Settling into life in Agios Pavlos, Greece.

Well it has been more than three weeks now and life has settled down into more of a routine. I would not say I have "mastered" the kitchen thing but at least I now know what is expected, the daily stresses of serving up a vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic meal for 60 to 65 holiday makers from all over Europe. This is the busiest time in Greece ... most of Europe is on holiday for the month of August. There are people from Scandinavia, Holland, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, one American of 84 who has been coming for more than 20 years and teaches Tai Chi and of course some Brits, Scots and Irish. I am getting used to managing portions and menus when I am cooking or assisting the other two professional cooks, learning a ton from the basics like how to cut an onion properly (that instruction took 20 minutes the other day when it was not too busy) to today learning to make a vanilla pudding with chocolate syrup from scratch. O, and last week on my shift, with a new assistant, the oven broke down, just stopped in the middle of an 8 hour morning shift, the cake was spoiled and the menu quickly changed to one I could manage on the hob. I served a lovely cooling melon for dessert, all was well, even the little Swedish children were happy.

The staff is now housed at a nearby hotel, it takes approximately 20 minutes of uphill walking to get to our little hotel, with its own taverna overlooking the entire lovely Bay where Yoga Plus is located, the beach, surrounding countryside, mountains, hillsides and wandering sheep and chickens. Lovely. I am sharing a room with a sweet little lass from Scotland, she parties most nights so I feel like I have the room to myself.

My routine is now centered on working either a morning shift starting at 6.30 or afternoon shift starting at 3.30 pm, both are 8 hours long and tough, on my feet all day and it is physically very demanding; swimming in the glorious cool Sea one or two times daily, the water is aquarmarine and crystal clear; walking to and from the yoga centre; yoga self practice, Ashtanga, each morning at 6.30 or 7.00 am depending on my shift for that day; sleeping/ resting/siesta each day; relaxing and socializing or reading at nearby tavernas overlooking the sea enjoying my book ... I'm now on my sixth since I arrived and you all know how much I enjoy reading ... there is a little library in the Yoga centre ... or journalling or just staring out to sea.

Life is good here, it is not easy for sure, the most demanding month is August ... the heat, the people as a number of Greeks are travelling around the island as well ... the demands of the guests and the food preparation and the challenges to sleeping well in the heat. It makes for a lively experience.

When I first arrived everything was so new and different, I wasn't sure I could manage but things are settling down now and I feel that this is a pretty special experience ... a wonderful time for self reflection and self awareness ... which I wanted.

The sun is shining, my shift is over, now up the hill ... it's steep ... off to have a siesta after a swim in the Sea.

Regards from hot and sunny Greece, Bea xxx

Life at Yoga Plus, Agios Pavlos, Greece

I am here ... arrived nearly two weeks ago now, life is very simple ... but challenging ... here. The yoga centre is very busy this time of year ... up to 60 guests at any one time. My job is kitchen assistant, which sounds wonderful but I realize now that I was somewhat naive about working in a professional kitchen ... it is very challenging, physically and mentally can be quite stressful. Coupled with the heat (the little air conditioner cannot cope with the heat of the oven and large fridges), the demands of the volume of food being prepared and often lack of appropriate ingredients ... well it can be quite stressful. But after my 6-7 hour shift each morning or evening ... one or the other, I can sleep, swim in the beautiful Sea just down the cliff from where I'm staying, relax in the nearby taverna or sit in a hammock and read.

So there is balance here ... everyone is extremely tired much of the time from the heat and demands of the work ... the staff come from mainly England, Ireland, or Germany. We have two professional cooks, one is from Edinburgh (Caroline who I mainly work with) and the second, Richard, is from London. They are very different, Richard is calm and confident and relaxed in the kitchen while Caroline is passionate, creative and often feels stressed out while working. I try to laugh, stay focused and do a good job. It is my first experience in a professional kitchen and has been a real eye opener to all the demands.

The life here is quite beautiful ... the sea right outside the yoga centre, down the steep cliff, quite a small bay with dramatic steep cliffs surrounding it. This time of year the beach is quite crowded with Greeks and Europeans on holiday. I'm staying in a little hotel/taverna next door to the yoga centre because all the rooms are occupied by guests. I will move up the mountain to another little hotel for the next 4 weeks and then back down to the yoga centre when things quiet down in September. August will be crazy busy with guests and the workload will be demanding.

All in all, things are quite good, I am meeting a variety of guests from Europe, especially Scandinavia, France, Holland, Germany, and there is an American man who teachers Tai Chi which I attended two days ago. Unfortunately I sustained a little Tai Chi injury in my left thigh ... who would have guessed? It is fine now, the yoga here is very challenging, we sweat all the toxins out, I have taken a break, for the time being from coffee, so by the time I leave will be detoxed completely!

Learning lots of new dishes using local Cretan ingredients ... this time of year the vegetables and fruits are plentiful, ripe and very tasty. I have never seen such bright red watermelon or deep green avocados. And we get lovely olive oil for cooking or using on our skin/hair.

I love swimming in the cool Sea ... I think it is the Libyan Sea, a part of the Mediterranean. The views are fantastic, there are beaches all around me and a short walk over the sand dunes to a nearly empty stretch of wild coastline for walking. The walking around here is challenging, it is extremely hot and dry and the roads twist and turn and wind but one does, believe it or not, get used to it. I will begin travelling further afield to little towns nearby in September when the number of guests drop and the heat drops a little.

This working holiday may cure me of my love of hot weather, my next digs will not have any A/C, only a little floor fan ... but perhaps I am now more acclimatized to the weather and I will be OK with just that.

Doing a lot of reading here, wonderful quiet time, am on my third book right now by a British author, Joanna Trollope, The Other Family ... a good read. Just finished Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, another fantastic read.

More to follow ... the flight of the gypsy continues ...

The gypsy visits Rome ... after many years of absence

It was quite a whirlwind tour of Rome ... a dusty, dirty, noisy and extremely hot city ... full of cafes, piazzas, lively music and interesting people to watch... so much to see ... Elisabeth and I walked our little feet off over the three days that we were together. It was wonderful to see her (and Rome) after not having seen one another for five years ... or so.

The hotel that I booked online ... Hotel Medici (I liked the name, it sounded so Italian)... was typical Italian ... quite small, full of character, very nice really for a three star. There were two extremely small single beds for us ... bumpy and hard unfortunately ... we were too tired to care much. Breakfast was much more than we/I expected ... quite large with fruit, croissants and other baked items, juices and cereals. We were fortunate to have air conditioning and a fan to cool us down each afternoon for siesta and then each evening. The food throughout Rome was delicious, lots of lovely vegetables, pasta, bread and cheese. We tried a small variety of white and red wines as well ... and the coffee, one Euro (approx $1.40) for a cappuchino in a small bar ... for a seat it tripled in price. There were little fountains throughout the city for refilling water bottles ... life savers in the heat. People were wonderful, especially the people in the small bars that we would drop in to for coffees or juices, sometimes conversations are conducted with much more than words!

We chose to spend time just wandering around and enjoying the various sites but because Rome is such a huge city, it meant that at times we (or I, when Elisabeth left Rome to return to Stockholm), jumped into taxis or buses. They drive like maniacs (Wally would probably not agree with me!) and I always used my seat belt.

My last day in Rome wandering around, the shopping and even window shopping, was amazing, especially shoes and accessories, everything on sale this time of year, I wandered through a huge beautiful and very cool, park in the north of Rome ... spent the entire morning just walking and sitting enjoying the coolness. The most exciting piazza of all was called Piazza Popolo (I liked the name and description in my little guide book) ... a huge place with churches and columns and tons of history and large cafes (my last day so I splurged and sat in a cafe for my cappuchino) ... then wandered down the Via Veneto and other shopping streets, stopping in little churches to cool down (shoulders covered, always carried a scarf with me for this purpose) ... then had a lovely fish and salad dinner in a cafe near the hotel ... the next morning I was up at 0415 for taxi to the airport and on to Crete.

Leaving on a jet plane ...

Got packed up this morning, trying to travel light (for me); taking a little altar to help ground me on my journey, includes a little Om rock, lovely silk scarf, photo of Christopher as a little guy and some incense. This was recommended to me and I really like the idea. Photos are of me and my friends at a restaurant in Kingston, Pan Chancho and Lise (former colleague and dear friend) in my back garden the week before departure. Off to the airport tonite, Wally is my driver. More to follow ... I'm getting excited.

Introduction ...

Hello Friends ...

This is the first posting of a gypsy's journey ... I am taking my little smiling, rubbing his belly, Buddha with me in my heart ... he was purchased with a gift certificate given to me by my friends at KEYS when my lovely little Mom passed away in April 2009. I love to pass through my garden and rub his little belly and bald head, just to check in. Now I'm taking off, spreading my wings and will take him with me in my heart to give me courage and humour.