that home thing

first stop the ancient, fortified city of rhodes (on the island of rhodes, greece).
i enter the city in a small car driven by besara, an aussie lady (father from ghana) who has been living here for 15 years and owns and runs a bar "besara". she is talking non stop to her friend claudia, who she has picked up at the airport . claudia is a swiss lady, who has been living in rhodes for 15 years, she has just returned from a visit to her lover who lives in sardenia. they are gabbing about sex on his yacht as i bounce around the back seat with a box of wine bottles. i am unimpressed by anything i see out the window, but am loving the conversation from the front seat.
we enter thru one of the 11 remaining gates into the city the knights of st john built..starting in 1309. okay, now i am paying attention as the car barely scrapes by these ancient sandstone walls. besara drives like she has beem living here 15 years, no fear. vespas careen past us, but no one is shaken up and claudia is giggling has besara shares the latest gossip from town.
we stop. besara removes wine bottles. i remove my pack. i leave it in her very nice bar. she grabs her vespa, me on the back and off we go to the "walk in". the local bar/restaurant/backgammon tournament/hangout/for both locals and ex-pats. george, a greek national returnee from canada, shows me ugly rooms above the bar. i begin exploring as besara sits for a cider. i jog up narrow, cobblestoned roads, archways over my head, turning corners and hoping i will figure out how to get back to my pack. the Andreas Hotel ! aha! I enter a darling courtyard, mosaics formed in the cobblestone, an orange tree and geraniums. anna shows me ALL the rooms, i choose room 23. there is a sitting room with a fridge, small marble table, a bathroom, the room with the bed looks out onto one of the many minarets from the time of sultan suliman the magnificent, 1522 (when he ousted the knights of st john). i ask anna if there is an electric teapot. now i have to find my way back to...besara's ..and there is my pack in the corner. on my back..thanks to besara and billy the barman and i am on my way to my ..next home.
there are those that love to shop for souvenirs and confronted with this town that is one of the first things they might do...well...i headed out to make my room a home...out thru st johns gate, stone bridge over the old moat (this was a waterless moat) as the vespas and small cars zip by me, out thru anther gate...down into new town, over to spano's. the big grocery store. i buy tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, yogurt, olive oil, oregano, jam and of course FETA CHEESE. a small bunch of anemones for my table. when i get back anna has placed an electric teapot and 2 mugs on my marble table.
i begin to unpack.