Greece lightning
In April we went to Crete and it was my first time in the land of olive tree pastures and ancient rock chapels. The bougainvillea was opening its eyes and the jasmine was too.
Every morning, I got three oranges from the basket that were picked from the tree next door. I squeezed out the juice and poured it into two tiny wine glasses. David made coffee in the French press. We forgot to eat lunch. Our stomachs were doing backflips from the chic continental starvation diet.
The plunge pool was freezing cold but after stressful meetings I put on a tiny blue bikini and gritted my teeth. I put my whole head under the water then sat against the wall of the villa in the sun.
It rained for four days straight and we lazed inside with the windows open and the curtains blowing. Tanja the goldsmith brought us little puff pastries with spinach so our accidental coffee and juice cleanse kind of went out the window.
The last day we went to Knossos. Then we eased our little donkey (aka VW UP!) up into the mountains. I told David to slow down because of the cliffs. I was gonna be sick.
There was a house on the main road that led into Anogeia. We parked and stood outside looking at ponchos. Two women ushered us inside, into their living room, then into the back, where the old woman with a tuft of white hair sat at her loom and looked over the cascading mountain range beneath the window. We bought two rugs, one pink and one red.
They recommended a restaurant down the road but it was still raining so we went to one nearby with one occupied table of 10 people (plus the owner) and three bottles of Jameson. The music was so loud it felt like there were ants in my brain. I had some wine then got up and danced with the girls until my pork chop came.
I don’t remember much about the trip back to Helsinki but I did get a big cold brew at the airport with a plastic straw and no lid, which is my favorite way to drink cold brew.
I finished My Ántonia and cried on the train ride home. David tried to comfort me and i tried to explain how beautiful it all was.
Life, Ántonia, cold brew, bougainvillea.
