Key West Lou / I GOT HUSTLED AND LOST MY PANTS IN MYKONOS

DAYS 24 and 25…..Greece the First Time
Posted on June 21, 2012 by Key West Lou

I am glad I wore clean underwear.

Wait till you read this story!

First, I could not write yesterday. Sorry. Traveling, etc. No time. Ergo, I have combined this blog to cover two days.

I am in Amorgos. Mykonos behind me. I am glad to have left Mykonos. Overall, it was not one of my favorite places.

Short of returning home, Amorgos was the only place I could get to and get out of when I wanted to. To get to Amorgos, I had to go by boat. A big speedboat. Four hundred passengers.

Because of the strong winds, there had been no boats out of Mykonos for three days. The whole world was waiting to get out.

I arrived at the boat dock one hour before departure as required. Sun boiling hot. Wind still brutal.I found a shady spot next to a building which also broke the wind.

Time came for the boat. Still no boat. However, all four hundred of us were required to form a line up to the dock. We stood there in the hot sun for another hour.

Finally, the boat arrived. We had to wait for the 400 on to get off before we 400 waiting could get on. Another half hour. In the sun.

There were a group of Asians surrounding me. Father, mother and three college age daughters. Behind me about a half dozen Asian teenagers on break. The two groups were not traveling together.

The line started moving. I had my ticket in one hand and was pulling my suitcase with the other. At some point, we were out onto the actual dock. The wind was beating us up. Extremely strong. Little needles of sand blowing into us.

I was wearing a sport shirt, shorts and sandals. And a pair of jockey shorts. The sport shirt was being worn outside my shorts.

All of a sudden, a large gust of wind hit us. The wind swooped my shirt upwards. The shirt was in my armpits and above my head. I immediately dropped the suitcase, held tight to my ticket, and raised my arms up to bring my shirt down. As my arms went up, my shorts went down. To my ankles. There I was. Standing with my arms over my head, my shirt in my armpits and my shorts down around my ankles.

Louis in all his BVD glory.

I was glad I had listened to my mother who told me to always wear clean underwear.

Everything was rapid, but seemed to be happening in slow motion.

The Asian family in front of me starred wide eyed. The father looked grim. I could not see the Asian girls to my rear.

I pulled my shorts up, shirt down. Did not even break a smile. Proceeded on as if nothing had happened.

My next story from yesterday is about a know it all who got hustled. I was the know it all.

The boats had not traveled for 3 days. The wind too strong. I drove the ticket lady crazy every two hours the third day. The winds were supposed to die down a bit and it was anticipated the boats would be able to travel the next day.

It was 9 at night. I am dealing with a hard assed middle aged Greek woman who could care less about the plight I was in. I had to get out of Mykonos.

There was only one boat scheduled for the next day. Amorgos would be the fourth stop. These boats operate like trains and buses.

She could get me a ticket/seat to the first stop. However, there was no room at the inn thereafter. Genius me said why don’t I try to influence her. I took out a ten euro bill. I slipped it towards her on the counter and said…..look again, you might have overlooked something.

Her eyes brightened as she saw the ten euro bill. As she grabbed for it, she exclaimed…..oh, yes I do have one more seat. There was one problem. I would have to change seats at the first stop. No problem!

There was a problem. It became apparent when I went to change seats at the first stop. The new seat was in section P and had a number 401. There was no section P nor seat numbered 401.

I smiled. She had hustled me!

No way was I going to get off the boat. I had a ticket, even though it was a bogus one. I went to the back of the boat and sat on the floor. There were a dozen others who must have been hustled also. We were all sitting on the floor for the rest of the trip. No one bothered us.

My third story involves Demetrius and dinner last night.

When I got off the boat in Amorgos, I was tired. The boat ride had been rocky. There was an outside cafe immediately where the boat dropped passengers off. I went and sat down. I was the only customer. It was around 7 in the evening.

I asked for a drink. Introduced myself. His name was Demetrius. He gave me a drink and some cheese and olives.

I felt sorry for Demetrius. No customers, except for me. I
said I would return for dinner.

Demetrius was a typical looking 60ish Greek Man. White haired, paunchy.

I returned two hours later for dinner. The place was packed!

When I finished my meal, I knew why. Fantastic tasting food!

It was my mother’s cooking.

I had two spectacular dishes.

The first was a mixture of zucchini, tomatoes and potatoes all cooked in a red oily sauce. Actually buried in the sauce.

The first mouthful told the story. It took me back 60 years. The same dish my mother used to make.

I cleaned up the sauce with bread. Not a drop was left on the plate.

The next dish was fried eggplant. I have not had fried eggplant since my mother passed away some 25 years ago.

Hers and Demetrius’, to die for!

My mother used to make parmigiana. I probably spelled the word wrong. On occasion, I can be a poor Italian. The first thing she did was to fry the sliced eggplant. I always loved the fried product. My mother used to holler at me for eating it that way. It was to be part of a larger dish she was preparing.

Last night, I experienced that taste again.

I found a place to stay. Elini’s. I am in a first floor apartment. Across the street is the beach and ocean. My apartment is not a cave as in Santorini, but a quaint little white cottage. I am sitting on the terrace in front writing this blog.

Enjoy your day!

—

The U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference is giving Biden a hard time. Strange. Biden is a very religious person. Has been his whole life. An extremely good Catholic. A Catholic in more than name only.

The Catholic Church is divided as the U.S. is. There is the extreme right group as represented by the U.S. Conference of Bishops. Then Pope Francis’ group. A more liberal thinking one.

Since Francis was elected Pope, the Bishops group has been moving to have his powers reduced. The Bishops obstruct Francis at every turn.

The Bishops walked hand in hand with Trump. They can be characterized as having had a relationship that can only be described as submissive at best and fawning at worst. Typical Trump supporters.

Two prominent lay supporters of the Bishops are Steve Bannon and Newt Gingrich. Both far right wingers.

Bannon you will recall has one sole purpose in life. To bring down existing governments. The Catholic Church is a government.

Gingrich is a semi-important figure within the Church. Trump appointed his wife the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. Gingrich moves within the Vatican as Trump’s de facto representative.

The Bishops are out to get Biden. They have publicly announced that Biden is to be refused communion. Biden is a frequent taker of the Eucharist. The refusal based on one reason. Biden supports abortion.

Most Catholics do not believe the position of the Bishops is fair.

The Eucharist is a shared meal of joyful thanksgiving and not a reward for doctrinal purity. Christ included Judas at the Last Supper.

The Catholic Church has lost the younger generation. They cannot pick a fight with them. So the Bishops go after the President of the U.S. Query: If the Eucharist is denied Biden, how many other Catholics will walk away? A significant number I dare say.

Note that so far Biden has not been denied Eucharist by any priest. There has not yet been an actual confrontation.

An hypocrisy exists.

It is wrong that Church officials such as the Bishops have allowed the Church’s “pro-life” teachings to devolve into just one thing: “Anti-abortion.” They are all for Presidents and politicians who promote and expand capital punishment, are ok when programs are cut that devastate the poor, are fine with eliminating elementary health care to tens of millions of the poor, support initiatives to deny fundamental human rights to immigrants, see not problems with promotion of laws that incarcerate minorities at vastly disproportionate rates, and are ok to turn a blind eye to sexism, discrimination and misogyny as long as those officials say that they are anti-abortion.

Rafael “Ted” Cruz. Guilty of another mistake. Defecating on the people of Texas.

What occurred in 24 hours beginning wednesday evening an example that he considers himself better than those he is sworn to represent.

Simply stated, Cruz was in Cancun while Texas was without power.

He arrived in Cancun wednesday evening at 10:30. He left Cancun at 6 the next morning to return home. In between, he realized he had made a serious error.

Upon returning, Cruz released a statement confirming he had gone to Cancun with his wife and daughters for a vacation after school was cancelled for the week and they were left without power at their Houston-area home.

Cruz’s return ticket was for saturday. He had it redone for thursday morning. His wife and daughters remained in Cancun.

Enjoy your day!

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