Safe and Sound :)

We have arrived in Lamia! Yesterday. I'm being a neglectful blogger again. ;) We traveled from Athens by train- the ride through the countryside was beautiful. We could see the snow-capped mountains from the train. When the train stopped in a station that said "Lamia", I tried to tell Yiayia this was most likely our station, she swore that she remembered something different. As we were "arguing" the train took off again, and when one of the conductors came by he told us that was the stop for Lamia and that we would have to ride the train all the way to a town called Stilitha before the train would turn back around for Lamia! Another "misadventure" for us but there were some pretty views along the way.

We are staying in the family's hotel, Hotel Delta. It's not the Electra Palace, but it is very cozy and clean. We met up with some of the family last night and had snacks and drinks at the Havana Club before going to a restaurant to have a GIGANTIC dinner. I have food coming out my ears. There is no refusing food here- even if you tell the family you have nowhere to put any more food, they hand you something else and say "Eh. It's good for you."

I got to meet my great grandmother's sister, Efthimia, for the first time today. She is 98 years old! I'm so glad we got to see her on this trip. I know Yiayia was glad too. She kept saying "Garbage can!" to Yiayia. I had to ask her for the story later. Apparently when Efthimia came to America many years ago, my Theo Patrick was a little boy and did not speak any Greek and she didn't speak any English. He was taking the trash out one day, pointed to the trash and said "Garbage can!" and she repeated "Garbage can!" and that was kind of their inside joke ever since. :)

After Efthimia's we went to the Havana Club again for coffee, then to Maria's house for what I was hoping would be a light lunch. Ohhhh no.... Bread, pork chops, beefsteak, sausage, salad, feta...when she tried to bring out some pasta we had to protest. See what I mean about food coming out my ears?

We have walked up the mega-hill from Efthimia's house, and all over Lamia- clear to the second plateia. Lamia is build on a hillside and just stairsteps up, and up...and even further up. We haven't made it up to the Frourio (fort) yet. I think tomorrow we are planning to go to Makrakomi, which is only about 20 minutes away. We have more relatives there Yiayia would like to see.

We really want to go shopping but it's hard to find an open store- the stores close for a sort of "siesta" a few days of the week and reopen a few hours later, and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays they close early and don't reopen until the next day. The town is pretty much dead during the siesta time, but comes alive again at night.

Not much else to say right now. More updates later after our visit to Makrakomi. Pssst, Kate... "Makrakomi Makrakomi Makrakomi U!" Hahaha. Kali knick knacks, everyone!