philotimo

Philotimo (φιλότιμο) is a Greek noun translating to 'love of honor'.

However, philotimo is almost impossible to translate sufficiently as it describes a complex array of virtues. Philotimo is considered to be the highest of all Greek virtues, the standards for family and social living. The core concept is that of respect and walking in right paths. In its simplest form, the term means 'doing good', actions that ensure that a man's behavior be exemplary and demonstrate his personality and the manner in which he was raised. Philotimo to a Greek is essentially a way of life.

We found the expression on the typical blue & white Greek paper tablecloth of beach restaurant Kaliva, an authentic and picturesque greek restaurant, where we had lunch almost every day.

The friendly waiter who served us every day was a paragon of philotimo. During our last lunch at the beach yesterday he was setting the table for a big group for the evening. When I suggested, to arrange a small table bouquet, he returned with a big smile on his face, scissors and a vase. I simply snipped bougainvillea and pandorea jasminoides from the porch, herbs from the garden and some branches along the beach.

A gesture to express our gratitude and appreciation for his service and kindness.

Meanwhile we are back home to realize all good things come to an end...

Our laid back (beach) vacation was wonderful and we savored every moment of the greek cabin life on the island of Rhodes.

aegean sea

Rhodes Island - Greece - Monday 2nd of September

island life

Rhodes Island - Greece - Saturday 31st of August

Our days on the island of Rhodes are mainly about swimming in the sea, lazing on the beach, reading, greek lunches with a view and naps.

In the morning we have breakfast in the garden at Monocabin, our cabin were we are living the slow life in our way... A summer holiday as it should be. From the cabin it's less than 500 meters to the beach.

Sometimes we have an early morning walk along the abandoned beach and because we found a lot of trash between the white stones, we collected it to keep the beach clean. It's truly amazing how many tiny little peculiar pieces of plastic we found. We've made another collection with the 'catch of the day'. It's rather addictive. The first days on the island I was looking for special stones mainly and brought the most beautiful one back to our cabin. Since we are 'infected' by the trash collecting like @virgin_honey already does for a long time, I'm eagerly looking between the white stones for colored stuff that doesn't belong there.

The good thing is we have made a small contribution to keep the beach clean, but it's also sad to realize that so much rubbish is left behind on the beach by people and also washes ashore. Three times this week, we witnessed an air mattress that blew in the sea and could not be caught. So that's a lot of plastic in the sea.

Maybe it's a good idea that everyone who's reading this, will follow the example.

We have a few more days to enjoy the slow life on the island. Regrettably, because we are good at it and I wouldn't mind to have beach hair for the rest of my life.