Explore Lesvos from Skala Kallonis, the ldeal Seaside Village

Around this time last year, I was invited on the most unique blogging trip I had ever had. This dynamic woman from Lesvos, with an ice cream parlour and rooms in picturesque Skala Kallonis, saw that Lesvos' hospitality industry was having a hard time, after a half a million refugees had passed through the island, sometimes literally washing up on the the shores. The crisis had touched everyone we met, on a deeply personal level. So Maria invited us, Travel Bloggers Greece, to experience what Lesvos is- beauty, inside and out. Today is her birthday- and honestly we think about her all the time- that trip made us all think about Greece, and about blogging, with a deeper sense of purpose than before. Greece offers a lot, possibly everything, as a destination- culture, history, natural beauty. But at its best it also offers inspiration, values, an opportunity to connect with your humanity.

This was not your typical FAM trip (familiarization trip- like bloggers and journalists are invited on to get to know an area and write about it). The regional authority got us plane tickets, but all the other hospitality was personal. We stayed with Maria and Giorgos at their Natura Studios, right on the main square. From our balconies we looked out at the harbor, and we had fabulous breakfast in the sunny courtyard every morning. Great, cozy rooms, and perfect for families- like little apartments.

and we dined with their friends at cafes and restaurants. We went to a party at a distillery, made a little film there, and heard the Amanes- Lesvos' beautiful genre with a longing, haunting voice. 

Most FAM trips have an agenda- a tight schedule. We had some scheduled cultural visits- the Archaeological museum, the Gatalousi Castle, and the Petrified forest- all  of which you will want to see- but the rest of the schedule was determined by... the Island. But what do I mean by that? We're right across from Turkey; my phone thinks I'm in Istanbul.

Like the Amanes, life here has an Eastern taste; this gives them a more familiar relationship with the metaphysical. We are happy to put ourselves in the hands of the Island itself- no plan. Giorgos has the ideal approach- he is ready to take us wherever fate commands. He- and fate- get it right, every time.

Giorgos has a 4 wheel drive- useful for the island's most wild roads- with a flatbed in the back for taking in a 360 degree view and tasting the Lesvos air. 

We are out on the road seeing the whole island, but on our last day, we get to know Skala Kalonis, the perfect village where we have been staying every night.

The Ideal Location:

This map is several centuries old. But Lesvos looks more or less like this- intricate shape, lots to discover. See the bay on the left? Skala Kalonis is nestled in the bay- the most central spot on the island.

Fish, and the life of the sea:

This is the quintessential fishing village- trata (small fishing boats) bobbing in a peaceful harbor, winds at night that would wake the devil but are sweet as a lullaby if you have a clean conscience, a shipbuilder- 

Mr. Psaradelis, in speaking of shipbuilding, spoke beautifully of life itself

did you know that every single piece of wood in a boat has its own name, like our bones?- and simply the best fish you will have in Greece, which is to say, the best fish anywhere.

Passionate Ornithologists from all over the World, and the birds that draw them:

Lesvos Birding, by Steve Dudley, offers all the information you need to make the most of a birding trip. He is also a great supporter of Lesvos now during the refugee crisis. The worldwide birding community continues to visit Lesvos! The birders seem to like Dionysos restaurant- we certainly did- and that is where we met Steve Dudley.

Classic Dining Experiences:

We had dinner at a different restaurant every night- the food in Skala Kallonis is excellent.  You can rate a homestyle restaurant by how they do a classic dish- moussaka can be so-so or sublime- the aptly named Ambrosia has the best we'd ever tasted. Dionysos- mentioned here above, is a favorite of birders and I think anyone else- great seafood and fish, very friendly. For classic tastes with a more playful approach, Caprice Kitchen Bar gets it totally right. I noticed the trip advisor reviews mention the chicken fillet and prawns in creamy ouzo sauce- this was delicious. Great beachfront spot, and probably a good place to have ouzo meze, all afternoon. 

"It's five o'clock in the afternoon eleven-thirty in the morning somewhere"

You know how they say "it's five o'clock somewhere" to justify a drink early in the day? They don't say that in Lesvos. Pleasure needs no justification, and on Lesvos, neither does ouzo. Our schedule required that we have lunch at 11. And what is fried fish without an ouzo, especially on Lesvos, the island that has perfected the culture of what is possibly the world's most civilized drink. The fish was fresh caught mullet- fried, I think, in a little cornmeal. The restaurant was Mimi's. Perfectly fried seafood, stellar meze. 

Skala Kalonis is the perfect destination, and the perfect home base for exploring this extraordinary island. George and Maria at Natura Studios will help you make the very most of your stay, and you will leave them as friends.

No place in Greece has left a more profound impression on me, in every way.

When you see the news and say "oh that's so terrible look at all those people fleeing their homeland..." you can do something really easy, and really fun, to help. The refugee situation will not affect your holiday at all, but in going to Lesvos, you will spend your holiday money supporting the people who have supported all these people in need.

Read More »

Everyday Romance, Greek Style

There are a few nice dinner specials at the better hotels, but long stemmed roses are not seen more than usual, and I haven't seen a heart shaped box of chocolates yet this week. If you didn't look a a calendar, you could miss the holiday altogether.

Why would a country that is so in love with life ignore the holiday of romance? Because it's superfluous. Romance is for everyone, everyday.

Customs that shape the week, and rituals that shape every day, bring romance to life:

1. Toasting: In some countries, we clink glasses to commemorate special occasions, like Valentine's Day. In Greece, we toast pretty much constantly.

2. Laiki- the weekly street market: Meeting the farmers who feed us every week basis widens our circle of intimacy, reconnects us with the earth and the sky. This brings a sweet texture to urban life.

3. Superstition: Romance is the unseen magic of life. Here, there is lots and lots of unseen magic- blue eye charms (protection against the evil eye), spells to dispel spells, coffee cup readings that are sometimes eerily on target. 

4. Lunch: Hot food, bread, wine. And rarely alone. We share a meal with others, at home or out, almost every day, and we make a thing of it, take our time. Crumbs on the table and a little laughter.

5. Volta- Promenade: Especially in summer, after the siesta as the shadows grow longer, we dress up a little for the evening volta. There is a sense of occasion, anticipation, as the shadows lengthen- even on Wednesdays.

6. Coffee and Ouzo: So, we're having this economic crisis- probably you heard about it. People visit and wonder why the cafes are full. Because everyone adjusted- we make less, the cafe charges less, but we're still all together, enjoying life.

Read More »

Loving Pelion- the Ultimate Greek Weekend Destination (Part I- Sunshine)

You know how they say it's about the journey, not the destination? In Pelion (in Greek- Πήλιο "Pilio") it's both. Called the mountain of the Centaurs, Pilio forms the curved peninsula that defines the nearly enclosed Pagasetic gulf. With the coves and rocky beaches of the open Aegean on one side, the gulf on the other, the snow capped mountain above, and the woods all around, getting from one place to another is a pleasure in itself. The best vacation deal in Greece is the 5.60 € bus ticket from Volos to Tsagarades- the first half hour hugging the sea, then a steady climb through forests, postcard villages, and glimpses of the turquoise waters below. 

We're here on a special trip- our Travel Bloggers Greece Anniversary celebration, hosted by the hospitality group Spyrou Philoxenia and the Aglaida Hotel. John Grigoras of Spyrou Philoxenia has planned an ambitious and generous itinerary, which fills up even more as invitations mount. We get to meet a lot of wonderful people. Pilio can offer a staggering range of experiences over the course of a single day- here are some of ours-

Tsagarada

This beautiful village overlooking the sea, snowy Tsagarada is our home for two nights. The well - maintained roads of Pilio are narrow, and few, navigated by the world's most skillful bus drivers. No superhighways mar the landscape. But there is an alternative transportation route: stone pathways - in use for hundreds of years - connect the villages. After a breakfast at the hotel of traditional dishes- cheese pies and στραπατσάδα -strapazada- the region's popular egg and tomato scramble eaten at any time of day - we set out for to the next village on foot. 

Hiking on a 17th C path-
Nikos, our guide from Trekking Greece, is very well-informed- he gives us some history of the region (he also gives us walking sticks to navigate our snowy path). The richness of nature ιs matched by rich architecture - Αρχοντικά - aristocratic homes speaking of a prosperous history rooted in the cotton industry of Egypt (fascinatingly boosted by the American Civil War- with the world's leading cotton exporting nation out of the picture, the already strong Greek industry lead the market). There is little Ottoman influence here. It was untouched until the 17th C, then Murad IV (Sultan reigning from 1623-1640), called "Murad the Hunter" for probably various reasons (he was notoriously brutal)- one of which was actually hunting- delighted in the wild boar, and the region itself and gave it as a present to his mother, forbidding anyone but locals (and the few Viziers who collected taxes from them) to live here. This quality of charmed separateness remains to this day.

Family trip- Daughter Mei Mei with Odysseas Asithianakis (son of Dimitris of 
Photography Traveler)

Marissa of Travel Greece, Travel Europe and Mei Mei
descending into a rocky cove.

It's an easy and exciting hike- a leisurely hour and a half if you don't endlessly stop to gaze and take photos, but of course we do- and you will too. The stone path- sometimes steep enough to be really glad Nikos gave us walking sticks- brings us through dense woods opening up all the time to dramatic sea vistas, waves churning in snug coves, waters so pale opalescent green from above you think it must be summer. It also takes us from the 17th C to the ultra-present- via ...Hollywood. 

Damouchari

Damouchari cove- site of scenes from Mama Mia- is really more like a film set than nature. 

It's a cold January day, but the generous Greek sun is already heating up the golden rocks, begging you to take off your jacket, even wade a little- providing a sharp contrast for the winter pleasures of the afternoon.

Zagora-

On our way, we get another taste of mountain hospitality. Zagora is all plane trees and stone houses, smoke from wood stoves in the air, gray slate roofs and a pretty church. We are given a warm welcome by Sakis of the Hotel Owners Association of Magnesia with a classic Pelion lunch at Patis- wild mushrooms, σπετσοφάι- spezofai- (sausages with peppers and tomato), some greens we love and have never seen before and have to ask the name like three or four times until we get it right- τσιτσίραβλα- tsitsiravla are the leaves of a wild pistachio shrub, pistachio in color, too, served with a small handful of chopped garlic. It would seem bold but the table is covered with individual serving size bottles of τσίπουρο- tsipouro- the region's even bolder spirit.

Chania

Not to be confused with Chania, the Venetian town of western Crete- that one is Chaniά; this one is Chάnia. Zagora has a light dusting of snow. As we zig zag up the mountain, the landscape whitens, branches bent under the weight of the snow. The cleanly plowed road has walls of snow half a story high and the sky is like a pearl. When we arrive at the ski resort, we climb a mountain of plowed snow- no slush, no dirt just- while powder that squeaks when you walk on it and makes perfectly packed snowballs. I've heard you can see the sea from the snowy peaks as you're skiing but nothing has prepared me for what that actually looks like- pure white with the sea shimmering gold in the distance.

After a stop for coffee at the charming mountaintop hotel Manthos, and the cutting of the Travel Blogger's Greece Vasilopita (the Greek New Year's cake with a coin hidden in it for good luck) we wind down the hill in the dusk, time for one last stop.

Church of Agia Marina, Kissos

Kissos
We reach Kissos in darkness but the snow covered charm shines through in the night. Chrysoula of Travel Passionate has been to the Church and says it's wonderful. (Is it open though? No matter- this is our driver's village and he can find the priest if the church is locked). It is wonderful-  

The church is rustic and modest from the outside- stone and a slate roof characteristic of Pilio. But open the doors and it is  all opulence- Pilio wears its wealth discretely.

Travel Bloggers Greece were guests of the Aglaida Apartments- a collection of cottages and small buildings all in traditional Pilion style situated in a stunning location with views to the sea. We were equipped with a kitchenette, phone, and television.

The hotel's traditional slate roofs, with the Aegean in the distance.

Pilio in winter is cold- if you visit in the snowy season (and you really should- that combination of the Aegean + snowy peaks is out of this world), bundle up. But don't worry- a roaring fireplace and a warming tsipouro are never far away.

Next up- Pilio in the rain, and endless dining- a romantic winter Sunday.

Where is drinking elevated to a form of art?: Drinking Tsipouro in Volos.

Read More »

Fashion and the Colors of the Inauguration

Fashion is a tell. Given that ideologists who claim the moral highroad – your more zealous socialists and Christians for example– fall so short of any thinking person's notion of an ideal, I'm using another yardstick: not ideology, but Style- elegance as its own virtue.

By this measure, an event so disappointing to so many, for reasons arguably more substantial than palette, often fell short. But there were a few wins, on both sides of the aisle.

Red, White, and Blue (Or in this case, bleu, blanc, et rouge):

Blue

We could start with red- our commander in chief and that blinding tie. But like much else in life, it's all about the girl- Mrs. Trump. The Jackie Kennedy cut of that dress and jacket was regal, especially when the jacket came off at luncheon, revealing nothing but more austere, becoming modesty. It was pure class, with a pleasingly militaristic edge of discipline- very nearly kink- underscored by the gloves, to say nothing of the point-toed, slender-heeled shoes. Restraint is always in excellent taste- here, in the restriction to that single shade of blue.

But the wrong shade. Among so many, many more significant things I might have wished were different, I wanted life in that blue- something juicy, something that quenches. I wanted a blue I would gaze at for its own sake, a touchable blue, a blue like the Tiffany's box Mrs. Trump presented to Mrs. Obama (a classy, warm gesture). This was a cold and clammy blue, lifeless, rather than a shade cool and refreshing.

Yves Klein Nike of Samothace

Blue hit its high note at the inaugural ball. After a dowdy afternoon, Mrs Pence was radiant in sophisticated "Yves Klein" blue. Apart from the color's source, this was homegrown chic. The designer? Designers actually- a collective of dressmakers working out of a small shop called “Something Wonderful” in Broad Ripple, Indiana (her home state) designed the gowns of all the Pence ladies. A beautiful message.

White

Ivanka Trump with her golden hair was elegant in cream; Tiffany was less fortunate, looking more washed out than bold in a shade of bright white. But most striking was that, although seemingly dressed as a unit, the sisters failed to coordinate: the eyes of world on them, they stood in chromatic discord rather than harmony, several shades away from striking a pleasing counterpoint to each other. Their body language mirrored dissonance. Like the shade of their stepmother's superb dress, it was a cold elegance.

A third beautiful head of blonde hair was Jackie Evancho's, The singer of the national anthem, she was another prominent young woman at the inauguration whose entrance was followed, and her outfit- also a double breasted coat in dead white, made an unwitting theme of whiteness itself. Only the most paranoid leftist could think this was a statement- even on a subconscious level. But against the background of the race related turmoil that characterized the divisive pre-election climate, the three prominent blondes in all white struck an odd note.

(Mrs. Clinton- also a blond- looked better than she ever did during the campaign. She was simply splendid in cream as well.)

Red

This is a powerful, even dangerous color- when it's right, it's all warmth and courage, and when its wrong, it's clownish. It's also the symbolic color of the Republican party, so you'd think they would get it right. And on the third try, they did.

President Trump's tie was that clownish shade of red- more brash than bold, a color we also saw on the collar of Kellyanne Conway's bizarre red, white and blue military coat- more of a costume, really- sort of like the nutcracker. In stylish contrast was five year old Arabella Kushner, looking fabulous in a deep red coat with a big bow at the neck, like a little Audrey Hepburn.  Mrs. Obama was beautiful in her textured coat with broad lapels in a rich garnet. But then she hasn't hit a false shade since charming us in that yellow dress and coat she wore to her husband's 2009 inauguration. (And that casual chignon just barely coming undone was just that approachable elegance that is the best of American style).

On the opposite end of the style spectrum, what about that switching up to shimmering gold curtains in the Oval Office? The nation that produced Elvis and Liberace will probably recover.

Read More »

The Perfect Visit to the Acropolis

The Acropolis is at its most majestic at the edges of the day. 

A favorite family photo captures me at the Parthenon,  chin on my chest, asleep.  We had arrived the night before, our first time in Europe, had bad tea and rolls at the President hotel in that dining room in the basement in the light of the "rosy fingered dawn"- this was a trip with a syllabus. It was not adolescent ennui- just jet lag. That first visit to the Parthenon is an amazing thing, especially since, up until the day before, my experience of the past had reached no further back than Colonial Williamsburg.

Visits after that were less moving. The present intruded: necessary scaffolding, the clanging of machinery, and just so many people in such vivid summer attire.

But on recent chilly Sunday, under a dramatic sky, the monumentality of it all came back. It was crowded, but stark, visitors- many of them Greek- bundled up against the first cold evening. Above the murmur of the crowds was a crisp, patriotic sound- the enormous flag, rippling and snapping loud in gusts of high wind.

At sundown, the sites close. Guards, lots of them, advance all around from the perimeter, blowing whistles, tightening the circle of visitors. It was a glorious night, and- in a way that never seems to happen in a museum, for instance- a bond arose among the visitors, many lingering at the edges of the radius, slowing the process down for the group. It was like we were waiting for something, and it wasn't the sunset, because it had just happened to gasps and flashes. In the reluctant stroll to the Propylaia, we were unexpectedly victorious, our exit blocked rather than hastened.

Always on a Sunday

On Sundays, the Evzones (the Greek Presidential Guard), dressed in traditional uniform, ascend the Acropolis in a formal procession, accompanied by the military band playing the Greek national anthem. They raise the flag in the early morning, and come again at sunset to take it down. These two symbols of the glory of Greece coming together- ancient heritage and the rebirth of Greece (the Evzones wear the uniform of the revolution) is unexpectedly moving.

The earliest visitors will take in the procession in the freshness of morning, in the relative solitude before the crowds arrive. The evening visitors will have the advantage of the hush the sunset invariably invites. 

If a Sunday proves impossible, a visit at the very beginning or very end of the day is still the most rewarding. The low sun, the stillness of the hour, makes for a contemplative mood, no matter how crowded.

The Karyatids know best.

The visiting hours for the Acropolis change seasonally- check before your visit.

The Acropolis and other monuments and museums are free on the first Sunday of each month, from October to March.

More Monuments at Sunset:

Cape Sounio, and the Passionate Delinquents of the 19th C

The Acropolis Museum by Night

Read More »