Friesland dreaming

15 August is the Ascension of Maria and in Greece this day is the highlight of the summer. Every Greek tries to be away from the city. He goes to friends or family to celebrate the day with a huge meal. The islands are overflowing with people, just like the ferries and airplanes that do their best to see that this massive migration of the nation goes well.

Each island has its own traditions on this day. On Lesvos it is traditional to make a pilgrimage to a Maria church. The most important Maria church on the island is the Panagia Church in the centre of the mountain village of Agiasos. From all parts of the island inhabitants start walking to this church to honour Maria or to be forgiven their sins. It is quite a walk, because Agiasos lies high in the mountains and when you finally see the village, you still have a long climb to go. The biggest sinners that seek remission do the last few kilometres on their knees.

The climb to the Panagia Glykofiloussa church in Petra cannot quite be described as a pilgrimage. This little 18th century church is the second most important Maria church on the island. The church is on a 30 metre high rock, a 'petra' (which means rock in Greek). It has 114 steps leading to the entrance and around the Ascension of Maria many people make the climb in order to make a personal dedication to Maria. This is also a pretty stiff climb, especially for the old people who take hours once a year to get themselves to the top of the stair.

When 15 August is over, the people of Petra and Molyvos are relieved. The worst of the season is over: the troublesome inhabitants of the big Greek cities are leaving and the biggest crowds are gone.

However this year Petra and Molyvos got only a few days respite. On Monday the 20th of August the next load of demanding visitors came sailing in: The Aegean Regatta, a sailing event that is organized by different islands each year. This year the fleet went to Lesvos, Lemnos and then on to the island of Skopelos.

On Monday morning the fleet set sail from the capital Mytilini to the medieval city of Molyvos. I lay in my hammock, ready for the spectacle. Sometimes you get bored with looking out all year long over a peerless blue sea. They were supposed to arrive about three o'clock and when I didn't see anything I was afraid that they may have taken the route along the south coast. But at three o'clock sharp the first sailing ship came into view at Eftalou. The show was on.

The mild wind made the keels come out of the water and they needed a lot of manoeuvering to make their way to Molyvos. An unexpected guest was a dolphin that came to see what disturbed the usually quiet sea. Around 8.30 a lonely last sailing boat drifted past in the direction of Molyvos.

At first I counted all the boats passing by and how many crew each had. But there were so many that I soon gave up counting. No way was I going to the village that night. Each boat had at least 5 crew members and I thought that I saw at least a 100 boats. That makes at least 500 people in Molyvos harbour, which seems to be a little overcrowded for such a small harbour.

Yesterday night they had a party night in Petra. Today there are races between Molyvos and Petra. Just outside the bays of Petra and Molyvos this morning the sea was crowded. I could not see a single straight line for one boat but the chaos of all those merry white and coloured sails made a beautiful spectacle. From the beach at Hotel Dephinia you saw the sails fanning out towards the horizon. It made me think of the lakes of Friesland in the North of Holland, where in the summer in the flat green meadows you see lots of white sails floating through the landscape. In the blazing Greek heat I really was a little homesick for the flat green pastures of Friesland with their white sails.

Tonight there is another night of festivities in Molvyos and Petra. Tomorrow morning the Aegean Regatta will depart for the island of Lemnos, where again they will be partying. A day later it will set sail for the small island of Skopelos, their final destination.

Greeks do not use the sea much for leisure. Most of the ships you see at sea are ferries, fishing boats, freighters or tourist boats. Of course in the summer a small fleet of motorboats is out on the beaches, but it's as if Greeks don't like to be on the water too much. That's why this spectacle of so many white sails on the blue sea was a unique sight for Greece. It made a Dutch woman homesick for the lakes of Friesland.

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

Quarrels under the sun

The high season is in full swing. Even on the relatively quiet island of Lesvos you will now encounter traffic jams. All the cars have been rented out, no motorcycles are to be found and the thousands of cars of the visiting Greeks from the mainland and the thundering speed of some crazy womanizers make the traffic more dangerous than ever.

You can find the latest traffic jam along the beach at Petra, where two beachbars have made the beach so popular, that in daytime cars are parked on both side of the road and it is full of arriving and departing visitors.

Last year the first beachbar opened. It attracted only young people because of its deafening boom-boom music. This year the music became less loud, but then a second bar appeared and a lot, lot more customers. Once quiet Petra has now become booming business, but I wonder if everybody is happy with that. There are enough disco-islands in Greece where the young people can act as crazy as they like. I really hope that Petra is not a foretaste of such a place for Lesvos.

Except for some complaints from old Petra customers that see their peace and quiet threatened and some car drivers who are in too great a hurry, there are no problems about. On the beach at Hellenikon, near Athens there is trouble. Last Saturday fights broke out between visitors to the beach and workers from the municipality which saw the beach barred by bouncers from the nightclubs that seem to run the beach at night.

At the beginning of the summer season the mayor of Agios Kismas, the municipality where the Hellenikon beach is, started a hunger strike against the apparently illegal nightclubs at the beach, that also controlled the beaches in daytime, by asking lots of money for admittance. Last week, aided by a regional or national politician, who was probably well paid for it, a national court said that the nightclubs could resume their malpractices, while the municipality was against it. The law may not be written, but in Greece all beaches should be accessible to all people and this law is more and more threatened by people wanting to earn money, aided by politicians who only have to hold out their hands.

No, Greek law is still conducted far differently than the European way. Like the fight in Eftalou. Last year two sisters, who spend 2 to 3 months in their summerhouse in Eftalou, complained about the neigbouring restaurant Anatoli. They claimed that the new part of the restaurant, which has been there for years, was illegal and Angelo, the owner, didn't have a license for a restaurant, but only for a cafetaria.

The fight between lawyers and prosecutors took months. Untill deep in wintertime Anatoli risked closure from one day to the next. In the new year the fight seemed to have died down. Until the sisters returned this summer and refueled the fight. Now the mayor can do no more and the sad fact is that Anatoli has to close at the end of August.

In Greece you will find illegal buildings everywhere, but as long as nobody complains, no action is taken. The rule that if an illegal building has already stood for years, becomes legal, is no help in this case.

So Angelo is wrong with his illegal building. But nobody thinks of the importance of restaurant Anatoli in the municipality of Molyovs. Anatoli is the only restaurant that stays open in the winter (restaurant Eftalou closes for some months in the winter) and is a beloved place for daytrippers that come in their numbers on nice weekends to Molyvos. Anatoli is a unique place by the sea and where will the daytrippers go when everything is closed in Eftalou? And I don't even mention the high quality of the food served in Anatoli.

So who gets bothered by restaurant Anatoli, except two soured spinsters who only come to Eftalou for two months in summer in order to lock themselves up in their house, only coming out for their morning bathe in the sea? I'm bothered by their desert-like garden where two years ago they cut all the trees and that now has no flowers colouring the garden, I'm bothered by their spotless house where all the shutters are always closed and only one gets opened when the sisters are there.

And now that we are talking about cutting down trees, in the agora of Molyvos a part of the wysteria is threatened of being cut. This perhaps 200 year old wysteria, which covers the agora at the beginning of the summer with its colourful and beautifully scented flowers, is apparently damaging a house. The owner has no other solution than to cut this magnificent antique plant. For years already the various mayors have prevented this. But now it seems that the house owner found a way and managed to make a first cut to one of its enormous main branches. Are you against this destruction? Send me an email and I will see to it that it reaches the action committee.

It's a pity that nobody could talk sense into the two sisters and it's a pity that nobody found a better solution for the problem with the wysteria. One thing is sure: in Greece you either need to have a lot of money or you need friends in high places. Then you can have everything your way.

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

Fire and water

For weeks Greece was plagued by wild fires. Some days there were hundreds of fires all over the country. Kozani, Ioannina, Peloponesus, Kastoria, Athens, Crete, Kefalonia, Chios and Samos are just some of the familiar names from the long list of places where fires left catastrophic damage.

Indeed it was pretty hot with two heat waves in one month. The weather had never been better for arsonists. Not only nature came under fire, but also the Greek government. The two biggest parties, PASOK and Nea Demokratika, never stopped blaming each other: they weren't organised enough to control the fires and the government never did enough to stop real estate developers building on burnt areas. The majority of Greeks don't believe the burned down forests will be replanted, as premier Karamanlis has pledged.

While in some places there are still fires, in many places people have to get used to the destruction made by the fires and the government hopes that it didn't lose too much goodwill. But the next disaster is already here: drought. Especially on the Cycladic Islands, there is a water shortage, which will only get worse, because not only is the number of foreign tourists increasing, the Greeks also now come in large numbers to the islands, in order to cool off a little and for the celebration of the Ascension of Maria on the 15th of August.

Due to the very dry winter the shortage was predicted by everybody. And of course the two heat waves only made matters worse. Some islands even have money to build water reservoirs and desalination installations. But Greek bureaucracy is so slow that most of the plans still have to reach the design stage.

Lesvos did pretty well in the fiery month of July. We just had some small fires and Lesvos was barely mentioned in the long lists published in the papers daily of the places ravaged by fire. Lesvos is not a part of the thirsty Cycladic Islands, it is part of the North Aegean islands. That doesn't mean we can be careless with the water. Plomari in the south has for weeks had twice daily water cuts and the inhabitants are not allowed to water their plants anymore.

Of course the scientists keep saying: the climate's warming up! The Greeks accuse their government of not taking enough action for a better climate. The ancient Greeks used to blame the Gods on Mount Olympus for such disasters and tried to sweeten them into doing something by making sacrifices.

Nowadays the Greeks can endlessly debate politics and pray to the saints in the thousands of little churches that are built everywhere. The temples of the gods have disappeared, or are in ruins and only serve as moneymakers, thanks to the tourists. No soul looks up to heaven any more, to beg Zeus for a fresh summer rain.

Zeus is mainly responsible for the weather. The god of fire is his son Hephaestos. When Zeus' wife Hera delivered Hephaestus he was so ugly that Hera immediately threw him off Mount Olympus. Hephaestus fell into the sea and came ashore on the island of Limnos. There he built his forge and became best known for making beautiful weaponry.

Then it was Prometheus who stole the fire to bring it to the people on earth. Prometheus was punished for this by being attached to a rock on a mountain, where a vulture came to eat his liver each day, then each night the liver grew again. But the people now had fire. They could warm themselves and they could also use it for destruction.

That's how the fire came to earth. There were no gods on Mount Olympus responsible for extinguishing the fires, it was Zeus who had to decide upon the rains. So would it be smart to ask Zeus again to improve the climate? Governments promise a lot, but seldom do what they promise. We could start with rebuilding some of the temples dedicated to Zeus. On Lesvos you won't find temples anymore. But we could start by piecing together the remains of the Ionian temple at Klopedi near Agia Paraskevi, which was dedicated to Zeus, Hera and Dionysus.

We should also build a temple for Hephaestus. He might be responsible for the fact that his neighbouring island (Lesvos is below Limnos) was spared the summer flames. Look, it isn't thanks to the government that the North of Greece has had rain showers these past few days. Maybe Zeus took pity on the few fire fighters that still have to bring fires under control. And by sending rain to the North of Greece he could've been making clear that he still runs the show.

As usual Lesvos is only getting a few spots of rain. But seeing the dark clouds gathering above Lepetimnos, is a refreshing change from the constant blue heaven.

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

Fish & Chips, please!

Last week people from the village of Malia on Crete went out onto the streets to express their anger. They're fed up with tourists, especially the young, under 30, British tourists who terrorise their village. Whether or not they're drunk, they make the streets, bars and restaurants unsafe. They hassle other people, they drop their pants at every opportunity, they have foul mouths and they think nothing of making love in public.

The inhabitants are afraid to go out at night or to go out for dinner. This is upsetting their routine, because Greeks love to take a stroll in the evening, they love to sit in the street at night and talk about the problems of the world, they're used to going out to dinner late at night, especially in summer.

You won't find these sights on Lesvos, with tourists going crazy no matter where they are. Here you don't find large groups of youths roaming the streets completely drunk, nor people who think they're allowed to do whatever they please. On Lesvos you'll only find a few tourists that think they can lie topless in the sun wherever they want and stay shamelessly naked while changing their clothes, while Greek families who hate this look on.

Tourists who come to Lesvos for the first time are amazed when they don't find big tourism here. There are no big hotels, no long streets filled with souvenir shops, no bars with their music so loud that you can't hear yourself think 20 metres away, no restaurants that sell fish and chips.

Lesvos is still an island like a Greek holiday destination should be: just a few international tourism centres like Molyvos, Petra and Anaxos in the North, Skala Kalloni in the middle, Skala Eressos in the west and Plomari in the south. In between you'll find a vast and varied landscape that will enchant you. For the people who love company you have some busy beaches, but there are still enough quiet beaches where you can read your paper. There are modest hotels and pensions and restaurants that serve nearly all just Greek food.

In Lloret del Mar in Spain you can't find Spanish food anymore. There the Dutch tourists are so afraid of Spanish food that they just eat what they would normally eat in Holland. Well, I don't envy them because I love Spanish food, especially tapas. When Spanish tourists want to invade Molyvos I will receive them with open arms, as long as they bring their own tapas bar with them.

It's not that I'm complaining. I love Greek food, but I have to say that the restaurants here on Lesvos all have the same small menus. The only international dish which is really accepted in Greece is pizza and on the whole island there is only one Chinese restaurant (in Mytilini).

There are many tourists who come back each year and stay for a month or longer. When I see them going out for dinner each night, I wonder if they don't get fed up, eating the same things every day. I make it a challenge to cook foreign dishes with Greek ingredients: paella, couscous, bami, Indian chicken in yoghurt. And with some help from Holland I can even serve sushi here.

In Molyvos there are some places where they have some variations on the standard menu. There is The Brasserie, a little before the harbour, that serves a dish of the day like curry every week, there is Sansibal on the way to the harbour that serves amongst other things real steaks and there is the Captains Table that serves various dishes like taboule salad.

Though when I go out for dinner I prefer to eat Greek. After a few days cooking at home, I miss the grilled octopus, kalamari, fresh beans, home made feta, lamb chops, stuffed zuccini flowers and so on. I pity tourists who are afraid of the Greek kitchen because the food is seasonal and so is very fresh.

The heat wave has gone, temperatures are back to normal for the time of year. During the heat wave you just longed for ice cream or watermelon. Now that the sweat is not pouring off my body anymore I can sometimes long for things that don't exist here on the island. My longing for real Dutch herring is ever since I found the Greek sardelles pastès, but sometimes I really want to have a snack like a croquette or a croquette ball, or a smoked sausage from the Hema (all probably equivalent to the British Fish & chips).

Otherwise, I'm sure that not for hundreds or thousands of smoked sausages would I want to live in Malia or Lloret del Mar. So I'd better do without a croquette.

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

To grill or not

I don't know if there are any people studying a correlation between temperatures and ants, but I think there is indeed a correlation. The hotter it is, the wilder the bands of ants are in the house. The temperature is again trying to reach 40°C and there are ants all over the place: impossible to destroy they roam around your things, from the computer, the shower, telephone, linen-cupboard to your bed. Everything you pick up, you have to do an ants-control. While you do your best to move as little as possible because of the heat wave, the ants are clearly out for war.

I give up trying to destroy them. Against high temperatures and running ants everywhere there is no solution. No oil with basil, no white pepper or thinly cut onions, no coffee dregs, no traps where whole armies of ants disappear and never return, unless they are replaced by at least 4 new armies. None of these remedies work. Ants keep on besieging the house, too scared to be grilled outside.

We have rather small ants here, otherwise you could try to lure them right into a grill pan. Grilled ants are a delicacy in Santander (Colombia). In Mexico they eat ant eggs (escamoles) and also in Thailand and India they love to eat ants. Food gurus say that they are very healthy to eat, so in a way it's a shame that your house is invaded by such good food, without you eating it.

Anyhow, I did make the grill pan ready for another experiment. It's karpousi time again. Which means you see plenty of Greeks struggling to get these big monsters home. Watermelon can be very nice, but please, not every day! It seems the Greeks love them: they grow them by the millions. But I have the idea that they don't know what to do with so many. They are so happy to offer you one. Not only when you're just passing by, but also as they pass by your place. I could easily start a karpousi shop here.

And what do you get when you finish a nice meal in a restaurant? Yes! The biggest plate they could find in the restaurant, filled with karpousi. Since I know that watermelon is very good for your liver and that the fruit contains lots of vitamins A, C, B6, B1, potassium and magnesium, I really do try to eat a bit. After a big meal you have to take care a little about your health.

But I have to be fair: I got even smarter with watermelons. Last week we got a karpousi that weighed at lease 10 pounds to eat on the beach. It was offered with napkins and a knife to cut it. The strange thing was that even though this karpousi had been lying in the sun, it tasted at least a thousand times better than in a restaurant. When you have eaten plenty, just to see such a big plate with red fruit arrive makes your stomach turn. However by the sea, when you eat the karpousi with salty hands, the fruit tastes just how it should: thirst-quenching and even though not cold, very refreshing.

The mistake the Greek restaurants make, is to serve them after dinner. This can be very healthy, but it's an offence to your nice full stomach. But whenever you eat it in between, when you are thirsty, a piece of watermelon, especially sitting on the beach, tastes like heaven. I used to crush a watermelon for its juice. What a waste of time! Each mouthful you take out of a karpousi is equal to a gulp of fresh watermelon juice. And especially in a heat wave the energy to squeeze a karpousi is a big waste. You can also inject a watermelon with vodka. But again, in a heat wave you should be very careful with alcohol. It's even too hot to make watermelon ice.

However, I was intrigued by a recipe that I found on the internet. So I used some energy to find out how it tastes: grilled watermelon. I thought how can you grill something that contains 92-95% water? I was amazed that the grill pan wasn't filled with water, grilling the karpousi. It smelt lovely and I must say that the result was super: watermelon steak with a dressing of tomatoes and vinaigrette. There are tens of watermelon steaks you can cut out of one karpousi. So you really don't care about an overdose of watermelons. But it's a very nice variation on all the pieces you are nowadays getting offered so frequently, which you can't refuse.

If this heat wave lasts any longer I may become that crazy that I'll add roasted ants to the recipe below.

Grilled watermelon steaks (side dish, 2 persons)
2 tomatoes, skinned and seeded
3 leaves of basil, cut in thin slices
2 tbls pistaccio nuts, crushed roughly
1 espresso cup of balsamic vinegar
3/4 tbls sugar
pepper
salt
olive oil
2 pieces of watermelon, cut in the shape of a steak.

Finely chop the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Cook the vinegar with the sugar until it becomes a little thick. Brush the watermelon pieces with olive oil and put them in a grill pan or on the barbecue. Grill each side for about 5 minutes, until they look like grilled steaks. Put them on two plates. Divide the chopped tomatoes over the pieces, sprinkle the basil over it and sprinkle everything with the vinegar-sugar vinaigrette. This is best served with a goats cheese.

Photo from www.corvandepolder.nl

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

Aegean rumbling

Every morning I read the paper. Well, reading, I mostly surf the Dutch headlines on the internet and then I go to a site for Greek news in English. Although there are Lesvian papers online, I don't read them because my still poor knowledge of the Greek language doesn't permit me to take in all the local news. Maybe just as well, because otherwise I would give you the latest news about which roads are closed, local politics or which Lesvian have gone to heaven.

Some days ago, amongst the articles about national Greek politics, reports of some minor earthquakes, the heat and the wild fires, I read the headline: "Conflict between Persians and Greeks". I was perplexed reading about the growing tension between the Persians, led by their new King Xerxes who prepared to attack Greece, and the Athenians, also preparing for battle. The article finished by saying that no doubt a conflict would soon take place.

And there has been a conflict. At the battle of Salamis (near Athens) in 480 BC the mighty Persian army was defeated by the Greeks, which meant that the Persians would soon withdraw from Greece. A curious article for the summer of 2007...

Like many other Greek islands, Lesvos was at that time occupied by the Persians. They were treated so badly that they had no choice but to fight with 60 ships alongside Xerxes against the Athenians. However a year later, at the battle at Mycale between the Persians and the Greek city states, the Lesvians sided with the Athenians.

Occupation by the Athenians was also not nice, so the Lesvians were still suffering. In 440 BC the whole of the island, except for Molyvos, rose up against the Athenians. Later the island was conquered by Spartans, then the Athenians returned, and then again the Persians and so on. It used to be a rough time here on the island, with wars always going on and always new occupiers.

Nowadays it is a lot quieter on the island, but you still keep reading articles that make you worry about the enemy of Greece that consciously or not tries to shatter the stability. What I'm talking about is the continual harassment of Turkish jets flying into Greek air space. According to the Turkish Daily News this month Greek jets already harrassed Turkish F-16s 58 times. Sometimes they have so-called dog fights, sometimes they are just chasing each other. If you believe the papers, it looks like a kindergarten for the pilots above the coast of Turkey. The politicians try to stay as polite and diplomatic as possible, while the military leadership and the pilots make it seem like war.

When I look over the blue sea, beyond which the Turkish mountains climb to heaven, I can only see a lonely windsurfer, far away a freighter or a ferry and sometimes a majestic old sailing ship with many sails catching the wind. The jets, I hear regularly, but those things are so fast that I rarely see them, and I definitely will never see if they are Turkish or Greek.

In the time of the Persians they used to have huge warships, the triremes. They had three rows of rowers at each side and one big sail. Well, that would've been a nice sight, seeing them passing by. At the battle of Salamis there were 371 Greek ships and 1,207 Persian. If I'd seen such a fleet passing I definitely would have called the papers, telling them something was in the air.

But as long as I live here on Lesvos, I'm used to the rumbling sound of these jets. Just like I'm used to reading about the chases of other jets. Except that last year a Turkish and a Greek jet collided in the air, not far from Crete, and the pilot of the Greek jet did not survive the crash. Even then the politicians didn't make a big deal out of it and kept the fragile peace between Greece and Turkey.

Last weekend there was a totally different reason to quarrel: a concert by the famous Greek singer Giorgos Dalaras was cancelled at short notice by the Turkish government, without any reason. The concert was to take place on Saturday night at the Rumeli castle, on the European side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. They say that they didn't want Dalaras to sing because he is outspoken about the occupation of North Cyprus by the Turkish. It's not sure how big the quarrel will get, but it's for sure that relations between Turkey and Greece will always rumble on.

When I hear the grumbling of jets far away, I rather think of a juicy thunderstorm with lots of rain. The heat wave is gone (a new one is approaching though), the days keep on being warm. The only effect of the strong winds that sometimes blow is making the danger of wild fires greater. The fires at Polychnitos and Agia Paraskevi were extinguished. The Persians are gone. That's all the news there is this week...

Copyright © Smitaki 2007

The Seven Wonders of Lesvos

What is missing amongst the following names: The Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the ancient cities of Machu Picchu in Peru and Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome and the Taj Mahal in India? Well spotted: the Acropolis in Athens. It was a candidate for the latest selection of the Seven Wonders of the World. The result was published last week and the most important ancient Greek building is not supposed to be a new Wonder of the World.

The Greeks not only were not the ones to exclusively choose the new wonders, none of the newly chosen Wonders of the World are in Greek territory. While the classic Wonders of the World (the pyramid of Cheops, the colossus of Rhodes, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the statue of Zeus in Olympia, the mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria) were all within the borders of the empire of Alexander the Great. Do you think it was by chance that the classic Wonders of the World were selected more than 2000 years ago by several Greek writers? Now it is the internet site new7wonders.com that made the new selections possible, although they are not supported by organizations such as UNESCO. Why won't I be surprised when the Greek don't accept this new selection of Seven Wonders of the World?

For me a Wonder of the World is something which you don't quite understand how it was made or if it has ever existed. Like from the mythical hanging gardens of Babylon there only exists drawings and stories about them, or like the colossus of Rhodes, a 30 metre high statue of Apollo that stood with its legs spanning the entrance of the port of Rhodes, which was destroyed by an earthquake, after which they never managed to find all the different pieces. The only building still standing is the pyramid of Cheops, but no one ever agreed on how exactly this huge death house was built.

The Taj Mahal in India or the Great Wall of China were simply built by workers/slaves. There is nothing miraculous about that. So these new Wonders of the World are just magnificent buildings, standing out due to their beauty or their greatness, but there's nothing mysterious about them. Similarly, you could name many more wonders everywhere. Like for example the Seven Wonders of Lesvos.

Wonder number one of Lesvos should also be on the list of wonders of the world, except that it was not made by humans but by nature: the petrified forest. These colourful trees, some pieces looking like precious stones, are a rarity worldwide. Greece should be more proud of a park full of million year old trees.

The second Wonder of Lesvos was not built by Greeks but by the Romans: the aqueduct at Moria. It is not even the huge building in the middle of the olive trees that makes you wonder, but the fact that the aqueduct was once part of a water system running all over the island. It is even said that it transported hot water from the hot springs. Imagine, when the Romans lived on Lesvos, Molyvos got hot water. That is more than you can say for modern times, especially when there is a power cut. Near to Lambou Mili you can admire a second aqueduct, smaller than the one at Moria, but the spot where you view it is more impressive. It stands between two mountain crags where nobody cares that the vegetation is slowly creeping up to arrive at the other side.

Ancient Molyvos in the north of the island can be called wonder number three. Unlike other old cities on the island this ancient city managed to survive many wars. Its square houses made of big stones, some still having wooden overhangs, and its narrow medieval streets running up to the castle, are the favourite targets of tourist cameras. It's a miracle that for so many years the Greeks have preservied this beautiful sight.

My number four on the list of Wonders of Lesvos is the Ypsilo monastery. Not because of its size or importance (for that the Limonas monastery and the Mandamados monastery are number one), but because of where it is and therefore because of its atmosphere. It is built on a rather high mountain, where you have a panoramic view over the rugged landscape of the south west of the island. Standing on the highest battlements you will lose all sense of time. There it is easy to imagine that the island was once full of sequoias, the enormous trees that are found at the petrified forest. It is here you can easily imagine how the head of Orpheus washed ashore at Old Antissa. Wind is always blowing around your ears, which makes it easier still to hear the music that Alceos continues to play.

The fifth place in the Wonders of Lesvos goes to the mountain village and the surrounding area of Agiasos. This village is hidden on one of the slopes of the mighty Olympus and is surrounded by the most beautiful forests on the island, such as the chestnut woods. Here you still find old crafts like wood carving and pottery. The shops are endlessly filled with their products, as well as with numerous religious relics, because the Church of Maria in the middle of the village is an important place of pilgrimage. Pilgrims from all over the island rush to the village on the 15th of August. They are not as dangerous as the bulls they release in the streets of Pamplona (Spain), but I can guarantee that reaching the middle of the village that day is nearly impossible.

In sixth place is the hollow tree at Karini. Not because it is so big and so hollow, or because Karini is such a beautiful spot with lots of water, but because it's the tree where Theofilos, a painter from Lesvos, once lived. His naive paintings even reached the Louvre in Paris. Although there is enough Greek art in that museum, most is from the antique past. The merry scenes of Lesvos life, that Theofilos painted at the beginning of the 20th century, can be seen on the island in the Theofilos Museum in Varia, a suburb of Mytilini.

Seventh place in the Wonders of Lesvos goes to the Ouzo of Lesvos. Dozens of different ouzos are brewed on the island. It is not a building, but the Greeks have made it already for centuries. So why not choose a culinary wonder? A good ouzo from Lesvos transforms the taste of fish or grilled meat. No French foie gras, German choucroute or Spanish paella can beat roasted octopus, salted fish, fresh sardines or grilled lamb chops that are accompanied by a good glass of ouzo.

Of course the island has far more wonders. Like the Kremasti bridge, the picturesque village of Vatoussa, the Italian-like city of Plomari or the castle of Mytilini. And I will not forget the most important: the absolutely gorgeous nature of the island.

So still plenty of wonders left in the world. And you don't have to travel all the way to Brazil, India, China, Peru, Jordan or Mexico to see them. Greece is close enough...

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