The Green Jeep

The three of us spent Friday, Saturday & part of Sunday tooling around in a Green Jeep we rented. In order to get to the "good" beaches one needs a car here. Fortunately we knew that before we came & included a rental in our budget. Friday we drove all around the island and saw some of the most amazing views of our lifetimes. We stopped to hike up to a church on the top of a rock. The church (click for a view) is dedicated to John the Baptist and one really has to want to see it as the climb is incredible. While we were panting and hanging on to the handrails, I tried to comfort Emma with the fact that John the Baptist had neither stairs nor handrails when he was climbing up the rocks to worship God. It's really amazing to think we could have been in the same general area as he once was. Just after we spent some time in the little church and signed the guest book, another English speaking couple arrived. They were from Canada & when they asked Emma where we were from, the husband began singing "Oklahoma where the wind comes" -- he finished the song and then went on to sing another from the musical. He'd been in the chorus in Canada. They are of the Greek Orthodox faith & he sang some beautiful Byzantine chants while he was in the little church. After the long walk down (man those were some steep steps) we drove to the town of Glossa, where the Canadian man was born, for lunch. While looking around we ran into a Swedish woman who was a bit bummed because she'd been unable to find a place to eat as many restaurants were closed for siestas. When Wade located one, she joined our trio for lunch. It was YUMMY! The restaurant was having it's opening day, so the menu was limited, but the service & cooking were fantastic. Emma had a pizza where the crust was made like hashbrowns. Rosti, I believe, is what the woman called it. I had a Greek salad, the likes of which my taste buds has never before experienced & Wade had a steak. Our next stop came at the beach, Milia (click for photo). It was a pebble beach with beautiful water. We'd actually stopped by there before the trip to the church & decided to return later. This time, Emma had a playmate, Shao Lin. They'd met the previous evening on the pier watching eels and sea urchins. They donned their goggles and swam around looking at fish before catching several (six, Emma says) in a net and letting them swim around in plastic cups for a bit before returning them to the sea. Shao Lin is from San Fransisco. Her dad owns a house here & grew up on the island. Her mom is from China, so they alternate summer trips each year. Wade and I enjoyed visiting with Shao Lin's parents, and their friends who'd come over from Paris for a long weekend. Our day ended with a wonderful pasta dinner on our terrace and a mean game of dominoes.