Simone, guest blogger

Hi, Simone here. I’m a blog neophyte but here goes. Some things that Rowena neglected to mention.

This has been a holiday of cats. For ‘feline-ophiles’ this is heaven. Although many of these little furry beasts are feral, we have managed to find some rather friendly and endearing members of Felis domesticus. With the exception of Sylvia, we have decided to name our furry little acquaintances.

Anastasia: Our first and perhaps favourite is Anastasia (or so we named her). Anastasia is a resident of the area around a little café / restaurant in Katapola (Amorgos) that we visited each morning for our filter coffee and bite to eat and most every evening for dinner. Anastasia would come running from her shady resting place to take her place beneath our table, keeping us company whilst we dined and graciously accepting any morsels that, by chance, did come her way. She also demonstrated her good taste in accessories and took to resting on Rowena’s purse.

Sylvia: Sylvia belongs to our cousin Rita and our aunt Susie. She has made the trip from Athens to ‘summer’ in Chora on Amorgos but is most decidedly a house cat. She is a rather fluffy grey Persian and one could say that she is a bit of a ‘Princess’. She also has attitude.

Chat Noir: Chat Noir as you can appreciate is a lovely old black cat that resides on and around the patios of the Hotel Keti in Fira (Santorini). She is a lovely old thing that has a bit of a respiratory problem and consequently has a drippy nose and sneezes. When she sleeps she snores (not unlike my two traveling companions) but her most endearing quality is her protruding little pink tongue. Not what you would describe as a pretty cat but very lovely and affectionate.

Testopheles: Another resident of the patios of the Hotel Keti is Testopheles, so named for his impressive accoutrements which one cannot help but notice. Testopheles is blind in one eye but this does not appear to be much of an impediment. He is quite affectionate and has taken to following us about. Typical Greek male.

In addition to being a holiday of cats, this has also been an opportunity to learn about my Mother and Sister. Things that I have learned thus far:

They both snore. Rowena snores louder than Mom but, alas, they both snore. Combine early morning church bells with the clopping of donkey hooves, late night revelers and the persistent rhythmic audible inhalations of my kin, and one could become quite sleep deprived. Thank goodness for afternoon naps.

Rowena has a real aptitude for the Greek language. Although her vocabulary is rudimentary, we have found that the locals have really appreciated her efforts. She is most adept at ordering Heinneken and retsina ----- ghastly stuff, smells like pine-sol and as Rowena’s friend Graham wrote, “has the kick of a Greek mule”. Yech. I’ll stick to frappe.

Neither of them appreciate the high fibre energy bars that I packed for the trip. They are like little bricks but honestly, they taste good! Sheeeesh.

Well, that’s about enough for today. Time for a nap.