Greece... finding inspiration everywhere

What I noticed most on my vacation in Greece was how wonderful everyone was there.
Kindness & warmth greeted us around every corner.
The family that owned the hotel we stayed at ran a warm & fuzzy business.
Just what I love. Service was excellent from the owner to our cleaning woman.

It was synergy.

Besides having an excellent product, a clean hotel & mouth watering fresh food at their restaurant, authentic smiles were always there!
I did spend some time speaking to the owners, a widowed woman named Irini, her daughter Ionna & son Elias.
There's is a lovely story well worth being shared.

I woke up every morning at around 5AM, desperately hoping to see the dolphins (I was told they sometimes swam by).
I would go for a walk & then sit on a perfectly situated couch outside, sipping my coffee.
Admiring the infinite beauty of the Agean Sea in the distance was a perfect way to start my day. Perfect just perfect!

One morning I went down to have a coffee, I was usually the first one there, eager for my morning "cafedaki"!
Irini was there bright and early having her coffee, home made jam & bread. She invited me over to sit.
I asked her how it all began for her & her family at Golden Beach.
She put her bread down & slowly lit a cigarette as I anxiously waited.
I love listening to the story of people's lives & I felt this wonderful woman had a good one to share.

She took one long drag and began.
About twenty five years ago, her husband came home one night and said someone told him about a hotel that was up for sale in Paros.
He was in construction & understood the value of land, she explained, & that was what most excited him about the deal.
I could see her love for this man in her eyes. He had passed away five years ago. As she took another long drag of her smoke, tears welled up in both our eyes.
That night he asked her what she thought about the idea of leaving Athens where they had lived most of their lives.
She told me she cried. She didn't want to leave.

The next day he came home & told her he bought the hotel!
He knew there was a great future there for him & his family.
So she began running the hotel with him & her children.
Irini loves what she does & it shows! She is a warm, friendly, strong woman running the show.
What could I not love about that?

The Golden Beach Hotel will be a place I will return to many times in my life.
I will visit these lovely people again & enjoy their food, that they grow on their own farms (sans pesticides)!
I will walk on this special sand that has golden sparkles... and next time I may even see a dolphin!

Yassis!
Vered.