Nando's farewell

Marionelle and Heather are flying home (M to ECape and H to Durbs) this week- they are 2 of my best friends in London, so going to miss them, but luckily i'm not far behind... We had lunch with about 20 other friends, after church at Nando's in Stratford- a favourite spot, where we've said goodbye to many other friends over the last 3 years. We took this photo when we realised we were all wearing turquoise!!

Autumn Sunshine

I took this photo from our lounge window- Autumn is taking hold and winter is on its way...

Fireworks!!

Guy Fawkes is here in a big way. It's sounded like a war zone outside for the last 3 nights leading up to Guy Fawkes and of course tonight. We've seen some amazing displays from our lounge window and while walking home from the station this evening.

Jacques and Lindi for supper

We had Jacques and Lindi over for supper on Sat eve. I decided to make (or at least attempt to make...) some of the delicious food i tasted in Greece... we had Tzaziki and bread for starters, Mousaka and Greek salad for mains and then my own cinnamon, almond and honey ice cream creation for dessert! We had a great evening together catching up and talking about life.

Ernst and I

Baby sitting

We looked after Titus (Tim and Lee's baby boy) on Saturday afternoon, to give them a much needed break. After being in Greece, i had lots of phoning-home to do, so here i'm doing what i do best- multi tasking! I'm feeding Titus banana and his baby food (which i tasted, not realising it contains Lee's breast milk... we had quite a laugh about that when i told her his food tasted good!)

Island of Naxos

Walking in Naxos

The top few photos are of Marionelle and i walking between the mountain villages in Naxos. It was like stepping back in time, walking between small farming villages in the mountains, where life carries on, largely unaffected by tourism and the outside world.

Last photo: Enjoying our last meal in Athens- we shared 2 dishes- Tzaziki and bread and stuffed vine leaves- delicious!

Naxos

1st photo: Fresh calamari hanging up outside a restaurant in Naxos

2nd photo: We found a beautiful undiscovered beach to sun tan and swim in Naxos. Even though it's Autumn in the Mediterranean, we still had plenty of warm days and managed to get tans! (main holiday objective :o)

In and around Naxos

1st: Antonio's studios, where we stayed while in Naxos. We met Antonio at the harbour when we got off the ferry. This is how it works on the islands- locals offering accommodation approach tourists at the harbour with photos of the accommodation on offer and are usually willing to bargain on the price.

2: Souvlakis!! Yum! This was our staple diet while in Naxos- 1.50 euro for a pita bread filled with pork, salad and chips! As Marionelle said- was it the taste or the price that appealed to us so much?

3&4: Relaxing on the beach

Santorini

1: Red Beach on the Island of Santorini- on an island covered in black sand (from the nearby volcano), it was spectacular to see this.

2: Tanning on one of Santorini's beautiful black sandy beaches. We spoke to one of the Santorini islanders about how strange the black sand was to us... he said he was freaked out when he first saw a white sandy beach as a child!

3&4: Hiking up an ancient mountain path in Santorini- spectacular views!

5: Supper at the beach after reaching the other side of the mountain. After this we waited an hour for the local bus to arrive- when asking about the lack of bus time tables- we were told that bus times on the island depend on the drivers mood... charming!

Naxos

Boy, did we enjoy the bakeries in Naxos!! The chocolate souffle was a chocoholics dream... We took dried fruit, rusks and peanuts& raisins with us to Greece to save on food- so that we could splash out on the things that really matter :o)

Naxos

Still don't know what this round bread thingy is called, but they sold them all over Greece- in Athens and on the islands. We weren't sure whether ours was just really stale or supposed to be a jaw cracker?! Needless to say, we found many uses for it!

Santorini- the volcano island

We took a beautiful wooden boat, across the bay to the volcano part of Santorini, where we walked up to the top of the volcano. The volcano is still active- the last eruption was in 1956. 15cm below the surface, the sand is boiling hot and streams of sulphur gas rose from points on the volcano. Apparently there is no life on a volcano for 400 years after an eruption. This was clear from the desolate, barren rocky landscape. Beautiful in a strange, different way. Not even the karoo can prepare you for this!

Santorini- Architecture

We took about 700 photos between us in 10 days- every sight seemed more fantastic than the last... one of the things that i loved was the difference in architecture. These bright homes look so beautiful against the rocky Mediterranean landscape.

Athens- food and street markets

Athens- the Acropolis

Wow, what can i say, what a privilege to visit this famous monument of the ancient world, with its ancient temples, ruins and views of Athens stretched out below.

1: The Parthenon

2: The Erecthion

5: The temple of Zeus