Dinner with Nikos

Traveling Classroom^™

Dinner with Nikos

We are back to the boat in plenty of time to get ready to go to Nikos' home for dinner and go for a walk as well. At 8:30 we hike up the hill to Nikos' flat. We know the street and only have to ask one person for further directions. Nikos lets us in with a smile and a greeting. His elderly mother comes from the kitchen with smiles and kisses on both cheeks for me. She is small and slender, with white hair and a wonderful smile. Her name is Suzanna. Nikos has named his boat in her honor. After more Greek greetings and smiles, she goes back to the kitchen to finish dinner preparations.

Nikos invites Duane and I into the parlor where the television is showing the fourth quarter of a European Cup basketball game. It is a semifinal round, and the Greek team (which happens to be from Pireás) is playing another European team in Rome. Nikos explains that Greece has made it to the championships three times, but has never done better than second place. >From the score it is clear that the Greek team is winning, and as the minutes count down the smile on Nikos's face becomes broader. When the clock ticks to zero he laughs. The local team wins!

Suddenly the entire neighborhood erupts with noise. Outside on the street people are yelling and honking their horns. Firecrackers are exploding everywhere. It seems that everyone in Mikrolimano was watching the game. The television shows scenes from Rome, Athens and Pireás. There are many thousands of people celebrating in the streets all over Greece. The national team will go to the finals on Monday.

Satisfied with the outcome of the game, Nikos switches the television off and sits down to visit. On shelves and in display cases around the room are dozens of large trophies which attest to Nikos' skill as a sailor of racing yachts. He has won every honor that a sailor could win. We ask him about these trophies, but he shows us something that is more important to him. It is a photograph of himself after winning a race: a young man standing proudly with the king and queen of Greece. We question him about some of the momentos in the room: a twisted brass shackle, shredded steel cable, a life preserver. Nikos explains them, recounting a harrowing adventure when his boat began to tear apart in a record "meltemi" storm during the Athens to Andros race. He saved his boat and crew, weathering a tempest which kept even navy rescue ships in sheltered harbors.

Finally, Nikos' sister Barbara , her husband Yorgos (George), and their children arrive. We meet and talk for a while with Barbara serving as interpreter for George, who does not speak English, and for Nikos, who wants to express some ideas that he does not feel capable of conveying with his limited English. Everyone is interested in our computer and digital camera, and they would like to see what we are doing on the Internet. We decide to connect to our Internet account but discover, to our dismay, that the phone plug on our modem card doesn't fit the telephone jack in the wall. We will need to go to an ilektrismos (electrical) shop tomorrow. Nikos and Barbara tell us what to look for.

Nikos also suggests that we go to Delphi tomorrow, to avoid the crowds that arrive for the Greek Easter weekend. He and his sister look up the phone number for the bus service and suggest we call in the morning to get the exact times of the buses. The bus ride will be three hours so we will want to catch an early bus. That way we can spend more time at the ancient site. They tell us how to get to the bus station from the Attiki train station. It should not be difficult.

It is after 10:00 when Suzanna enters the room and announces that dinner is ready. We file into the dining room and discover that she has prepared a feast. Everything looks and smells delicious. All of us are anxious to start tasting. Extra chairs arrive and we sit. We dine on shrimp, octopus, potatoes and artichokes, salad and other dishes, each one a treat. There are six of us at the table (Suzanna doesn't sit with us) and we manage to eat a lot of the food. We eat, tell stories, laugh, and eat more. Suzanna looks into the room near the end of the meal, and is teased by her grandson because she spends so much time cooking but never eats. Barbara explains that she always eats in the kitchen while she is cooking and hardly ever joins the family at the table. At last, with further teasing from her grandson, she comes in to sit with us for a few minutes. Everyone compliments her cooking, which pleases her very much. Duane brings in the digital camera and takes a picture of us.

Nearly midnight, we go back to the parlor for dessert and more conversation. Barbara and I talk about children and my school. I find that her son is also interested in computers and has one at home. Yorgos, who is an engineer, is also very familiar with computers but seems more interested in architecture. He knows that most of the homes in the United States are built with wood, and this fascinates him. We have not seen any buildings in Greece constructed of wood, because there is very little timber here.

Finally it is time to return to the boat and sleep. Nikos suggests that Yorgos drive us back to the marina, even though it is a short hike downhill. George insists on providing transportation. After the filling meal we are grateful for the ride. We thank Nikos and Suzanna and say good night.

Tomorrow will be a day of walking, so we need to get some rest.