Yesterday was our first beach day. On our way home the previous evening we had reserved a couple of sunbeds at Paradise Bar. So we didn’t have to get up early and rush down to get our towels in place. Nevertheless Denis was in place shortly after 9.30 and I followed about half an hour later
I hadn’t long been there long when I got a call from my mother (94). She’d called me by mistake as she was trying to contact her doctor. She was experiencing some intermittent but excruciatingly chest pains. Worried, I persuaded her to call 111 who advised her to go to the neared hospital. So for several hours I was updating my brother and thinking about the fastest way to get back. Finally she called with a progress report : she’s had blood tests and an ECG and they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. They told her it was probably indigestion and advised taking some Gaviscon. So (thankfully) it was nothing to worry about at all but at least she’s had all the relevant health checks now and – in her words – had passed her GCSEs.
In the background, while all that going on, we discovered that someone we know from the bridge playing community is also in Naxos so contact was made via WhatsApp and we arranged to meet them later in the evening. We might even get a game of cards in.
Paradise Bar is at the quieter end of the beach, about a ten minute walk from our room. You can look back along the beach at the busier end ….
Or the other way which is much quieter
I ventured into the sea which is quite cool still
Near to lunchtime Denis decamped to the tables and some shade, ready for lunch. My favourite food here is the grilled sea bream so I’d already set my mind on that. Unfortunately the daily catch wasn’t being delivered until later so I had to make do with chicken souvlaki, which was excellent. And the sea bream can wait for another day
In the early evening we went out to meet up with Nicole Cooke, and her friend Karen, both bridge players from New Zealand. We hadn’t met either of them before although Nicole and I do have a mutual friend, Lyn Fry.
We had a good few hands of bridge then went our separate ways. But we plan for another session tomorrow.
Pearl Blog 3 