Picnic and Pasta Reprise

Sunday September 30

An amazing trip to Colchester with Sue and Chris. Once we arrived, we found the pleasant park beneath the Castle walls (Chris was intimately acquainted with each Roman brick), where we pulled out a picnic of the leftover sausages and cheeses, plus pitas with tzaziki, taramasalata, and red-pepper hummus, and more Greco-Turkish sweets.

The end of the day was unexpected. All right, less unexpected than unbelievable. Sue said she wanted to drop in on a friend of hers, a nun who was a fellow-member of the Hellenic Society in London, and so we found ourselves at . . . the Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist near Tolleshunt-D'Arcy. That's right, a co-ed Orthodox monastic community, located naturally enough in the wilds of Essex. Sister Maria showed us her beautiful mosaics and the icon workshop that she runs (Barbara's nostrils flared at the scents of oil and turps).
Sue said she was perishing for a cup of tea, and God provided, for we happened upon a celebration of two birthdays and the blessing of the rings for a newly engaged couple. Greek and Russian hospitality flowed and we tasted koulourakia and other bits of sweets that we haven't had since Greece (or that afternoon), not to mention tuna with sweetcorn sandwiches, and a sheet cake decorated like a soccer field. (I think I got a goal post).
Many hours later, the actual dinner was leftover penne crusted with additional parmesan, reheated. We were too tired, too sated, and too dazzled to do anything else.