On goolies, goblins, witches and spider (man)s...

It's a pumpkin carving sort of day, what with the season and all... so we sort of got to celebrate Halloween with our two favorite local children.  (We've been "surrogate" grandparents since they were born!)  T.  has been carving pumpkins for several years with them and they really enjoy the mess of it all but particularly with a great and funny final product.

T just likes to carve pumpkins and he really enjoys the kids.  I take pictures and make something with the leftovers. (roasted pumpkin seeds? pumpkin soup? pumpkin bread? It sort of depends on how much is leftover...)

So the kids drew pictures of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like and then gave T. free reign to make it happen (with a little bit of assistance here and there)

With much silliness and laughter (the children speak Greek and Dutch with the odd English word remembered from times past) and so we managed to make two big pumpkins for them, and a little tiny guy for us.  (Hey, I love Halloween!)

Happy Halloween! [Boo!]

Going to the Spa...

...at the Sofitel Hotel yesterday, was a fun experience for my mother!


As my mother's return flight to the States left at 7 AM this morning and as there was no connecting flight from Corfu that would allow her to make the flight without spending the night in the airport, we decided to take advantage of the Sofitel Hotel just across from the Arrivals hall.

We flew to Athens yesterday morning and spent the day enjoying the Hotel (it's the same price if you check in at 11 AM or 11 PM! to spend the night.).. and the spa facilities therein.

I'd called from Corfu, and made appointments for her to have her hair done, and a manicure and pedicure. That way she'd be comfortable and rested for her return flight - in spite of the fact we had to wake up at 4 AM and be at the check in desk at 5 AM!

For myself, I'd packed my bathing suit and took advantage of the heated pool and sauna. It was very Very nice. More so because I was the only one swimming and later using the sauna! There were a couple of people who came to have a massage, but I just ignored them.

The Sofitel provided a wheelchair for her to transition to from the Airport service wheelchair, and of course the GoldAir service (through Aegean Airlines) took excellent care of her before and after the flight.

We had a very nice and light supper in the piano bar, and had a very early night (with a 4 AM hotel wake up call to back up my alarm clock!) The hotel wasn't cheap, but by the same token the room was designed for a handicapped person and worked out quite well. (there are "deals" to be had so don't write it off as 'over the top expensive', without checking things out should you need the service!)

The GoldAir representative arrived promptly with the wheelchair in the hotel lobby at 10 minutes before 5 AM to pick her up at the hotel and take her to her gate as well! I was most impressed. (and really, REALLY relieved!) The hotel provided us with a baggage cart to take over to the Departures hall. I got her checked in and said good bye and went to my gate to sleep and eventually (8 AM!) fly back to Corfu where T was waiting to sweep me off to the house to have a very nice catch up and breakfast together.

The only drawback to all this gallivanting is that I seem to have caught -- ANOTHER AIRPLANE COLD! Bleh.

Home again (lovely flight lovely airline...Aegean wins!)

So in the airplane contest of convenient travel for ANYONE from Brussels to Athens , guess who wins!??

Right. Aegean Airlines! Check in was simple enough, and I went and got a wheelchair for my mother while we waited in line. There was no problem with me rolling her to the gate and we were all seated first along with the other passengers who needed assistance.

[FYI: Brussels seems to have a specific "EU" approach to handicapped people, wherein the wheelchairs are available for anyone who may need it and you request specific assistance (ie someone to push your chair, or transport to the gate) if you need it. If you are traveling with people to help you, you are provided with a wheelchair, but not necessarily with an assistant. Should I ever have the need to travel with a wheelchair passenger and find myself on Olympic Air, I will make sure the ground staff person who tried to tell me my mother didn't need assistance will be allowed to read the EU paper.]

As for the flight to Athens, the plane was new and very comfortable with plenty of legroom. The crew was charming and helpful and they passed out headsets early on for the music channels and the MOVIE [Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)]. The food was served promptly ( I had an apple as I was still stuffed from breakfast before I left my cousins house) T and my mother had the lunch and it was (T said) "no contest." The meal was excellent. Best of all the trays were removed 45 minutes after they were placed in front of everyone!

On arrival in Athens the handicapped service (Goldair Services were provided) was prompt and polite and took care of my mother. They arranged for our boarding passes (we could only get boarding passes from Brussels to Athens in Belgium- that was a small drawback. But our luggage was checked through to Corfu and arrived with no problems.)

They also allowed me to push my mothers chair through (after giving us our boarding passes) to the gate giving us some walking time (as opposed to following the young men who push the chairs at a brisk trot/dash- making me feel like I need a wheelchair!) My mother and I arrived in plenty of time and waited at the gate (whilst T roamed for a while) We only had about a hour and a half wait between the flights - better than the 6 hours at the beginning of the trip!

The handicapped riser machine worked perfectly both at departure from Athens (where we were picked up at the gate and driven to the airplane) and at arrival in Corfu (where we were met by the riser machine and allowed to descend). It was a nice and comfortable way to end a long trip.

We had a very pleasant time flying with Aegean and I would totally recommend the airline to anyone based on our experiences.

Back to Beersel for another fine meal!

For lunch yesterday the sisters my cousin and me and T went to a restaurant that has been around since my cousin and I were children, and my grandparents would take us for a great meal - but usually we'd all sit in the garden and they would have a beer (gueuze) from the brewery attached to the restaurant.

Again many more family stories... and again a wonderful meal.

This time tho it was much more traditional Belgian fare that included shrimps, steak and frites, des moules (mussels)and for my aunt, Anguilles au vert (eels in green sauce).

For dessert (no pictures as again between the great wine and food we forgot!) was homemade speculos ice cream as well as homemade mocha/coffee ice cream (that my mother had in a large sundae with whipped cream, caramel sauce and nuts!) to top off a wonderful meal.

Afterwards we managed to waddle home - after a THREE hour meal- to take a little rest ... only then to eat a "light" supper of yet other marvels of Belgium... 6 different cheeses, thin slices of beautiful ham both off the bone and special ham from the Ardennes. There was also a mouthful of lovely pâté d'campagne.

Sigh. I will so miss Brussels... for sure I will miss my family - but Oh my, will I miss the food!!

Still feasting in Brussels -

One of the family's favorite restaurants is Le Florence.  In spite of its name, it is NOT an Italian restaurant.  It used to be. 

The previous owners ran an Italian restaurant "dans le temps", but the two Moroccan brothers who now own and run the restaurant kept the name but, cook only french recipes --- and they do them most excellently!

My mother and her sister were in prime form and their silliness kept us all laughing through the meal.  My mother who has had a strong French accent all her life, nevertheless found it difficult to speak in French without lapsing into the odd English word.  As my aunt speaks no English, this would cause consternation and blank looks in the middle of intense conversations on family stories.  My mother would then say it more clearly in English instead of French all the while convinced she was speaking in French.  We all laughed a lot.

The two sisters are definitely having a good time.

Again the food was amazing.  Our starters ranged from croquette crevettes to elegant pâté, to light cheese soufflé to smoked wild salmon to a wonderful Coquilles St Jacques au gratin.  Our main course was fish: sole, monk fish and lobster. 

For dessert we, again went for diet killing food and relished the joys of chocolate souffle, Dame Blanche, Dame Noir - (made with the chef's freshly made ice creams...) and a selection of profiteroles, chocolate mousse and chocolate-chocolate ice cream.

My mother had the fruit plate with home made passion fruit sorbet.

My aunt kept insisting she wasn't hungry but managed to get every drop of chocolate ice cream out of her bowl.
[click on pictures for enlarged image]
It was another marvelous meal with wonderful family memories both from the past and of course, the new ones created by this gathering.

Finding old favorite places in Brussels

Yesterday brought back all the golden memories of wonderful family outings to the Belgian restaurants of my childhood.

In fact we went to one of the Belgian restaurants of my childhood- L’Auberge du Chevalier. It has changed names though and now it’s called Auberge de Beersel. It’s right outside the castle grounds (you can see the castle from the outside terrace (when the weather is nice- obviously NOT in October…)

It's a gorgeous wonderful place, small and intimate and it has been a restaurant for at least one hundred years...
[click on picture to enlarge]

We enjoyed an incredible feast there. We all started the meal with ‘croquettes crevettes’, or fried croquettes with the tiny shrimp from the North Sea. For the main course my mother had a simple plate of toast and forest mushrooms (which is in season right now, and fantastically delicious!) my cousin R, (and T!) had beautiful cod fish with an amazing sauce, and Jenny had rabbit cooked in a barbeque-type sauce made with Kriek beer. I had chicken slow cooked until if was falling off the bone, in the a different barbeque Kriek sauce. (the dark sauce)

With it all we had a perfectly chilled bottle of Sancerre.

It was all awesomely delicious. We finished the meal with ice cream -Dame Blanche (vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce) and Brasilienne (vanilla and chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce and nuts) and it was marvelous. It was amazingly delicious and though I was stuffed from eating my dinner (and samples of everyone else!) I forced myself to clean my bowl.

Someone had to do it.

Of course after finishing the meal I realized that my diet was shot. But it went down in splendor!

Brussels weather is NOT Corfu weather

Brrrrr! For some reason, it feels much colder here than it does in Corfu! (possibly because it was 6C/43F degrees last night...) Autumn has arrived here.

Looking out the windows to the back yard of my cousin's home in Alsemberg, it's obvious that it's fall.

In Corfu we can still pretend we're having a bit of Indian summer weather, but in Belgium winter is just around the corner and waiting to pounce.

My cousin will finish with work early this afternoon to swoop us off to have some lunch in Beersel (near the castle!) Then we'll go and visit with my aunt.

Meanwhile: a little FYI update on flying to Brussels...

The trip was mostly uneventful, once ON the airplane, but the "new" Olympic Air is not all that much different from the "old" Olympic Airlines.

The handicapped riser (to get a wheelchair-bound person onto the airplane, didn't work in Corfu, so my poor arthritic mother had to climb the stairs into the airplane. (They offered - to her embarrassment, to carry her!)

On arrival in Athens the lift/riser DID work so she got out of the plane without having to negotiate the stairs (thankfully). And yay!, the wheelchair was there and available for her for our six hour wait between flights.

[We opted for the slightly more upscale, but MUCH nicer option of leaving the airport proper and crossed the street to the Athens Sofitel Hotel, where we had a delicious lunch in comfortable chairs - served by helpful waiters- in the bar with suitable beverages, and complimentary newspapers. Yes it was more expensive than McDonalds, but it was EVER so much more civilized...]

The next leg- to Brussels was again on Olympic Air. (or as T now refers to them, Olympic Air"heads") We left late- it "wasn't their fault!". (Just like old times!)

Also, sadly, the food was still mediocre (cleverly I chose NOT to take a tray of "pastistio or moussaka" - the crew wasn't sure either...). Frustratingly the trays remained in front of everyone for almost half of the 4 hour trip.

When we arrive in Brussels- and whether it was the fault of Olympic Air, or the Brussels handicapped services- we were again "let down", as my mother -now less flexible after a full day of travel- had to haul herself the length of the gantry to the motorized car that would supposedly take her to the baggage area. (After she reached the car the young man explained she could have taken the wheelchair, only he clearly had told her to walk to the car at the end of the gantry, while he loaded the two other ladies onto the wheelchairs.)

This young man, who was 'in charge' of the wheelchairs/automatic cart, was apparently just a poor communicator still, we noted on top of that slight problem, he managed to be singularly officious as well. (as was the Olympic Air staff at the gate).

After the Olympic Staff woman in charge at the gate came to "inform" me that I was wrong in my expectations of handicapped services for my mother, the word helpful, never again came to mind in conjunction with Olympic Air. It died a solid death with her firm words as it came right exactly at the end of our journey. Sadly, it will remain as the last "taste" in my mouth of their "new" persona.

The new Olympic Air motto expressed to me as I heard it from her, now appears to be "No Apologies. We're never wrong, you are."

Fortunately we'll be returning via Aegean Airlines. Perhaps we'll have better stories to tell...

Off to see the wizard..

Image by Lounge! via Flickr

We're off to hit the pavements of Brussels. Well and also to visit my aunt and cousins.

My uncle died last month, and though the family is saddened, he died quite peacefully. It will be good for the two sisters to spend some time together, so my mother is sort of psyching herself up for the trip and spending the time with my aunt. That's about it for my mother's family! Not too many of them left!

So. I have NO idea what we'll be doing for the next 6 days. I will be taking my laptop and my camera - and maybe I'll give you little Brussels updates... we shall see.

Interestingly my cousins wife wrote me a quick note to tell me that as the municipality is doing work, there will be no electricity or gas on Thursday and Friday morning, but not to worry they've got a wood delivery for the fireplace, so things will be fine. hmmm.

If all else fails, I'll return Sunday evening and life will be almost back to normal on Monday week!

A lovely dinner at Retro Nuevo

So... we finally made it! Unlike the other night when we were unsuccessful at eating there (but tres successful at Pommo d'Oro...) we arrived and were greeted by the charming Panos.

We decided to eat inside for the first time and were comfortably placed.
Panos quickly brought us drinks and a menu and some lovely bread with flavored olive oils to dip it into.

T and I decided to fall back on the starters that we'd ordered the last time with such delicious memories: shrimp and mango rolled in Kadaifi pastry, little seafood pouches to dip in teryaki sauce - except instead of teryaki, Panos suggested a spicy mayonnaise that was delicious! (there are pictures here.)

My dear mother (see above) followed in the steps of her great-niece and ordered the pork fillet in Kumquat sauce, while T and I went in new directions. T had the sneak preview of the winter menu with a sliced chicken breast in orange sauce with rosemary potatoes, while I was a sucker for the beef fillet steak with rocket, Parmesan and Balsamic sauce. Heavenly food.

Then came dessert, wherein we put ourselves in Panos capable hands and let him bring us a "selection". This time (as the last) we all wanted a taste before I could get my camera ready!! Suffice to say, the white chocolate panacotta with red fruit sauce, the dark chocolate souffle and the "lemon cheesecake in a bowl" were as exceptional as remembered! (You get an idea from what's left on the plate that it was beautiful to look at - however briefly- it tasted wonderful.)

So again the lovely Retro Nuevo restaurant did not disappoint.

This restaurant is worth the time. We'll be back... (said without a "terminator" accent.)

O.K. WOW! My Second Blog Award!

Thank you dear Ayak, from the bottom of my heart (and the top too!) for the charming "You add Sunshine to my Day" award! I remember being delighted for you when you deservedly received the award for your lovely blog, Turkish Delight! (I was reading it to brighten my day, so why shouldn't everyone else?!)



I never expected to be on the receiving end of the award, though! When I launched into this venture of blog keeping, I really had no idea where it would lead. What I least expected was making great virtual friendships with wonderful fellow bloggers.

I read many blogs over the course of a week (I seem to follow so many, and I can't seem to stop finding new ones!!) but there are a few I find myself returning to daily (-ish) so I will send along the award to them for all their hard work at keeping me cheerful and sunny dispositioned!

So here's to you Dear Vic, and your charming blog What were you thinking? ... You really DO add sunshine to my day! I still remain totally impressed that you managed to string the words 'homework', 'Sumeria', 'ziggurat' and 'kittens' together in a single post and that it all made perfect sense.

AND congratulations dear Ruth, aka Wildernesschic!, for your lovely blog Life the universe and all thats in it (Today it was the puppies that did me in!!) Thanks for the humor, the great decorating, and the sanity, you too add sunshine to my day.


So, again, thank you Ayak, for the lovely sunshine award gift today, and congratulations to Vic and Ruth for the sunshine shared!

Playing with Castles

When last we left our little heroine, she was enjoying Paris. But soon it was time to meet the rest of the family and so we went to Brussels.

My grandparents lived in a brownstone on Rue des Bassins in Anderlecht near the Capitol. There was a park across the Chaussée de Mons where I remember playing.

The most fun that we had though was when the whole family got together on the weekends and we drove to The Castle of Beersel a marvelous middle age castle in a lovely park or to the Castle of Gaasbeek another marvel, but with an enormous park to run and play in!

I ran my poor cousin to exhaustion! He wasn't used to running like I was as he spent most of his time in school or at home studying. I didn't know there were all sorts of things you weren't supposed to do so I had fun chasing the ducks and climbing on the castle walls.

Otherwise I remember being pretty well behaved. I remember my very first french lesson with my grandmother (who spoke no English- no one did! My father spoke perfect French when he was courting my mother so they all figured I'd learn by osmosis, I guess!) The lesson involved breakfast and it took me about 15 minutes to figure out my grandmother was asking me if I wanted a boiled egg!

Once I figured that out, food became by chief learning tool and my grandmother's kitchen became my classroom for more than just learning a new language!

Corfu Fauna

So. Today, with the first fall nip in the air (it was around 15 C/58 F and windy this morning!) T decided to climb on the roof, clean out the fireplace flue. That went fairly well, with the dog slightly disconcerted by the strange sounds coming from behind the newspaper covering the fireplace!

Then it was time to go to the woodpile by the garden and cut up some dead branches, and bring some wood for a fireplace to the house.

Fortunately, my dear T is not easily nettled. He moved some branches and this was staring back at him!!

He was thrown because this Agama was a pretty good size and, at first glance looked pretty fierce!

[Odd too was the red color that still hinted at his magnificence.]

He was dead but still poised and looked ready. (And at first glance he appeared to be waiting!)

We couldn't figure out what suddenly could have caused him to die immediately, and in such a stance!

As to his future... well.

Nevertheless, here he is! And he is, (in true "Monty Python Parrot" tradition, and to paraphrase the Pythons and John Cleese) dead.

"'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This Agama is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-AGAMA!!"

Ancient/Modern Greek Humor...

Image via WikipediaMortal: What is a million years like to you?

Mortal: What is a million years like to you?

Zeus: Like one second.

Mortal: What is a million dollars like to you?

Zeus: Like one penny.

Mortal: Can I have a penny?

Zeus: Just a second...

~~~

A Man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country. He goes to the German hell and asks, "What do they do here?"

He is told: "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day.

The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on. He checks out the American hell, as well as the Russian hell & many more.

He discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell. Then he comes to the Greek hell and finds that there is a long line of people from all nationalities waiting to get in.

Amazed, he asks, "What do they do here? He is told, "First they put you in an electric chair for an

Image by XcBiker via Flickr

hour, and then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Greek devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day. "But that is exactly the same as all the other hells. Why are there so many people waiting to get in?"

Because the maintenance crew is always on strike, there is no electricity so the electric chair doesn't work, Someone has stolen all the nails from the bed, and the devil is a former Government employee, so he comes in, signs the register and then goes to have his frappe and eat kourabie all day...

So! Today was doctor and pharmacy day, as we ALL have a cold...

Image via Wikipedia

This time I AM the victim... 

Both T and my mother brought back airplane colds.  And each one suffers to a greater or lesser degree of  incapacity. 

Needless to say, my mother has been living in an environment where personal medical news is NEWS. 

(I am ambivalent on that part of growing old...)

Sadly for her we do not enter into the same enjoyment of symptoms that her fellow residents do in Santa Fe. 

In fact T and I both generally "hole up" and hide in different parts of the house when we're sick, and proceed to mostly suffer silently and miserably on our own, generally snarling "no thank you" through gritted teeth, to any well meant assistance from the other. 

My mom though is more used to the treacheries of illness and expects the worst of any malady. She's really into telling stories of mistaken diagnosis and dark ramifications of ignoring obvious warning symptoms.

To be fair, 9 years ago she had a cancerous tumor in her lung and had to have 2/3 of one of her lungs removed.  (she NEVER smoked.)  She's still a "half empty" sort of person re the cancer, even though she's been cancer-free since the surgery. I guess cancer can do that to you.  Anyway she IS afraid of bronchitis, and pneumonia and I can't blame her.  A chest cold makes her feel like she's suffocating and that's not fun. 

Still it was her possible brain tumor headache that threw me a bit, yesterday.  It turned out to be a bit of a stiff neck, and tight muscles in spasm, probably brought on by coughing a good part of the night.

But she was not feeling well and the cough was getting worse and the wheezing had started.  She didn't sleep well last night so off we went this morning to "the Clinic". (it was time for the antibiotic) 

Thankfully T and I  found this clinic near us, a few years ago when it first opened - a sort of 'all purpose' - as long as it's not too complicated stuff-  "med center" type facility on the Paleocastritsa road, just past the Ropa Valley turn off.  The staff all speaks English very well, they're very nice, and for something short of being a brain tumor, they're OK.

Now Greece (as I mentioned before in my post about "things I've learned about living in Greece") is one of the last places in Europe where you can buy prescription drugs "over the counter".  Earlier I'd asked my mother what she needed to take, so I could run out and pick it up for her, and of course she said "Whatever the doctor tells me to take!"  So convincing her to go and pick up what she needed from the pharmacy was out of the question without a doctors "prescription/permission".

We arrived and there was a young doctor at the desk talking to the receptionist, with no one in line.  [yay!] 

My mother spoke with the nice young woman doctor who interviewed her for her medical history (ie: listened through lung surgery and fears) checked for any allergies and looked at the meds she was currently taking (I brought the list) and wrote out a "prescription" for an antibiotic and some sachets to be dissolved in water to break up the congestion. Hurrah!  But she was really good and recognised that my mother was, still waiting for one more thing she was used to getting something else, and wrote out the name of the steroid pill the doctor prescribed in the US to be taken for three days to stop the coughing attacks that so frighten her.  {Bless her!]

So now my mother is "woozy" from the medicine and took a nice long nap this afternoon after lunch.  She ate a good dinner and fell asleep in front of the television.  I've just herded her gently into bed.   It should be a quiet weekend. 

At least I hope it's a quiet weekend... as now I'm coming down with the dratted cold.

"And now for something completely different ..." or not!

As this has been, pretty much to this point, a blog about Corfu and things Corfu "-ish", all these family stories have been a bit of digression. (yes, truely fascinating of course, but I don't want to spoil you all...)

~~~

I figured it was about time for another restaurant visit!!! (and YAY! It was a win-win for me, I didn't have to cook!)

So we started out the evening with great plans to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Retro Nuevo. But as with so many things on Corfu, you may start out going in one directions but things don't quite work out as planned.

T dropped us off close to the restaurant in downtown Corfu, and went to park the car. As we slowly made our way up towards the New Fortress, (and the closer we got to the restaurant) I noticed that the windows were dark (yes we probably should have called...) Sadly they were closed! I am guessing that now that it's "winter" they have gone to being open only on weekends. (Fine!)

So when T finally joined us after finding a parking space, we had to send him back to get the car. From there we decided to go back into the downtown part of town and visit another one of our favorite restaurants... Pomo D'Oro. The chef, Aristoteles Megoulas, is quite brilliant. His meals are wonderfully based in Greek cuisine, with fresh, in season, Mediterranean foods, but he creates flavors in a most modern and intelligently Nouvelle Cuisine sort of way!

This restaurant has an incredible selection of wine. Many people go because his selection of Greek wines really is astounding.

Tonight though, none of us felt too much like wine. We had a pleasant evening of cocktails instead! (Be warned, in Greek restaurants that really "hits" your bill!) The menu was incredible, we really wanted to have a buffet so we could taste all the marvelous dishes.

We settled for a wonderful salad of mixed greens with raisins, pine nuts and a delicious vinaigrette, we also ordered a warm starter of Manouri cheese wrapped in Parma ham with pears and walnuts. Main courses were, amazing chicken fillet, stuffed with cheese and prunes in a wonderful sauce; shrimp cooked in saffron sauce, and Sea Bream delicately grilled with rosemary. Every bite was wonderful.

For 'afters' we opted for espresso and a cappuccino, and decided to share one dessert. A "brownie with ice cream" sounded like a nice finish.

The absolute piece de resistance of the whole dinner, however, turned out to be that "brownie with ice cream"--- that simple description, absolutely-no-way tells you, what a fantastic trip into chocolate heaven that dessert really was!! It wasn't too sweet but rich and chocolaty, yet light as a mousse. The ice cream was delicate and had an almost coconut taste next to the chocolate.

It was unlike any brownie I have ever made, but one I now aspire to!! I think we would have fought to lick the plate if no one had been watching. We behaved (and sadly left the plate on the table) and didn't even begrudge (too much) the 120 euro (including tip) bill.

So concludes another fine evening dining in Corfu! (Sorry, it's JUST past midnight so it's tomorrow- but it really is today's- Thursday- post.)