The hike down is precarious, as it should be to protect such a breathtaking beach. Like I imagine landing on the moon might feel, we ascend to a white plateau and then traverse to an outcropping, the edge the world. I gaze out upon the most beautiful ocean I've ever seen.
The turquoise water is just that. Real pools of melted turquoise it seems. A gift from the land and sea.
We cliff jump. Snorkel. In and out of waves, spot eel and dive with more schools of bright and striking fish. The ocean takes care of us. Shelters us. Opens windows to a world so precious and alive.
Atop I meet a lovely girl from Italy. Grayson cliff jumps with a group of Greek and Italian guys. No language needed. Only laughs. Only smiles. Bridges crossed. Barriers broken.
I take one last float in that sea. That remarkable see the welcomed me for my birthday.
The birthplace of my grandparents across the Sea in Nemea.
Stathis, our host, tries desperately to contact the municipality in Nemea to help me search for birth, marriage, death records of my family. But nothing that far back. Destroyed by German bombings in WWII.
So with my family. My dear friends. I piece it back together on my own. Through my novel.
Through the ocean waves and every sunflower here on the island.
Greece, I am here.
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| My loves |
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| Building bridges in the Ionian |
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| Let me stay let me stay let me stay |
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