Dogs at a taverna on Anafi

Most Greek islands have many cats. Anafi has many dogs – perhaps an eccentricity due to its isolated position.

I like dogs after a fashion, but I like to be sure that a dog is friendly before I let it get too close to me. One guidebook had a map of Anafi Chora showing "Baskerville Alley". On my explorations I tried to find the dead-end alley shown on the map, but at the same time did not want to find myself cornered in an alley by a savage hound. Dogs patrolled up and down the footpath. They all seemed harmless enough, and sometimes curious.

There were few cats. In Greece, you get used to cats begging at tavernas. Anafi has canine cats. A white dog with ginger spots seemed to have adopted me. "My" dog sat by my taverna table, stared at me with large reproachful eyes, then gave up and wandered away when I did not throw him any titbits. Taverna etiquette on this score varies. I would never throw food on the floor when I was eating indoors. I used to throw the odd titbit on the floor when eating at an outside table. Once, however the owner of a taverna saw me doing this and was most annoyed. She gestured that the cats were dirty and made a noise at night. Since this ticking off I have been more circumspect in what I throw on the floor, and usually go with the scraps of food to the harbour’s edge or a nearby lamp-post or similar. Some places are more easy-going about food for animals; at another place I eat at regularly the owner throws food on the floor for the cats as a tourist attraction. Back on Anafi, there were occasional dog squabbles in street. An elder would tap a walking stick (on the ground, not at the dog) and the dogs dispersed.

The first cat I saw in Anafi was halfway up a telegraph pole. The culprit who chased him there was a brown dog. When his master approached the dog slunk to the ground, his master tapped the dog on the shoulder - and the ginger cat jumped down.

Next morning I was woken at about five o'clock by the sound of a dog barking. A normal bark followed by a long drawn out "wo-ooooooooooooooooo", a really drawn out "ooo" sound. Yet a gentle, long drawn out sound, not a howl, not a grating sound. That must be Baskerville. That was the only morning I was woken by Baskerville, perhaps my subconscious ignored him on future mornings in Anafi. I heard his distinctive bark on other occasions but never managed to see the mutt whilst he produced the bark (and I would not want to unless Baskerville was tied up). I wondered if Baskerville belonged to a fisherman or farmer. No doubt going with his minder to work on terrace or to catch fish. I once saw a sturdy flat fronted brown and white dog down in the harbour (looking as if butter would not melt in his mouth) that I suspected might have been Baskerville.

Anafi Chora is a maze. A small hill towers above the Chora. I wanted to go up there to watch the sun setting over Santorini. I found my way through the tangle of paths and, after a few false turns, climbed up to the hilltop. I went close to Baskerville Alley but neither saw nor heard the hound. After sunset I walked down and found a number of island women sitting on a wall lower down the hill. They had been watching the sunset too.

[late 1990s]

Dinner-time conversation

What do you chat about over dinner? "Afbetaling" is the Danish for hire-purchase - hardly the stuff of a casual dinner-time conversation.

I was chatting over dinner to some Danish tourists on Folegandros. They spoke very good English. The only Danish word I could think of was "afbetaling", dating from when I was studying, amongst other things, Danish consumer credit legislation in Brussels.

It was these Danes who told me about the Easter walks with icons on Folegandros.  I have been on many Easter icon walks since, on Amorgos.

Greek Cats

You can't get away from cats in Greece. They are everywhere. Leave the door of your room open, and you will probably have an uninvited feline visitor. Gangs of cats prowl around every taverna. They skulk around the harbour waiting for a fisherman to throw a fish or two their way. Many cats are sleek and look well nourished, sporting the latest in cat fashions around their necks. Photogenic cats grin at you from postcards and calendars. Yes, the Greeks have cottoned on to the money-spinning potential of cats.

It was not always thus. I first went to Greece in 1981. In those days I remember that apart from the few obvious pets, cats were skinny and malnourished. Their noses looked adenoidal. The toms and many of the females showed battle scars: flattened noses and cauliflower ears.

Some Greeks loved their cats in the 1980s. On my first trip to Amorgos in 1985 a young Greek lady was taking her cat to the island in a cat basket. She was on the boat the next time I did the trip a few years later - with her cat. More and more Greeks are taking care of their cats. On one island I was sitting at the taverna eating my fish supper. Winter had not fully gone and the taverna had not gone into outdoor mode. The insides are not exactly cat free zones, but there are fewer cats inside. A Greek man, one of the regulars, came up to me with a piece of newspaper and said "Miaouw." His English was as fluent as my Greek. I soon cottoned on to the fact that he wanted my fish bones and heads for his cats. I willingly donated them
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Sit at an outside table in a taverna, and soon there would be a paw, claws outstretched, scratching at your leg. These cats did not take 'no' for an answer. Some taverna owners tried (and still do) to keep cats out of doors. At one taverna the owner was notorious for not liking cats. Every so often she stamped her broom loudly on the floor. Every cat in the building fled. Even customers eating out of doors have been told off for feeding cats, although I have not seen her threaten a customer with a broom - yet. In Greece, the customer is not always right. The owner bustled out of the taverna door preceded by a flock of fleeing cats. The mere sight of her broom was enough to make the cats realise that they were being swept out.

One year an outdoor taverna even had a cat waitress! I was given an empty plate to put my fish bones on and several times during my meal the waitress emptied it under a nearby tree. The cats knew this routine and were stalking in wait. Greek food is usually good, if you choose the right places to eat. One night the swordfish kebab tasted distinctly off. I threw it outside to the cats. The cats did not touch it. Sensible cats.

Sitting outdoors at breakfast one day I felt a thump on my knee. Completely uninvited a ginger cat had landed on my knee. Once arrived, I made her welcome - but never recalled having seen the cat before! One year a café owner had a small white kitten, a delicious bundle of fluff with brilliant blue eyes. The bundle of white fur was passed on from customer to customer as they left so that the kitten always had a lap to sit on. Spoilt rotten that kitten was.

Whenever I see a cat I try to stroke it. Some cats just run away. On one occasion I knelt down to pat a cat, which promptly put its paws around my neck and almost pulled me over. A very enthusiastic cat, that one. He must have had a good home. On the small island of Schinoussa my landlady had a cat with a beautiful, gentle-natured temperament. The thuggish looking, battered old tom was her pride and joy. He was a really delightful cat and never scratched me once all the time we played together on the terrace.

Admittedly there are still some stray cats in Greece, but far less than there were a few years ago. Many Greeks have realised that cats are not a nuisance but a tourist attraction.

Breakfast on Anafi - rough bread and no yogurt

A new day, a new island to explore, but first breakfast. I set off intending to buy some yogurt, thick creamy Greek yogurt.

I soon discovered that the shops in Anafi were not geared to tourists, and the locals did not care for yogurt (of if they did had cleared all supplies from the shop fridges). How used we become to well stocked shops, and how quickly unused to them! There was a small general store, and a bakery. There was no sign of any honey on sale. I later saw lots of beehives, perhaps you need to know a beekeeper to buy honey on Anafi. The only preserves I saw on sale were sesame paste, praline spread with chocolate, and orange marmalade. For future reference, I noted the wine that was on sale, just Bon Viveur, and Caligula. I stuck to taverna barrel wine.

The bakery sold brown bread as well as white bread. You do not often see brown bread on sale in Greece (though I do see brown bread on sale more often now than I used to). I bought a loaf of brown bread, which was very rough textured and looked as if everything that grew in the grain field was thrown into it. It was very good bread, though. I eked out the two 'individual' portions of honey I had bought in Amorgos.

A friend later told me that she had bought home salted capers and local honey on Anafi. You need to know who to ask!

[late 1990s]

Apples and orange with cinnamon after a meal

Thin slices of apple and orange segments, sprinkled with cinnamon, A simple dish, but so pleasant after a meal. Not a dish I have ever seen actually sold, but which you are sometimes given after a meal. We had a plate of fruit slices after one of my first meals in Naxos, at a taverna that I am sure has long since gone, or been transformed, in the Agios Giorgios area beyond Cemetery Square. The taverna's distinctive feature was the murals featuring scenes of space travel, and large barrel.

[my first visit to Naxos was in 1985]

Andros Café Cats

One day when I was sitting at the café in the square outside the museum the cats began to sing, and made me think of the music thought originally (but not now) to be by Rossini. I had heard the song sung at the previous year’s last night of the Proms. That mock spitefulness - the cats were just right! Another cat arrived and they caterwauled. Quite cute - both wailed - rubbed - or nearly rubbed - noses; then put one ear near the other's ear. A stripy long jumper person at the neighbouring bar came across and looked, fascinated, as I was. Then a chap came out of the bar and said in good English "Stop that noise, you cats." The cats obviously spoke English, understood, and departed.


The cats (in Andros Chora in general, not just at the taverna) were all so healthy that I wondered if a shipping magnate had endowed a vet and paid for all the necessary treatments. There were lots of well-fed cats. Down one back street I saw a pot (an old handleless frying pan) full of water and another of full cat biscuits. One cat pulled a biscuit out of the pot with his paw, so carefully, then ate it. The fastest things in the vehicle-free Chora are on four legs.

[about 1995]

Naxos - All hours shops

I usually arrive at Athens airport at about 4 in the morning, and head to Piraeus for a ferry leaving for Naxos at about 7.30.

One year it was Easter in England, and the Thursday night flight was very expensive. So I spent a night at Gatwick airport, and flew on a cheaper flight to Athens the next morning. I caught a ferry that should have reached Naxos at about 10.30 in the evening; but it was the week before Easter in Greece, and the ferry was full, and it took ages to unload cars at Paros. So it was late, about midnight, when I reached Naxos. The ferry had been crowded, and there was barely standing room inside. And it was raining - I spent the journey in a semi-covered area. So I was ready for some light - and not so light - refreshment when I reached Naxos. And it would be nice to have the wherewithal to make coffee the next morning. Heading to the hotel, not far from the port, I saw that the local shop was still open. I dropped off my bags and dashed out to the shop - still open  - and I stocked up with essentials. That particular shop was probably open so late as the traffic from the boat headed past.

[about 2005]

Airport Food and Drink

At larger airports food is likely to be "international". Some of the smaller Greek airports used to have quaint food outlets. Coffee made on a camping gas stove on the counter. A communal bottle of water. Cans of drink and a pot for money in the fridge. One small airport (Kastelorizo) only seemed to have one employee (and that may have been a part-time job, there were so few flights!). The same chap sold plane tickets in the village, drove the bus to the airport, and was on the runway when we took off. I was half expecting him to fly the plane as well! There were a few offices at the airport, with job titles on the door - I saw this chap in several of these offices.

Andros - The Taverna With NO Food

I had walked a long way across Andros. I had passed a number of tavernas – all closed. I was thirsty. I was hungry.

Eventually I reached Ipsilou which not only had a taverna that was open, but also a spacious rear terrace, with a glorious view down over Chora. The Ipsilou bus stop was just up the road; right next to the taverna was a path that seemed to head chorawards. Delicious smells were coming from inside the taverna. I was going to like Ipsilou! If the taverna was in serving mode, I would indulge.

The taverna door was open and I went through to the terrace at the back. The taverna was open. My taste buds quivered. I asked for an Amstel, wanting to quench my thirst before ordering any food. The owner was apologetic, saying that he had only just put the Amstel in the fridge and it was still warm. Would I like a different make of beer? I plumped for the warm Amstel (the beer was not that warm) and enjoyed the view from the terrace as I sipped it.  An Amstel is extra good after you have "earned" it by doing as long walk.

The smell of food wafting out from the taverna was irresistible but I had to stay hungry. Food was served only after 7 p.m. at the Ipsilou taverna - and there were no evening buses from Chora to Ipsilou! The smell was most delicious. I supposed I was lucky they were open to serve beer. When dark, there would be no view (only lights) to enjoy, and perhaps it would be too cold to sit outside. The irony of sitting, hungry, with the delicious food smells wafting over me. Not even an omelette was offered yet the owner seemed friendly enough. I thought of the bar on Serifos, with nothing on sale although outside was a huge pile of beer crates. The person in charge of the Serifos non-bar dipped a glass into a bucket of water and offered it to me. He would not accept payment. The hazards of travelling out of season.

Hungry still but no longer thirsty I set back for Chora, having taken the precaution of checking with the owner that the path beneath the taverna was the right path. It was.

[Late 1990s]

An explanation of what may be in following blogs

It is 29 March 2011.  I'm not likely to go back to Greece until late April - May.  So  whilst I am at home in England I will be posting on this blog some of my notes about previous trips to Greece.  I hope eventually to put some of these and / or other pieces into a book called "Kalo Taxidi".  The proposed book has been through various incarnations including "Factor Forty and Fleeces" and "Greece in Your Plate".

Chozoviotissa Monastery in 1884

Read about Chozoviotissa in 1884.

I must check why the monastery is called a convent!

Fava

Wherever I am, I like eating local food.  I have only been to Santorini a few times, and I don't remember eating fava on Santorini.  But I have eaten fava on both Naxos and Amorgos.

On the plate fava is a thick yellow puree, served warm with olive oil, chopped red onion, and parsley.

I found this comment in the article interesting

“Consumers should also know that if you see something advertised as Santorini fava being sold at 2 euros a kilo, it is not from Santorini.”

as, although I recognise fava this dish when I see it, I am never sure if the beans (or are they peas?) that I see in shops are the raw material of which fava is made.

I must confess that I have not yet tried making fava!

Good luck to a new Greek Publisher - Vana Avgerinou and Macondo

New publisher swims against the tide

Keeping up with the news whilst in Greece

On my last trip to Greece I made an extra effort to travel light.  My bag did not weigh that much less than usual.  But I did "evict" some of the things I usually take to Greece.  My small travelling radio was one of the things I evicted.  With a laptop and a Cosmote dongle, I could get internet access wherever and whenever I wanted it.  So I did not need the radio to keep up with the news - there was a time when I would have said that not keeping up with the news was one of the charms of being abroad.  I did not need the radio for music - if I wanted to listen to music, I could use my laptop.  Another benefit of the radio - in theory - is that it has an alarm.  But this radio does not have a buzzer, only a radio alarm.  I would only use an alarm in Greece if I had a ferry or plane to catch early in the morning.  But not knowing which radio channels would be broadcasting at 4 in the morning meant that the radio alarm was useless as a back up to my travelling alarm clock.  So the radio was evicted from my luggage.

In Athens you can get today's English papers later in the day; on the islands they arrive next day, if there is a boat.  And in low season or on islands with few tourists there are likely to be no foreign language papers on sale. 

I prefer buying papers published in Greek in English to buying foreign papers.  The International Herald Tribune is published every day but Sunday, and includes a section at the back of the Greek paper Ekathimerini in English.  And Athens News is published in English every Friday.  You can read Ekathimerini and Athens News online (and although the paper version of Athens News is weekly, the website is regularly updated.

Buying a paper on a Greek island does bring problems you don't get on the mainland.  On one small island I found the newspaper rack empty - this was soon after the local boat arrived, and newly delivered newspapers would usually be on sale.  The shopkeeper told me that there had been a "small problem" on the boat, and the papers were on a rack in the back room being dried!

Another source of news is TV - but although the Greek rooms I stay in now usually have TV, I rarely watch it (I don't watch TV at home either).  I do sometimes watch TV in tavernas.  I've noticed that the TV and speaker in a taverna is rarely switched to the same station.  In bigger tavernas or cafes there can be two, three or more screens.  When a football match is on, all screens and the sound are usually synchronised.  But otherwise all screens are often tuned to different stations, and the sound switched to yet another station!

Mix Damiralis 1857-1917

"Mix Damiralis 1857-1917" is the caption on a statue in Naxos, on the main road inland from the port.  There is also an image of Shakespeare's face on the statue.

From the research I have done so far Michael Damiralis (1892-1941) translated Shakespeare from English into Greek.

Naxos Archaeological Museum

Saturday.
Naxos archaeological museum
Some lighting on; some lighting switched on and off before and after us as we moved around the museum. I wondered if the darkness at the lost property office at the airport was because the chaps were snoozing, or because of economies.

I haven’t seen any sun since I’ve been in Greece (I am writing this on a Monday morning; the last time I saw the sun was sunset near Heathrow last Thursday]. But in Naxos museum I noticed the different lighting conditions, and the difference a change in lighting made to a stone carving of a face. Fully lit, the face would have been far less impressive. Perhaps it was a movement of the cloud, but the appearance of this face visibily changed whilst I was at the museum.

I thought back over the years since I first saw the "old friends" in the museum. I first was on a boat that called at Naxos in 1981. I first landed on Naxos in 1985, the year I first went to Amorgos.
　
Above all I think of the lives of the people who made these things, these exhibits in the museum. Could they have imagined that 4000, 5000 years later their artefacts would be exhibited in a museum? And what of all the similar items that have not survived, and the people who created them. If I pondered too far down this route I would soon get very philosophical.
The acorn shaped glass.
The cat head on a gold ring.
The pearl-like sheen on old glass.
Plank chested figures [chest, bot breast]
Red clay animal – a frog
A shiny red human figurre, with a Samian type glaze.
A fragment of pottery showing a horse’s head. Other poterry in similar colours and appears to be from the same piece of pot. One fragment has this lettering
ΑΦΣΕΜ [the last letter only partially survived, but did look like an M.]
Melon shaped vase
Large lion’s head.
Bust of large male figure. Small lady (no head, arms or legs) on his hand. She was smnaller than thre cahp’s hand. I wondered at the symbolism of this statue.
Violin shaped figures.
Some black clay pots
And of course the Cycladic figures.
And a pottery pig.
So many more notes and not yet listed.
I think over what has happened in my life since my first rites of passage in this museum.

Back in England

It is now Monday 14 March and I am back in England.  With better weather in Greece, and travelling from Amorgos to Naxos, Naxos to Athens and Athens to London I ran out of time in which to work on this blog.  But there is much more that I want to add, so I will be keeping on adding to this blog from England, and when I am next back in Greece (probably in April / May 2011).

Rubbish problems on Andros

Not all islands are as well organised as Amorgos. 

Andros in waste management impasse - Island's authorities considering storing trash following collapse of overburdened landfill

But this does make you wonder about the stability of mountainside landfills.  Getting fuller and fuller, is an eventual landslip inevitable?

Cleethorpes not Katapola

One of my websites is Cleethorpes not Katapola .  Cleethorpes is my home town.

Today on Amorgos the skies are grey and the temperature is 5° C
Today in Cleethorpes it is sunny, and the temperature is 11° C

Some Views Around Amorgos Chora

Some photos of Amorgos Chora taken this trip.


Looking down from the viewpoint near Chora school.  The path leading down to the monastery (on the left) and Agia Anna (on the right).



Another view from the viewpoint.  In summer there would be hardly any vegetation on this path.

A small square near the centre of Chora.

Many years ago (long before I had a digital camera!) I took many photos of door knobs and knockers in Chora.  Since then many old buildings have been renovated, and the old metalwork has gone.  On some doors you still see what in Morocco is called a "hand of Fatima" door knocker.  I photographed the door knocker above as an example of a modern knocker!

Going by the size and shape of this container it is a water tank.  But someone has gone to great trouble to disguise it in a cane cover!

If you know Chora you'll know that something is missing from this photo!  My first thought was that I didn't recall seeing the white buildings before, but they did not look like new buildings.  Then I realised that the OTE mast, which had towered above this area since my first visit in 1985, was no more.

Another view of the site of the OTE mast.  Also in this area you can see a circle on the road, which was the site of the helicopter landing place in 1985.  Helicopters now land on the other side of Chora, near the clinic.

An old fashioned sign outside Kafeneion Leonidas, an establishment I have yet to get into!

Kafeneion Leonidas

Chora from near the windmills

This stone is set into the wall of a building on a lane near the post office.  I guess it was for some sort of agricultural activity, and that something was crushed in the centre (olives, perhaps?) and the liquid drained away aling the ridge, and down the spout into a container.

Another view of the same stone

A quaint corner in Chora

An elaborate window in Chora

An attractive door in Chora

Shades of blue



Chora Town Hall, built in the last few years.  The cash machine below is just off this photo to the left.



Chora cash machine!  There is now no bank in Chora - there used to be a bank in a small square near the post office.



Cats of Amorgos Chora

I have only been up to Amorgos Chora once this visit - only the school bus is running, and the weather is not good. 

These are some of the cats I photographed in Chora this trip.

Cats of Katapola

There are a lot of cats in Katapola.  Strolling around the villages and the bay, I like taking photos of the cats.  Here is a selection of the photos I have taken on this trip.