Every year, in the village of Aghia, they shear all the sheep on the same day, and then have a huge party to celebrate. Koralia’s father, Dimitri, had invited John, Eric and Christi to the party. He picked us up at 11:00.

Our first stop was in the town of Aghia. Koralia’s mother has a gift shop there, and Koralia’s grandmother lives above the shop. We quickly visited the shop, and then went upstairs to meet the grandmother. She is another incredibly sweet, generous person who loves to feed people. As soon as introductions were completed, we were served enormously large pieces of a dessert made with apricots, water and cornstarch. It was awesome.

Then came Continue reading →

Koralia’s parents invited us all over for lunch today. They live in a small village called Perama, about a 15 minute drive inland from Bali. The drive over was along a back road, thin and winding, that passed through a couple small villages and some herds of animals, but for the most part the landscape was about the same as it is on the main highway.

When we arrived, we were shocked at the spread on the table awaiting us. And even more shocked to find out there was more food that wouldn’t fit on the table! After quick introductions to Koralia’s parents, sister and uncle, we were ushered to the table and told to start eating.

There was a salad made of lettuce and cucumber in a red wine vinaigrette. You actually don’t see much lettuce in Greece. Traditional Greek salads consist of tomato, cucumber, bell pepper (capsicum) and onion topped with a block of feta cheese, oregano, olive oil and olives. Of course, a traditional salad was on the table. There were also dolmades, which are a traditional appetizer of stuffed grape leaves. Usually the leaves are stuffed with seasoned rice. They were quite yummy.

They also served escargot. Christi had never had escargot before, and Continue reading →