Velvento 26 - The Market

At the Saturday morning market, it took my family hours to walk through less than ten blocks of the town. Every step someone else would stop us and want to talk to Stefo -It seems like half the people in town are some sort of cousin! It literally took one hour to walk ten feet...I am not kidding.






We had originally connected to our family through a wonderful lady named Helen Fliakas. We met her at the annual Greek festival in Washington DC when we were asking who we could speak to from Velvento or Kozani. We ran into her brother and other family in Velvento at the market that morning. I think we may even be distantly related to one of the women he was with, who happens to live in Annapolis, MD. I don't even know at this point, I think you could be my cousins too!




The funniest part of the walk came when little Giorgia (Sophia's two-year old daughter) saw a priest in the street. When she saw him, she freaked out, screamed and cried. A little background: when we first met her, she also cried and ran away from my dad because he looks so much like a Greek priest (they have long black hair and beards)! It took her all week to get used to theo Stefo...When she acted the same way in the market that day, it was the first time we actually understood through first-hand experience just how terrified she was of my dad when we arrived. But by the day of the market, she was in love with him and wanted to be in his arms all the time. I guess a lot can change in five days!



Shabd finally found the real Greek Mountain Tea! The vendor sold mountain tea, other wild teas picked from the mountain (chamomile, mint, other things i dont know the names of) and bouquets of wild oregano. He had both farm grown mountain tea and wild mountain tea picked from the mountains of velventos (I got that one for you jojo)!