Once again I moved at the speed of thought and arrived on the island of Thasos in Greece instantly. When I think how hard it is to get there in reality, from preparation to getting off the ferry takes a few days, but thinking is so fast, I think it has the speed of light!
The truth is that I can't get rid of the memories of the holidays spent on the island and going back there, even just thinking about it, feeds my hope that this year the waiting will end and we will go down again, full of excitement, to the beautiful Aegean island of emerald, as Thasos is still called!
The island is large, the twelfth largest of Greece's thousands of islands, so there are many villages where tourists can choose to stay. I chose Limenaria, the second largest town after Limenas (that's where the ferry arrives), the capital of the island.
How did we choose Limenaria? Chance chose for us. Actually, not really a chance. Our son gave us a holiday in Limenaria as a gift in 2017 and we loved it so much that when we returned to the island in the following years, we chose Limenaria every time!
Why do we love Limenaria? The town is nothing special, it is a classic Greek town but we liked the place because it offers not only the pleasures of the sea and the beach but also the pleasures of the nearby pine forest. There are also many directions in which we could take long walks, especially to two other villages, Pefkari and Potos, only good for swimming in the sea, the beach and...
...Shopping!
Today is Friday and I'm in a hurry to tell you more about my wife's shopping adventures, she a true shopping master.
Because today is #MarketFriday, this challenge from 
Well, when my wife finds a window of a store that is closed you want to cry in her pain. The pain and the inability to get inside and buy anything... because she always finds something to buy!
Now, come to think of it, I spent more time on holiday shopping than going to the beach! Before we got to the island we missed the sea, the beach and after we got to the island we only looked for the stalls and shops.
I have been thinking and wondering what could be the cause for such a great appetite for shopping and I came to a conclusion, I don't know if correct, but logical...
The multitude of stalls and shops. Everywhere you look, if you're not on the beach, you see only items for sale. Everybody sells something. I've also met on Cerberus. I mean a guard dog... very friendly, no resemblance to the one in mythology:
Cerberus, in Greek mythology, the monstrous watchdog of the underworld. He was usually said to have three heads, though the poet Hesiod (flourished 7th century BCE) said he had 50. Heads of snakes grew from his back, and he had a serpent’s tail. He devoured anyone who tried to escape the kingdom of Hades, the lord of the underworld.
Greeks are smart, hospitable but they also want a reward for it. They want to make a living from it and that's why they do this street commerce so efficiently. All the streets where tourists pass are full of places to sell, of objects displayed as close as possible to the eyes of passers-by.
You see the young girl walking by this shop. Even if she doesn't intend to buy, she can't take her eyes off the merchandise.
Yes, every street has something for sale...
I am thinking of showing you what can be bought on the street in Potos, a village 4 km from Limenaria.
First and foremost the locals offer for sale local products, made on the island, such as olive oil, the traditional Ouzo drink, pine bee honey, olives, and sweets.
Cosmetics made from olive and olive oil...
Spices...
... and others.
It may seem like an easy job to shop, but it's not at all. I watch my wife how much effort she makes to buy something from fish scales, which "sing" when the wind blows.
But shopping on the street is easier than shopping indoors, where there are many more objects to see, choose, sniff, smell, compare...
Every time my wife goes into a store like this and looks for something in her handbag I get scared that she will pull out a gun and commit a robbery.... of souvenirs.
I could see us being a sort of Bonnie and Clyde of Thasos. Me Bonnie and my wife, Clyde, haha... In my youth, when I first heard the story of this American gangster couple, I thought Bonnie was a boy's name and Clyde a girl's name, haha... It is only when I saw the movie, many years later, that I understood the mistake.
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The couple were known for their bank robberies, although they preferred to rob small stores or rural funeral homes.
Fortunately, the wife wasn't looking for a gun (she obviously doesn't have one), she just wanted to check her wallet, available for spending. But until the expense was much more, first there was the search!
This time things got complicated. I found an artist's shop, everything on display and for sale was made by this man.
Good quality and carefully crafted items. Something strange, something paradoxical happened in this shop. The wife saw so many items that she wanted to buy that, in the end, she didn't buy anything. She couldn't decide what to choose!
I've given a few examples from my wife's shopping adventures but I think most wives do the same when they get on holiday. With us though, the desire is great but the (financial) power less so, but enough for (relatively) small joys!
When leaving, always check the bag!
All that shopping, visiting stores and more pales in comparison to the true beauty of nature. The sea, first and foremost. The sea is different on the island. The sea can be at the end of a path through the forest!
The island is full of flowers, nature and climate on the island are great. The time has finally come for #alwaysaflower.
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