We staying at a unique AirBnB spot for our three nights in Nafplio: Villa Kallisto in Nature. We picked this property because we thought it would be a good home base to explore Nafplio & the surrounding areas. We also thought it would be neat/unique to stay on a property surrounded by olive & mandarin orange trees.
Greek Welcome Wagon
I told the host we'd be arriving around 6:00pm. We rolled up at 6:00pm on the dot. Our hosts were anxiously awaiting our arrival in the driveway! We hadn't even finished parking the car when the owners of the house came up to greet us warmly. We learned their names are Maria & Vasilios. They were so happy to see us, insisted on helping carry our luggage up the flight of stairs, and were eager to show us the apartment. There was a lot of head nodding, smiling and broken words of English exchanged between us.
That's about the time when their 25-year old son, Stamatis, popped onto the scene. He's the only one in the family that legitimately speaks English. He spoke English quite well and was a very talkative guy. He explained everything about the property and extensively the surrounding area. The Mom (Maria) would interject from time to time, say something to him in Greek, and then he would translate "My Mom wants you to know that ..." Their immense pride for their home was evident throughout our interactions.
Thoughtful Touches
Waiting for us on the kitchen table the evening we arrived was a homemade lemon cake Maria made earlier that afternoon, homemade orange jam from their citrus trees and a bowl full of fresh eggs from their chickens. Maria also purchased English versions of two children's Greek history & activity books for the girls; incredibly sweet & thoughtful. Another morning we woke to find a bag of oranges & a juicer to make fresh O.J. We learned later that a friend of hers brought the oranges from Sparta, special for us. Our visit sparkled with many special touches like these.
Omnipresent Maria
*Every* time we left the apartment and were walking down the stairs to exit the house, Maria would pop out of their apartment (we're on the 2nd floor, they live on the 1st floor) to greet us warmly. Always with a smile, a "good morning!" or the like. She always had her phone with her, Google Translate on the ready. She used it adeptly to communicate with us. Using the audio feature of the app, she would speak into it in Greek, and it would type & audio speak the English translation onto the screen, which she would then show to us. Pretty awesome to use technology like this to enable better communication & connection with locals! We're big fans.
It became an ongoing joke for us, how Maria was always watching us. She always popped up at just the right time. Thankfully, it's in an endearing (not creepy) way. My take is that she's just so happy to have us, eager for us to enjoy the apartment, and ensure we have everything we need & more during our stay. We learned it's their first season renting out the unit; they just started this Summer. That helped explain the "eager beaver" attitude, but I have a feeling that even if they'd been renting the property for 10 years, they'd have the same genuine desire to please their guests.
Home Stuff
We got caught up on laundry (special thanks to Grammy & Gramps for taking on all "hanging on the drying rack on the porch" duties!), clocked some schooling sessions, enjoying sunsets on the terrace and many home-cooked meals at Villa Kallisto, which is always a good thing on the road. Restaurant fatigue is a real thing :) We tend to be at our best when we're only eating one meal out (lunch) and can be "home" for a yummy, home cooked family dinner. That little bit of normalcy goes a long way on the road.
Lovely Goodbye (brought to you by Google Translate)
When it was time for us to depart this morning, Maria greeted us and insisted we sit outside with her and Vasilios for a bit. First Vasilios had to corral the chickens, but then he joined us :) Such a cute little man!
Maria gathered us all around the table, which was covered with homemade biscuits, chocolates and fruit from their land. She first asked us to write down each of our name. Then she whipped out her phone and immediately started peppering us with questions via Google Translate. Here's a sampling of the questions Maria asked us (M) and our answers (Us):
M: Did we enjoy our stay? Us: Yes, we did! Very much so!
M: Did we have everything we needed during our stay? Us: Yes, you thought of everything! Thank you so much again for the books for the girls, and the homemade cake.
M: We are very happy to meet you. Us: Us too! We really enjoyed staying at your home. This is a beautiful area.
M: Where do you go next? Us: We left our home in New York City and are traveling the world for one year. My parents are visiting us for a little bit. We will go together to Cairo, and then they will return home to Massachusetts and we continue traveling! M&V: Their faces lit up into gorgeous warm smiles. My favorite reaction was from Vasilios; he was a man of few words, but when we told him that part, he cupped his hands and said "Bravo, Bravo!"
M: What did you do for work? Us: Doug & I both worked in a kind of Marketing. My parents were in Real Estate.
M: Your parents (referring to Grammy & Gramps) are very nice people.? Us: Aww, thank you! Yes, they are.
Somehow we started talking about how Doug does all the cooking & how the girls are learning to cook as well. Sadie piped up to tell them "I chop garlic really well!" which they were delighted to hear. (Sidenote: Sadie is becoming much more confident & comfortable with new people. She would not have chimed in with that tidbit a few months ago!)
We also got to learn more about them by asking questions of our own! Such a treat to get to know these superbly kind & gracious locals.
They both worked for 35 years as teachers; Maria as a teacher to 4-6 year olds, and Vasilios to 6-12 year olds. They are both retired now.
They built their house 20 years ago.
They started renting out the apartment this Summer "because their pension is very low and they extra income while their son is in university"
They harvest their own olives from their olive trees, take them to a local factory and sell their olive oil (and orange marmalade) at the local market.
Their dog's name is Paris (Paige's question).
As we were explaining to her where Massachusetts and New York are, she ran upstairs & came back down with a huge map of the USA. Impromptu geography lesson :)
She gifted us a whole slew of things from their land (oranges, olives, basil, oregano, rosemary, mandarin oranges) and little saint placards for the girls (Greeks are very religious people in our experience). We left her with a few things that we no longer have use for (a pair of water shoes & a girls dress) and asked that she enjoy them or pass them along to someone in their community that can.
What a treat to be able to meet this family and connect with them in a more meaningful way, thanks to Google Translate! Our travels continue to be enriched by the people we meet along the way; Maria, Vasilios & Stamatis are no exception. ευχαριστώ (thanks)!
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