Memorial Weekend! Part Two

The Sunday during Memorial Weekend my friend was throwing a BBQ at her new house.  They had purchased their building the summer before, so it was interesting to see what new renovations have come along.  Luckily, they pulled out a tree from their yard in time for the BBQ.  They found out the tree was the culprit behind some problems in their basement, plus they felt it used up a lot of space in general. 

That day in particular happened to be very hot indeed.  The temperature reached up to the low 90s.  I wore a tissue thin tee along with my crop shorts.  As I’m getting older sometimes I feel silly wearing short shorts but when it’s that hot outside, you don’t really care what people think. 

It was nice seeing my friends.  They were also very supportive about the incident that occurred in Rome.  I hate that I have to second-guess myself but that’s what Life does to you.  You try to do your best and when situations make you question everything you end up taking a step back to reflect.  As they say, sometimes things happen for a reason, and I want to be able to learn from this.  Have you learned any life lessons along the way?  I’m always curious to see what other people have figured out in this crazy game called Life...

Blizzard Basketball

One of the craziest things I did this month was to go to a Chicago Bulls basketball game on the day it didn’t stop snowing for 18 hours.  There was so much snow accumulation that people had difficulty coming into work.  They pushed back the game to start an hour later so I told my brother we might be ok.  It would give the city some time to clean up the streets.  We rode downtown via Blue Line and then took an Uber the rest of the way.  Needless to say, we won the game and had a blast.  Hey when you live in Chicago you always ride out the storm!

I layered up since it was cold!

Super Bowl Sunday

I’m recapping February events in February!  Lol.  Since we’ve had terrible weather on and off, I kept a low profile so far this month.  The last weekend in January I went to visit my friend in Michigan, and then the following I pretty much stayed in except for Super Bowl Sunday.  The groundhog was right.  We’ve had so much extreme weather that it’s hard to predict what happens next.

I caught up with my chores since I was gone and also my workouts.  I normally don’t eat out at restaurants too much, but since I was celebrating my friend’s birthday, I had to oblige.  On Super Bowl Sunday my brother picked me up early and we headed to my Dad’s.  This has become sort of a tradition for us, which is nice since my Dad is a sports buff like my brothers.  His wife left us alone to watch the game, and brought down dinner for us to feast on.  How did you like Justin Timberlake’s performance?  I thought it was great!  I couldn’t understand what everyone was fussing about.  Oh well.  That’s the internet for ya!

Day 4 Kalamata

Since we stayed up late the night before we finally got up around 11am.  We figured today we would spend the day at the beach, but first, coffee!  We got dressed and headed to the centro.  It was relatively quiet in town.  It was nice being able to see the hustle and bustle of fellow citizens.  For most Europeans, they were still on vacation.  We went to visit a friend who ran a coffee shop and I had my first Greek pie for breakfast.  Filled with cheese, the pocket was made of a croissant flaky bread.  You had your choice of ham, chicken or spinach.  Those things are filling!  We went to take a walk around the "old center" of Kalamata and I browsed through a couple of boutiques.  I must say, I was very impressed with the retail I encountered there.  Me and my friend discussed the differences between Italian and Greek style, but for the most part, Europeans DO have a "style" when it comes to dressing.  Since Kalamata is next to the sea, the look around town is more relaxed beach wear.  We chatted at a pub nearby while we people watched.  A couple of gypsies were working the corner and were harassing people taking money out of the ATM machine, as well as stopping patrons outside the cafe.  It's hard to watch especially when they involve children, but Simon assured me it's a bigger problem for them to solve.  Sometimes panhandling leads to petty theft, and eventually it grows to serious theft as well as the selling of weapons.  Yikes!



Hot Greek pies ready for breakfast!  I saw these everywhere at cafes.

People enjoying their morning coffee at the café.

Strolling around at il centro...

Retail therapy

We visited an old church at il centro.

One of the surprising things I found in Greece is seeing a variety of ethnic restaurants.  Here a Greek who use to live in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood opened a Mexican restaurant in Kalamata.

A shot of masticha at a bar.

We headed back and grabbed our swimwear.  The beach was waiting for us!  We settled at a beach club and were escorted to our umbrellas.  I wasn't aware the Brazilian bikini was a huge favorite among Greeks.  I people watched for the most part during my time there.  When I finally had the nerve to dip in the water, the waves were consuming me.  I do not know how to swim very well, but the water felt great.



Time for some sun at Secada beach bar.

Since we spent most of the day there, we opted to checkout the sunset.  I took my time getting ready since I knew we were going to have dinner and stay out the rest of the evening.  Once I showered up we headed back to the old part of Kalamata and I had my first souveki.  It was delicious!!



Had my first souveki at this gem...

More fries!

Now to head back to Kastraki for the sunset.  Unfortunately it was not opened yet so we decided to take a quick drive back down to a nearby beach.  That's when we heard some dance music.  We stopped in a beach bar to checkout the action.  The sun was beginning to set but we had some clouds that ruined our view!  Oh well!

Panoramic view up at Kastraki...



Checking out another beach bar during the sunset.  The music was awesome!

We drove back to town but first we went to the bus station to checkout the schedule.  I was planning on leaving the following day.  We headed to his place to check on his mother who lived upstairs.  She was a handful!  Right away she handed me an ice cream candy bar and started pouring me a glass of orange juice!  Apparently she thought I was too thin.  She was a riot!

We met up with his sister who just came home from work and discussed the bus schedule along with the schedule for the ferry heading out to Santorini.  Looks like I will be catching the 8am bus.  

It's Friday night and we had the itch to go out.  Since his sister worked all week she wanted to unwind as well.  We headed back to the centro for a glass of wine.  We talked about everything which I loved.  It was a change of pace for me.  

The next day we got up early and Simon drove me to the bus station.  I am happy that my friend is doing well back at his hometown.  He's a good man who loves his city and is now getting involved within the community to help improve the conditions in Kalamata.  I am confident he will be fine.