Tuesday night (I think). We're back in Athens for the tail end of a most pleasant hol-i-day.

Saturday we flew to Athens then to Rhodes and then to Karpathos. It was the most remote and uncommercialized island of the group we chose. Our plan was to chill, sun, eat and sleep.

When we flew in, were a bit concerned about the barrenness of the landscape. But the beaches were everything we had read them to be. Long strips of sand; pale green water that hugged the coast; azure blue as it deepened into the sea.

45 minute taxi ride to Lefkos where we got a room overlooking the water. Sunday went according to plan. And then...

When you open yourself to adventure, sometimes it just exponentially happens.

In the airport Mary H struck up a conversation with a delightful woman (Kirsten, cardio-vascular surgeon) from Denmark. We rode in the cab with her to Lefkos. Ran into her at the taverna and ended up getting invited to go fishing on Monday with the taverna owner. Captain Yanis and his three mermaids.

Monday morning I couldn't help but remember the prayer that goes something like, "oh, God...your sea is so big and my boat is so small" as we rode the waves out along the craggy coast. Found a fishing spot (gloriously beautiful peaceful surroundings) and dropped the lines. We were fishing for rosetti fish and our lines had three hooks each. I caught three doubles and Mary H caught one triple (not to mention the singles we all pulled in!) Fun, fun. Riding the waves back I wanted to stand and model those mermaid carvings on the stern of wooden boats of old...of course I would have been tossed out to sea, so settled for standing occasionally with my arms outstretched with a whoop.

When we got back we fell back into our routine: eating, sleeping, sunning. For dinner that evening we were fetted with a feast of our catch from the sea. Just doesn't get any fresher. Then we swam by the moonlight and partied into to wee hours of the a.m. Only problem with that is that we had to catch our flight back to Rhodes then Athens.

Tonight we are operating on about three hours' sleep. About time to crash. Tomorrow we'll explore the Acropolis and go to the Monastiraki Flea Market and rest. Thursday it's on to NYC to see where LJ and Dave have landed.

The Greek Isles and their people are very welcoming and wonderful. We are blessed.