Featured Guest
I am about to introduce to you Sally Jane Smith, a talented Australian author who weaves together vivid descriptions, personal anecdotes, and profound insights into the Greek landscape, inviting readers to accompany her on a literary odyssey through this enchanting Mediterranean paradise. It is a trip her mother had taken in her time. To my question, “What is the one memory that stands out from your travels in Greece? Something that is typical about the people you encountered,” she answered:
“I’ve had the enormous privilege of exploring twenty-five iconic Greek destinations, but it is the memory of a morning spent wandering Paleochora, on Aegina, that most warms my heart.
Paleochora is an abandoned hilltop settlement, once a refuge from slave-trading pirates who raided the coast. All that’s left, now, are the remains of dozens of churches, some still in use today. It is a site of poignant beauty, and I had it all to myself.
If it hadn’t been for the landlady at my budget accommodation, I would never have had this unforgettable experience. It was Stavroula of Kalokenti Studios who told me about Paleochora and encouraged me to catch the dawn bus to get there. The philoxenia that motivated her to share this gem with me, together with her enthusiasm and pride in her motherland, was typical of the spirit that characterized the people I met in Greece.”
Unpacking for Greece is available to pick up on Amazon and I hope you will. It is written by an author who has lived on five continents and visited thirty-three countries, but credits Greece for turning her into a writer.
In the Sun and in the Rain aspires to bring you creative work from many corners of the world and introduce you to new and old friends. From the Salish Sea of Seattle, I wish you an inspired and creative new year and many journeys, by train, bus, air or sea, and through books.
Live long and prosper!
Sophia