I like buying books written in English about the places I visit. On Andros, I bought a book by Robert Leigh, an Englishman living in Menites, a village above Chora. Sunlight in the Wine, Life in a Greek Island Valley(George Dardanos, Athens, 1996), a very readable account giving a good insight into local customs.
As usual, I started browsing as soon as I could, that is the next time I sat down for a drink. In the evening, I carried on reading Robert Leigh's book. Dipping into the book, it was not always clear which season was being mentioned. I gained an impression of an island littered with busy tavernas serving food and drink all day.
Alas, the Andros I found was not like that. If any of the tavernas Robert Leigh mentioned were still around, they were not open for business at midday in October. Yorgo's taverna at Vourkoti has stopped serving food. Lucky I did not dash up there after reading his description of it earlier in the book. Still, it would have been no different to the shut tavernas I found in other places on Andros. Robert Leigh described another favourite taverna which, though the place is not mentioned by name, sounds like Ipsilou. (Looking at a map, the taverna that Robert Leigh mentions must be in Strapouris or Ipsilou.) I got there by mistake and the food was "off."
I published my book "Kalo Taxidi - Notes from Greece and the Greek islands in July 2011. I am now working on my next book about Greece, and adding some extracts to my blog.
As usual, I started browsing as soon as I could, that is the next time I sat down for a drink. In the evening, I carried on reading Robert Leigh's book. Dipping into the book, it was not always clear which season was being mentioned. I gained an impression of an island littered with busy tavernas serving food and drink all day.
Alas, the Andros I found was not like that. If any of the tavernas Robert Leigh mentioned were still around, they were not open for business at midday in October. Yorgo's taverna at Vourkoti has stopped serving food. Lucky I did not dash up there after reading his description of it earlier in the book. Still, it would have been no different to the shut tavernas I found in other places on Andros. Robert Leigh described another favourite taverna which, though the place is not mentioned by name, sounds like Ipsilou. (Looking at a map, the taverna that Robert Leigh mentions must be in Strapouris or Ipsilou.) I got there by mistake and the food was "off."
I published my book "Kalo Taxidi - Notes from Greece and the Greek islands in July 2011. I am now working on my next book about Greece, and adding some extracts to my blog.
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