Lunch on Thursday at the Greek Hovel was provided by the wife of George the Albanian. At least I think it was his wife, it was one of his two female assistants. I pondered how much an Islington bistro would have stung me for, offering similar fare.
The lunch was, I admit, simple. A slice of bread, from a freshly baked loaf at the Kambos artisanal bakery, dripping in locally produced virgin olive oil, half a fresh organic tomato from George's garden and a lump of home made feta. The cheese was a tad salty for my liking but genuine artisanal fare. And an orange picked from one of the many trees that are dripping with the fruit right now. The cost to George, with labour, must have been about 20 Eurocents.
But imagine how this appetiser would be dressed up in London. Artisanal, organic, fresh, etc, etc, etc. I cannot imagine getting any change at all from a fiver and suspect it would be more.
Life here in Kambos is cheap but that does not diminish the quality of the food and of one's existence. I know it is a bit of a pipe dream to live here full time and so be able to keep my own goats. But as you may remember, my wife's brother in law comes from a village the other side of Kalamata and there I have learned how to milk the goats belonging to his mother - as you can see in this video.
I reckon I could live here on a couple of Euros a day. Should the world financial system collapse I guess it is always an option.