Katakolo, Greece

This was supposed to be a sea day instead we had a wonderful SURPRISE stop at a tiny island and a village there in. We went to Katakolo, Greece. If you see the children sporting tee shirts with this name...they might be collector's items..since they have learned the power of a dollar vs. a Euro you might want to tradd with them! We were getting ready to crack open our American history to see what was going on in the wat of 1812 when the captain came over the load speaker and said " We are taking an unplanned stop to a beautiful spot for lunch and shopping." The books were slammed shut and we showered and got dressed for our island excursion!! Very exciting... The day was warm and clear, perfect for wandering their narrow streets, looking for Greek treasures and having lunch at the harbor. Let me say, there is wonderful Greek food in Birmingham,Alabama and after being in Greece, there is STILL wonderful Greek food in Birmingham. I guess once the recipes have been handed down, they work just the same at home..kudos out to all our Greek friends in Birmingham!!! Unfortunately, I have been out of service so to speak with the blog and I have no idea if you are going to get this in a nice format. I will try to post. I have had to get our computer guy at home to post for me the last few days and that has been tough. Here we go.. The pictures may not match the story so do the best you can for now... Nicholas found some little friends throwing rocks into the harbor. He walked up to them, they sized him up and allowed him to have a throw. It seems that it is important to impress on the first throw. Nicholas was happy to find out by high 5's that he had been included in the game. The first game was how far can you throw a rock? Remember, this is all without any English. They just went first and Nicholas did as they did. They were very happy to find out he was from the USA!! When he threw one a long way, he did a "tater" motion to one boy. That threw them for a loop. Once they figured out that a "tater" was just as good or maybe even better than a high 5, that's what they all wanted to do!! The next game was who can hit the yellow bouy. That took precision throwing!! Nicholas could have stayed there for hours...it probably reminded him of all his friends at home that are now playing baseball!!He had fun and they had fun. They learned a few words in English and Nicholas learned a few in Greek. Amazing that little 9 year old boys all over the world love to throw rocks, even if they can't speak the same language! However, Nicholas, Nicky, Nick, Nikko, are all popular names here, so I bet he is most welcome to come back and throw rocks whenever he wants!

Lunch was anything you wanted and more. Kathleen was the brave one that tried it all. It was a beautiful display. There was wine, uzo, beer and water all already on the table...Greeks aim to please! We found out quickly that Greek people as a whole are very friendly, proud beautiful people! Thanks for the memories!!!

That night we were treated to a dinner on the ship to the Arabian Nights. Nicholas ended up on stage even though Kathleen had better moves!! Charles was not so sure about the whole thing!!