The many faces of Andreas!

Hi everyone! Andreas would like to say Yassou!

For those of you who don't know, this is Tassis and Cindy's son. I think the picture below can definitely win any beautiful baby contest! Look at those eyes!

So, the next day in Zakynthos, Cindy, Andreas, and I went to visit Cindy's in-laws' farmhouse. Cindy gave me the tour of the house. Below you can see Andreas welcoming me to the farm house. Although I didn't get her completely in the picture, the woman behind Andreas is Cindy's mother-in-law.

We were sitting just outside of the house in the shade, and I looked up and took a couple of pictures of what was hanging just above my head. Do you know what you are seeing in the pictures?

Those are grapevines. The family has grapevines and lots of olive trees on their property so the family makes their own wine and also their own olive oil to sell at the restaurant.

In the picture below, Andreas decides we need to listen to some traditional Greek music.

Cindy took me on the tour of the farmhouse where we saw chickens and roosters. (There were also lots of cute rabbits, but I didn't get a picture of them.) Cindy pointed out that one chicken was in a cage separated from the rest. "Why?" I asked. Cindy said, "That's the next one on the chopping block." It's interesting how in the states, many of us eat all types of meat, but the meat never resembles the animal that was killed like it does in Spain and Greece. So, we forget about the animal that died for us to eat it. So, I winced, but of course I eat chicken all the time in the states so I shouldn't be a hypocrite about it.

So, Cindy told me about how much Andreas loves cars, motorcycles, and tractors. It is so true. He wasn't really that interested in toys. He just wanted to walk around looking at cars and trucks. He would walk around and around them, admiring them and also wondering why he couldn't get in other people's cars.  

   "What do you mean I'm too young to drive, Officer? But, I'm such a good driver!"

"Ha Ha! No ticket for me!"

You can't do a lot of catching up on the back of a motorcycle so Cindy and I spent a lot of our next day having breakfast, lunch, and coffee at different beautiful spots so that we could catch up and talk.

The restaurants are right on the beach so the views are amazing.

Another restaurant and another beach . .

At one point, when Cindy had Andreas, Denis took me to lunch at a great restaurant overlooking a beautiful tiny beach. The water was so clear here.

Then Cindy and I grabbed coffee and ice cream at this restaurant on the beach . . .

We headed back to the family restaurant later in the day and played with Andreas.

The many faces of Andreas are in the pictures below, and this is what I imagine him saying:

"How cool is my hair!"

"She did it! Not me!"

"Yes, I know. I've heard it before . .I'm cute!"

"This is my deep thoughts pose."

"And my GQ pose."

"And my artistic pose."

"And my Vogue pose."

"Me and Mom"

"Check out my cool ride."

"But this one is even cooler!"

That night we headed back to the family restaurant. Below are pictures of a few of the other people I met in Zakynthos. The picture below is of Cindy with Andreas' godfather.

Below is a picture of Cindy, Tassis, and me at the family restaurant.

Below is a picture of the youngest brother, Yannis, with his girlfriend Katie, who is from England. They were both a lot of fun! I hope they come visit Miami this year.

Below is a picture of the kitchen at the restaurant. How could I resist taking a picture of the kitchen? I spent many years working in my own family's restaurant. Denis is making my dinner!

And, here is my dinner! Look, it's more souvlaki! And, look at all those olives. I just couldn't get enough!

On my next-to-last night in Zakynthos, Cindy and I laughed and laughed. We had such a good time. Sorry for the inside joke . .only Cindy will get it, but I will never forget . . ."Let's see what is behind Door #2 . . . .the washing machine!" (How shiny is my face in the picture below? It was definitely hot outside!)

Then, on my last night in Zakynthos, Cindy introduced me to two other women, and the 4 of us had a blast that night. I laughed so much that I started to lose my voice. I got the chance to meet one of Cindy's good friends, Charlie. Charlie is originally from England, but she met her husband in Zakynthos, and then decided to stay on the island. She had just had a baby the week before; her mom was visiting so she got a night out to hang out with us. The whole night I couldn't stop saying to her, "I can't believe you had a baby last week!" I really couldn't believe it. She looked awesome. I also met Christina. She is the cousin of Denis, Tassis, and Yannis. She was so sweet and also very funny. Charlie, Christina, and Cindy had me laughing so hard the whole night. What a great time! In the picture below, you see from the left, Charlie, me, Christina, and Cindy. I'm so glad I got the chance to meet them.

Ok, so on  my last night, everyone said I had to eat something other than souvlaki so I reluctantly agreed. Now, as you know, I'm from Tennessee, and my parents' restaurant was known for their ribs. However, the guys decided that I should try the ribs at their restaurant. I thought that was quite risky of them, especially because I consider myself a connoisseur of ribs. I have to say that I was surprised because their ribs were actually very good, but how could I be disloyal to Grace's ribs? So, Grace's ribs from Tennessee take the Greek ribs, but just by a nose! Sorry, I got ahead of myself and took a bite before remembering to take a picture.

  

And, what could be more perfect that a horse-drawn carriage ride on my last night in Zakynthos? You can't tell, but I think this carriage was really for two people. Christina and I are sitting on a make-shift seat that was about 3 inches wide while Cindy and Charlie have the comfy regular size seats. Christina and I had to hang on for dear life to stay on that tiny little seat.

Cindy and Charlie on the carriage ride.

Christina and I hanging on for dear life on the carriage ride.

So, overall the Zakynthos trip was such an amazing adventure. It was awesome! Thank you Cindy for encouraging me to come visit, for planning everything, and for all the laughs! And thank you to the Lattas family for being so welcoming and for feeding me all weekend!

As I was leaving the next morning on my early-morning Olympic airlines flight to Athens and then Spain, I thought about what Tassis and Charlie both said to me. When I said good-bye to Tassis, he said, "You'll be back." And, when I told Charlie that I wished that I had met her little girl and brand new baby boy, she said, "Don't worry. You'll be back. The island has a way of taking the people it wants." So, maybe Zakynthos will take me back one day. I hope so! Adio for now!