Day 5: Hotoussa, Greece
Village House, Hotoussa
27 December 2025
We drove into Levithi for a breakfast of Greek coffee and tiropites. The cafe we went to didn't have tiropites today, but they were perfectly happy for Jim to go to the bakery next door and bring some back for us to have with our coffee. I think most things are more relaxed here in Greece than in Australia!
After breakfast, we headed off to Tripoli to buy supplies for the house - things like a clothes rack, extra towels, a door mat, a computer desk, soap dishes, extra pillows, cushions etc. Nothing very exciting but all designed to make life more comfortable.
We came back to Hotoussa around lunchtime because a neighbour in the village had invited us to meet up with some other people for a buffet meal. They said come between 12 noon and 5pm - quite a vague timeframe! I wasn't looking forward to going, even though Jim said they were about our age and spoke English. They actually run a Bed & Breakfast in the village, make their own wine and give cooking demonstrations in their renovated cottage. (Not what I expected to happen in Hotoussa!)
We headed down there and there were two other couples there as well. It was just as awkward as I expected as they were all talking Greek and I was just sitting there, nodding and smiling and wishing I was somewhere else. (But they did have a cute little dog called Booboo, who was a good distraction - and gave me something to do.) They have converted their downstairs area into a wonderful entertaining space - with a bar and an enormous table absolutely covered in antipasti - ham, salami, cheese, little hamburgers, dolmathes, dips, lots of different types of bread - and much more. They were also serving lots of glasses of their home-brewed wine, which was excellent.
The whole afternoon was saved by the arrival of a Greek-Canadian couple with their adult son, so we sat around talking English for the next few hours. They were quite pleasant company, and I was so relieved that they spoke English, I wouldn't have cared if they were deadly boring.
All in all, it was quite a pleasant afternoon but, of course, the trouble is that you have to reciprocate when people are so hospitable. Jim invited the village couple out to lunch on New Year's Day. At least when we are out at a restaurant, it is a little easier than sitting around in someone's home. We'll have to see how that goes!
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Ah yes, the smiling and nodding when you only understand a little of what is going on. Such fun. I would have occupied myself by pigging out on all the food.
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