Spetses, part 3: The Wedding

One would be hard-pressed to find any event more exuberant, loving, and fun-filled than a traditional Greek wedding. Yesterday's wedding at Agia Nikolas on Spetses, of Jonathan's cousin Tina and her English husband Peter, was no exception.

For the benefit of family, here are a collection of photographs of this special day--and the party that lasted until dawn.

 

The reception--a vertitable eating/drinking/dancing marathon--began at 7:30 and lasted until around 4 a.m., when several of the guests left the waterside venue for a last few drinks at another club. Jonathan danced with groom's grandmother (age 88) and one of his cousin's daughters (age 7) and just about everyone else. The music alternated between traditional Greek circle dances, solo zembeiko (including male dance acrobatics, wherein the dancer falls to the floor and retrieves a shot-glass with pursed lips), Euro-pop, and American disco. A swim at dawn, before going to bed, capped a tremendously fun evening.

 

 

 

Spetses, part 2

 

At a quiet cove called Garyfalos, down a dusty path from Spetses town, a group of elderly couples, copper-skinned and bobbing in the aquamarine far offshore, provide a seamless cackle--of family news, the cost of vegetables, the indignities of their shadow state--all the while presenting a lovely image of grace and beauty through agelessness. In short order, they have become Jonathan's role models--aging with dignity, joy, and abundant laughter.

 

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A small cloud appeared today, a speck amid the panorama of cobalt sky, a mere irreverent puff, a fleeting reminder that summer, in fact, is not a permanent or irrevocable condition.

 

My maternal grandmother, Evstathia, was born on this little island (8 miles long, 4 miles wide) in the Saronic Gulf in 1899. She escaped "poverty" and a kind of familial misery borne of a mean and jealous stepmother, leaving in 1912 with an elderly aunt, bound for America for what was advertised as a short stay. The German U-boats had another idea and her short stay lasted 81 years. She met my grandfather, another economic migrant from Greece; the two married and finally returned to their homeland in the mid-1920s, then again in the early 1950s, and one last time in 1966. The impoverished land of her birth was transformed in the ensuing years into a kind of Hellenic Riviera, where several residents arrive in private helicopters, yachts, and high-speed boat taxi from the mainland. In the interim, she willfully abandoned a piece of family land that became a multimillion-dollar slice of Mediterranean waterfront. But her happiness was counted in grandchildren, reams of laughter, and inexplicably fine cooking skills...

 

 Jonathan completed the unlikely circle in 1979, a nineteen year old arriving by slow ferry from the port of Pireaus to find his "roots"--now deep, well-watered, and prolific. The "roots" notion is a bit discredited in his jaded mind, but it works by way of explanation. Jonathan soon learned that he could study classics in Athens during the week, and enjoy this special place on the weekends. And from that routine, some special family relationships were rekindled. For Greeks, there can be nothing more annoying than a long-lost relative from the New World coming "home" to claim what is "rightly" his (or hers). Jonathan never followed that singular approach--as a result, these aforementioned relationships are enduring, genuine, and greatly valued. He likes to think, from both sides.

Tina, the bride-to-be, and Jonathan are second cousins. (Her grandfather and his grandmother were siblings one hundred years ago. Hence the connection and the reason for his presence for this very special day.

More pictures from today's perambulations follow. Wedding pics will follow in the next day or so.

 

Spetses island, part 1

I set off from Athens this morning in a rented Fiat Punto, navigating that city's concrete jungle--reminded by my friend Koula that one is meant to stop at the red lights, a known fact rendered irrelevant by a lack of sleep--but in the end made it seamlessly to Corinth and then on the twisty roads of the rural Argolid toward Spetses, birthplace of my grandmother (1899). I arrived at the sleepy town of Kosta, across the channel from Spetses, parked the car and took the slow ferry to my destination.

The object of this journey: a wedding. The bride-to-be is my second cousin, Tina, who is marrying a fine gentleman from Leeds, UK, where they both live. The invited guests include a large handful of the groom's family, many first-time visitors to Greece. They discovered in relatively short order that eating unconscionable quantities of food until 2 a.m. is part of our cultural heritage. And for those who wish, a bit of wine is also in order.

Here are a few images from the ride here, and one of the final destination.

House restoration in Messinia

At long last--a return of our dormant blog! We have been to the mountaintop and have seen the light.

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Our spitaki in the southern Peloponnese--a mere fantasy back in 1979, now a work in progress in 2013. Is is being slowly and methodically transformed, from spirited wreck to humble cottage...

 

 

We started by removing the existing roof. Since the footprint is small, we raised the walls to accommodate an eventual sleeping loft that will maximize this pint-size space.

 

 

 

The roof utilizes the traditional ceramic red tile.

 

 

 

 

An exposed ceiling brightens the interior

 

A marble entryway and marble accents on the window plates. It is possible to caulk and smoke at the same time. In fact, it is a requirement in some Greek unions.

 

Wiindows and doors are recommended for keeping the bats out. We have decided to follow this bit of local advice.

 

The plan includes planting a few dozen olive trees, a few lemons and oranges, a palm tree, and some pikrodafni (oleander) along the perimeter....