Favorite Places: Amfiliki

Amfiliki is a traditional restaurant located directly across from the Health Center, right by the playground and Aghias Triada. It overlooks Megali Ammos. Why is it a favorite place? Not just for the view. The food is very, very good. They use only local produce, something that unfortunately is becoming unusual, and the waiters are not rushed as they are in so many other places. This is a place with traditional Greek hospitality. They also have guest rooms, many with sea view.

Favorite Places: le Bistrot

This is where I want to be on this lovely Saturday night in June. The Bistrot, is often our last stop of the evening-or should I say morning- high on the hill overlooking the old harbor. Although we had passed by the Bistrot every summer evening for years, we had favorite and regular places to go, and had never ventured in. We met the owner, Marco, in the festivities following Greece's victory in the EuroCup in 2004. He invited us to come join him for a drink one evening, and a few nights later we took him up on his offer. We have been regular, loyal customers ever since. It is where we often take guests for dinner, the food is among the finest on the island, and from the balcony there is an amazing view looking out over the harbor. Go for dinner, or go for a drink, it is a great place!

another favorite place

The Admiral Benbow
It may seem rather strange that in my longing for Greece I find my thoughts returning to a British Rock n Roll Bar. Maybe because it is Saturday today, and that is where I would like to be tonight. The Admiral Benbow does not have a water view, there is no live music, but the owners are always friendly and the place draws a great crows. I miss it!
If you find yourself in Skiathos, wander over to Polytechniou St. (some people call it Bar Street), and have fun!

arete's courtyard

Here are some of the things we see:
Yarn that Arete has spun by hand to be knitted into warm socks for winter. The large blue barrel that will collect precious rainwater (tap water is far to salty to drink or water plants and spring water must be carried infrom the central spring). Pots of basil scent the air and are used for seasoning. The ancient looking ceramic pot on the wall was one found by Arete's son Yiorgo, a fisherman and free diver. It isn't as old as it looks. He has found many interesting things deep in the Aegean. The wisteria bloom heavily in late spring and continue blooming all summer long. Beautiful, but Arete cpmplains about the flowers that drop and the large "boubounia", the bumblebees that buzz around the flowers. The geraniums do not usually die in the winter, despite the cold weather and occasional snow.
The white wall is back of the outdoor bathroom, the only one in the house, which means that in the dark of night or in winter she must go down the steps from house to courtyard and to "the place". It is becoming more difficult for her to manage.
And here is Arete:


Arete lives in Taki's family house. It was built at the beginning of the twentieth century and looks much the same as it must have in those days. In fact, a Greek television station filmed a commercial in it, because it was so perfectly representative of a particular era in the island's history. Arete and her daughter Melpo are weavers. They have their looms in the lower part of the house that opens onto the narrow alley. Arete does not weave anymore, but Melpo continues to produce gorgeous handwoven rugs.
Every morning Taki and I have coffee with Arete.

morning paper

Just a few years ago all foreign papers arrived a day late. Then they started arriving in late afternoon. Now the paper arrives on an early boat,so we no longer have the sense of being a half step out of touch. We still do not have a phone, or a TV, or come to think of it even a working radio in the house, but with the introduction of high speed internet and the proliferation of satellite televisions into just about every public space, that touch of removal no longer exists.

from above

From the balcony of the Bistrot, watching all that is happening on the old port waterfront. Each year more people, buildings and pavement. Some of the changes appear ill advised- topiary cut to resemble dolphins? green grass and trees that require inordinate amounts of precious water? Huge high speed ferries that create mini-tsunamis and leave the air smelling of jet fuel?
I worry so that some of the changes being made for immediate gratification will have long term consequences that forever alter the way of life on this island. Properties are changing hands, sold to people from the city who will reside here only a few months each year. More and more of the old tavernas are draping themselves in fabric and pillows to lure the post club crowd who want ear splitting euro-disco rather than bouzouki. Why? Why? Why?

Trembling Sweetly

-Photis Angoules
Let the silver wake tremble gently on the waters
of sea, the waves fade away like a lullaby,
and unwillingly lull to sleep the fisherman in his boat
who stays sleepless for mooring at dawn.
And from the land across, as you look, you see
the sparse lights playing, flickering,
as if speaking secretly to your soul and you are unable
to understand what they tell you in their visual tongue.
And as the charms of sea and sky intoxicate you
and in the drunkenness of joy you forget your pain
at such a moment, the dark thought may
not cross your mind; the thought that you live to die.

old port

I hope that the changes that have come to the new port take their time turning the corner to the old port. Each year there are fewer fishing boats and more and more large pleasure craft. It is sad.
Arete's son, Giorgo, has been having increasing difficulties supporting himself as a fisherman. The fish are getting smaller and smaller, some species are disappearing altogether.
Until just a few years ago, there were always fresh local octopus hanging out to dry in front of every taverna. Now most of the octopus served on the island, and throughout much of Greece, comes from Asia. And it is just heartbreaking to see a single tentacle hanging out there. Old habits are difficult to break, but unless fishing practices allow for regeneration of stocks, and until there is a concerted joint effort between locals, tourists and the transportation companies to curtail pollution and the dumping of refuse, there is not much hope for a locally sustainable future for any of these islands.

friends

This is what I love. At the beach at Ftelia, Taki happy in conversation with his good friend Kosta. Kosta comes to swim each day, late in the morning or early afternoon before he starts work driving tourists around the island in his taxi cab. I have my finger crossed that we will see him again soon.

faces of the gauntlet: skiathos

what's true

I watched you run the gauntlet
with such grace, nothing touched you.
The rubber band man in some short alley
is bending over backwards , begging you stop, to look, to maybe press yourself right up against the wall and kiss him
But no, you pass on by without a glance
With such finesse, such beauty.
The tormentors put down their sticks, shut their mouths,
and scatter rose petals in your path.
©Skorda 2008

-for hannah lee
what's true