So, I was all ready to leave Andros today and go up to Northern Greece and relive my many experiences up in Thessaloniki and Kastoria. But I'm staying on Andros, and I have new plans to revisit Thess and Kastoria either in February (during Poland's Winter Break) or in the Spring next year.

Why on earth should I miss an opportunity such as this to chase old ghosts and revel in the past and the present? It's not even as if it is difficult this year to book rooms in cheap hotels - miraculously, there are plenty of beds available up in Thess. Well, there are two reasons. One, I've been invited to a pre- wedding- that- isn't- a- wedding drinks party, and this will give me an opportunity to catch up with a few old friends here on Andros. The other, more feeble excuse is that I'm enjoying myself too much and (in a blase fashion) since I already know Thess and Kastoria, they can wait. Well, I know that's feeble. What's happened to my adventurous spirit? Never mind, I'll make up for it in one way or another. Let's explain the wedding excuse. A Greek girl who was going to get married to an English man on Andros decided not to tie the knot after all. Since half the guests turning up were from abroad and had booked their holiday to coincide with the nuptials, it seemed rather a pity to call the whole thing off. As the quasi-bride and quasi-groom are still together, they will have a party which will celebrate not a wedding but their togetherness instead.
Greek girls marrying English men on Andros is not as uncommon as it might sound - there have been several examples of this; the problem isn't so much the coupling, it's often the priests. You get married in an Orthodox church, you must convert; some priests are fine about it and don't bang on about the superiority of their ancient religion; others are further to the right than Attilla the Hun and talk seriously about how the rest of us were all swinging in the trees when they were civilising the world. Ironically, though you don't dare say it, there is little to suggest that the Modern Greek can claim to be direct descendants of those civilised people who Hellenised the world while we were still swinging from the trees.
But let's not dwell on such contentious issues; I have a vested interest in all of this because, as a lapsed Catholic, and practising agnostic, one of the conditions for me to marry my Turkish girlfriend a few years back was to convert to Islam. Our relationship split up before I ever took such a move; and I'm too fond of the bottle, pork, and other unIslamic things anyway, though of course I could have adjusted by drinking much less beer and wine, for example and keeping quiet when the muezzin called the faithful to prayer, and she would have been happy about that. Funny - she was so 'Western' in outlook, appearance, and other things. But certain members of her family weren't. Such is love. I do know a TEFL teacher married to an Indonesian who converted out of expedience - he's about as religious as a monkey throwing coconuts - and he's managed.
On the subject of managing, I saw Alekos the builder today. He looks the same, though older, and still blends hard labour with philosophy, though he wasn't in a 'Dostoyevsky wasn't a novelist, but a philosopher' kind of mood. He looked distracted, and has found a new wreck to drive, considerably smarter than the old wreck.