Living on an island. So much do I like to imagine that, that not a day goes by that I don't think of the pleasant days when I actually lived on an island as if I were home.
I live on the mainland, in Romania, and in Europe. Not far from the sea, only 200 km to the Black Sea. Unfortunately, the Black Sea has no islands, except for only one very small one, which is Snake Island.
Snake Island once belonged to Romania, but now it belongs to Ukraine and the Russians want it too. It is not an island you want to live on. One remarkable thing I can say about this island, although I don't know if it's true. It is said that there is buried Achilles, the great Greek hero, and fighter, the one who died in the war to conquer Troy.
In these present wartime conditions, Snake Island is hell and I want to tell you about heaven. For me, heaven is embodied by the Aegean Island of Thassos, one of the largest Greek islands!
Today is Friday and we have to buy something, I mean follow the advice of 
I even remember with pleasure shopping in Limenaria, the small town where we (my wife and I) feel at home, but of course, we also remember with pleasure the sea. Even a forest.
So much sea. The beach and the sea! Every day, every morning, we would walk through the pine forest to a beach. There are so many beaches there to choose from. This time it is Pehkari beach.
Beach sand is not sand here. It's gravel, or perhaps I can imagine it's a beach of giants, where the sand is as big as the rocks.
Then the water of the Aegean Sea. So transparent and warm that at first touch, I didn't even know when I entered the water.
I just noticed that the stones turned into fine sand.
Near the beach the water is not deep at all, it is a pleasure to walk through the water as far as possible from the shore.
A slightly dangerous pleasure, because you have to be careful not to step on the sea urchins. Everyone says their sting is extremely painful. Fortunately, I haven't experienced it myself.
After the walk through the forest and the swim in the sea, of course, there follows a little rest on the beach. We don't sit in the sun anymore because our age doesn't accept it, but an hour of rest, an hour of lazing on a sun lounger can't be missed.
Holidays by the sea have a certain schedule and ritual that most tourists follow.
In the morning, breakfast and a coffee, then a walk, the beach, a bath in the sea, rest on the beach, in the sun or in the shade, lunch, maybe another coffee, a short sleep at the hotel, the walk and the evening meal, then another walk before going to sleep.
Well, after lunch there's more.
The shopping expedition.
Every town on the island has streets full of all sorts of shops, terraces, and stalls full of items for sale. Many of the island's inhabitants live from this street commerce.
Of course, children, some of the safest and best buyers, are not forgotten either.
If I can't put her in the children category, then I can definitely put my wife in the good buyer category. If I have one regret in life it is that I don't have enough money for my wife to buy absolutely everything she sees and likes. However, I think it's better that way, to have to search and choose the best option in the balance of quality, price, and true necessity.
In my humble opinion, the biggest necessity is a bag, in conditions of high shopping appetite. You need something to put your shopping in, don't you?
In this shopping problem, I have to learn how to do it best. The best teacher for me can only be... my wife! That is why I follow her, from a little distance, when she goes shopping. Because I wouldn't have time to write down how she acts I have to take pictures...
In the beginning, my wife is prospecting, she goes to several shops before deciding where to start.
The beginning is favorable to me and unfavorable to her because the first shops I looked for were closed (the good Greek habit of having a long lunch break). I say favorable to me because I feel I saved some money because of this!
Because this mermaid is as beautiful as she is dangerous. She also sells jewelry!
In this situation, we try to discover what is in the shop by looking through the windows.
A strange image, in which you can see both objects in the shop and outside, some images that can be incomprehensible, so I try to make an addition with explanations...
On the left is not a flying saucer, it's the wife's hat. On the right, it's not a ghost, it's the reflection of the author telling you about this whole adventure!
Looks like the wife got unlucky this time when shopping. No way! There's a Romanian saying that goes something like this: "The pond has fish!" So here. There are so many more places to shop!
Like a true fighter, my wife picks herself up and sets off for somewhere else. This time with luck?
Nothing interesting here but... we must "dress the naked", right? Well, they're not that naked, but we're paraphrasing Luigi Pirandello's play. We're still playing...
This time it was with luck. A beautiful beach dress was bought, after a long search. Me, when I bought the house we live in I did less research. I was wrong!
That wasn't all that day. Other shops followed, but I won't recount that one. I'm tired!
A flower, always a flower at the end of Friday, all at the suggestion and pleasure of the one who invented #alwaysaflower, that is Denise!
A flower on the pavement. In Thassos flowers grows in the most unusual places. A gazania, a flower that loves summer as much as I do!