Itisallgreek2me

Abandoned house For Sale - Palaio Pedino, Limnos

Began my day yesterday with a walk up the hill to the Kastro (Castle) of Myrina, Limnos.  Built over the rocky promontory, the foundations date back to classical times when it was the site of the Temple of Artemis.  The walls were built in 1186 by Andronicus Comnenus I then it was substantially rebuilt by the Venetians in the 15th Century and again by the Turks in the late 16th Century.  Today it is home to goats and gazelles, the latter having been known to come down and invade Demis and Anna’s garden.  This is not so surprising when you know what grows here.  Glistrida (purslane) which contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable plant, is in abundance.  Today for lunch we enjoyed this leafy plant boiled, together with a delicious dish created by Anna with the Octapodi (octopus) a friend had given Demis earlier this morning and a salad.  Tortoises also visit the garden and help themselves to whatever takes their fancy, young bean seedlings were on their menu today.  

On returning to the house yesterday, Demis and Anna kindly offered to take me on a drive over much of the island.  They were also wanting to collect spring water, buy good flour and wine and pick figs from the trees on Demis’ 20 stremata plot of land.  With gentle rolling hills and mostly flat plateaus, in some kind of strange way, the island reminded me of New Zealand.  It was only when we arrived at or passed through one of the thirty or so villages and settlements that the landscape suddenly bore no resemblance to home.  We did not visit Moudros, the second largest settlement on the island but passed by Moudros Bay, famous for it’s role as the principal base for the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign in February 1915 so another connection with home – there is a street in one of the villages named Anzac Street.   

After leaving Myrina, the capital and port on the west coast, we came to the picturesque village of Thanos.  Because of the narrow streets, they have in places had to install traffic lights on two way roads to allow vehicles to have their turn in each direction.  At the lights on a steep incline in Thanos, when Demis attempted to move the car forwards, he managed to burn a little rubber, much to my amusement!  We stopped at the village of Repanidi to buy bread for lunch and at Kotsinas to walk to and view the Statue of Maroula, a memorial to commemorate her successful defending of Kotsinas Castle against the Turks in the Middle Ages.  

Earlier this year whilst Anna was back in Canada, Demis spent a month camping out at a beach near Kondopouli where he survived on whatever food he could find or what was brought to him.  Yesterday around midday, Demis, Anna, Rusty the dog and I had arrived at one of the other thirty or so beautiful sandy beaches on the island which was almost deserted, however, a lot more people had come by the time we moved on much later in the day.  On our homeward journey, we stopped in Palaio Pedino, a village severely damaged by an earthquake on 19 February 1968, leaving the residents homeless.  Many moved and rebuilt in what is now known as Neo Pedino but some houses have been restored, whilst others are up For Sale and patiently awaiting new owners to repair and love them.  Both Anna and I agreed, Palaio Pedino is an extremely charming, peaceful and quiet little village.  

It was then on to Portiano to visit Petra and Hein, a German couple from Bavaria who have restored a beautiful old traditional home.  We were invited to stay for a wine or two with mezes, a selection of appetizers or small dishes served with drinks, similar to Tapas in Spain or finger food.  A most enjoyable evening where a mix of three languages, Greek, German and English, were needed for us all to be able to communicate.  

Earlier we had stopped in Lychna to buy wine but, unfortunately, the lady was unable to supply us, I’m not altogether sure of the reason why.  We all forgot about buying the flour but we did collect the spring water at Kondias on our way home.  In spite of no wine nor flour but with spring water and only a small supply of delicious figs both in our tummies and bagged (apparently they are late ripening this year and smaller than usual), I can honestly say the day was one to remember forever.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 4:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.