Page 33 - Bulletin 12 2008

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cook, and her cooking was to become legendary. She would tell the story of how, when
they were first married and she cooked something for him, he would eat and make no

comment. Eventually she would ask: “Husband how is it?” And his only response would be
“I eat it, I eat it.” Once she cut off her long hair in keeping with the fashion and when he

saw her he said: “Wife, now you don’t look like a woman and you don’t look like a man -

you look just like a Greek mountain goat!” (Fig. 2.12).

The Greek family networks

There was a good deal of interaction between not only the Greeks in Kalk Bay, but the
broader Greek community who were as far flung as then-distant Bellville. (Figs. 2.13 - 15).

Both the Zianis family and the Drakopoulos family lived in Bellville. My Aunt Jean

remembers her Dad taking her to see the Drakes in Bellville. To get there from Kalk Bay
involved a train trip to Salt River and then a bus ride along what was then a dirt road.

Afterwards they would go to the Waldorf to see his old friend, the owner Mr.Georgiou.

There was a permanent table reserved for friends right near the orchestra. I am sure there
are many here who would have visited the Waldorf in the old days. There was an orchestra

playing throughout the day. Sotiri Stavrou recalls that Mr Georgiou had even at one point
brought out a whole orchestra from Athens and they were all dressed in very fancy jackets.

As a child I can remember my grandmother taking me there and it was an exciting
experience.

The road from arriving in South Africa almost penniless to becoming an independent
businessman was long and arduous. The working hours involved in getting enough capital

to start one’s own business took many years. Sotiri Stavrou remembers that his father
would spend a whole day cleaning out someone’s restaurant kitchen for half-a-crown. The

story of those early pioneers, whatever their family names, followed the same route of hard
work, long hours and self sacrifice to ensure a better future for themselves and their