Paxos, Italian food and London

It’s funny, I’ve always been good about bigging up strangers but never think to do it for friends.

But then I thought, how did this group of people working in a cafe become friends?  Because of their smiles and excellent service.

Caffe Italiano is a small restaurant cafe bar on the Greek, Ionian island of Paxos.  It is run and owned by the by Bartolo, originally from Bari in Italy.  

I love spending time there when on Paxos as the atmosphere is always one of great friendship; by all the staff making all their clientele feel like friends, they actually become friends.  It is the loveliest cause and effect circle.

There is Fiona, Bartolo’s wife, from Scotland, Daniel the chef, who we thought was Romanian, (not least as we visited him there in Bucharest), but no it turns out he’s from Transylvania and then there is Spyros, who lives in Athens but comes from a small village in Ioannina.  A truly international affair of an Italian restaurant cafe on a Greek island!

I hadn’t thought of doing a blog about them but then Spyros asked me why not and it was one of those lightbulb moments.  I am not a president that shouldn’t big up his own interests. (www.theguardian.com/trump - being written 3.3.19 - check the news of the day - this gets a big thumbs down), and just because they are friends now there is no reason I shouldn’t point out that these are folk that bring that extra smile to work and make everyone else’s day that much better for it, (added to some lovely food - thank you, Dani).

Spyros, Bartolo and Daniel

As well as being able to chill away hours with a coffee and a book, it’s a real hub of a meeting place and you can often find Ian of Il Pareo, https://en-gb.facebook.com/IlPareoPaxos/ the lovely next-door boutique selling gorgeous Indian and Balinese clothes and gifts, sitting at the cafe holding court.  You might also be lucky and catch the ever smiling Sam and Stuart of PaxosWeddings.com there.  Sam writes one of my favourite Paxos blogs Off Season Paxos https://offseasonpaxos.com I will probably get in trouble here for mentioning two lots of folk and then not a lot of others so forgive me, in Oscar’s style speech.

If you want to know more about Caffe Italiano they are on facebook at www.facebook.com/CaffeItalianoPaxosGaios and should be re-opening for the season some time in April until October.  But for now, a big thumbs up to Barto, Fiona, Daniel and Spyro, thank you for the smiles and look forward to more to come. 

And why might you ask has it taken me so long to post this thumbs up; oh life stuff but then this morning lovely Louise reminded me of the joy of thanking someone.  

We were at Prezzo in Northumberland Avenue the other evening, (after seeing the wonderful show Caroline Or Change https://carolineorchange.co.uk) and after we left, we were just getting to Charing Cross Station when the waiter ran up with my ‘phone which I had left in the restaurant.  I wasn’t thinking so didn’t get his name or anything else before he ran back to the restaurant but Louise, being one of the smiliest people I know, did think.  She followed up and wrote to Prezzo and we now know the lovely waiter who ‘saved me’ was Bajram.  So a big thumbs up and thank you to both Bajram and Louise.  

That's the end of a first post in a while but, don’t forget this blog is really for you, so if there is someone you would like to thank for bringing that bit extra to their work and your day, please do get in touch, details below. 

A Personal and a Public One

I haven't written a post in far too long, partly as life events had taken my time and partly because no single incident had struck me as sufficient to warrant a post.  There was one really nice guy on the tube making commuters smile with his help but I didn't have time to get his name and/or picture.

However, in the last couple of weeks or so I have had reason to explain the whole idea of the blog to a couple of people, (if you're not familiar with it, rather than restate it all here, have a look at the first couple of posts from July 2013 - http://www.everdayfolk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/an-idea-for-blog.html ) and it reminded me how much the looking out for everyday people doing something nice makes one more observant of the good around us, rather than just focusing on the bad, all the time, as we, or certainly I, am wont to do.

But then I also thought, it's my blog and I could go off page for once and rather than thank someone out there, I could use this to thank someone closer to home.

I don't want to go into too much personal detail, but just to say, in opening my eyes to what's going on again I was struck by the good deeds my husband regularly does for others. 

Circuit of Ireland with David Holmes

Daily Telegraph - 8th August 1977

So, rather than delving into our home pics, here are a couple of pictures of my derring-do man from some old newspapers and the web.

Marion-Bermuda race 2003 with David Holmes

For those who want the video relating to this newspaper clipping, you can see the 1,000 Lakes crash at youtube
 

So the first half of today's post is simply a thank you and thumbs up to my bloke on this, the anniversary of our meeting in Paxos.



The second half of this post is however more about what I really wanted to do with this blog, thank people who are just doing their job but give that little bit extra that make your day.

This particular thank you is to Steve working at the ticket office at Cannon Street station.

I had booked some tickets via the Trainline but wanted to buy a new Network Rail Card.  The first thing Steve helped me with was to ask if I had an annual season ticket or had a friend with one as it would bring down the cost from £30.00 to £10.00 - http://www.network-railcard.co.uk/partner-card/
- I didn't have one but what a good saving tip.

Secondly he advised me that booking via a train companies own website, in this instance, Southeastern Trains, rather than Trainline, usually saved you money as there were less booking fees and often special offers available direct.  Another good tip.

But perhaps the tip I liked the best, was Steve told me where did the best coffee in the station!  Thank you, Steve, and a big thumbs up .

I would just add, that I'd never used Cannon Street at the weekend before but was trying it rather than Charing Cross or London Bridge and I was so happy I did.  Look at this picture of "civilised" travel rather than the hoards the other main line stations.  So a thumbs up to Cannon Street Station.



That's it for now but as always, if you would like to send in a post to tell us something nice that happened or to say thank you to someone, just get in touch and we would have great pleasure in putting up your stories here.  Thanks.

Circuit of Ireland photo courtesy of Joe McCabe from Flickr -JoeMcCabeFlickr 

A Greek post

This is a mini post from the Ionian islands in Greece.  We have to make a little exception here to the term "staff" since on the islands in the tavernas in particular, nearly all the people who work are family. Of course there are exceptions but.... 

My first thumbs up and thank you goes to Yianna in her family cafe in Sivota on Lefkada (Λευκάδα - also known as Lefkas and a few other English variations).

Sivota has a big boating fraternity where sailing flotillas come in for one night and leave the next morning added to a few luxury motor yachts and the day to day yachties who spend their summers sailing around the beautiful Ionian.  However, because people come in, want serving and most of the time will never, ever come back this way, service can sometimes be a little perfunctory to get the numbers served without investing too much of one self.  Imagine, no one in a cafe one minute, then fifty English, Italian, German et al of all ages, wanting serving at the same time and then three hours later, no one again.  

Anyway, Yianna and her family were most definitely an exception.  We went in for a light lunch and had a lovely homemade beetroot dip followed by egg and chips with a chilled white wine, (okay, the lunch grew).  Yianna was funny and helpful to both us and in particular a table of Italians nearby who didn't have any Greek or English to understand the menus.  

Then, a rather unpleasant Belgium man came in off his footballer style motor boat; middle aged with paunch but still wearing a crop top with hot pant style shorts, a red bandanna tied on his head pirate fashion and dripping in jewellery.  You get the picture.  Whereas the Italians hadn't had the language to communicate, they made an effort and Yianna of course understood.  This "gentleman" used the method of saying the same word over and over, louder and louder within Yianna's personal space.  Yianna maintained her smile, and together with the whole cafe worked out what he wanted, (which she didn't have), and with a flourish she produced something alternative that she thought would please him, (it did), and the status quo was resumed.

So Yianna, thank you and a thumbs up  from us.

Staying in Sivota and next door, I would also like to give a thumbs up to the lovely guys in the Sivota Bakery but, my apologies,  I failed to get their names or photos).

Another person I failed to get a name or photograph for was the lovely lady cooking in one of our favourite tavernas, Trehantiri, in Vathi on Ithaka (Ιθάκη - aka Ithaki, Ithaca etc).  It was a very hot night and she handled an enormous influx of patrons brilliantly and I had one of the best pieces of chicken on a grill I can remember, and, all with such a warm smile.  So thank you and a thumbs up .

My last Greek post about service with a smile doesn't include a photograph or any names after some consideration, even though I did get lovely smiles on film, it just doesn't feel right and I hope you'll understand when I explain; we are now on Paxos, (Παξοί - Paxi), and we're sitting at a taverna at night, it's very hot again, still in the 30°s, (about 90°F), while the temperatures in the kitchens, which we can see must well be above 40°(about 104°F).

We could see this young woman in the kitchens doing all the washing up above the steaming hot water, and our companion, an Austrian yachtsman that lives in Greece, went and picked some bourgainvelia, and went over and gave them to her.  The smile he was rewarded with, and that she had on for the rest of the meal was truly a sight to behold.  Our decision to not use names or photographs was after consideration of the gossip that can occur in a small village and we wouldn't want any misunderstanding or a belief that there was more between this man and woman than this simple gesture.

Therefore a thumbs up both to the Austrian and the washer-up and in place of their smiles, a pretty picture of Paxos.  

Don't forget, if you have someone to thank or a smile to comment on, just send in a post and share it with the rest of us.   Look forward to hearing from you.