Zyknthos - Land of Greek Gods!

[Guest guest]

Yasssos (Namaskar) From Greek Island of Zyknthos known as the diamond of

Ioanian Sea.

Together with family, Ambi my wife and Jiwan my son we have been on holidays

here for nearly over three weeks. The

outwards flight was very awkward scheduled for take off at seven am, which meant

the Reporting time was 4.30 am at East

Midlands Airport -Nottingham. We had to set off at 2 am for two hours drive to

get in for reporting time. Departure was

marred by Jiwan's protests. He declared, leave my suitcase here - I don't want

to go...You both go! With lot of cajoling

he agreed. At last minute he could not find his whistle! Ambi shoved me out of

door to avoid tempers flaring.

Three hours latter, we arrived at Zyknthos Airport. Flight was very pleasant,

with superb views of Alps

And Italian Adriatic coast. We arrived mid morning! Heat wave hit us...40c.

Quite a shock from

Cold UK morning.

Immediately, I stepped on Zyknthos Soil.I thought this is due to my

Karma.Paradise at last..

Land of Greek Gods, Greek Cuisine, and topless women in thongs at the beach,

Zyknthos wine ..

Banana, Orange, Lemon and Fig trees galore.Where ever the Greek Gods spit out

the pips...Trees sprouted. Bananas are of

Kenyan variety unlike European Union Size regulated ones we get in UK from South

America. Nights are romantic, Yasmin

aroma wafts into bedroom...Rahat Ke Rani (queen of the night) an apt name for

this plants.. Whole Street has Yasmin

aroma.

We are in the coastal town of " Laganas " . Beach is about fifty yards from our

hotel. Laganas beach

Is famous for a species of turtles that hatch out in August. Across the beach is

Turtle Island, reminiscent of Turtle

Bay near Malindi. Ironically Turtle Island is turtle shaped where turtles come

to lay eggs. Every morning Ambi wakes up

at 5.00 am to walk four miles along the coast to watch

Turtle hatchlings making way to the sea. Followed by watching the sunrise. She

returns at around

10 am to wake Jiwan and me. God I think! This woman still cannot get away from

the midwifery role!

She comes and tells us the tally of baby hatchlings she saw making way to the

sea.

Jiwan and I have taken to Greek way of life. Wake up late - breakfast around

midmorning, Go to the beach.temperature

about 34C ..By mid day temperature soar to 40c... Whole Island comes to a

standstill. Shops and restaurants close. All

workers head home for afternoon sleep. When In Greece do as the Greeks do..my

motto! On first day at the beach we

selected a beachfront restaurant which hires out sunbeds and umbrellas. For

best shade, I dragged my sun bed under one

Olive Tree. This marked my territory. Others spend whole afternoon chasing

shade under the umbrella, constantly moving

sunbeds to remain under shade. My olive tree has become my ambience of calm. It

also provides a good vantagepoint of

beachfront, sea and Thongs!

I still took my metametformin 850 twice a day and Glicitide one tablet a day. I

swim about four hours daily and found my

suger level dropped quite dramatically to about 4.5 and twice 3.5 normally I try

to keep it below 10 ( UK readings - do

not know the American Equivalents). At first I wondered whether my machine was

malfunctioning but my general well being

was so good....Due to heat I drank about one litre of water daily, and after

every meal swam a lot. I started to get lot

of hypos and wondered whether I should stop taking all tablets alltogether. But

I kept up the regime. This week I have

stopped Glicitide and felt better with no hypos. So really the key the diabetic

control lies with lots of exercise, back

in UK, lifestyle wise, I would never get four hours swimming daily!! Here I have

been going for very long walks around

the beaches.

Thongs were undergarments for Summo wrestlers. Whoever redesigned these for

women ..I must research on my return. It

appears it is the in beaches wear fashion at the moment..and very nice too!

Jiwan has taken to the sea like fish to water. He spends quite a lot of time

swimming which means that I have to be with

him in water. Ambi does not swim and will occasionally dip her toes! She sleeps

on the sunbed during the afternoons. I

have been swimming a lot. In the afternoons the place is like a Sauna.one has to

go in for a dip quite often to cool

down.

Greek people are friendly, hospitable and above all go about their own lives

totally unconcerned about tourists. Such

contrast from India where one is met by constant staring! Greek women are

absolutely gorgeous and exceedingly

curvaceous, dark hairs and mesmerising eyes. Aphrodite - Greek Goddess of Love

must have been intensely sumptuous.

Virgin youths entered her cave and came out as Men. She was a good cook too and

well versed in use of aromatic oils.

Island reawakens from afternoon sleep at Six PM. suddenly, shops reopen, Greek

Families appear on streets, motor

vehicles, and motor cycles are all over. This continuos until 2.00 am. Well

Jiwan and I have adjusted to this life quite

easily. Ambi disgustingly declared that she has come on holidays to get fit,

walk a lot and worst of all.. Eat salads

and fresh fruits! Greek Food rich in red meat is definitely sinful for her. God

the woman must have bad Karma to have

to undergo such starvation diet.

Greek cuisine of Zyknthos is truly a feast for the Greek Gods! No wonder Zeus -

Greek God of Gods

Choose this island for many of his festivals. I could live on " Gyros " - Greek

fried Pitta Bread which

Resembles large Punjabi Bhatura - Filled with Suvlaki ( meat on skewer) or

sliced meat from a large

Donner Kebab ( just like Mushkaki ) with onions, olives, fetta cheese and

Tzakaki ( Greek yoghurt)

Greek Sweet dishes are naughty but nice! Zyknthos Beer called Alpha is similar

to Tuskar!

Greeks drinks wines, ouzo ( aniseed spirit), Alpha beer are always accompanied

by Mezedes - little

Food dishes including heavily salted peanuts. These people are social eaters and

drinkers..take long time over drinks

and eating with plenty of conversation. One Greek Doctor I befriended told me,

" When We Greeks build something we build it to make it last 1000 years - When

we eat or drink,

it is as if it is the last meal or drink we are ever going to get on earth. So

we want to enjoy every morsel and drop!

Good enough philosophy for me!

Since I have had diabetics two years now.....its the first time I really ate

without worry about suger level but I did

avoid all

the Greek Sweet dishes, pasteries and beer. I only took a glass of wine with

meals.

Gypsies sell roasted corn...street corners in Laganas in the evening.

Roasted maize here is smeared with butter and sprinkled with sea salt granules.

I patronise one Gypsy who is near our

hotel. For some reason he thinks I am Italian. I go and select my cob and when

ready he shouts out.. Italian Superfino

fantistico! I have taught him to squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle paprika on my

cob in absence of red-hot chillies! One

day he called other Gypsies to taste the corn my way. All of them held a long

conversation in Romany presumably about

lemon on roasted corn.! Probably saying what an ass! Last course after every

meal at night has been roasted corn! I

wonder how I could tell these Gypsies about Mogo!

Local bus transport system is very good ...Timetables do exist but Like

Indians...Greeks have

Greek Standard time.. Busses are never on time. Basically despite designated

scheduled stops, drivers stop anywhere to

drop passengers on request. Each passenger drop is accompanied by long prior

conversation. Looks like the Bus driver is

the source of all news for the islanders.

More latter about my mountain climbing at Zyknthos Town.. Capital City of the

Island known affectionately by Locals as

Zante town and Greek Food adventures!

Yammas! ( Cheers)

Karam Bharij ( Zyknthos)

Karam Bharij

Email karam@...

FAX - 0870 7066419

web site

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cabana/7348/index.html

[Guest guest]

Dear Karam,

What a wonderful time in Laganas Beach, on the Island of Zyknthos, you have

described! Four hours of swimming a day, plus the relaxation and pleasure,

would be excellent " medicine " for diabetes! But also, the change in diet

sounds like it is doing a world of good. You can take your numbers and

multiply them by 18 to get U.S. equivalents. Your 3.5 translates to 63. It

is the sulfonylurea you are taking that can cause serious hypos. If your

numbers continue on so wonderfully, I hope you will consider weaning

yourself from the Glicitide.

Studies we have published show that Glicitide not only causes weight gain,

but increases your risk of heart attack, and the biggest worry is that it

kills pancreases, so that within six years, 60% of users must rely upon

insulin. So diet, a healthy lifestyle and attitude, and using more modern,

safer medicines such as Metformin are very important.

The Greeks have a wonderful attitude toward life. That and their diet give

them long lives. We in the U.S. think we're living smart and eating right,

but we're killing ourselves. We have much to learn from older cultures.

Susie

Karam wrote:

<< Land of Greek Gods, Greek Cuisine, and topless women in thongs at the

beach, Zyknthos wine ..

Banana, Orange, Lemon and Fig trees galore.Where ever the Greek Gods spit

out the pips... Nights are romantic, Yasmin aroma wafts into

bedroom...Rahat Ke Rani (queen of the night) an apt name for this plants..

Whole Street has Yasmin aroma. >>