A Solitary Journey to Destiny

Shrove Monday, the first Monday of Lent, was a bright, sunny day, rather warm for the beginning of Spring, even in Greece. That year (1998), it fell on the 2nd of March and thousands of Athenians, faithful to popular Greek traditions, celebrated it by escaping to the nearby beautiful hills and beaches of Attiki. 

The merrymaking and feasting of the crazy carnival season had come to a close again; people had taken their ludicrous masks off, and were now ready to fly their multicolored kites in the air, as high as possible. They also looked forward to picnicking on the grounds with olives and ‘laganas’, that tasty unleavened flat bread made by bakers only once a year - exclusively on Shrove Monday!
Cavouri (crab) is a beautiful coastland on the Saronic Gulf, a few minutes’ walk from Urania’s apartment and, being only twenty-two kilometers away from central Athens, a very popular hiking area for many Athenians. It is surrounded by hills abounding with pines and is famous not only for its extended sandy beaches, but also...

Lisa’s Baffling Love Affairs

It was during her two-month unpaid leave back in 2004 that 22-year-old Lisa had bought a small two-bedroom flat under construction, as a holiday home, in a coastal suburb of Malaga, Spain. In June 2005 her flat was ready and Lisa looked forward to spending August in Spain, but not alone. At that time she was madly in love with John, a guy who was employed by the same advertising company as her. John was entitled only to a fortnight’s leave, and so he would return to London two weeks before Lisa. They flew to Malaga on the 1st of August 2005, and had a fantastic time together. John never stopped thanking Lisa, often saying, “What more can a guy expect from a bird?”

Upon her return to London, a fortnight after John had left Malaga, Lisa was in for a great shock. On the following Saturday they were both invited by Dr. Hughes, the managing director of the small company they were working for, to a garden party at his beautiful villa in Wimbledon to celebrate his 50th birthday. John had found an excuse to go there separately, and Lisa saw nothing wrong with that. She arrived there first, and was warmly greeted by her boss, who wanted to know all about her holidays in Spain. Since Dr. Hughes already knew about Lisa’s love affair, she mentioned to him that John had joined her in Spain, and that he would arrive at the party later.

While they were still chatting with each other, John turned up at the garden door, but not alone! To Lisa’s embarrassment and bewilderment,...

Arete’s Ordeal in a Greek Condo

“Unless one is gifted with a cynical sense of humor, or is hard of hearing and shortsighted, thick-skinned, a blunt hypocrite and a swindler of sorts, living in a ‘con-demonium’ of a Greek city is neither fun nor healthy”, remarked Arete bitterly, while chatting with Nicolas, a short-term American tenant in a ground-floor flat at the same building.

Nicolas and his wife Barbara were very friendly people. Their landlord, Spyro (not the ‘Dragon’) – a peculiar character with occasional hysterical outbursts against his co-owners, who had moved out of that apartment-block in disgust some years ago – had introduced his new tenants to Arete, the only person in the condo with whom he was in touch. From the moment they met, Nicolas and Barbara had encouraged Arete to be a neighbor. Shortly afterwards they invited her for an afternoon coffee, an invitation she promptly accepted, as her passion to stand for the truth had...