Newsletter 1996-97
ON THE ROCKS - TELENDOS
Another Summer Season has finished and another one is already here. 1996 was certainly a busy year for On The Rocks with a lot of changes and additions, as some of you may have witnessed first hand! In July we managed to renew our license to include cold and hot main meals such as Souvlaki and Keftedes. This meant that our name had to change so we are now: - "On The Rocks Cafe Grill House" - Not too short - not too long!
The change in the license enabled us to start our own Barbeque Greek Nights which are great fun. We plan to set up Greek dancing lessons so you can improve your steps and enjoy yourself at the same time.
We also catered for several birthdays and special events, including a buffet for 130 Councillors and the Mayor of Kalymnos. We had some special requests for meal-times, curries, Yorkshire Pudding, Chinese food and Shepherds Pie, so if you fancy something different let us know! So what else is new......
We have finally opened the outside cocktail bar which is a great place to have your drinks overlooking the sea and the views of Kalymnos. We continued to improve our drinks menus and this year we have added several new beers like Hellas Pils which is Greece's own brew, it's going down well with most people. We introduced Motta Ice-Creams and being Italian they live up to their reputation - delicious.
Our sun-beds are popular also as they are FREE to all our customers and the bed service is appreciated! Plus we've started selling cigarettes. George still thinks he can get the rooms ready for 1998 try not to hold your breath, he is a Greek remember and the airport was going to be finished in 12 months seven years ago ..... G.M.T.!!! (Greek Maybe Time).
Thanks to all of you who return to see us again As
always if you need anything let us know, and remember there are no strangers
here - only friends we haven't yet met!
FAMILY HISTORY
On The Rocks Bar is set on family land which has been passed down from George's
Grandfather who bought it from the Italians for one bag of rice. The actual bar
used to be the family home.
10 children (including Poppi - George's Mother)
2 parents (George's Grandmother and Grandfather)
and 1 Grandmother (George's Great Grandmother)
all under one roof.
In Greece parents have to buy daughters, when they marry, their first house as a kind of dowry but George's Grandfather had bought this land to enable him to divide it equally between all of his offspring. Poppi is the eldest daughter and therefore got to choose first. She chose this piece of land as it has the Church of Ayios Haralambos (she is very religious) and it also had the family house on it. As each daughter or son married the land was slowly split between them. Some have built houses, some businesses and some have left their land until G.M.T.
ON TELENDOS
You just want a relaxing holiday on the beach soaking up the sun but you can't help stepping into the past. On Potha Beach there are the ruins of village houses. Every Winter the sea clears another part of it but no-one knows the dates. The next beach along is the beautiful Paradise Beach which takes you back to the War Fighting era - lodged between two rocks is the outer casing of a torpedo long since emptied of the workings, and just a short swim out of the cove is the bottom half of a mine used by the fish and octopus as an adventure playground!
All left there in the sea as a reminder There is a nice walk up to the caves on Mount Raki for the more daring. The views from up there are even more beautiful and quiet, although you may have to share the mountain with the goats and sheep. The pathways do get quite tough coming down as there is a lot of loose shingle so watch your footing.