Goats Gone Wild (and a few other notes from Alisia and Duncan)

Hi family and friends who have been reading this blog!

We apologize for the inconsistent postings over the past two weeks. Due to the powerful winds here, called the meltemi, which come from Turkey and reach ridiculous speeds, the wifi at our house was broken and so we had to come into town to use the internet cafe. As you can imagine, even the best 8 and 10 year-olds only tolerate sitting at smokey coffee joints for so long before they'd rather be at the beach.

We have eaten some fabulous food, especially the small fish that is on many Tinos menus. Sadly, the Mediterranean and Aegean are devoid of bigger fish now, due to over fishing, so sardines and bourburaki, which is a yummy fish that Cycladeans fry and eat whole, are the only fish that are both fresh and affordable. Above is a picture of Angus and the bourbaraki we had on Mykonos, and below are the scrumptious sardines we ate in Panormos. You can tell how thrilled he was by it. Angus has, however, discovered the Greek equivalent of both the hamburger, which is a pork gyropita, and  queso, which is skillet fried cheese called SAGANAKI, that you then sprinkle lemon over.  He loves both of them.

The best restaurant we have visited was Aiolia Gravvi (in Panormos), which more or less translates to the navigational line less traveled. It was an apt name, as it was owned by a  wonderful woman with wild curls, skill in the kitchen, and a great sense of humor. When we sat down, her goat started bleating and Nina ran over to see him and pet him through the fence. The owner went inside and pulled the goat by his horns right through the window and brought him out so he could eat dinner with us. Here is a video the antics. Beware that the last few minutes of the goat shows him in all his priapic glory. As Nina was shooting the video, so this was obviously inadvertent.

After one week of hand-tool, marble carving boot camp, Duncan was handed the air equipment and began a project inspired by Alisia and the kids. When Duncan was at the studio, they would spend their down time making board games. So, Duncan decided to carve a relief that is also a board game of sorts, that was loosely based on our trip.  It is true that Tinos is the  marble capital of the Cyclades;  literally the streets are made of marble and everywhere you look there are beautiful reliefs. You can also find pieces of marble on the beach!!! Here are some photos of Angus and Nina carving marble at our house, and also of some of the MANY MANY MANY carvings we have seen (and photographed) here.

If we have access on Sunday, we will try to do one more post before we leave. Otherwise we will see you all when we are back Stateside!