Having met Georgos the other day we had arranged to meet up again for dinner at the local restaurant in Koukounara this evening. Our jewel of a taxi driver, Christos, took us to Koukounara, (how easy it rolls off the tongue yet how hard it has been to find) where we picked up Georgos, his housekeeper Valentina, and headed out to the restaurant at about 8.30.
Well what a meal. All local meats and vegetables topped off with local vino! A great night of stories and anecdotes and wonderful company. Georgos and Christos speak excellent English, both having lived overseas for many years. Georgos lived in the USA for 30 years and still has a daughter there.
Georgos knew Snow and Ernie really well and helped them to shift between different houses. He was away some of the time in the Albanian Campaign and when he came back to Greece was involved in intelligence work which generally made life difficult for the invading German & Italian forces. He tells of blowing up bridges to stop the German advances. He also tells of informers who betrayed Snow and Ernie. Yet one of the wonders is that he, along with the others hold no grudges and the families of all sides live in peace and good will.
Georgos owns large tracts of olive groves and has given us some beautiful olive oil to take back to England. He tells us that Greek olive oil is the best in the world and is added to the Italian variety to improve the Italian quality. Certainly the Greek stuff is wonderfully fresh, sweet and aromatic.
As we leave the restaurant at about 11.00 pm we have been fed to bursting by Georgos. The restaurant owner and his daughter have not stopped bringing dish after dish! And we notice at that time that the Greek families are starting to come in for dinner. Whole families, with infants are crowding into the place in the cool of the night.Top right: Christos, John, Georgos and Valentina.
Bottom centre: Gina, Georgos and Valentina.
