I love New Yorkers.  I love everything about them from their directness, sense of humour, sass and indignation to the street smarts, non-stop talking and occasional neurosis. They remind me of me.

A trip to Skyros beach followed by a walk into town and some light shopping ended up at an appointed meeting place inside a fastish food type cafe on the main drag.

Brittany appeared.  All flowing blue silk dress, boho gold jewellery, tan to perfection, blonde locks glistening. “Oh right, like this is where I ate last week” she imtimated to me, head to one side. “And I swore I wouldn’t do it again – it’s just like kebabs and stuff, and I’m not sure about the feel of this place either.”

It seemed a shame, the Greeks’ sensibility for beauty is inherent in everything they do.  And even in this mountain-top remote island town the sophistication and allure of the decor was out of this world.  Dusty pink chairs sat alongside green tables under sail like awnings, signposts in Aegean blue for even the most humble hardware store; plump mauve cushions on white bar stools under a starlit sky.

We needed to do it justice – at the very least sit outside. Encouraged to leave and seek by our fellow holidaymakers, we ambled forth to find new Grecian pastures. Finally an outside leisurely corner table with the locals at a buzzing eatery: Aubergine with feta, meatballs and the crispiest melt-in-the-mouth onion fritters I’d ever tasted.

We sipped rose as Brittany filled me in on the latest in The Big Apple. “Like, everyone in New York is on uppers and downers right now – you have to be to get through the workload.  Most people work up to 14 hours at day.  You know, they start with an Adderall – it’s meant to get you focused – turns you into a worker bee. It’s so easy to get: My friend told her doctor she got a bit sleepy on long drives – and he prescribed it to her! Then people take Zanex – because a side effect of the Adderall is anxiety, and then pop an Ambien to get to sleep.  It’s, like, frickin’ crazy.”

Clinking glasses, we talked robotic like existences and the pressure to adjust to a system rather than the other way around.

Later, in our shared cab home we all chatted easily.  Brittany quizzed the in-house masseuse: “Are you like, at the end of the day, I never wanna do another massage?”
Sophia turned to her, smiling, “Yeah, but if someone is in pain and they need it – then I will.”

Brittany sat back and there was a pause.  “Hmm, that’s interesting” she said.