Chapter 29: Taking in the Sights - Isolde

Walking through the streets we come past a merchant selling fragosika. This cactus fruit thrives on the Aegean islands and the island of Symi. I’ve had them before and found them very delicious as long as you don’t eat the skin. The merchant walks up to us cuts the prickly peach-coloured pear into segments and hands them to us. I pull out twenty euros from my pocket and hand them to him encouraging him to keep the change.

“What is it?” Valeria asks as she sniffs the fruit.

“It’s called fragosika, it’s a cousin to the dragon fruit only this is very sweet. Try it,” I encourage as I bite into the tasty fruit.

Valeria gives it a tentative lick, and I try not to laugh. She bites into it and then smiles happily, “This is really good!”

“Maybe we can take some home with us,” I suggest as we finish our fruit and continue our journey through the long winding streets, “Speaking of home…”

“Uh oh, I don’t like that tone.”

“It’s nothing bad, it’s just… well you have to go home eventually. You