Lesvos, Greece

Dinner at 11 pm and bed at 2 am might seem crazy, but here on Lesvos it is the norm.

It's now over two weeks since we arrived in Greece and it didn't take too long to settle into a more relaxed way of living. After the very cold temperatures of Buenos Aires we reached Greece where the average is around 35 (Murray, not your kind of weather?). That is a very good reason to make the most of evenings and less of daylight.

Athens provided us with the touch of history with a visit to the Acropolis and walking in the footsteps of the ancient philosophers. Stayed with a friend, Brian, not far from the centre of Athens. After two days we then headed to Lesvos in the northern Aegean. (For the Google Earth folk, we are staying in Molyvos. Take a look at this gorgeous village with a castle on top of the hill and a quaint little harbour. We are staying half way between Molyvos and the nearby village of Petra.)

Our home is rather big compared to most places on this island. It also has two apartments attached to it and is on 1-1/2 acres. We are the caretakers. Our chores are minimal yet require regularity. We have the responsibility of feeding - night and morning - 10 cats (I did notice an extra one the other night), a pyschotic dog (so timid it runs away even when you put food out), 7 frogs, and numerous fish. Oh and we also have plants to water but that's not too difficult as there is a watering system on most. (There have also been problems with the sewerage system which has had to be attended to but will not describe it here.)

So, we have settled in very nicely. Paul was lucky enough to join Giogo, the owner of the house, on his rather large fishing boat the day after we arrived. They motored around Lesvos with Turkey on one side and Lesvos on the other to a Gulf where the boat is now in drydock. On the first day our hosts treated us to a wonderful greek meal in a nearby village called Eftalou at one of their favorite tavernas where the sea breeze of the Aegean filtered through the trees and the sea lapped on the pebbled beach. We could see the flickering lights of the villages of Turkey just across the strait. We had our first tastes of the Aegean cuisine of grilled octopus, sardines, aubergine, moussaka, grilled local lamb cheese and meat balls and the obligatory greek salad accompanied with ouzo and wine. It didn't take either of us long to realise we are definitely in another exotic country with different foods, languages and customs and a totally new experience was unfolding.

A week later a friend from the Central Coast, Richard, arrived. It has been great to have him here to share stories and to catch up on the happenings back home. His excitement and enthusiasm for 'anything' Greek is fabulous and we are happy to go along with anything he wants to see or do.

We all booked into a Greek cookery course. How much fun can one have? Eleni, our teacher, welcomed us with a Greek coffee and sweet apricot and then she soon had us picking fresh zucchini flowers from her vegetable garden for one of our dishes. We chopped, peeled, drank ouzo and wine, combined beautiful herbs and cooked, culminating in a real feast of greek lamb casserole, croquettes, aubergines and zucchini, rice pasta lamb and salad accompanied by more wine and ouzo and topped off with fresh watermelon - a traditional accompaniment at this time of the year. Yianni, her husband and Eva her daughter joined us for the meal around 2 pm.

This meal has been the beginning of a very warm friendship. Eleni grew up in Gosford and Yianni likes to dive (this is also a passion of Richards). With much in common, we have spent a number of occasions with them since - drinking, dancing, magging and entertaining. The latter, we cooked up a treat and invited them for dinner after they finished work at 11 pm. There are already plans for more sharing of recipes and tasting the results.

Night life is an important part of the Greek life. Not only because it is hot during the day but also it is a social gathering for people in small villages like Molyvos where most houses don't have outdoor living areas so meeting on the narrow cobblestoned streets, catching up on the days events and watching the passing parade is part of the scene. Eating outdoors is a very big tourist industry for 7 months of the year here. Most of the tourists are from Scandanavian countries, some Italians, Dutch and a few English. Around 10-12 pm when the shops close, the restaurants and tavernas are full. Emissions of food come from the kitchens, voices and music mingle in the crowded Molyvos restaurants. Within arms reach, colourful wooden boats rock in the harbour from a cool seabreeze and clear nights and winking stars make for a magical experience. Hence getting to bed before 2 pm can be sometimes difficult.

(Paul keeps pinching himself 'cause he's not sure it is real). Oh by the way Paul already has his worry beads (although he is still looking for something to worry about) and a big fat Greek ring and looking for some other exotic touches that will remind him of this venture. At this stage he is keeping with his name but Robby has a feeling that Andonis might be in the wind.

Having Richard here has prompted us to explore the island further. We spent a day (well we didn't start until 11 am) taking in small villages - most have a square, almost all have very narrow streets and groups of elderly men drinking coffee and swinging worry beads; a monestary with 'black' madonna; petrified forest; swims at various beaches before reaching Skala Erossos (the place where Sappho, a Greek poet supposedly lived in 400 BC) where we indulged ourselves in a generous helping of Greek cuisine before heading back home. Here on Lesvos, nothing is further than a day trip.

Another day took a drive to the east coast and visited the pottery village of Mantamadas. Unfortunately we had forgotten that most shops close for a long siesta between 1 and 5.30 so will have to go back another day to see the local wares. Another day another beach and to the top of Mt Olympus.

Petri, just 1-1/2 klms from our place is our favorite swimming spot. Mostly the water has been mild and flat so it is great for serious swimming. However for a couple of days it was extremely cold - certainly giving one the chills when you first dive in. Swimming is part of our routine, at least once sometimes 2 or 3 times a day but very little sun baking as the temperatures are far too high. The afternoon (or evening) swim is generally followed by returning home, sitting on the patio, looking across the Aegean with a glass of ouzo or wine and watching the sunset. Before we know it is 9.30 and Paul or Richard attend to a culinary delight. Robby of course compliments them on their creative dishes and fears that the time will come when she might have to head to the kitchen. If one is not feeling like cooking than we head to Molyvos or Petra.

Housesitting is fun (except for attending to the sullage and water systems). We will continue to relax and repeat the activities above for at least another four weeks. We have plans to visit Turkey (only 1-1/2 hrs away) for two or three days and also to visit a nearby island. That is of course if we can get someone to feed the zoo.

So folk, as you endure the cold temperatures of winter in Australia we think of you snuggled up in front of the heaters and feel happy that we can, at least for this year, not have to endure those cold mornings (especially on the train).

Buenos Aires - Argentina

The Waldorf Hotel was conveniently located in downtown Buenos Aires or BsAs and despite it being above our budget we thought what the heck - at least for a couple of days. It took no time to realise that we were in a very vibrant city as we ventured into new territory on Av. Florida. The dances were tangoing in the streets (Marie, they don't tango with a rose, so no need to worry about the thorns) the suave males and foxy females confronting and beckoning our attention for their special leather product. The Av. was humming with music, activty and every now and then your assurance was broken by the scream of the siren.

Robby was struggling to ward off a two week cold and Paul was struck 'down' by a virus that grounded him for two days. So the inside of a hotel room was not the way to see BsAs. However, knowing our time here was ticking by we both did our best to regain the energy to experience this place we had been looking forward to.

We were not disappointed. Our experience was heightened by knowing a local. Well, she would hardly claim to be a local yet. We met Lyne, a French Candadian way back in Santiago, Chile. She had been to Bs As a number of times and was moving there to work (in May). She offered to take us to a local Parrilla or BBQ restaurant (more on that later) when we reached Bs As.

Bohemia isn't dead in Argentina. Lyne pointed us in the direction of art galleries, tango exhibitions and restaurants. So here are our stories...

Art galleries exist all over Bs As however a large number of them are located in one burro, Recoletta. They are mostly small and focus on particular schools from pop, to fine arts, to abstraction, to more quirky and ecclectic works. We also found one gallery that focused on late European 19th to early 20th century works (at Argentinian prices!). This burro was also lined with more exclusive shopping. A con gas aqua (water with bubbles) was our limit.

So off to a local tango exhibition (thanks to Lyne's advice). We are captured by this dance which they say is the 'dance of the emotion'. It is also about the music and singing and the passion that each person contributes to their part of the tango. Like a true artform it never stops reinventing itself, this first experience was a contemporary tango. It was very different to the street tango where the rhythm has much more of a gypsy feel. The Sunday markets at San Telmo provided yet a different slant on tango where the bandoneones (like a concertina) together with violin and believe it or not a piano is rolled into the park or street corner and the music provides a platform for tango dancing for young and old. We just can't get enough of this dance - it is the passion that all put into it plus the cultural proudness it seems to exuberate. Although, many locals are not as passionate about it as others, so we are told. Another evening was spent at a malingo dance hall. This was a different experience. The hall was like I could imagine the old dance halls of the 20s - large, ornate, tables around the edge of the dance floor and a stage at the front. We arrived around 10 pm to find a tango class in action. At 11 pm about 100 people changed shoes, music started and before long the floor was full of tango dancers of all shapes and sizes and ages and strutting their own interpretation of the music. It was quite moving given the age differences from around 20 to 80. At around midnight, a full tango orchestra arrived, played for 10 minutes then played cards? Still wondering whether they actually returned to the stage. We left at 1.30 for a very brisk tango walk (around 5 degrees) back down Florida Av. to the hotel.

There is no such thing as a bad restaurant in Argentina (at least in our books). Range of food was diverse; service second to none - even if you're the only person in the restaurant plus you generally receive a small treat at the beginning or end like a pate and/or liquor or champagne for free; quality - well, we thought Australia had excellent steaks but here they are extraordinarily tasty and large portions - the fish is great too; wine is particularly good on the palette, no matter what time of day; and price, well, with 2.6 Arg pesos to AUS $ that makes meals around half to a quarter of the price we pay in Australia. Only our colds prevented us from wining and dining at very good restaurants everyday.

There are a couple of Argentinian specialities - empanadas which are like meat pies except smaller and eaten as snacks or meals and the parrilla. We waited to have a parrilla with Lyne – she had first hand information about the best places to go. A parrilla is a meat feast. You actually see a picture of the cow and decide which bits you'd like to try. They are then bbq'd and brought to the table sizzling. Our first parrilla consisted of sweet bread, local sausage called chorizo, skirt steak and sirloin. They were all just medium size dishes shared between the three of us. Great 4 those on protein diet.

We didn't spend much time searching out museums and buildings, although Bs As is a mosaic of huge avenues with old charming neo classic buildings blended with modern highrises and skyscrapers of the 21st century and plazas all with sculptures marking various historical events.

After a week in the city we headed to the delta area about one hour from Bs As. The river Tigre is the main river. With just an overnight pack we found ourselves on one of the delta islands called Tres Bosca in a charming hotel which provided both a home cooked dinner and breakfast. It was a very crisp winter day just perfect for the two hour walk around the island. This area has similarities to Venice without the buildings but the charm of boats on the canals and rivers and piers of all shapes and sizes leading to colourful homes surrounded by pickett fences and large blocks of land. A path takes you around the island through a forest. No cars, just the sound of dogs and boats. This short retreat was just what we needed as we were still struggling with sniffles and coughs.

Back in Bs As we had a shopping list. Will we buy leather shoes, bag and/or jacket? Robby had a haircut, we replenished supplies ready for the next part of our journey and finished our stay with a night at a Parilla and a final tango show. This time our meal of sweet breads, kidney and patagonia lamb was followed by a Special Taramisu. Over the two hours we were entertained by a tango singer and dancers. This was topped off with a free champagne. A perfect way to end 12 days in Buenos Aires.

So we are now in transit at Madrid airp0rt on our way 2 Athens. We both thoroughly enjoyed South America and would love to return to Argentina as there is so much to see (preferably in summer). Greece awaits us. We are spending the first two nights in Athens, thanks to our host Jennifer and then on to the Island of Lesbos.

Adios South America and Yassous Greece.