Predator in Paradise

PREDATOR IN PARADISE We wake up at six this morning and leave our hotel to pick up Andrea's mother Elaine, who has just arrived from the states, at Mary's where she had spent the night. We easily find a taxi and are deposited among the other hysterical travelers who are attempting to get out of Athens on the only available sea-route, since the ferries are going to be on strike at least until next Monday. It is total chaos. ....

ARTHUR & THE HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION Martha comes to our house for coffee and we talk about Arthur and their stormy relationship. I tell her the story of Arthur's bust in Athens in 1972. He had returned to Greece after being deported the year before and was staying at my house.....

IS THERE LIFE AFTER JACK? Everybody left today. Jack and Sue drove over the mountain to Athens. They're flying to San Francisco tomorrow and won't be back for three weeks. James and Joan took the 12:30 flying dolphin to Monemvasia. They'll be cruising around the Peleponisos and returning here around the 20th of this month. ....

SEA URCHIN SOUP After eating stuffed tomatoes and feta for lunch at Katina's, I wander over to the town beach and play in the surf for about an hour. The sea is still rough and there is a strong wind blowing. I guess it's the Meltemi. It's due about now. Andrea returns from her art lesson and we walk back to the house to read away the afternoon. ....

PIP & POP When we go down for our final swim of the day there is a flotilla of sailing yachts moored to the dock. I count ten and a motor yacht that is searching for a non-existent parking space among them. There's something about seeing pleasure boats tied up at the dock that makes me wish for the Meltemi winds to return. ....

UNDERSEA ADVENTURES & EPIPHANY Life begins at four. At least it does here. I wake up around eight-thirty drink some strong coffee and begin writing. I either finish at twelve-twenty and meet the flying dolphin or as the case has been lately, type right through until one of the girls come to get me for lunch. ....

THE ARRIVAL OF MITCH The long awaited day of Mitch's arrival. Amarandi and I meet the dolphin and Mitch, looking very much like an American astronaut steps into the sunshine. We take him to The Hotel for lunch and leave his gear at the room I had reserved for him. He gives us all the news from home which there is very little of ....

THE LONG SAD SAGA OF THE WATER TAXI The story goes that it was bought by Nikos and Maria Rovatsos who were going to use it in Spetsi, where water-taxis are common, taking people to the numerous bars, clubs, discos, restaurants, hotels and beaches scattered around the small island. Whatever their plans were, the water-taxi sat on the beach here for two years while Nikos went to sea on a container ship in an effort to pay it off. ....

ZARAFONA So by 9:30 Wednesday morning we are ready for our trip to Zarafona, or as it is called now Kalithea. For years my father had been telling me how wonderful a village it was, placing it in a sort of competition with Kalotrelochoro, which was my village in his mind. Zarafona was his. ....

ILLEGAL DANCERS AT THE PANAGIRI Surf's up again. The waves got bigger and bigger all day. James and Joan arrived on the 12:20 dolphin which docked in town, but it's the last dolphin able to land for the next few days. James tells me all about his trip to Kalithea and I don't let on that we had been there yesterday. ....

SURF'S UP Giant waves. I know it as soon as I wake up. We go to Katinas for breakfast but I am so excited I can barely eat my tomato and feta cheese omelet. First Mitch shows up in full traveling regalia. We tell him it is unlikely the dolphin will come today. He is willing to accept that. ....

ELAINE'S PATSA We decide to eat in Metropolis. Elaine had heard that Tiris' restaurant has patsa which is a soup made of the intestines of a pig. Elaine loves it but says it's very important that it is prepared in a very clean place. If it's not as clean as a hospital that's where you might end up. ....

THE LAST DAYS OF JAMES, JOAN AND ELAINE AND THE RETURN OF UNCLE MISTER JACK It's noon as I am leaving the house when the girls come home from breakfast or some last minute shopping. The flying dolphin that will take most of our gang away will be arriving at around two o'clock. Elaine asks me to take one of her bags to the dock. When I get there The Octopus family is waddling over to Crysanthos' boat. ....