Laden fig tree in the middle of Molyvos Well!! Guess what? Yes, another incident! I’d decided to walk into Molyvos this morning for some last-minute purchases and a bit of exercise – the Delfinia Hotel is a little way out of town, just a nice distance for stretching the legs. On my way along the rather uncomfortably cobbled pavement, with my eyes cast down to avoid stumbling on any of the sticking-up stones, I spotted something lying on the ground, and being the inquisitive type, I promptly picked it up to investigate – to discover it was a purse with 45 euros inside together with a shopping list in Greek… To say I felt conflicted as to what to do is an understatement – on the one hand, an extra 45 euros holiday money would have been very nice, falling into my lap, as it appeared to have done, from the gods; on the other hand, some impoverished local might have to go without food because they’d just lost their week’s pay… But if I left it where I found it anyone could pick it up (like I just did…), and if I took it to the police, they’d probably have a nice evening out on it instead of me... What to do? I looked round and saw a woman at the bus stop watching me, but she didn’t do anything to make me think it was hers, so I put it in my back pocket and carried on into town, all the while pondering this unexpected dilemma. Once there, I bought my things – and was given a lovely coffee mug with raised olives painted on the side by the lady whose shop it was, as a gift from her :) Delightful as that gesture was, it made me feel even worse about the money burning a hole in my back pocket. I walked back along the same cobbled pavement to the hotel, thinking maybe I’d ask Adonis there what to do – though I knew if I did it’d make me look very naïve, but what the heck? Anyway, as all this was going through my head, I heard someone running up behind me, and then saw that it was a youngish woman in a track suit (I knew then that she must be a local, wearing winter clothes in what to me seems like the height of summer!). ‘Excuse me – may I ask you something?’ she said, a little out of breath. I had an inkling of what was coming then, and immediately said, ‘Yes!’ ‘You haven’t found a purse on the road, have you?’ she said. I whipped it out of my scalding back pocket, said, ‘Thank goodness!’ and handed it to her whether it was really hers or not (though I was pretty sure it was). It was her friend’s as it turned out – she realised she’d dropped it when they got to where they were going, then they went back and asked the lady at the bus stop if she’d seen it. She said she hadn’t but she seen a blonde woman pick something up… Melanie – the woman in the track suit (we're bosom buddies now!) – mentioned the shopping list that was inside, so I knew it was definitely hers (or rather, her friend’s), and she said she wanted to phone her friend right away to let her know it had been found. She did so, and a frenetic conversation in Greek ensued, as I stood there feeling hugely relieved. Anyway, it turns out that Melanie runs a gyro and souvlaki bar in Molyvos, and she gave me the name of a place where they have live music in case I want to pursue the idea of coming back to play sometime. Then she said her relieved friend had invited me to eat with them this evening at the Women’s Cooperative restaurant, which is somewhere I was really wanting to go but it had been closed every time I’d gone past. Pam in Skala Eresos had told me that these women’s cooperatives that are found all over are outlets for produce grown and cooked by local women. Funny how these things happen, ain’t it? :)
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