My encounter with the village of Emborios, Nisyros
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Emborios, Nisyros
Began the day with a walk to the office to buy my ticket for the ferry boat Diagoras tomorrow – departing at 0750 hours, 1 hour 50 minutes later than usual, however, should see me arriving at the island of Astypalea around 1315 hours. I had not planned anything for today, however, walked on to the harbour to see Michelle from Enetikon Travel as I was still hoping to visit Emborios before I leave. Michelle was able to procure me a seat on a tourist bus travelling to the volcano which would drop me off as near to the village as it was safely possible to do so.
The small crater-top village of Emborios lies some 8 kilometres south east of Mandraki and is a mixture of ruins and rubble and refurbished houses. I explored one end of the village before reaching the square then sat on the balcony at Restaurant “Balcony of Emborio” for a well deserved frappe, with spectacular views of the caldera. A party of six Greeks arrived soon after, ordering rizogalo (Greek rice pudding) and faskomilo (sage tea).
With very little sign of life – more cats I think than people, I wandered among the houses and ruins, making my way up to a church just out of the confines of the village then slowly back towards the square. By then it was time for lunch, ordered Briam (baked summer vegetables – today a mix of aubergine, courgette, carrot, tomato and onion) – possibly the best Briam I have ever tasted and together with crusty bread and an ice cold Amstel beer, I was very satisfied. A young couple arrived to join me on the balcony and when I saw that he was about to take a photograph of his companion, I offered to take one of them together. This led to a conversation where I learnt they were from Russia and like me, work in real estate.
It was around 1330 hours when I began my walk back towards Mandraki. Some 40 minutes down the winding road a car stopped, it was the Russian couple – Liudmila and Timur and they offered me a lift back into town, dropping me off outside Hotel Romantzo. They were staying on the island of Kos and had come to Nisyros for the day in a tour group, however, had rented a car to visit the volcano, Nikia and Emborios, as that is what they prefer to do. Again, I have to say it is interesting how things happen if you believe in what is meant to be will be. However, had I not offered to take their photograph, I would probably have had to make the long walk back to Mandraki and so, thank you Liudmila and Timur – I trust you will enjoy following my travels long after you arrive back home.
When I was working hard in New Zealand to save for this travel, motivated by my dream to be in Greece, it was for days such as today – my way of chilling out and tomorrow I will leave Nisyros feeling happy and content with the memories I have of this beautiful, quiet and peaceful, relatively unspoilt island.