star treatment

As Alex and Aurelie drove me up the winding mountainside in Akrata, I sat in awe. I had found paradise... or, at least a Greek version of it. Freda moved to the holiday haven twenty years ago to escape city life in Athens.  She couldn't have picked a better spot. Purple trees dotted the large green slops.  "They're called Judas trees," Aurelie informed me, "because they only come out around Easter."  Glimpses of the Mediterranean came into sight from time to time as we'd switch-back. It was as if each angle were competing for the title of 'best view'.

We pulled up the driveway and through the gates into a yard filled with grapevines and olive trees. Upon exiting the car, Alex grabbed my suitcase, led us through a doorway into a courtyard and opened the door to the guesthouse. "And this is where you'll stay," he stated while urging me inside.

Just like the main house, the guest house was over a century old, but was renovated from its prior life as an animal shed into an apartment that many would spend top dollar to rent. I looked around the whitewashed walls, the sunken living room, the authentic Greek kitchenette, generous bathroom and everything else in the large space that was to be my home for the next two days. I was overcome with gratitude and sent a telepathic greeting of thanks to my friend George (he had not yet arrived) who orchestrated everything, allowing me to spend a Greek Easter with his family which caused a domino effect ending with his mother offering me the guesthouse -something well beyond my expectations, since I was in need of nothing more than a spare sofa to rest my head on.

Having to pry my eyes away from my temporary abode, we walked into the main house so I could meet the woman who had already accommodated me beautifully. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here," I immediately exclaimed. "Uh, huh," Freda mumbled and then stole a quick glance at the kitchen table dressed for a banquet, asking: "Are you hungry?" 

It was then she became my new favorite person.