Voting

 The economy has a mind of its own, going up and down with little concern for which party is in power.  Voting Democrats out of power will have no impact on inflation.  James Carville's famous analysis, "It's the economy, stupid," was politically correct but meaningless in real terms.  

On the other hand, women's rights, gay rights, and freedom from discrimination are decided at the ballot box.  The Dobbs decision has empowered Republican controlled state legislatures to ban abortions in a broad swath of states.  Even worse future decisions could limit the right to contraception, and to gay marriage.

Republicans are no longer restricted by Roe v. Wade.  If they win control of the House and the Senate, they could eliminate the filibuster, and pass legislation banning all abortions, nationwide.  Biden would veto the legislation, but his reelection in 2024 is far from assured.

Bitch about gas prices, but vote to protect your rights.

Gut Shot

Democrats bring a knife to a gun fight.  Republicans take gut shots with emotional appeals.  Time for Democrats to strap on a pair.

When I went to a farmers market in St. Louis many years ago, an anti-abortion group, had life like fetuses at various states of development in jars filled with liquid.  I threw them off stride, when I asked to buy one.  But there is no doubt that the booth had an emotional punch.

 In the push to have the most extreme anti-abortion laws Republican legislatures are making no exceptions for rape, incest or non-viable fetuses.  We must run ads showing depraved rape of an underage girl or a father having sex with his child.  The tag line could be:  "I support Cindy's right to choose, Congressman X supports the right of the rapist to father Cindy's child.  Stand with Cindy, vote on November 8th."

Grease

 The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  But Democrats have 133 wheels with only 4 actually grounded: the economy, healthcare, education and crime.  Foreign policy is the spare tire.  

There is no doubt that the transgender community will fare better with Democrats in power.  But every moment spent discussing transgender rights rather than the big 4, makes that power less likely.  To make maters worse Democrats insult the majority of the population by propagating terms from academia.

In academic discussions and treatises it might be useful to have a term to distinguish the 99% that identify as the gender they were born, from the 1% that do not.  In general parlance, however, call me by my name.  Call me CIS, and I am unlikely to hear anything else you have to say.

Worse yet is the term LatinX.  Hispanics, particularly older hispanics, resent the term.  How paternalistic to tell people how they should identify themselves.  As a socially conservative group, Hispanics are not swayed by more attention to transgender rights than healthcare and inflation.  

Every Democratic interest group clammers for the President's undivided attention, and criticizes him for failing to achieve the impossible.  Contrast that with loyalty given to a past Republican president who is devoid of humanity and patriotism.  With friends like these, Biden is a soft touch for enemy incoming.

The Republican party is deplorable for placing power before principle.  But the Democrat interest groups forget that without properly inflated power, principles are punctured.

Visiting the Cyclades: Sifnos

 In Sifnos, we chose to stay in Apollonia. the capital, and part of a hub of villages that make up the bulk of the population of the island.  We stayed there for a number of reasons.  On the trip I wanted a balance between staying on the ocean and  staying in villages.   Also, Apollonia is the center for public transportation on the island.  From there we had the option of day trips to a number of the beaches.

But perhaps the main reason is that we were able to book a room at Eleonas Apartments, one of the most highly touted places to stay on Sifnos.  The choice paid dues as soon as we landed.  The owner of Eleonas also owns a travel agency at the port.  By prior arrangement,  we were driven from the port to the apartments.  

Our apartment was a split level, with a sitting and small dining area at ground level, and a kitchenette,  bathroom and bedroom on the upper level.  The bedroom opened up to a large terrace.  We had a view of a church, with the ocean in the distance.  The apartments are set amidst a grove of olive trees.  An estate bottle of olive oil was a welcome gift.  All this for 75 euros a night.

As we often do on vacation, we bought local liquor to enjoy in our room.  The terrace was a wonderful place for me to sip ouzo and Roslyn to enjoy tsipouro.  Since it is made from grapes tsipouro is technically an unaged brandy.  It is clear and tastes like a cross between vodka and grappa.  You can get it with anise flavoring, but that would defeat our purpose since Roslyn avoids ouzo because she does not like the taste of licorice.

Town center was just a short walk away.

The main street is Steno, which means narrow.  Bars, restaurants, boutique shops and jewelry stores vie for your euros.  I am told that in August it can resemble a crowded Mykonos backstreet except that instead of nouveau gauche tourists, the lane is teaming with rich Athenians fleeing the city heat.  No crowds in May.

 

We had dinner at Drakakis, one of the better known Steno restaurants.  Roslyn had crab salad, while I had lamb kabobs.  We shared the wonderful potatoes.

This upscale restaurant did not have a down scale house wine.  Also missing was our happy ending.  No after dinner drink or dessert on the house.

On the advice of Alex, our hostess, we took the bus to Vathi.  It proved to be our favorite beach, on an island justifiably known for great beaches.

There are at least 3 tavernas on the water.  We chose Okeaniaa. 

The food was almost as good as the view.  

I ordered a Sifnos specialty, Mastelo.  Mastelo is either lamb or goat slow cooked in a clay pot.  Make sure you try it.

While Roslyn explored I ordered a Greek coffee.  A couple of words of advice on Greek coffee.   For caffeine junkies, always order a double.  Typically a single is about 2 euros, and a double is only 1/2 euro more.  Second, ask for it with some sugar, even if you never use sugar in your coffee.  You need to take the edge off.

At Vathi my alpha personality eased into a beta state--total tranquility. 

The next day we took a bus to Kastro.  Kastro means castle or fortification, often Venetian in origin. Before leaving we stopped for coffee at the local cafe.  Many upscale cafes attracted both locals and tourists, but this was the gathering spot for locals.

The Kastro is a winding uphill trek.  There are shops, but most of the restaurants had not yet opened.  Along the way we encountered ancient tombs.

The architecture was interesting.

But even better were the views from above.

Roslyn's ingenuity got us back to Apollonia.  No bus was due for several hours.  The taxis we had seen at the taxi stand were gone.  We tried to call a taxi, but there was no cell service.  Roslyn had the idea to text the travel agent that picked us up at the port, asking him to call a taxi.  It worked.

We had not planned on renting a car.  But Alex convinced us.  Unlike Milos, rental cars are cheap on Sifnos.  Our car, which was delivered to our apartment, only cost 30 euros.  We also were also able to drop it off at our studio.

The two most touristed beaches are  Platis Gialos and near the port.  We decided to drive to 2 more tranquil beaches.

Chrissopigi has a church on a promontory 

We ate on the water.  I had lamb chops and Roslyn had calamari.

We next traveled to Faro beach.  For those who want a beach vacation Platys Gialos and Kamares have the widest range of accommodations,  but rooms are available at Vathi, Chrissopigi, and Faros.

Having visited beaches we next went to Artemis the sister town to Apollonia.   

While Roslyn did a bit of shopping, I had coffee.  Are you noticing a trend?

After resting and freshening up in our room we headed to dinner.  Having a car saved us the 1/2 mile walk to Kelari taverna in the neighboring town of Kato Petali.

Kelari was our favorite restaurant on Sifnos.  Kelari serves standard taverna food prepared extremely well.  The prices are very low.   When we arrived most of the diners were tourists, no doubt aware that Tripadvisor rated it the top restaurant on the island.  But as we lingered, the later eating local crowd arrived.  By the end of the evening we heard nothing but Greek.

Roslyn is pictured above with the wine press.  It used to be pulled by mules.  They now would like to strap in a couple of tourists.  My appetite got the better of me.  No picture of my lamb chops, but above is a picture of a Sifnos specialty, chickpea balls.  Top notch free orange cake for dessert.  The house wine, which they grow themselves, was cheap and good.

The next day our ferry for Syros left in the evening.  Alex graciously allowed us to stay in the room until we needed to leave for the port--the advantage of a wonderful hostess, and traveling off season.

If you visit Sifnos, and you should, consider staying at Vathi in the fall if you want quiet days at the beach and lovely taverna meals in the evening.  This is a winning combination for sun starved northern europeans.  If you want a beach in walking distance, and lively evenings then consider staying at the port.  In past visits I have stayed in Kamares.  I also highly recommend staying in the center at Eleonas Apartments in Apollonia.

Visiting the Cyclades: Kimolos

 

Another reason we chose to stay in Pollonia, is that it is just a stones throw away from Kimolos.  At least if  Mathew Stafford is throwing the stone.  With one exception, all ferries to and from Milos dock at Adamas.  That exception is the ferry to and from Kimolos.  The half mile ride takes less than 30 minutes and costs 2 euros.

Kimolos has a population of about 900, and is among the smallest of the Cyclades.  The main occupations are mining (chalk) and agriculture.  Kimolos has a number of unpopulated beaches with some accommodations and tavernas.  What few tourists were on the island were siphoned off to the water, as we did not encounter a single tourist during our two days in Chorio, the capital, and only true town on the island..

Our goal was to get a taste of the ebb and flow of village life.  And, taste it was.  The soul of a Greek village is the cafe, ouzeri, bakery or restaurant where Greek men gather daily to heatedly, but good-naturedly, expound.  

On Kimolos that is Kali Kardia, most often referred to by the name of the owner Bohoris.   On arrival we went there and shared moussaka.  

We returned for dinner.  What did I have?  Goat, he wrote.

At almost every Greek restaurant, a little something extra comes at the end of a meal.  Either a liqueur or a dessert on the house.

Bohoris serves top notch standard taverna food.  The lively conversations, although more Phillip Glass than Marvin Gaye, were music to our ears.  Completing our immersion into local life was going to the local bakery for fresh spanakopita.  We took it to go.  When you look at our home on Kimolos you will know why.

The house had two bedrooms a full kitchen and a bathroom that would put a 5 star hotel to shame.  Did we fall off our path to authenticity with Netflix on a 55" TV in the living room?

I was unable to find any hotels available in Chorio.  Instead places were between the port and town or on one of the island's beaches.  Through AirBnb we found this engaging residence right in the middle of town.  Including tax and cleaning fee it came to 216 dollars total for two nights.

We delighted in wandering the small town with nary a tourist in sight.

Just off the main square is the 17th Century Agios Ioannis Chrisostomas.  

The 17th Century is well represented.  Even the excellent ice cream shop is built into a 17th century wall.

There is only one taxi on Kimolos.  We booked in advance fo the short ride tor our ferry to Sifnos.  Had we stayed on Milos we would have had to take a taxi to Adamas to catch a ferry to Sifnos.  It was easier and quicker to travel from Kimolos.  The ferry to Sifnos was 6 euros each and took two hours.