Moussaka to My Ears
"Moussaka to My Ears" is volume two in the "Ramblings from Rhodes" series and carries on from where Feta Compli! leaves off. Still packed with lots of anecdotes from past visits to places all over Greece, there is just a little more here than in the first book about life on Rhodes as John and his wife settle into a quiet part of the south of the island.
Among other chuckle-inducing tales, John encounters Manolis, the "Six Million Drachma Man," who climbs olive trees even though he only has one and a half legs. The "Lonely Goatherd" comes by, as does Kostas, the local who shows them which weeds are great to eat. Yvonne-Maria helps Greco-Turkish relations during an evening out on Samos and John reluctantly become the elephant man for a while.
Here are some of the images from the book, with notes by the author. These images appear in black and white in the paperback version, so they're rendered here in full colour. Clicking on any of these will open it in a larger window:
Click on the image above to go to Amazon to purchase "Moussaka to My Ears."
"This is the second book in the series and again it did not fail to deliver. Many things in the book that for me bought back memories.
Loved it, well written, had a perfect image in my head every step of the way."
"What another great book by John Manuel. His beautiful way of writing transports you to the places in Greece that he has visited and lived. He brings all the characters he has met to life on the pages. Can't wait to get reading 'Tzatziki for You to Say!'"
"Another great, feel-good book which I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly the "Kosmar" episode, a laugh-out-loud moment among many funny stories. I'm looking forward to the tzatziki!"
This was taken in the village of Lahania, a few kilometres south of Kiotari, where we live. Lahania is a lovely village of traditional houses with that "sleepy" atmosphere so many Grecophiles like. Much of the population is now "Xenoi" (foreigners), but they are all very keen on preserving the village's atmosphere.
The last picture of "Mitsos," our thoroughly dependable 15-year-old Mitsubishi L300 LWB van, in which we drove all across Europe with all our worldly possessions behind our heads.
The only reason we knew how fast we were travelling when we made the journey was because we were following our good friends and landlords-to-be, John & Wendy, who had the luxury of a working speedo in their Renault Espace.
In chapter 8 Yvonne (Maria!) becomes a calendar girl on a Corfu beach when she meets a German businessman and keen amateur photographer (nudge nudge) on holiday there, taking photos for his company calendar for the following year. This was just one of the huge prints he sent us in the mail at the end of the year.
Chapter 4 is called "The Passers By" and this pic shows part of the gift that Kostas, one of such "passer-by," left us, including the "horta" he'd picked from the weedy bank which separated what was to become our garden from the lane in front of the house.
"Lady," our neighbours Mac and Jane's German Wire-Haired Pointer puppy, whose life was all too short. Find out why by reading chapter 12 of MOUSSAKA.
In chapter 10 we finally get around to George "o Ree'ganos," the herbalist on Leros whom I credited in the Author's Note at the end of FETA COMPLI! with having been my inspiration to begin recording my Greek "memoirs" as it were.
This is his "dispensary" situated above a tiny fruit and vegetable store just off the square at Platanos, the island's "capital" (bit amibitous calling it such, but that is nevertheless what it is!).
"The Thaw" (Ch. 16) is primarily about my much-improved relations with "Gary," (on the tiles, left) who built the house we live in on Rhodes. We didn't get off to a very good start, something both he and I would admit to. But I can honestly say I misjudged him, and he probably did the same with me. Here he is on the roof when he and his trusty two-man team were slaving away in temperatures touching 100ºF to finish the terracotta tiling before the rains began back in 2005.
At the end of chapter 11 is a pic of Yvonne-Maria doing her thing to improve Greco-Turkish relations in Taverna Lukas at Manolates, up a mountain on Samos. Her "Thing" basically involved doing what she will always do if she gets the chance, dancing! Here you get two pics, only one of which graced the last page of the chapter called "The United Nations."
This pic shows Yvonne-Maria with Manoli, the "Six Million Drachma Man!" This was taken in December 2008 at Manoli's orchard overlooking Stegna bay near Arhangelos, when we were not only harvesting his olives with him, but also sampling the delicious varieties of citrus fruits he grows in the same grove. The "Six Million Drachma Man" appears in chapter 13, "The Olives II."
In July of 2008 we visited my parents in the UK and this pic was the last taken of my dad and I. I didn't know it at the time, when we asked the landlord of the "Cross Guns" at Avoncliffe (an impossibly beautiful place near Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire) to take the snap, but the next time we'd be flying back would be because we'd lost him in death. Needless to say, this pic has immense sentimental value to me now.