Nostalgia #2: Tuna & Cucumber

Mm... as I eat a late night tuna salad sandwich at home in New Orleans, my mind takes me back to the tuna and cucumber baguettes I would get at EAT for about £3. Oh how delicious they were.

I found this here list in the telegraph of the 50 best lunch sandwiches. Wish I could try them all out right now!!

Things I miss about London

I've been on that nostalgia train lately... I think I am just going to start posting things I miss, as I miss them.

Nostalgia of the day: inexpensive but delicious Tesco pastries, such as croissants (mmm... I'm salivating). Miranda misses pizza rolls (as she called them). If only I had a 24/hr tesco express near me. Did those even exist, or are they just a figment of my imagination? Is Tesco express the only thing in London that stays open past 2 am?

*sigh*

Random Act of Cuteness

So I have been back in New York now for about 48 hours. I am still planning (though I am lazy and cannot guarantee) a Naxos roadtrip post.

I was inspired to update this evening by a letter I got in the mail moments ago, sealed in an envelope with no obvious sender.

I had lost my luggage tag (at Gatwick airport, apparently). It arrived alongside this letter, which, if you can't see in the photo, says the following:

Hello Joanna
I found this in Gatwick, so here it is. I though we could be pen pales. I do not know how old you are but I am 9. I am called molly culme-seymour. 
Bye
Molly 


This is the most adorable thing... ever.

So at present I am back in London for another 40 hours or so.

I will update on the big Naxos road trip of 2010 once I have all my photos uploaded and whatnot.

The last four or five nights we were on Naxos, the Galanado (village) taverna was serving dinner! Needless to say this was a wonderful surprise, as evenings at the taverna are a big part of what I reminisce about when I think of summers on Naxos.

Although the "our age" crowd still hadn't arrived for the summer, the atmosphere there is just great. Katherine and I were able to interact a lot more with the children, as well as the mom, in the evenings than we had been able to before. Though, sadly, no photos of the children were taken. Taverna mom seemed to be giving us free fries and wine at an even higher rate than past years, and by the time we left I think Katherine and I had gotten our fill of Greek food for the near future.

Yesterday Katherine and I got into Athens around 4 and it was raining...first time on the trip. The Athens streets apparently double as slip and slides. Dirty, dirty slip and slides. I slipped four times over the course of our journey to the hotel—which involved a trek up a massive set of stairs. Luckily, the stairs meant that it was on the top of a hill with a pretty awesome view. From our room we could see a park through one window, and through the other we had a few of a residential area and behind it a mountain/cliff with a church on top of it (of course).

We walked around a bit, the hotel neighborhood was really cool, close to the center but simultaneously off the beaten path. In the city center, everything was going as usual, but we passed several cops with riot shields... it was pretty surreal.

Anyway, now I am in London with Kaitlyn! I'll be home so soon!

I forgot to mention in my last post that yesterday while on the bus, we heard a greek song which sampled " sound of da police," but the rest of the song was totally not fitting and sounded more like a ballad. It. Was. Hilarious.

Today we went back to our favorite beach (that is within the reach of the Naxos bus public bus system), Plaka. We now frequent the same umbrella man. Yesterday I forgot my floaty tube, but I am happy to say that umbrella man saved it so I got it back today!

 After the beach we got souvlaki pita and then went to watch the Greece - Nigeria game at the 4 euro drink place (though now more and more of them seem to be 4 euro places). We got frozen strawberry daiquiris which were decent. The game was pretty fun to watch, particularly since it was being broadcast in Greek, so the announcers were yelling A LOT. Katherine and I missed the first (Nigerian) goal because we were 20 minutes late, and of course there was not a single replay of it. In addition the bar next door seemed to be getting their broadcast with a three second delay, thus it was funny to hear everyones reactions: gasps, clapping, etc... three seconds after ours. We were all like yeah, old news guys.

Tomorrow is our last day before our weekend car-based excursions... exciting! That being said, after tomorrow I probably won't be online till Monday. I know I know, that's just crazy.

Today Katherine and I went to the beach early and splurged on renting an umbrella and beach chairs. Let me tell you, it was pure luxury. We are addicted. This was the first time we allowed ourselves to give in and spend 3 euros a piece but ah... I forgot how crucial they are. Never again will I spend a scorching hot day without one.

My dad is grilling octopus tonight, so I am trying not to eat anything too filling before dinner, but I'm stahvin! Err... not too much else to update on, it's really lovely here, still, and I am enjoying the change of pace and lack of endless internet, hello, I have almost finished an entire book! Unprecedented in the past 6 months.

HELLO. Katherine and I are currently sitting at "Klik Cafe," a cafe/waffle place that is designed in a really snazzy, over the top fashion but that has few customers (like many of these restaurants here in Chora, they all have SO MUCH seating, that even if there are some people there it always looks empty). We bought a banana and nutella waffle to earn our free internet access and now we have been lingering for around two hours.

Last night was my first time on the moped this year. The first minute was kind of horrifying but after that it was pretty awesome.
Today we didn't get up till around noon and had a breakfast consisting of many parts (Greek yogurt + strawberries + corn flakes, eggs, and lots of Chocapic cereal on its own). It was sooo hot. So. Hot. Though spending the early afternoon at the house still beat being out in the blaring hot sun.

We took the 2:20 bus, but went to the taverna 25 minutes early to buy bus tickets and chill in the breezy outdoor area and drink frappes. This turned out to be an excellent idea as we got to chat with one of Cula's friends—Ekatarina—who was nine and spoke some english, and we also got to watch Valadi (also 9ish) smash open an old meat grinder with a hammer.

We went to Plaka beach again today, except this time we had a floaty tube, which proved to be the ultimate luxury and I basically played dead for three hours in the ocean, it was awesome.

This weekend we are renting a car and are going to drive around the other coasts of the island as well as through the mountainy part (well, my dad will do the driving, obviously). I am guessing this will be the best part of the trip, as we'll get to see the most beautiful and sparsely populated beaches, and lots of other gems you can't reach by bus with ease.

Okay, gotta go!